A
- Addressed mail
- Mail sent to specific names or addresses from a list.
- Aspect ratio
- A letter's length divided by its height. USPS wants it between 1.3 and 2.5, or the letter pays a nonmachinable surcharge.
B
- Bleed
- Artwork that runs past the trim line so there's no white edge after cutting.
- BMEU
- Business Mail Entry Unit: a USPS location that accepts bulk business mail.
- Business Reply Mail (BRM)
- Reply cards or envelopes where the business, not the sender, pays the postage.
C
- Carrier route
- The set of addresses one mail carrier delivers to. Saturation mail is chosen by route.
D
- Drop
- The day a mailing is handed to USPS. Also used for each wave of a multi-part campaign.
E
- EDDM
- Every Door Direct Mail®, USPS's saturation service for mailing every address on chosen routes without a list.
F
- First-Class Mail
- USPS's faster class for letters, cards and flats. Required for personal correspondence and bills.
- Flat
- A mailpiece larger than letter size, up to 12 x 15 x 0.75 inches. Also called a large envelope.
I
- Indicia
- The printed postage mark in the top right corner that replaces a stamp on bulk mail.
L
- Letter
- A mailpiece up to 6.125 x 11.5 x 0.25 inches and 3.5 ounces.
- List broker
- A company that rents or sells mailing lists on behalf of list owners.
M
- Mail house
- A business that prepares mail: addressing, sorting, inserting and delivering it to USPS.
- Merge/purge
- Combining several lists and removing duplicates before a mailing.
N
- Nonmachinable
- A piece USPS machines can't process, such as a square or rigid letter. It pays a surcharge.
P
- Permit imprint
- Printed postage that's paid from a permit account at the time of mailing, instead of stamps or meter strips.
- Postcard
- In USPS terms, a card from 3.5 x 5 up to 4.25 x 6 inches that mails at the postcard price.
- Presort
- Sorting mail by ZIP Code or route before handing it to USPS, in return for lower prices.
S
- Saturation mail
- Mail delivered to every address on a carrier route, addressed to "Postal Customer".
- Self-mailer
- A folded piece that mails without an envelope.
- Simplified address
- "Postal Customer" or "Residential Customer" in place of a name and street address.
U
- USPS Marketing Mail
- USPS's lower-priced class for advertising mailings of at least 200 pieces or 50 pounds.