First Class Vs Standard Mail - What&039s The Difference?

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What is standard mail vs first class?

First Class Mail vs. Standard Class Mail is the question many businesses ask when considering a mailing campaign.

To make the best decision, it’s crucial to review the features, benefits, and costs of standard and first-class mail. the final decision will be determined by your budget and the timeliness of the campaign.

Since it’s a common question business owners and marketing teams ask, let’s look at the differences between First Class and Standard (USPS Bulk) mail. By the end of this article, you’ll be fully informed about your mailing options and able to make the best decision for your direct mail marketing campaign or any other mailing your business requires.

Before we begin, it’s important to note that the United States Postal Service (USPS) has renamed Standard Class Mail to Marketing Mail. For the purposes of this article, we will use these terms interchangeably.

This is what we will cover in this article:

first class mail

first (no pun intended), let’s take a look at first class mail.

what is first class mail?

usps first class mail offers the highest level of service for delivering direct mail items such as postcards, letters, and packages in the united states. Think of any domestic or direct mail campaign sent in envelopes and small packages using USPS First Class delivery.

First class mail features include:

Most consistent delivery time: Delivers in 1-5 business days
Smaller packages typically deliver in 1-3 business days
Eligible for confirmation delivery services like certified mail®
can be used for cards, letters, plans, and packages weighing 13 ounces or less
free automatic returns and mail forwarding
a lower price is offered when using the pre-classified first class mail option.

what is preclassified first class mail?

This is mail that has been sorted and grouped by type of service, size, and zip code.

Presorting your first-class mail can save you shipping costs, as USPS offers discounts of up to 20% to companies that presort their mail.

We recommend presorting your mail to take advantage of these discounts, especially for express mail.

what is considered first class mail?

First Class Mail is the least expensive and most immediate option for sending postcards, letters, large envelopes, and packages.

Any item that meets the weight limit below may be considered first class mail.

what is the weight limit for first class mail?

Any envelope weighing less than 3.5 ounces and any package weighing less than 13 ounces can be sent by this type of mail.

First Class vs Marketing Mail

Standard Class Mail

Now that we have a good overview of first class mail, let’s turn our attention to standard class mail (also known as marketing mail).

what is standard class mail?

marketing mail is a level of service and price designed for large commercial mailing campaigns where time sensitivity is not as important. using the standard option in this case will reduce the cost of the direct mail campaign.

the features of standard class mail:

up to 32% cheaper per piece than first class mail
delivered in 5-21 business days
excludes resend and return service
pieces weigh less than 16 ounces
minimum 200 pieces required

standard class tracking

A standard mail tracking service is available with the United States Postal Service (USPS) using the Intelligent Mail (IMB) barcode. Smart Mail Barcode is a tool used to capture barcode scans on pallets of mail moving through the USPS delivery system. this service allows updates as mail moves through the system to its final destination.

how to forward standard mail?

Standard Mail does not offer free auto-returns or free mail forwarding; instead, a special endorsement is required for an additional fee.

the usps will discard any standard mail that is undeliverable and does not have an endorsement.

To avoid spending money on standard mail going to obsolete addresses, we recommend cleaning your database before sending standard mail.

what is considered standard mail?

Standard mail may include brochures, newsletters, catalogs or other printed marketing pieces of identical content. each piece of standard mail must weigh less than 16 ounces. the minimum quantity for any standard mail campaign is 200 pieces or 50 pounds of mail.

what is non-profit email?

Standard mail can be classified as regular or non-profit. Nonprofit rates are lower than regular standard mail, but have strict content and design requirements from USPS.

the requirements to comply with this are strictly enforced. You can check if your business meets the USPS nonprofit requirements here.

how much does standard direct mail cost?

Standard mail cost will vary but starts at $0.197. postalotics offers the best prices to its customers. for example, even as standard postal rates increased in August 2021, we offered discounts to our customers.

what is standard preclassified mail?

There is also the option to pre-sort standard mail. presorted mail is mail that has been sorted and combined by type of service, size, and zip code.

Mail presorting saves USPS time, allowing them to offer up to a 20% discount to those who presort their mail.

first class mail vs. standard class mail

What is the difference between first class vs standard mail?

As we’ve seen, the significant differences between shipping First Class versus Standard Mail pieces are price, speed of delivery, and forwarding and return mailing options for items that have incorrect addresses.

Let’s look again at the differences in speed and cost.

how long does first class mail take?

this mail can take between 1 and 5 business days for large packages and between 1 and 3 business days for small packages. You can find more detailed information on how long First Class Mail takes here.

how long does standard class mail take?

Standard Mail does not have a guaranteed delivery time, but we recommend allowing 9-21 business days for delivery. therefore, we would only recommend this option for emails that are not time sensitive.

holiday season mail

The Winner here is first Class Mail

Due to the priority given to first class direct mail over standard/marketing mail, we strongly recommend that marketers use first class during the holiday period, especially for time-sensitive promotions.

We’ve seen that Christmas season standard class mail takes weeks to deliver, with drastic variations in delivery times.

direct mail automation and postage class options

Automated direct mail software like Postalytics should make the choice between first class and standard class direct mail easier. Self service tools should speed up your ability to execute, and remove friction from decision making.

postalytics’ smart send campaign type has a cool “estimated start date” tool that helps marketers get an idea of when their mail will typically be delivered and what the cost differences are between first class and the standard class.

final thoughts

While the above summarizes the differences between first-class vs standard mail- it still leaves a decision to be made; which is the best option to use?

The decision will usually come down to the urgency with which the information needs to be submitted plus the budget allocated for the submission.

If you want your mail delivered faster, First Class Mail is the best option. We also recommend that you use first class if you want to take advantage of free shipping and return services.

On the other hand, if you want to maintain profitability and delivery time is not critical, then Standard Class Mail is the best option for you. Standard Class Mail is also a better option if you have a large amount of mail and want to take advantage of bulk rates. just make sure your customer database is up to date to eliminate failed deliveries.

Which option you choose, rest assured that Postalolytics can provide you with the best results for your mailing needs.