Take These Simple Steps to Prepare Your EDDM Mailer

Once you’ve selected your initial carrier route, it’s time to take care of business––the business of preparing your mailer. In this process, you will perform a few easy steps that will then have your pieces ready for delivery to your local post office.

Here we go….

1. First, you’ll open up a postal account, which you can do at this link––

https://gateway.usps.com/bcg/detail.htm

After you’ve set up your account, go to the EDDM retail website to prepare your mailing–– https://eddm.usps.com/eddm/

2. You‘ll then use the first screen to select your target routes. There are several options you can use. You can see all the carrier routes within a zip code or actually view a map showing the boundaries of each route. To see the map, select "By Location" and enter an address and a radius. Click map in "View Types" you will see your selection shown on a map. Mouse over the carrier routes in the lower window to see the boundaries on the upper map.

3. Once you have completed your selections click Next and go to the second and final screen. Here The site will generate a #3587 Report ––indicating the number of pieces, total postage, a signature, a date and a CRID number (Customer Registration Identification), which is assigned to you by the post office. You will also print the system generated "Retail Post Office Listing Report" and your Facing slips.

Your mailer will have the EDDM indicia on the back––which states ‘Postage Paid EDDM’…..and no address information.

Sidebar––At this point, you should know that you can have an outside firm like Alta Graphics handle this process for you. We will prepare the documents and band your mailers for 3 cents per piece so you can deliver the mailing to your post office with the postage payment. You could also view our Video Blog on this topic for additional instruction Alta Graphics EDDM Video Tips

4. Once you’ve got your reports, you’ll then prepare your facing slips generated by the system. Each slip will note the zip code, carrier route and the number of bundles. It will also state which number that particular bundle is in the overall group of bundles. For example, if you have 10 bundles of 50 pieces each, the first bundle would be labeled 1 of 10. Your final bundle will probably have less than 50 since most carrier routes don’t’ have exactly round numbers of addresses. You simply put the number of pieces on the facing slips and call it the final bundle like 10 of 10.

Quick Tip: When you’re bundling your pieces….set up the first pile with an exact count of 50. Then you can then use that pile to quickly determine other document piles of the same size, rather than having to count out each subsequent group of 50. It won’t matter if your bundles are off by one or two pieces.

At this point, you’ve got all the documentation you need and your pieces are all bundled up and boxed up for delivery to the Post Office.