Essential Tips for Saving Money on Your Postage

As postage costs steadily rise, it’s imperative for businesses to keep finding new ways to save money on their mail. Mail volumes may be declining as businesses shift their focus to electronic correspondence, but the trend is far from ubiquitous. Many are still in a state of transition, and others have business models and customer bases that only seem to work with traditional mail.

Whether you’re operating a business of your own or even acting as an individual, you can save a small fortune on postage bills by following the tips below:

1 – Consider Using 2 Speed Mail

The postal service recently unveiled a 2 speed mailing service that allows you to choose whether you want a particular parcel delivered within the standard 1 to 2 business days or 3 to 5 instead. It’s important to note just how urgent your parcel may be. In many cases, traditional Priority Mail services may be more expensive than necessary. If you’re used to just defaulting to 1-2 days by now, it may take a while to get used to occasionally selecting another option. If you can do so whenever it’s appropriate however, your savings will gradually mount up.

2 – Look Into Bulk Parcel Discounts

If your packages are typically sent in high volumes, you probably qualify for one of the postal service’s many bulk mail discounts. You can check for where to get them here at USA Stamp Guide.

Anyone that regularly sends more than 300 parcels at once is operating under the official definition of “bulk mail”. Some of the typical options that follow suit include “Pre Sort Letters” and “Clean Mail”. Both examples can cut down your postage costs a whopping 20 percent. As such, it’s well worth looking at which rates may apply to your situation.

3 – Take Advantage of Online Postage

The United States Parcel Service website allows you to put in all of the information for Priority packages and print your labels right from your place of business or home. All you need is a basic weight scale and some measuring tape to determine the dimensions of any non-standard boxes. Each label printed online will give you a lower fee than you’ll receive at the desk of a retail post office location, and you can even arrange for a mail courier to pick the packages up for free. In some instances, you may even be able to receive free tracking numbers, thereby saving even more!

Of course, this only dips into the bare minimum of what you can do to save money on your postage. You should also look into using flat rate boxes and envelopes, ordering bulk supplies of free boxes from the USPS website, and stocking up on Forever stamps to avoid paying higher postage on stamped letters down the line. A little bit of resourcefulness goes a long way. For instance, individuals can even save a ton on supplies by collecting shipping boxes from grocery and department stores during the stocking shift. Once you’re well versed in all of these little tips and tricks, you can save yourself a small fortune and spend far less at the post office than you likely assumed.