Magazine publishers and advertisers received good news earlier last week when the United States Postal Service implemented changes in mailing standards fought hard for by the Magazine Publishers of America.
Three types of advertisements that previously cost 16.5 cents apiece to mail as ride-along pieces will now qualify as regular magazine advertising and will merit the periodical advertising pound rate of postage. In most cases this will cost around 1 cent to 1.5 cents per piece depending on the weight of the ad—opening the doors wide for ad-sales possibilities.
“The number of ride-along pieces had been decreasing in recent years due to the expense, and our hope is that by avoiding the ride-along surcharge, the newly allowed advertisements will be more cost-effective for advertisers, which hopefully leads to an increase in ads for publishers and mail revenue for the Postal Service,” said Rita Cohen, Senior Vice President, Legislative and Regulatory Policy at MPA.
One type of mail piece affected by the new postal regulations is advertising polybagged with a publication. It used to be that to avoid the ride-along charge; a loose supplement had to include at least 25 percent non-advertising content. In a dramatic change, supplements no longer need to contain non-advertising content and can be as little as one loose page. Publishers aren’t limited to the number of pages allowed.
Another provision allows publishers to include product samples without the 16.5-cent surcharge per piece. Each magazine can have up to 3.3 ounces of samples, and each sample that contains liquid cannot weigh more than one ounce. The magazine still needs to stay relatively flat so it can fit through the Postal Service’s machinery. Cohen points out that the new regulation will allow for a wide variety of samples, from bandages and pain relievers to magnets and 3-D glasses, among many other possibilities.
A third development is the elimination of the surcharge for using advertising containing electronics. Technology such as video, sound chips, LED displays, and ones that contain batteries to power moving parts or lights can be integrated into the magazine’s advertising pages to make messages stand out even more.
Not all items are exempt from the ride-along regulations. Products in commercially available form are still subject to the original 16.5-cent ride-along surcharge and/or the standard rate of postage, including CDs and DVDs, cassettes, merchandise in commercial packaging, and calendars, among other things. Full details are available at http://pe.usps.gov/FRN/Periodicals_Content_final.txt.
This project was undertaken by MPA and a joint magazine publisher postal group, after an initial suggestion made by Condé Nast to Postmaster General Jack Potter in 2009, in response to the magazine advertising decline.
MPA is pleased to have worked with the Postal Service on this initiative to increase magazine advertising and postage revenues. At the same time, MPA continues to fight against the Postal Service’s proposed exigent rate increase – 5.6 % on average, with 8% proposed for Periodicals – that is currently before the Postal Regulatory Commission, with a decision by the PRC expected in early October.
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