Join LetterStream at the 2024 Community Association Law Seminar

As the legal industry and law firms continue to evolve, professionals are constantly seeking innovative solutions to enhance their efficiency and client communication.

With that being said, LetterStream, a leading provider of printing and mailing services, is thrilled to announce that we will be attending the 2024 Community Association Law Seminar, taking place on February 14-17 in Las Vegas to help bring awareness to lawyers and law firms about more efficient ways to send out their mailings.

Simplied Communication for Lawyers

In the legal world, effective communication is paramount. Attorneys often find themselves inundated with crucial letters and documents that need to be sent to clients promptly. That’s where we come in! LetterStream specializes in simplifying this process by offering a streamlined and efficient platform for the printing and mailing of important correspondence that is secure and confidential!

Why We Are Attending

Our reason for attending the 2024 Community Association Law Seminar is to showcase our services that empower lawyers to focus on their legal expertise while leaving the task of printing and mailing in capable hands. By leveraging LetterStream’s services, legal professionals can enhance their client engagement strategies, ensuring that important information reaches clients in a timely and professional manner.

The Community Association Law Seminar is the premier conference for attorneys and insurance professionals who represent those in homeowner’s associations (HOA community management), property management, condominium communities, or housing cooperatives.

And guess what? We do a ton of printing and mailing jobs for homeowner’s associations. In fact, we also provide print and mail fulfillment to many software providers that serve community associations, so it makes sense for us to connect with HOA lawyers.

Networking Opportunities with LetterStream Experts

The Community Association Law Seminar provides an excellent opportunity for legal professionals and attorneys for HOAs to connect with the experts at LetterStream. Attendees can engage in one-on-one discussions, seek solutions, and gain insights into how LetterStream’s services can be help  meet their specific needs.

We can sit and discuss all of our mailing options including Certified Mailv (key for lawyers to have access to), Certified Mail with Electronic Return Receipt (USPS tracking and signature confirmation), USPS First-Class mailings, FedEx 2Day, Statements, postcards for marketing purposes and more. Or, you can just come hang out with us in our booth. We promise we’re fun to be around!

LetterStream’s Commitment to Legal Excellence

With a commitment to excellence and a proven track record of serving the legal community, LetterStream is dedicated to helping lawyers navigate the challenges of sending communications out easily and with minimal effort.

To learn more about the 2024 Community Association Law Seminar, click here

How to Send Certified Mail to a PO Box

As experts in the mail industry, we often encounter questions regarding Certified Mail, especially when it comes to sending them to P.O. Boxes. Well, we’re about to shed some light on the very popular question: Can you send Certified Mail to a PO Box?

The quick answer is yes, you can send Certified Mail to a P.O. Box, however, there are things to consider when doing so but we’ll talk more about that later.

Understanding and Tracking Certified Mail

Before getting into the specifics of sending to P.O. Boxes, let’s first understand what a Certified Mailing entails. It’s a service offered by the United States Postal Service (USPS) providing senders with a level of assurance that their important documents have been sent, delivered or attempted for delivery. When sending mail via Certified you can also get a Green Card, also known as a Certified Mail Return Receipt or an Electronic Return Receipt (ERR) and get a copy of the signature of the recipient sent back to you.

Who Would Send a Certified Letter?

Sending a Certified letter is a popular choice for individuals and businesses dealing with crucial documents, legal papers, contracts, or sensitive information. It offers proof of mailing and delivery, which can be invaluable in various scenarios, such as legal proceedings, contract disputes, or important communications where a record of receipt is essential.

Can You Send Certified Mail to a P.O. Box?

Like we mentioned above, the answer is yes, you can send Certified Mail to a PO Box. However, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind to ensure a smooth and successful delivery.

When addressing Certified letters to a P.O. Box, it is crucial to include the P.O. Box number in the address. This ensures that the postal service can accurately route the mail to the correct destination within the post office. The recipient’s name and the P.O. Box number is essential for a precise delivery.

It’s worth noting that Certified Mail sent to a P.O. Box requires the recipient to visit their local post office to retrieve the mail. Unlike regular mail, which is placed directly in the P.O. Box, Certified letters often involve a signature upon receipt (ERR), adding an extra layer of security and accountability. And if you’re wondering, “Does Certified Mail require a signature?” No, it does not but you can definitely choose it as an option for added tracking and security.

Certified Mail tracking is included. As a sender, you’ll receive a receipt with a unique tracking number. This tracking number allows you to monitor the delivery status, giving you peace of mind about the progress of your important documents or packages.

All-in-all, Certified Mail is a versatile and secure option for sending important items, and yes, it can be sent to a P.O. Box. By following the proper addressing guidelines and understanding the additional steps involved, you can ensure that your letter reaches its destination with precision and reliability.

