The USPS Holiday Season is Here! Let’s Give Thanks!

As we are in the thick of the holiday season with the increase in USPS holiday mail, our hearts are filled with warmth and joy over here at LetterStream. This time of year allows us to reflect on the abundance of blessings that surround us, from the meaningful connections we’ve forged to the challenges we’ve overcome together. As we are navigating our busy season with the increase of USPS holiday mail, we can’t help but reflect on how thankful we are for being able to still produce fast, perfect mail for our customers after all of these years.

In the spirit of gratitude, we invite you to join us in appreciating the moments that make this season so special. Here are a few ways we are truly grateful this holiday season and every day:

Expressing Thanks for Team Collaborations

LetterStream’s success as a printing and mailing company is a testament to the incredible team that works diligently behind the scenes. This holiday season, we extend our deepest gratitude to each team member who contributes their unique skills and perspectives, fostering an environment of creativity and innovation. Together, we’ve achieved milestones and faced challenges head-on, emerging stronger and more resilient.

As a team, we just held our Q3 Bonus Party and Thanksgiving Dinner. Our theme this year was, indeed, gratitude. Every quarter we do a bonus party for our staff because we want to let them know how grateful we are for the hard work they do, the mail they help produce and their dedication to not only LetterStream as a company but to our customers that we work with daily. It’s our way to say “thank you” to them each quarter.

This bonus party felt a little extra special this year. As a company and as individuals we have so much to be grateful for and we not only wanted to showcase that at our dinner but it’s also something we are remembering and practicing for the rest of this quarter (and beyond).

Appreciating Our Loyal Customers

To our valued customers, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation for the trust you’ve placed in us over the last 20 years. Your unwavering support has been the driving force behind our commitment to excellence.

Our loyalty and commitment has always been about treasuring people. In fact, that is our top core value; “we believe in the tremendous value of people and that all should be treasured.” With that said, we are excited to continue our growth into 2024 while finding new ways to continuously improve our processes to help add value and ease for our customers.

This holiday season, we celebrate the relationships we’ve built and look forward to continuing our journey together in the coming year.

Reflecting on Community Engagement

Beyond the office walls, our commitment to gratitude extends to the communities we serve. Whether through charitable initiatives or local partnerships, LetterStream is dedicated to making a positive impact.

This year we contributed donations to the different Maui wildfire relief efforts to help individuals and animals affected by the fires. We are also currently participating in the St. Mary’s Food Drive and Toys for Tots program to help those in need.

This holiday season, we encourage everyone to find opportunities to give back to those in need. Not only does it bring joy to those who are less fortunate but it also helps build the collective strength that comes from supporting one another.

First-class mail on top of Certified Mail envelopes with Christmas decor around it for usps holiday mail

Counting Our Blessings in a Digital World

In a fast-paced, digital age, taking a moment to unplug and appreciate the simple joys can be transformative. Even though we are a SAAS company, we still encourage everyone to embrace the beauty of simplicity through meaningful in-person connections.

Maybe that looks like sitting down with someone for a meal or coffee, bringing in donuts or cookies to team members as a small token of appreciation, writing a handwritten note, or giving a nice card. Maybe it’s as simple as telling someone that you appreciate them or saying “thanks for being such a great help and I’m so thankful we worked on this project together to get the job done.”

Recognizing the power of personal connections in an increasingly virtual landscape is so important to remember.

All-in-all, let’s come together to celebrate the spirit of gratitude this holiday season! We are so thankful for the relationships we’ve cultivated, the challenges that have shaped us, and the opportunities that lie ahead. As we express our gratitude, may we inspire others to do the same, creating a ripple effect of positivity that extends far beyond the holiday season!

And, just a friendly reminder to check the USPS website or our blog post for the postal holidays schedule so you can plan your USPS holiday mail and printing and mailing needs accordingly.

Remember: There is always something to be GRATEFUL for.

With so much gratitude and appreciation,

The LetterStream Team

New Printing and Mailing Updates

Wow, can you believe we’re officially in Q4 of 2023?! I’m sure you’re like us where each year you think, “Where has the time gone?” but this year feels like it’s going especially fast…wouldn’t you agree? With that being said, we’ve made a lot of new updates to our website, along with printing and mailing updates and processes over the last few months (well years even but that’s a blog post for another day) and we wanted to share some of them with you.

