It is each department’s responsibility to prepare their mailings according to the bulk mail preparation standards of the US Postal Service. Mailings received at the BSU Mailroom, must be prepared correctly and be Post Office ready or the mailing will be returned to the department. This includes, but is not limited to, mail piece labeling and sorting, as well as mail tray/tub labeling and sorting. The Bemidji Post Office has very rigid acceptance standards for bulk mailings. If these standards are not followed, the mailing will be returned to BSU. If you need bulk mail training or have any questions about your mailing, please call ext. 3922 and the BSU mailroom will be happy to assist you. You may also view the USPS Quick Service Guide.
Design your bulk mail piece to not exceed the letter size, 6 1/8″ x 11 1/2″ and you will save at least four cents per piece. Anything larger will be classified as a flat and will be charged extra postage. If you are using bar coded labels generated by the software at the Mail Room, letter size bar coded mail does not have to be bundled or stickered, but postcards and flats will require this procedure. A bulk mailing with flats costs more per piece and takes a great deal more time preparing than letters, so you may want to redesign your mail piece to conform to the letter size, but larger than postcard size (4.5″ x 6″).
A bulk mailing must have at least 200 pieces or weigh at least 50 lbs. in total. Each piece may be different but they must weigh exactly the same. The subject matter of the mailing must be directly related to Bemidji State University.
Sorting and preparing a bulk mailing manually wastes money and is very inefficient. We have software that will barcode your addresses and print labels in bulk mail order. Bar-coded bulk mail saves 5 cents per piece over non-bar-coded mail and since address labels are printed in bulk mail order, no manual sorting is necessary, saving a lot of time. If you wish to manually sort your mailing, see the quick service guide above.
Assembling Your Bulk Mailing For You
We will completely assemble your bulk mailing for 5 cents per piece, plus the postage. This includes stuffing and labeling envelopes, sorting into trays and delivering to the Post Office.
Addresses must be sent to us electronically on an Excel spreadsheet. Attach the file to an e-mail message and send to: troy.solo@bemidjistate.edu. In the message tell us the size of the mail piece and what’s inside. Also include your department cost center. We will process your list and print labels via the network on the printer in your office.