USPS Finalizes New 2024 Incentives for High-Volume Mailers

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has finalized two new incentives for mail owners to spur Marketing and First Class mail growth.

Mailers will earn credit toward future postage for incremental mail volumes between January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024.

How it works

1. Each mail owner will have a baseline mail piece count per classification (see classifications below). The baseline for each classification is simply your total mail volume for that classification during the USPS fiscal year (FY) October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023.For each piece of mail you send above your baseline, you will receive 30% of the average postage you paid as credit toward future mailings.

   There are three conditions for a mail owner to receive these postage credits.

   1. The mail owner must mail at least one million mail pieces in calendar year (CY) 2024 in the mail class relevant to the incentive in question (First-Class Mail or Marketing Mail).
   2. The mail owner’s CY 2024 volume must exceed their volume in FY 2023.
   3. The mailer must meet registration requirements for these incentives, which include accepting a baseline volume for each incentive as determined by the Postal Service.

   Mail owners who disagree with the USPS-issued baseline may make a case for why they believe there is an error and work with the Postal Service to reach a resolution through the USPS Business Customer Gateway (BCG) under the Promotions Portal.

Using the credits

Mailers can use earned credits beginning July 2024, and through December 2025.

Your credits will equal 30% of your average cost of postage. The USPS will calculate and award credits based on YTD per piece postage paid for qualifying mail at three points during the incentive: 

1.     Q2-June 2024

2.     Q3-September 2024

3.     Q4-December 2024 “Final Adjustment” for YTD average postage paid

The final calculation looks back on the full calendar year average postage per piece. While the credits you receive after Q2 and Q3 may vary based on average postage during those periods, your total credits for 2024 will be calculated like in the following example.

Example

Qualifying classifications

Marketing Mail qualifying mail pieces include:

• Letters
• Flats
• Parcels

First-Class Mail qualifying mail pieces include:

• Postcards
• Letters
• Flats

Totals of each category count towards the target minimums. For both the Marketing Mail and First-Class Mail incentives, you may only apply credits to the same class of mail. You cannot combine or swap Marketing Mail and First-Class Mail totals in order to reach target minimum piece counts.

Register to qualify

Registration for these new incentives is live. To participate in either or both incentives, mail owners must:

1.  Log on to your USPS Business Customer Gateway account.

2.  Under “Mailing Services” navigate to the Mailing Promotion Portal (not the “Incentive Programs” portal)

3.  Select the “Submit Promotion Incentive” button.

4.  Choose the Marketing Mail Growth Incentive or the First-Class Mail Growth Incentive from the list.

5.  Follow all instructions on how to register.