What LetterStream’s Been Up to With Printing and Mailing Services

Let’s get into it, shall we? Let’s fill you in on what the mailing experts have been up to over here at LetterStream over the last few months.

Our production team is always busy serving up fast, perfect mail. Our customer support team is rocking it by giving nothing short of mad customer love. Our IT department just keeps making magic happen. Our marketing department has been revamping and reorganizing our online presence and our accounting team just keeps being awesome at what they do best.

Now, let’s get into the specifics of what we’ve been up to behind the scenes for you, our awesome clients, new and old to LetterStream. Keep in mind, we try to keep our updates subtle, so they don’t disrupt your normal processes when creating jobs to send your letters.

Quick Updates to Help You Send Mail Online Include:

Re-named #9 envelope overprint
Added the correct artwork/thumbnail for our flat-sized envelope
Turned on user-created endorsements for our flat-size envelopes
Improved access to our BAA (Business Associates Agreement) for HIPAA clients. We now use DocuSign to get our BAA to you and back in record time.

More In-Depth Updates

Let’s get into a bit more detail for some of the bigger updates we’ve been working on and have finally launched.

New Chatbot on LetterStream

We added a new chatbot to our website. This one we are super excited for and it’s going to help with quick answers to just about any question you may have.

Our new Chatbot is not like the others. It is an extremely fast, highly intelligent AI that can actually get you help faster than if you were talking to a human. Now, of course, our customer support is still available to provide mad customer love to our clients, but the Chatbot will help to answer most questions instantly.

Read all about our new Chatbot here.

FedEx 2Day

We did it, finally! We turned on FedEx 2Day letters for users that have been active for 6 months or more.

Currently, we offer the standard FedEx 2Day letter option. This will get your FedEx envelope delivered by 5 P.M. on the second business day from when it was mailed.

To learn more about the new FedEx 2Day or to see the step-by-step process on how to mail your documents via FedEx through our online portal, click here.

Improved Help Articles

Our customer support team has not only been busy providing customers with the best support possible, but they’ve also been busy improving some Help articles to make it easier to find questions to answers you might be looking for.

We have a plethora of articles that have recently been updated but here are a few to reference below:

Welcome to the Team!

We are beyond excited to announce that we recently added a new member to our customer support team who has been such an incredible asset to us. If you happen to reach out to support and get a reply from her, be sure to say hi! Welcome to the team, Morgan!

Well, that’s the not-so-quick update we have for you in regard to what’s been going on here at LetterStream lately. Keep in mind that we’re currently in the holiday season, so be sure to prepare accordingly for closures coming up. Here is an overview of the 2023 USPS (United States Postal Service) and LetterStream’s Holiday Schedule.

How Long Does Certified Mail Take to Be Delivered?

If you’re wondering how long Certified Mail takes to be delivered, just know that there are a few different items to consider when answering this question.

Speed of Sending Certified Mail

Let’s start with pointing out that Certified Mail is actually just USPS First Class Mail with the Certified Mail Service included. After you purchase postage to send your Certified Mail, you’ll then receive your USPS tracking number. Along with that Certified Mail tracking number you will see a charge for First-Class postage and the purchasing fee for the Certified Mail forms.

This means that USPS Certified Mail should travel across town or across the country at the same speed as a normal First-Class mail piece. If you send a First-Class letter and it normally takes about four days, your Certified letter will probably take about four days, as well.

Now just remember, the 4-day time frame is just something to go off of. It’s just a random number, not the fine print. Think about the saying “results may vary.”

Delivery of Certified Mail

When it comes to tracking your mail and the actual delivery of the letter, it gets a little more complicated.

A Certified letter does not and is not supposed to be placed in someone’s mailbox. Instead, the mail carrier is supposed to deliver or do a delivery attempt to the required recipient.

Once delivered the mail carrier will collect a signature of the person who accepts the letter. If someone is home to sign for the letter, then ta-da! You now have your proof of mailing, proof and delivery and your mailing is officially complete.

