Just the rate of postage is not the only thing changing today. The size and thickness of an envelope also has new regulations for mailing. This may impact some of the squishy mailing people and also flexibility of an envelope, separate regulations from size and thickness. Here's a news article I read about this and also a "chart" so if you are already completely confused "the chart" should really have you scratching your head.
************************************************************************** The postage rate increase in effect May 14 will make a first-class letter more expensive, but it also may change the shape of your mail.Consumers may not look past the rate increase for a first-class stamp from
39 cents to 41 cents, but more sweeping regulatory changes approved along with the increase may have a more dramatic impact on businesses that rely on mail service."I've described this as a perfect storm scenario because this is much more complicated than a simple price change," said Randy Ford, manager for small business development for the U.S. Postal Service's southeast region, based in Memphis, Tenn.
For example, a 2-ounce standard envelope, a 2-ounce page-sized envelope, called a "flat," and a 2-ounce box all would cost 63 cents to mail.
After May 14, it won't be so simple. A standard envelope will cost just 58 cents, while a flat will now cost 97 cents ? assuming it meets strict new flexibility requirements ? and a 2-ounce package will cost $1.30, a 106 percent increase.
The changes make it essential for businesses that use the mail to advertise or communicate with customers to carefully consider the size and shape of the mailings, said Derek Scott, owner of DataMail, a direct mail house in Bonita Springs.
"I appreciate what the postal service is doing here because they are, in effect, going to be sending me more business as my customers try to figure out what this all means," Scott said. "The shape becomes the big issue and that is a new consideration."
Scott said many businesses that use direct-mail advertising may want to redesign their mailing so that they fit into standard letter envelopes to save money.
Ford said that is the key reason why the price for 2-ounce letters is discounted.
"The prices reflect changes in our operation and the marketplace," said Ford, who spoke to a group of business representatives this month in Fort Myers. "We are realigning the pricing with the actual cost of processing the mail."
The cost of a 2-ounce standard envelope, for example, has been reduced because it can be processed on the same sorting machines as typical first-class, 1-ounce letters. However, the larger envelopes and packages take more human sorting.
That's also the reasoning behind rules that say that flats must be flexible. The new regulations actually stipulate how much an envelope must droop if a certain percentage ? depending on size of the envelope ? is extended over the edge of a tabletop.
That requirement is going to cost the Lee County government up to $15,000 in additional postage each year to mail out automobile license tags, said Diane Hunt, the remittance processing manager for the Lee County Tax Collector's Office.
The tags make the envelopes rigid, meaning they will be charged parcel postage instead of the previous rate as a flat, boosting the cost of mailing each envelope from $1.35 to $1.81, Hunt said.
"That's going to be the biggest impact in our office and it is affecting every county in the state of Florida," Hunt said.
The same change worries Lorraine Matthews, who works in the office at First Christian Church in Fort Myers.
"We mail out our sermons on CD and DVD to people who request them and now those may be considered packages instead of envelopes," Matthews said. "We would have to raise the cost and we don't want to have to do that."
At the advice of postal officials, Matthews said she was sending sample packages to the Postal Service district office in Tampa for a formal determination of cost.
Dennis DiDonna, operator of The Shipping Station in Naples, said he is concerned that his customers aren't going to understand some of the regulation changes. For example, the determination of whether a large envelope is flexible seems too subjective to leave it to counter workers across the country, he said.
***************************************************************NEW POSTAGE CHART
POSTAL RATES EFFECTIVE MAY 14: Letters ? One ounce ? 41 cents ? Each additional ounce ? 17 cents ? Maximum length ? 11 inches ? Maximum height ? 61/8 inches ? Maximum weight ? 3.5 ounces.
Flats (large envelopes) ? One ounce ? 80 cents ? Each additional ounce ? 17 cents ? Maximum length: 15 inches ? Maximum height: 12 inches ? Maximum weight ? 13 ounces
Non-Machinable Large Envelopes Large envelopes with the following characteristics are subject to package prices: ? Rigid (not flexible) ? Not square or rectangular ? Not uniform in thickness (1/4 variation in thickness allowed)