Instead of using stamps or a postage meter, parcel shippers who send at least 50 lbs or 200 pieces per shipment may choose to print postage information in the upper right-hand corner of the mail piece. The postage block that you see on many mail pieces—parcels and letters—is called a permit imprint. It is tied to a permit (account) that the mailer has opened and funded at the Post Office where she deposits mail for shipment. Paying postage by permit imprint resembles having a debit account with your Post Office—you deposit money into your permit account, and the USPS deducts the appropriate postage amount only when you drop off your packages for shipment, along with appropriate paperwork from approved commercial or proprietary shipping software.
Pros: Permit Imprints are safe, convenient and cost-effective for volume shippers because they allow you to avoid buying—and storing—postage in advance of shipping, thereby eliminating the risks of loss and theft associated with ‘live’ postage. Permit imprints are the original ‘stealth postage,’ enabling you to pay for postage without revealing the postage payment amount to package recipients. Generating shipping labels that utilize the permit imprint for postage payment speeds production over the alternative Stealth Postage method—PC Postage—because one does not rely on the Internet to generate postage for each package. Plus, paying by permit gives you the flexibility to prepare shipments—including labeling—in advance or to move any number of parcels to a different shipment date if they are not complete at the end of your day.
Cons: There is a one-time fee of $160.00 to apply for a permit to mail with permit imprint. You must hold a permit, which requires paying an annual fee, at all post offices from which you want to mail. To remain active and avoid a new permit application fee, your permit imprint must be used at least once in two years. You must have enough money deposited in your permit account to cover the cost of postage for each mailing you submit. In order to begin mailing, you must complete the necessary USPS Application Forms and meet the USPS manifest system requirements (at the MAC or MAC-Gold level)—including software and hardware certification. When you pay with a permit, your shipments become Business Mail, and they must be entered at an assigned Business Mail Entry unit. Carrier pickup is not an option for Business Mail, and it is not always possible to arrange postal transportation from your facility.
In addition to supporting postage payment by stamp, meter, and PC Postage, Window Book’s postal shipping system—Postal Package Partner™—is MAC and MAC-Gold certified for paying postage with a permit. PPP facilitates package preparation and labeling, postal acceptance, postage management and parcel tracking. Window Book also provides customers with an easy-to-use tool, its online USPS Applications Form Filler™, for completing all of the necessary postal paperwork.