Media Central, Direct Newsline - March 2, 1999

Rates Up For Canada Admail

By Paul M. Alberta

Rates for the U.S. Postal Service's Canada Admail service went up between 1.5 cents and 7.4 cents, according to yesterday’s Federal Register.

The USPS said the increase coincides with Canada Post Corp.’s hike in addressed advertising mail rates of 7 cents per piece. In addition to raising rates, the USPS will offer a graduated scale of discounts for mailers based upon the amount of international postage spent in the previous year.

Canada Admail was developed jointly by the USPS and CPC to give U.S. direct marketers and high-volume mailers easier access to the Canadian market. The service, which promises delivery within five to ten business days in major Canada urban areas, was launched last August on an experimental basis and became permanent in January.

Although mailers must have at least 25,000 pieces to use the service, the USPS said a mailer could get a 5% discount by spending at least $2 million on postage; a 10% discount for spending more than $5 million on postage; and a 15% discount for spending more than $10 million on postage.

The per-piece rate for a standard letter-size mail presorted by carrier route weighing up to 1.76 ounces (50 grams) is now 24.1 cents, a 2.5 cent increase over earlier rates and the rate for an oversized mail piece weighing up to 1.76 ounces is 24.1 cents, an increase of 6 cents. A charge of 3.5 cents may be imposed for each piece of mail that fails to meet CPC's minimum address accuracy requirements. The per-pound rate for bundled or sacked mail for national distribution is 57.6 cents for standard letter-size mail and 74.7 cents for large, oversized mail.

---