Your One-stop Guide to a Successful Mailing
The Ink Well offers a wide variety of mailing-related services to help turn your marketing dreams into a reality. We can provide variable data personalization of your pieces, direct-impression addressing, sorting, sealing, metering, stamping, and much more!
A Guide to Our Services
Included in the price of our mailings are:
- Processing one mailing list
- CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System) certification
- Presorting, if applicable
- Ink jet set up and addressing
- Delivery to the Post Office
Postal Processing
CASS Certification
Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) improves delivery of your mail piece and maximizes postage savings by adding Zip+4 codes to your mailing list where possible. The CASS Certification process also helps determine some address problems and standardizes addresses to Postal Service formatting. The correct Zip+4 allows us to apply postal barcodes to your mail pieces, thereby qualifying your mail for Presort discounts.
Zip+4
This system enables the Post Office to sort and dispatch mail quickly and accurately. The first 5 numbers of the zip code identify an area of the country along with the Post Office where the mail will be delivered. The additional 4 digits identify a specific range of delivery addresses.
Printing the Barcodes
Postnet barcodes are the small vertical lines in the lower right on your mail piece. The lines represent the Zip+4 codes. Barcodes enable automated processing of mail, which lowers mail-processing costs. Savings in processing costs at the Post Office are passed on to you through lower postage rates. The area in which the barcode is placed must be blank, as it will affect the rate of postage.
NOTE ON PRESORTING
Postal regulations require a minimum of 500 pieces to qualify for 1st Class Presort postage savings. A list with less than 500 mailable records will be sent at the single-piece 1st class rates and a separate fee will be charged for our services. Bulk mail requires an absolute minimum of 200 pieces.
Postage Types
First Class
First-Class Mail is your best choice for time-sensitive mail. It is generally delivered in 3-5 days nationally and 1-3 days in Illinois and the Midwest. Additionally, First Class delivery is consistent throughout the year while Bulk rate can take considerably longer at peak mailing periods such as the holidays.
Bulk
U.S. Bulk rate, also known as Standard Mail, offers lower postage rates but with a longer delivery time. You can expect delivery in 10-14 days nationally and 4-6 days in Illinois and the Midwest. Bulk rate only offers discounts from the higher letter rate and does not offer lower postage for postcard size pieces.
Non Profit
Non Profit groups can apply to the U.S. Postal Service for approval to mail at special Non Profit postage rates. This class of mail is a lower priced Bulk Mail rate with the same delivery timeframes. Once this approval has been received, The Ink Well can mail for your organization at this postage rate once you have sent us the proper documentation. This includes a completed Postal Service Form 3623 plus a request for additional entry on company letterhead signed by a responsible organization official. We will forward these documents to our local Post Office for their approval.
List Formatting
Disclaimer
The Ink Well is not responsible for verifying that the data in your list is accurate and properly formatted for mailing. Our list preparation process will standardize address formats, but will not create mailable addresses from incomplete or improperly formatted information, nor will it correct format errors.
Acceptable List Formats
Your database should be set up so that each record is contained in its own row. The individual elements of each record should be contained within separate fields in the same row. We do not accept lists containing addresses that are separated into multiple rows. This includes lists in mailing label format. All data for each record must be contained within the same row in a database.
Digital Formats:
- Tab-delimited
- CSV (Comma Separated Values, also called "Comma-delimited")
- ASCII
- DBF III
- MS Excel (Multiple worksheets within a single file will be processed as separate lists)
Using Your Mailing Labels
While we can apply your labels instead of ink jet addressing, we will not be able to apply postal barcodes to your mail, therefore no presort discounts are available. Your cost for the mailing will be the full First Class postage, plus a Mailing Services fee and a per piece charge to hand-apply the labels.
Organizing Your Records
The fields below will be inkjetted in order displayed. Maximum of 50 characters per line, including spaces, punctuation, etc.
Name (Optional): Addressee information on the finished card may be submitted as either 1 field titled "Name", or as a combination of any of the following 5 fields, provided that the total number of characters when combined does not exceed 50:
a. Sal Salutation - "Mr", "Mrs", "Dr", "Lt", etc.
b. First - First Name
c. Middle - Middle Name
d. Last - Last Name
e. Deg - Degree: "Jr", "Sr", "III", "PhD", "MD", etc
(If separate fields are used, they will be combined in the above order)
Title (Optional): Professional title ("President", "Sales Manager", "Marketing Director", etc,)
Company (Optional): Company name
Department (Optional): Department name ("Sales", "Customer Care", etc.)
Address2 (Optional): Second line of address (Suite#, Apt#, etc.)
Address (Required): Deliverable address
City (Required): City
State (Required): State
Zip (Required): Zip code (either 5 digit or 9 digit)
Country (Required if mailing outside US): Full name of country
