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

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 Stamp Prices Going Down in 2016!

USPS Postage Rates 2016

The biggest news in the mailing business, in maybe forever, or since the forever stamp. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is LOWERING the price of a first-class stamp. The price DECREASE goes into effect on April 10, 2016, when your cost for a first class stamp will be reduced to 47 cents each.

The last time the USPS decreased the price of a first-class stamp was in 1919, when the price dropped a single cent from 3 cents each to 2 cents each. Now, the greatest price decrease in the price of a first class mail stamp since 1885; the USPS is cutting the price of a first-class stamp by a whopping 2 cents! For more information check out the wikipedia page on the History of United States postage rates.

Why are Stamp Prices Going to 47 Cents?

The federal regulatory body that governs USPS pricing is the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC)(https://www.prc.gov). This organization decides whether the Postal Service can raise prices and by how much. A year ago the USPS was given a special waiver by the PRC to increase prices by more than the maximum amount allowed (according to their rules), so now the PRC is making the USPS roll prices back.

It really makes no sense though, as the post office is still operating at a loss. Follow this link to read the USPS press release on the topic of lowing prices (https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2016/pr16_009.htm).

What Other Postage Prices are Changing in April?

In addition to the decreasing price of a first-class stamp, other stamp prices are going down as well. In fact, nearly every increase that took effect in 2015 is being reversed. Seems a bit odd that the Postal Regulatory Commission and the USPS couldn’t work out a meet-in-the-middle solution, but their loss turns out to be mailers’ gain. Here’s a sampling of new postage rates:

First-Class Postcards will decrease from $.35 to $.34 each (reversing last year’s increase)
Additional ounces for First-Class mail will decrease from $.22 to $.21 (reversing last year’s increase)
Certified Mail base fees will decrease from $3.45 to $3.30 (reversing last year’s increase)
Certified Mail Return Receipt Green Card fees will decrease from $2.80 to $2.70 (reversing last year’s increase)
Certified Mail Electronic Return Receipts will decrease from $1.40 to $1.35 (reversing last year’s increase)
International First-Class Letters will go down from $1.20 to $1.15 (reversing last year’s increase)
One ounce First-Class flats will decrease from $.98 to $.95, and 2 ounce pieces will fall from $1.20 to $1.15 (reversing last year’s increase)
Registered Mail letters will decrease from $12.20 to $11.70 (falling more than last year’s increase by another 25 cents)
The price of a First-Class Stamp will fall from $.49 to $.47 (there was no increase in the price of a first-class stamp last year)

We encourage everyone to take advantage of the cheaper postage prices in 2016 and send more mail. If you need some help with that, give us a call, we are what you call experts.

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.

Why Do I Get So Much Returned Mail?

Stack of USPS return mail

Gosh, we wonder the same thing. Will it ever stop?

But fortunately for us, we get paid to process returned mail, so maybe it’s not such a bad thing after all (at least, not in our case). 😉

Mail gets returned to the sender for a lot of different reasons, and sometimes, for no reason at all. Almost all returned mail has a yellow sticker on it that has been placed there by the Post Office.

In this blog post we’ve put together a little Troubleshooting Guide to Returned Mail that should help you “sort it out”–sorry, couldn’t resist.

Let’s start with the obvious reasons and work our way down.

1. The address on your letter is incorrect. This could be anything from the wrong zip code, to a misspelled city name, to a street address that doesn’t exist. The yellow sticker may say “No Such Address” or “No Unit” or “No Such City”. To correct this, a) Double check your records and make sure you’ve got the right address and/or b) go to USPS.com, click on the link on the left to “Find a Zip Code” and enter your address. If the USPS website can’t find the address, chances are it isn’t correct. You can also use our online address correction tools to clean up an entire mailing list.