If you require a Return Receipt, green card or an Electronic Return Receipt, the USPS may not load all the Certified Mail tracking information into their website the same day that the letter gets delivered. This means you might need to add another day to the process. It might be best to wait about a day to check for the proof of delivery.

What If No One Is Home to Sign for the Certified Letter?

Now, let’s say that no one is home when the mail carrier attempts to deliver the letter. In this case, the mail carrier is supposed to leave a USPS PS Form 3849. This instructs the addressee that a Certified letter is available for them to pick up. The USPS may or may not attempt redelivery, but they are supposed to hold the letter at the location for 15 days waiting for someone to pick it up.

Let’s say, 20 or so days have now gone by, and the letter could still be moving around. If this happens it is still not considered “lost.” There’s a chance it may still be delivered.

For argument’s sake, let’s say the intended recipient does not go to the post office to pick up the piece of mail. If this happens the local post office will hold the mail piece for 15 days and then return the letter to the sender’s address that is documented in the return address portion of the letter. This means a few more days might be added due to the letter being sent back to you.

Is the Certified Letter Lost Yet?

At the end of the day, USPS Certified Mail might get delivered in 1 or 2 business days, but it might also take up to 25-30 days due to travel time. It’s a big gap, we know.

If 30 days have past and the letter is not delivered or returned back to you, there are some things you might have to think about:

What was the return address you put on the Certified letter?
Did you include a return address?
Did someone else’s name get added by mistake?
Was the address accidently mistyped?

If none of the above options have happened, then the mail piece may, in fact, be lost forever. However, it could still show up to the correct location, but not until 45 days later. If you’re shaking your head at that…know we get it.

Long story short, there is a reason they call it snail mail. Unfortunately, it can take a long time for a Certified letter to arrive at the correct destination and this is something a lot of people may not realize.

We always recommend calling the United States Postal Service for assistance in tracking down your certified mail. Their number is 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777) or you can visit the USPS website.

To learn more about how to conveniently send your Certified Mail through LetterStream, visit our Certified Mail page, here.

PROPOSED 2018 USPS Rate Increases

On October 6th, 2017, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced a price increase to take affect January 21st 2018.

The new price schedule increases the retail price of first class postage for letters and postcards by 1 cent each. Certified Mail with Electronic Return Receipt will see a 15-cent increase.

Keep in mind, the USPS “proposes” their new pricing, but the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) must approve the pricing before it can become official.

Historically the PRC has denied or adjusted price increases if the USPS attempts to raise prices too high compared with the current consumer price index (CPI). In this case the USPS is only raising rates by 1.9% which is believed to be accepted by the PRC.

Below is the primary list of rates that may impact LetterStream customers. Also keep in mind that LetterStream historically does not raise prices on any item beyond the actual USPS price changes. If you are working on a First-Class Mail project for the new year, we’d encourage you to schedule it before the new rates are implemented.

2018 UNOFFICIAL Postage Rates:

– First Class Stamps up from $.49 to $.50
– First Class Postcard Rate up from $.34 to $.35
– Extra Ounces staying at $.21
– International Rates staying at $1.15
– Certified Mail up from $3.35 to $3.45
– Return Receipt staying at $2.75
– Electronic Return Receipt up from $1.45 to $1.50
– Registered Mail up from $11.70 to $11.90
– Flats (.0001 – .999 oz) postage up from $.98 to $1.00
– Flats extra ounces staying at $.21

For more information review the USPS press release:

View the Press Release Here

For all the gory details, see the USPS NOTICE OF MARKET DOMINANT PRICE ADJUSTMENT that was filed by the USPS with the PRC

USPS First-Class Mail Slowing Down… Or Is It Me?

Stopwatch Man Waiting for First-Class Mail

Does it seem like your First-Class letters don’t travel as quickly as they used to? Well, it’s not just your imagination. The United States Postal Service (USPS) has been intentionally and systematically slowing down First-Class letters in order to reduce costs and create efficiencies in their mail handling operations.