Using LetterStream

To avoid unnecessary trips to the Post Office and to take the hassle out of sending any type of mail then use our website! Once you upload your job, we do the rest for you, including printing, inserting and mailing your letters. When sending USPS Certified Mail online through LetterStream, the Certified Mail cost starts at $7.34, which includes the Certified Mail fees and then goes up depending on the add-on services and type of envelope you’d like to use.

New Hope for the USPS Mailbox

I was at a trade show at the end of last year and had lots of enjoyable conversations with partners, customers and potential customers. But the one I chuckled the most about was the conversation I had at the luncheon with a man who was about 25 years old. Without realizing it, he basically made an argument when it came to sending mail to a mailbox and how it isn’t a necessity anymore.

Now, not that there is anything wrong with his age, but I realize that some of the younger generation doesn’t go to their mailbox or the Post Office mailbox nearly as often as prior generations. Some may have never been to a mailbox at all (which is a crazy thought), but it is a reality. Many now get their information through paperless communication, such as emails or even through online platforms like Instagram and TikTok. For some, there just isn’t a need to walk to the mailbox anymore.

But back to my conversation. There were about eight people sitting around a large round table and we were talking about what each of us did. When it was my time to share that I work at an online printing and mailing company, the young man’s boss said “We don’t use mail. Instead of sending snail mail, we send everything electronically.”

I responded, “Well done! So, you don’t have envelopes in the office or a postage meter?”

He reflected a moment and then said, “Well, we do have a postage meter, envelopes, and specialty paper but we don’t use them for anything.”

At which point, another colleague of theirs responded with, “Well, we do send a few letters through the United States Postal Service using First-Class Mail.”

His boss inquired directly to him about it and he then responded with, “We do have about 10 people in one community that want letters mailed, and 20 in another. And sometimes people reach out to us and ask that we mail something to them.”

Hmmm interesting….so sometimes they do send mail. It can be easy to forget that just because we live in a digital world that that doesn’t mean a lot of people still don’t like to receive important information via the USPS.

No more Postage Machines

While this wasn’t the key concept of my story, it allowed me to discuss how LetterStream frees up clients from the expenses that come along with mailing letters. This includes the actual postage machines, machine leases, machine service calls, postage machine desks, and floor space. Not to mention the other expenses that accompany sending mail, like different envelope sizes and toner. Plus let’s not forget to factor in the time it takes to make trips to the office supply store, stamps, training your employees…you know where I’m going with this.

Email Inboxes Overflowing

And back to the story…again. At some point, I was blown away to hear one of the nice gentlemen I was talking to say his email inbox is so full of emails that he can hardly get anything done. He said he gets hundreds of emails per day.

Of course, this made my mind start to ponder. I started thinking about the old adage- if everything is important, then nothing is. How can someone process hundreds of emails per day, and how can you designate the time you need for the important ones without being distracted by all the new emails that just keep coming day after day?

In short, how does one get in front of people easier than through an overflowing email inbox?

The Answer is Simple, Send a Letter to a Mailbox

After mulling over this entire conversation and then about what was said regarding email, my mind began to spin its own story and here is what it came up with:

“If you want to get the attention of someone and actually have them see what you are offering then it would make sense to put a real piece of mail in the mailbox. They will walk to their mailbox and grab their mail (for those that it applies to), they will walk back, flip through their mail pieces possibly separating them into different stacks. The key would be to make your mailing stand out so they will be intrigued to open it. And if it’s intriguing to open, then mission accomplished with getting in front of someone without ending up in the trash of an email account with every other promotional item.”

Ok, so obviously that’s not exactly what was said by the potential customer but you get the gist of where my mind went with that. He did, however, point out some truth that mail is a totally different medium than email. It calls for special handling and can even linger for days waiting for the right moment when it can be sorted, processed, and acted upon. There’s no denying that. However, sending USPS mail, whether it be First-Class Mail or Certified Mail, may actually catch the attention of the recipient in a way that email can’t anymore.

All-in-all the point of this story is: Maybe it’s time to start focusing on getting your message out there with the help of the mailbox in 2024.

If you decide you or your company want to send mail the old-school way, be sure to check out our 2024 USPS Postal Holiday calendar to not only see when your local Post Office is closed but also when we’re open and mailing.

-The Letterman

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to our loyal customers and Happy New Year to those who may be just joining us or thinking about joining us here at LetterStream!

As we reflect back on this past year we can’t help but be so grateful for you, our incredible team and the continued growth of this printing and mailing company that we know and love as LetterStream.

LetterStream started back in 2003 (Woah! How cool) and now as we’re here embracing the new year of 2024, it’s fun to reflect on how far we have come.

A Look Ahead at 2024

We’re also excited about all the plans we have for 2024. We’re in the process of revamping our website and blog and we’re excited to keep implementing new processes that aid in the customer experience. Last year we introduced our new chatbot that enhanced how customers can get answers in real-time, along with new printing and mailing updates that served our customer base. Keep checking back in on our blog to see what new updates we have for you in 2024!

