Correct Postage On Each Mailing Piece Avoids “Short Paid” Delays and Charges
The First Class presort postage rate is currently $0.414 up to the first ounce, and then $0.125 for each additional ounce (or fraction over a whole ounce) up to 3.5 ounces. (Letters weighing over 3.5 ounces must mail at Flat rates.) When not enough postage is applied for the weight, the letter is considered “short paid.”
If mail is processed using an educated guess of the entire mail's weight by weighing only a few pieces, some of the pieces may exceed the amount of the postage applied. When the mail is entered at the USPS, the clerk checks the actual weight of the mail, using a scale that weighs to 3 decimal places for accuracy.
If this occurs with one of our clients, Access Mail is held financially responsible when short paid mail is found. MERLIN (the USPS Mail Evaluation Readability Lookup INstrument) is presented with approximately 1,000 randomly-selected letters from our mailing each day. Each piece is weighed and the weight is compared to the postage on the piece. If the postage is deficit, MERLIN determines the percentage of mail that is short paid and calculates the additional postage needed to correct the mail.
To allow timely movement of the mail, Access Mail pays for short paid pieces that evening, then charges the individual customer for their short paid pieces and provides a copy of the USPS verification form with the calculations and postage due amount.
Avoid Short Paid Mail
- Check the accuracy of your scale.
- Weigh every piece of mail, preferably on a scale that weighs to 3 decimal places, and apply the correct postage amount.
- Ideally, use mailing machines that automatically weigh each piece of mail and apply the correct postage. It could be worth the extra equipment cost and resulting savings in employees’ time and short paid penalties.