This slowing down process has been rolling out for several months now and will continue to be noticed as postal facilities consolidate and the new plans take shape. The most obvious change occurred in January of this year (2015) when the USPS eliminated next day delivery of First-Class mail. This change has effected almost everyone who receives First-Class mail.

Judging by the number of phone calls we’ve already received about this, it’s not necessarily what any of us expected. If there is an upside, the USPS still quotes a delivery service standard for First-Class mail of 3 days (from and to) anywhere in the first 48 U.S. States. (But don’t quote us on this; we are still a little skeptical).

Here’s a good overview published by the USPS in September of 2011; it’s pretty clear and easy to read, and spells out their elimination of next day First-Class mail: USPS Frequently Asked Questions – Service Standards

If you want to dive into all the glorious details in a far-less user friendly document, you can review the implementation plan in the USPS Final Federal Register 39 CFR Part 121. This document spells out the specifics of the USPS implementation process. Phase one began on July 1, 2012, and phase two began on February 1, 2014.

In January of this year, the USPS posted a revised interactive service level map on their website in order for mailers to graphically see the service standards for various types of mail originating at your nearest post office. Follow the link to do some experimenting of your own based on your location. For LetterStream customers, use 850 PHOENIX AZ as your Originating point.

Keep in mind that the USPS service standards are not service guarantees. You know… “results may vary“.

In summary, your next day delivery of First-Class letters is probably gone for good, and we are likely to see additional days of transit built in as the USPS consolidates facilities. Editor’s note: Just between you and me and Mr. Stopwatch here; I’d caution you to not expect faster service if your letters already take 4 to 5 days for delivery.

USPS First-Class Stamp Cost – Unchanged For 2015

2015 USPS first-class stamp price

January is the month that the United States Postal Service (USPS) has been using to introduce prices increases in recent years. However, for 2015 the USPS has no intentions of raising the rate of a First-Class stamp.

First Class Stamp Cost Will Not Go Up

On January 15, 2015 the USPS published a press release about pricing titled “Forever Stamp Prices Unchanged“. The title might be a bit misleading as they are actually talking about the price of *any* First-Class stamp that you purchase for First-Class 1 ounce letters, not just Forever Stamps. Late in the press release the USPS specifically says:

Maintains single-piece stamp prices at 49 cents.

Keep in mind the USPS is requesting authorization to raise the price of other letter fees, including the cost for additional ounces (from $.21 to $.22), the cost of international letters (from $1.15 to $1.20) and the cost of postcards (from $.34 to $.35). “Requesting authorization” means that these price changes need to be approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission before becoming official.

If approved, the changes will take affect on April 26, 2015.

Churches And Year-End Giving Statements

Girls helping mail year-end statements

Wow, January is a tough month on volunteers in churches and other non-profit organizations that need to send out year-end charitable giving statements (or annual contribution statements).

This is the time of year you see church secretaries and bookkeepers hauling boxes of paper and envelopes to their cars so they can get their family involved in folding, stuffing, addressing, sealing and mailing the giving statements. This process can take its toll on church staff as they are hesitant to get other church members and “givers” involved due to the sensitivity of this information.

If your organization is looking for an easier and faster method, consider using LetterStream.com to accomplish this mailing. Some local churches actually bring their pre-printed documents directly to us for folding, inserting and mailing. However, most of our non-profit clients simply upload their contribution statements to our secure website for us to print and mail for them.

One thing to remember is that charities are not allowed to use their non-profit permit, standard or bulk postage for these statements. Instead, the United States Postal Service (USPS) requires that statements be sent via First-Class Mail.

Keep in mind that First-Class postage rates are going up by 3 cents on January 26th, 2014. So however you choose to get your charitable giving statements out, act quickly.

If you’d like to give LetterStream a try, choose the “Pre-Addressed PDF (1stclass)” job type from our website and upload some sample statements, or simply give us a call and mention this blog post for personalized assistance. We think you’ll discover a welcome relief to your year-end giving statement mailing.

Last Minute Christmas Postcards

LetterStream Christmas postcard

Running a little behind this Holiday? Aren’t we all. But here’s a way to get your Christmas greetings out the door quickly.

Granted, we are known for our industrial grade automated mailing solutions, but one of our products makes sending fun, full-color postcards a breeze.

