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Special Mailing Services

Courier service is available for mail moving between state agencies including NC State Government agencies, UNC system, NC Community Colleges, NC Public School systems, and most NC City and County government offices. This mail quickly moves around the state overnight and into the following day (depending on location) and is billed at a 30 percent discount. University Mail Services contracts with the Mail Service Center to offer this service.

Guidelines for Utilizing Courier Mail

University Mail Services (UMS) can help campus customers prepare their mailing so they are able to lower their postage cost. Much of the work should be done prior to printing the mail piece. The choices you make regarding these items will affect the final per-piece postage cost.

If you have already printed and completed the mailing and would like help in sorting the mail pieces in ZIP code order, or if you have already sorted the mail pieces in ZIP code order and need to have it processed and sent to the Post Office, please fill out the Bulk Mail Request Form and submit it to UMS.

It is important that you notify UMS of upcoming non-profit permit mailings in advance to ensure we have enough money in the permit account to cover the postage cost. Otherwise, the USPS will hold it until funds are made available. All requests must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the mailing date.
Bulk Mail is paid for by Mail Services using a special Bulk Mail Permit.

  • This permit is a prepaid postage account, funded by the Mail Services department.
  • This permit has a limited amount of funds.
  • Since Mail Services pays for the cost of these mailings up front, we need ample notice to guarantee that there are enough funds on the permit to cover the cost of your mailing and the cost of all other scheduled mailings.
  • Unexpected mailings from a department will deplete the permit of its funds, halting all other scheduled mailings.
  • In order to deposit additional funds on to the permit, Mail Services must request additional funding which can take more than a week. It is important that we are given ample notice of all bulk mailings and their costs.
  • Fee per piece of mail: $0.03 (three cents)
Please keep in mind the following USPS regulations regarding (bulk) non-profit mail:

  • Bulk mailings must consist of at least 200 pieces.
  • All mail pieces must be submitted in ZIP code order, by the first three digits.
  • All mail pieces must be uniform in content.
  • Bulk Mail is not recommended for time-sensitive mail.
    • Since postage is so heavily discounted, the delivery time is longer than First Class Mail.
  • Mail pieces cannot contain personal monetary account information.
  • Mail pieces must have either an ancillary endorsement on the envelope or the words CURRENT RESIDENT OR above the recipient’s name to inform the USPS what you want to do with misaddressed mail pieces.
  • Misaddressed mail pieces with an ancillary endorsement are charged a per piece fee and returned to the sender.
  • Misaddressed mail pieces with the words CURRENT RESIDENT OR above the recipient’s name are not returned to the sender or charged a fee and instead are recycled by the USPS.

If you have not yet printed the mail piece and need help with making sure you receive all the postage discounts available to you, please contact UMS.

Details to consider that impact postage cost before printing your bulk mail job:

  • Address cleansing
  • Address placement
  • Ancillary endorsement
  • Barcoding
  • Size
  • Weight
  • Fold Placement

Business Reply Mail (BRM) allows a mailer (i.e., department, business unit or researcher) to distribute pre-printed, First Class Mail reply pieces to customers. The mailer, not the customer, pays the return postage. The mailer does not prepay postage on Business Reply Mail; the mailer will only pay postage for BRM that is sent back by the recipient. This allows mailers to save postage costs on large volumes of distributed reply pieces when a response is not assured.

Guidelines For Utilizing BRM at UNC

BRM is subject to strict standards for format, markings, and addressing and is regulated on the UNC campus by University Mail Services. For assistance with mailpiece design questions, review of your mailpieces, or creating BRM please contact UMS.

Complete the Business Reply Request Form.

  • This form requires a valid chartfield string to be completed. Please note that anytime your chartfield string expires or your fund runs out, a new Business Reply Request must be submitted in order to receive your returned BRM pieces.
  • The return address and the size of the piece to be printed are also required. If you already have envelopes and would just like a label or an updated QR code, please specify in the Business Reply Request Form.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please make sure to specify for which size mailer you would like your BRM proof to be designed in the Business Reply Request portal. Unless instructed, all BRM proofs will be designed using the template for a #9 envelope.

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