2. The person no longer lives at that address. It could be that your address is fine but the mail piece was returned because the person has moved. The yellow sticker might say “Unable to forward” or “Forwarding Address Expired” or “Not at this address” or “No such person”. With north of 7% of Americans moving each year, you can anticipate that your mailing list will have similar changes. When someone moves, they fill out a change of address card (online or at their local post office) which the Postal Service puts in their computer systems to verify addresses. So, when a letter is addressed to a good address, to a specific person who filled out a change of address card, their mail will be forwarded to their new address. Unfortunately, if the person didn’t fill out a change of address card, but they did move, that mail piece will be returned to you. This is the same as “moved – left no forwarding address”. We have an online tool that lets you see if people have moved (filling out the changed of address card) any time in the last 18 months and provides you with their new address.

3. The person has no mailbox. This isn’t very common, but it can happen. The yellow sticker might say “No receptacle”. This means there is no mailbox for the mail carrier to put the mail in. This could occur because the house is new, isn’t built at that address yet, or the mailbox was blown over in a storm or run over by a car. There could be many other things that take out a mailbox, or it could have been taken down intentionally by the owner. Unfortunately we don’t have any online tools to solve this one.

4. The Post Office didn’t get it right. Sometimes the postal clerk or someone else at the post office gets confused and assumes or incorrectly determines that the mail can’t be delivered. There’s not much we can do to help out on this one, but if you believe everything is correct with the name and address then drop it back in the mail and see what happens. It just might make it where it needs to go the second time around!

USPS Postage Rate Increase on January 26th

USPS 2014 stamp 49 cents

As a reminder, the United States Postal Service (USPS) will be increasing the price of a first-class stamp from $.46 each to $.49 each on January 26th, 2014. If you are planning on getting a mailing out the door this month, you can save money by sending it a few days early.

LetterStream will be raising its prices on all first-class mail products by 3 cents to cover the cost of the USPS price increase. Our new prices will take effect at 5:00 pm on January 24th, as jobs received over the weekend will be mailed on Mon. Jan. 27th at the new postage rate.

As is our tradition, LetterStream has no plans to increase prices beyond the USPS increase. Keep in mind that the USPS has raised prices on postcards, flats, certified mail and other products as well. These increases will be reflected where appropriate in LetterStream prices. We look out for our customers as best we can!

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.“

Eliminate Returned Mail with LetterStream Return Mail Processing

Return Mail Is Costly As part of our goal to be your very best mail room, we have added Return Mail Processing (RMP) to our already rich line of mail room services.

In a blog post earlier this year we showed you how you can reduce the amount of return mail that you receive by cleaning up your address data with our CASS and NCOA tools. Now we are offering a way for you to completely eliminate your return mail by using the LetterStream Return Mail Processing Center as your return address.

This will eliminate the labor you currently spend on processing returned mail and it will keep a permanent record of each piece of mail returned. Imagine when a client of yours says they didn’t get a letter or bill that you sent, being able to see that the mail piece was returned. Then, instead of sending the same bill to the same address, you could work to capture a better or more complete address from your client.

To implement return mail processing we simply swap out your return address with ours, keeping your company name attached for recognition by your clients. Undeliverable mail will then be returned to our RMP by the USPS instead of to your office. We will make a record of which pieces are returned and electronically flag them in your account on our website. Returned mail pieces will be highlighted in your mailing history for instant identification.

Return Mail Processing

This same highlighting will appear on addresses of returned mail when you are searching for mail pieces by recipient name or address. With our handy “show only returned mail” feature, you can see how much returned mail you have by date range, sender, job type, or nearly any other identifier that our system allows you to search on.

Return Mail Processing might not make sense for you if you have less than a few returned pieces per month, but if you see that stack of returned mail piling up, wondering if you’ll ever have time to figure out what’s going on, now might be the time to see how LetterStream can help.

We have a special roll-out promotion price of $59.00 per month plus $0.10 per returned piece. That’s an insanely good deal, so take advantage of it before we figure out what we’ve done. 😉

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.