All you need is a picture and the addresses of those you want to send the postcard to. Wow, this sure is going to be a short blog post.

It’s funny because you could probably create your Christmas postcards in less time than it took me to write this short little post.

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Want more info? Our postcards are printed in full-color, full-bleed (printing all the way to the edge of the postcard/no white margins). The postcard is 5 1/2″ x 8 5/8″ printed on heavy card stock paper.

Nearly any size image will work as our cropping tool will help you fit the photo to our postcard. If the image is too small, we will give you a warning, but most pictures from today’s modern smartphones should work just fine.

There’s room for another image on the address side of the postcard as well, or you could leave a white space if you aren’t feeling creative or are pressed for time. On the other hand, you can type out some well wishes and save them as a .jpg file. You might even want to put a colorful, festive background behind your holiday greeting to add more color to your message.

I recommend making the address-side image roughly square as that is the area available to you. Again, our cropping tool will help you crop the image so that it fits the message area.

I guess I should talk briefly about addressing your postcards. You can enter the addresses one at a time into your private online address book (which will make sending next year’s greetings even faster), or you could upload a .csv file to get all your addresses loaded in a snap.

Once your job is complete, we take your postcards to the Post Office and mail them via USPS First-Class mail. There’s nothing else you need to do!

Ok, we’ve taken enough of your precious holiday time. Get started, find that great holiday photo and your mailing list, and get those postcards in the mail.

***For the month of December, all postcards created on our website before noon Arizona time (MST) will mail that same day.

Postage Rates On The Rise Again, Says USPS

USPS postage rate increase

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced a price increase effective January 26, 2014. The new pricing structure was announced a few days ago, September 25, 2013, on the USPS website:

News Release No. 13-007: U.S. Postal Service Announces New Prices for 2014

The Postal Service calls this a “proposed price increase” but generally their proposed price increases are pretty close to what they know they can get approved. The price increase is expected to generate an additional $2 billion in annual revenues for the USPS, which would still leave them a far distance from being profitable, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

Highlights of the new single-piece First-Class Mail pricing, effective Jan. 26, 2014 include:

Letters (1 oz.) — 3-cent increase to 49 cents
Letters additional ounces — 1-cent increase to 21 cents
Letters to all international destinations (1 oz.) — $1.15
Postcards — 1-cent increase to 34 cents

In addition to the USPS news release, we found a USA Today article that contains additional information on the rate change: Postal Service proposes 3-cent rate hike for stamps

LetterStream typically passes the actual published USPS postage rates along to customers, but we’re evaluating whether this will be our strategy given the roughly 7% increase on the First-Class postage rate. LetterStream also offers eDocument delivery for many of our mailing products to drastically offset the cost of postage.

Making Express Letters at LetterStream

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If you need to get a mailing out the door quickly, our Express Letter option is about the quickest way to get it done.

Here’s all we need from you:

1. A mailing list saved as a CSV file

Most software allows you to export addresses in CSV format, and MS Excel allows you to save your spreadsheet as a CSV (comma separated values) format.

Check out our YouTube video for assistance:

2. Your document saved as a PDF

There are various ways to create a PDF from an MS Word document. Word 2010 has the option included. You can also use Adobe products or download a free PDF tool at primopdf.com.

See our help video for more information:

When you have these two items, log into (or sign up for) your LetterStream account and choose Express Letter as the job you want to create. You’ll be prompted for your address list and your document (or documents). If you have a logo with your return address built into it, you can even use it for the outside of the envelope.

There are other options as well: EXPRESS-MAILING

the ability to share a proof with others
notification when mailing is complete
the ability to add newsletters, fliers or other documents to the mailing
the ability to add additional promotional wording to the outside of the envelope

See our YouTube video for help with this:

What do we do next?

We print your document in black and white or color print
We print your document on white or color paper
We address a #10 white envelope with your return address and recipient name
We add USPS First-Class postage
We fold your document(s), put them in the envelope, seal and mail them

We guarantee you’ll be pleased with the speed, quality and service you receive from LetterStream, every step of the way.

Still not convinced? Click here for more information about sending Express Letters via LetterStream.