Reply Pieces in Self Mailers

webmaster@wordmasters.com — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:40:00 GMT

Every so often I receive a job which has inside of it a reply piece that is either not mailable, or not automatable. If it's not mailable, that pretty much kills the value of the mail piece! And, since a reply piece inside of an automation mailer must also be automatable in order for the outside piece to receive automation discounts, it can substantially increase the cost of mailing if it is not. Therefore, always check the following when including a reply piece in a self mailer:

Minimum Width 5"
Minimum Height 3.5"
Minimum Thickness .009"
Aspect Ratio (length divided by height) between 1.3 and 2.5.

The first 2 items are minimums for a mail piece. Below this the piece is not mailable.

In some cases the thickness can be below .009" but below .007" the piece is also not mailable. Besides, keep in mind that if the piece is too flimsy it may end up getting damaged beyond recognition in the mail, so it's best to shy away from going too thin.

The aspect ratio and the thickness affect the outgoing postage costs and may cause a substantial up charge on return postage as well.

Note this applies to all types of reply pieces, not just business reply pieces.

We are working on an online tool, similar to our indicia creator that will help you check things like aspect ratio and minimum/maximum sizes. Hopefully it will debut some time in March. In the mean time this table may be of some use:

Height	Length Min	Length Max
3-1/2	5	8-3/4
4	5-1/4	10
4-1/2	5-7/8	11-1/4
5	6-1/2	11-1/2
5-1/2	7-1/4	11-1/2
6	7-7/8	11-1/2
6-1/8	8	11-1/2

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Reply Pieces in Self Mailers