Printing and Mailing Tradeshows and Beyond

This year we plan on attending some tradeshows throughout the nation that pertain to the print industry, mailing industry, printing and mailing industry and the SAAS (Software as a Service) industry, along with shows that focus on HOA’s (Homeowner’s Associations) and law firms. Again, be sure to check back here on the blog to find out which shows we’ll be attending. We’d love to have you come stop our booth and say hi if you’ll be there as well!

We’re Here for You!

We hope this next year is full of abundance both personally and professionally. Remember we’re here for you to send out your First-Class Mail, Certified Mail, postcards, statements and invoices, flat envelope mailings and even FedEx 2Day mailings! Check out our 2024 Postal Holiday Calendar to see when we’re open and mailing even when the USPS (United States Postal Service) is closed! Yes, there are holidays where we can still send out mail!

Wishing you a very Happy New Year!

How to Send Mail on USPS Postal Holidays

Sending mail during the Christmas season can seem a bit hectic. Actually, let’s be honest, the month of December as a whole can be chaotic. Then trying to send out your holiday gifts and mail your Christmas cards and letters on top of it can also be a bit much. On top of that, there’s also the added stress of knowing when the postal holidays are, when the Post Office is closed and when deadlines are to get everything mailed on time for it to get to its destination before Christmas.

So much to think about.

U.S. Postal Holidays 2023 – Christmas and New Year’s Day

We’ll get right to the point on when the USPS is closed during this time of year. The 2023 postal holiday schedule is pretty simple. The Post Office is Closed on Christmas, December 25th and New Year’s Day, January 1st. Many wonder, “Is December 26 a postal holiday?” and it is not. USPS mail runs the day after Christmas each year…at least for now.

Others also wonder “Is Christmas Eve a postal holiday?” It is not, however, what you may not know is that some of the Post Offices do close early on Christmas Eve, December 24th. We recommend calling your local USPS Post Office to see what their hours are. Just something to keep in the back of your mind.

Like the Post Office, we are closed on both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. However, we are open and mailing on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. We do have limited staff during this time of year and we too deal with USPS backups of mail but our team is working extra hard to always provide fast, perfect mail for our customers.

Our 2023 postal holiday calendar can be found here and the USPS postal holiday schedule 2023 can be found here.

mail truck for the usps postal service in a christmas tree for mailing on postal holidays

Shipping Deadlines for Christmas 2023

The shipping deadlines for Christmas 2023 vary, but here are some general deadlines:

USPS:

  • USPS Ground Advantage — December 16
  • First-Class Mail (including greeting cards) — December 16
  • Priority Mail — December 18
  • Priority Mail Express — December 20

FedEx:

  • FedEx Home Delivery: 1-Day Shipping — December 22
  • 2-Day Shipping — December 21
  • 3-Day Shipping — December 20
  • 4-Day Shipping — December 18
  • 5-Day Shipping – December 15

The USPS gives a more in-depth overview of mailing deadlines, here.

Tips for Getting Mail Out Before the Delay

Christmas tree, Christmas mailbox with a mail truck in front of a merry christmas can

If you’re worried about getting your mail out on time before the Christmas rush, here are some quick tips to avoid any delays with your mail delivery service:

  1. Get your mail out ASAP. Start early if you can
  2. Use Priority or Express Mail services
  3. Double-check addresses
  4. Include return addresses in case there are any issues
  5. Avoid peak shipping days
  6. Send letters, cards and mail online through the LetterStream portal so you never have to set foot in the Post Office
  7. Track your shipments and track your letters

You’re probably not going to be using Certified Mail to send your holiday mail, however, if you use it for other purposes or you just decide to, here is where you can track your USPS Certified Mail on our website.

LetterStream Is Open on Certain Postal Holidays

Ok, now let’s talk a little bit about LetterStream during other postal mail holidays. A fun fact about us is that there are a lot of holidays when the USPS is closed, however, we can still get your mail out for you!

You may be wondering how that is possible. If the Post Office is closed during postal holidays, then how is mail being delivered through LetterStream? Good question!

LetterStream is a printing and mailing company that works with the USPS. Just because the front counters are empty and the doors are closed to the public doesn’t mean that the back-office staff (those behind the scenes of the United States Postal Service aren’t still working hard). Because of that, we can have our dedicated team work on getting your mailings out the door and a driver to pick up the letters that need to be delivered.

Even though the mail may not be delivered on the actual holiday because USPS drivers are off, that doesn’t mean that we can’t get the internal process done beforehand. This allows us to be ahead of the curve for the next day’s mailing schedule. If mail goes out the door during a postal holiday then that means it is ready to be mailed the next day, whereas if we were closed we’d still have to do our internal part the next day. Basically, we’re one step ahead of the Post Office by being open on certain postal holidays.

