Understanding The Mailing Process

Now we are going to walk you through the mailing process so that you better understand what we are going to be doing for you. The first step is to send us your mailing list. The prefered format for the mailing list is a Microsoft Excel document, but we can also accept csv or dbf files.

On the left there is an example of what the list will look like. Each row will be an individual recipient, while the columns will be the various fields such as street, city, state and zip. If you have more fields to include in the mailing besides the standard such as title or company name, they columns for the field should be added in the order they should appear on the envelope.

How We Process Your Mailing List

Now that job is printed and your properly formatted mailing list has been received, we will process the list. First we will CASS certify the list. CASS certification is when we correct the addresses, fill in missing information and standardize the addresses. It also checks to see that the addresses are deliverable. Then your mailing is NCOA certified. NCOA certification means we will check the names on the mailing against the national change of address database and if it is necessary, it will update the addresses of contacts who have moved. Finally if the list qualifies, the mailing is assigned barcodes.

Final Preparation and Finishing

After the list is ready to go, we begin the final steps of the mailing. The process is different depending on the mailpiece. Some pieces will be folded and inserted into envelopes for the mailing, some pieces will be folded then have a wafer seal applied opposite of the fold to keep it from opening, some pieces will just go into the mail without any folding, insertion or sealing. The pieces are then weighed to get an average weight that can be used to determine the postage. Then the peices or the envelopes that contain them will be printed with address and the barcode if it has one. You would then send a postage payment for the Carle Place Postmaster and we would drop it off at the post office along with the mailing.