Avoid Stacking and Save

There are three key thickness thresholds when working with pre-sorted Addressed Admail. These are:

5 mm

Regardless of the length and width, anything that exceeds 5 mm in thickness is outside of the allowable thickness for Short/Long (Standard Size) mail.

2 cm

The maximum thickness for Oversize mail is 2 cm. Therefore, if the thickness is greater than 2 cm, there is a possibility that Dimensional Addressed Admail might be an option, provided that the length and width are within specifications.

3.5 cm

If the thickness exceeds 3.5 cm, the piece will not qualify as Dimensional Addressed Admail.

Sometimes, samples or promotional items that are placed loosely in an envelope can stack up on one another. If we take two sachets, each of which are 3 mm thick and place them into an envelope, the envelope will be less than 5 mm thick.

1. Placed side by side, the samples and the envelope are less than 5 mm thick, allowing the piece to be classified as Short/Long.

However, if one slides over top of the other, the thickness become 6 mm, which takes us outside of the Short/Long category.

1. When the samples stack on top of each other, the thickness of the piece essentially doubles. At 6 mm, the mailing piece is driven up into the more expensive Oversize category.

This can be very costly. In this example, going from Short/Long to Oversize in the pre-sorted Addressed Admail category will add an average of about $0.12 per piece in postage.

The key to avoiding this is to ensure that the pieces are placed or secured so that they cannot ride up on one another. Sometimes the snugness of the envelope will prevent this. Other methods might include using a glue dot or possibly tabbing the edges to join them together so that they cannot slide on top of one another, as in the example below:

1. Single, perforated tab holds two samples together, helping them stay flat in their carrier.

You might also consider using cello tape. However, if you are sending out product samples or other promotional items, image is an important consideration. If tabbed, and joined at the perforation in the tab, the samples will look professional and they will be easy to separate.

Glue dots could also be used to attach the samples to a backer card, other pieces of literature or even a personalized letter. This would be effective but it would be considerably more expensive than using the tab suggestion above.