The USPS accepts and processes our mail on President’s Day (Washington’s birthday), Columbus Day, Veterans’ Day, MLK Day and Juneteenth.

Click here to view our Postal Holidays 2024 Schedule which gives you a complete overview of when the Post Office is closed, when LetterStream is closed and when we are open and mailing even if the Post Office isn’t open.

Happy Holidays and Happy Mailing!

Postal Holidays in 2023 to Keep In Mind

As we embrace the festive spirit, it’s crucial to stay informed about the USPS holiday schedule to ensure your holiday mailings reach their destinations on time. It feels like just yesterday we were talking about the USPS Postal Holidays 2022 and now here we are a year later going over the United States Postal Holidays 2023. Crazy how fast time flies!

Ok, let’s get into it. Here’s a quick rundown of the 2023 USPS Christmas and New Year’s schedule, followed by a sneak peek into the 2024 USPS holiday season.

2023 USPS Christmas and New Year’s Schedule: Plan Your Mailings Accordingly

If you’re wondering what the rest of the 2023 postal holiday schedule looks like for the United States Post Office, look no further!

Both the USPS and LetterStream will observe the following holidays during the rest of the 2023 holiday season.

USPS Postal Holidays 2023

  • Christmas Day – December 25, 2023 (Monday): USPS will be closed and mail delivery will not be taking place.
  • New Year’s Day – January 1, 2024 (Monday): USPS will be closed and mail delivery will not be taking place.

Keep in mind that it’s important to plan your mailings around these dates to avoid any delay. Stay tuned for another blog post where we talk about crucial days to remember during the 2023 holiday season to help avoid any late deliveries.

Oh, and you might also be wondering. “Is December 26 a postal holiday?” or “Is December 31 a postal holiday?”…actually you more specifically might ask, “Is New Year’s Eve a postal holiday?”

Neither one of those is a federal holiday or a U.S. Postal Service holliday and because of that Post Office locations will be open and they are not included in the U.S. Postal Service holiday schedule. To be on the safe side you may want to call and check with your local Post Office to see if they might be closing early on New Year’s Eve but most will be open and doing their normal delivery services which include sending regular mail, also known as First-Class Mail, Certified Mail, Marketing Mail and more.

Looking Ahead to 2024 Postal Holidays: USPS Holiday Schedule & LetterStream’s Holiday Schedule

Part of Christmas tree branch and a Christmas bell located next to a LetterStream lanyard with Certified Mail envelopes and Certified Mail tracking and USPS stamps

As we bid farewell to 2023, (can you believe it is already that time?!), it’s wise to get a glimpse of the upcoming year’s holiday schedule for better long-term planning.

We created a 2024 holiday calendar for you that not only showcases the USPS postal holidays and when the Post Office is closed in 2024 but also which days LetterStream is still open and mailing during that time.

You can find the 2024 USPS holiday schedule here.

Count on LetterStream for Your Holiday Mailings

LetterStream’s committed to providing fast, efficient and perfect mailing services throughout the holiday season and beyond. Our team is here to support you, offering assistance and guidance to make your mailing experience as smooth as possible.

While we have you, we wanted to extend our warmest wishes for a joyous holiday and a prosperous New Year. Thank you for choosing LetterStream as your trusted partner for all of your mailing and printing needs!

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.

PROPOSED 2018 USPS Rate Increases

USPS Price Increase2
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

What Is Needed To Send USPS Certified Mail Online?

Certified Mail Letters and Envelopes

Well, it’s pretty simple actually. You need an address and a document, oh, and a company that offers the ability to create certified mail on their website.

If you want to use LetterStream.com or our sister site OnlineCertifiedMail.com to send your certified letter, you simply need the address you want to send the letter to and your document saved as a PDF file. Yes, it seems like it should be more complicated than that, but most of our clients can create and send their Certified Mail in two minutes or less.

There’s nothing more you need to do. However, if you want to track your letter through the USPS process or retrieve the signature of the person who signed for your certified letter, the process is as simple as logging into the website and clicking on the mailing to see all the details.

Or, consider the alternative: You could write your letter, print it from your laser printer, hunt for an envelope, fold the document (maybe twice to get it to fit in the envelope), hand address the envelope, seal it, drive to the post office, wait in line, fill out the green card while waiting in line, try to figure out how the certified mail barcode wraps over the top of the envelope, pay for the piece, get a receipt with a 20-digit tracking number that you will need to enter any time you want to track the status of the piece, and get the green card back. Then, not knowing where you should keep the green card, you shove it in a desk drawer and ultimately lose it, and just when you want to find out what happened to the letter… the post office tells you they have removed the information from their online system and you’ll have to request that it be emailed to you.

Hmmm… I feel an AT&T commercial coming on. “It’s not complicated. Simple is better.