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Update 3.11.16 : : Postal rates will decrease April 10, 2016. Click here to learn more.

The USPS has announced there will be no price increase for market-dominant products in 2016. This means that the prices for popular mail classes such as first class and standard mail will remain the same in 2016.  This is exciting news for mailers who know all too well that the USPS has increased rates annually in recent history.

In fact, there may actually be a de facto postal rate decrease coming our way in 2016. On December 24, 2013, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) granted the Postal Service’s request for an exigent price increase of 4.3 percent to offset losses suffered as a result of the Great Recession of 2008-2009. The exigent rate increase revenue is capped at $4.634 billion and the USPS is on track to have collected that by April 2016. Once the cap is reached, postal rates should fall back to where they were in December 2013.

Although we expect to see postal rates reverting back to December 2013 prices, there may be some rate fluctuations in 2016. Jim Cochrane, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer for the USPS, has said that they are open to an overall “revenue-neutral” rate adjustment. This adjustment would be designed to tweak some rates, categories, or individual rate cells to simplify rate structures and correct anomalies. So while the effects of these tweaks will be net neutral, you could see postal rate increases or decreases for an individual campaign.

As in previous years, there are opportunities for mailers to receive postal rate discounts by participating in one of the five promotions the USPS announced for 2016.

USPS 2016 Promotions:

1. Earned Value Reply Mail (April 1 – June 30, 2016)
2. Personalized Color Transpromo (July 1 – December 31, 2016)
3. Emerging and Advanced Technology/Video In Print (March 1 – August 31, 2016)
4. Tactile, Sensory & Interactive Mailpiece Engagement (March 1 – August 31, 2016)
5. Mobile Shopping (May 15 – December 31, 2016)

To learn more about the promotions above, including registration periods for each, click here.