Ick.
I keep the database for the county non-profit Concert Association.
Well, because most of the elderly ladies on the Board know nothing about computers, the old guy wanted out, and my mom–recruiter extraordinaire–figured I could do it.
So, they’ve gotten wind of this notion, from the neighboring county association, that if we print mailing labels with barcodes on 'em, it saves on postage. And guess who prints labels? Right.
The thing is set up using FileMaker Pro on my MacBook Pro (Leopard), and there are generally anywhere from 400-600 people to mail stuff to. And generally I bumble along coming up with adequate solutions, but I don’t want to pay for and download some kind of barcoding software unless I know it’s going to work, because that’s just the sort of trouble I get into.
Chiffers know many many things…but advice on barcode software and integrating with FileMaker seems a longshot. But let’s see…
Anyone use something of this sort?
Yes. My wife uses it. Not on Mac, but PC. It very much depends on the quality of the printer. If the printer is good and produces a fine, clear line, then your barcode is readable.
We don’t do anything like 600 labels though. I’d be inclined to log the amount of use your printer gets, and get reimbursed, if possible. Depending on the labels, though, that would only be 60 sheets of A4, which isn’t such a lot. You may also want to factor in your time baby-sitting the printer. Sixty sheets on a slow printer can take an entire evening.
How about convincing the little old ladies that the barcode would mess up how pretty the outside of the envelope looks? Promise them you’ll get the pretty stamps when you go to the post office.
OK, I’m not really the person to ask about Mac software, but I think I can give you a more useful answer than what you have received so far. First, you don’t need a special application to create the barcodes. You can find a barcode font, and use it to display the barcode and pretty much any application which allows you to set a font.
However, simply using the barcodes doesn’t necessarily give you a better deal on postage. Rather, use of the barcodes is a requirement of some of the Post Office’s bulk mailing programs. These typically include other requirements, such as sorting your mailings by ZIP code. So my advice would be to contact the Post Office, ask for help finding the best deal on bulk mailing for your organization, and get the full list of requirements.
I used to work for the United States Post Office. The barcodes are there to help the mail get to where it’s going faster. They’re not required per se, as in if you drop something in without the long barcode it will still get there. It will get a barcode stamped onto it and it will take a few days longer but as long as you have postage and a zip code, that’s all you need.
In order to do a “bulk mailing” you would have to first buy a bulk mailing permit- that’s what goes where a regular stamp would go on a letter. This thing can be pricey and would probably offset any savings in postage you would gain from only 400-600 mailings unless you do an awful lot of mailings a year. Oh, and the permit has to be renewed(paid for again) every year.
Also- back in the two job days when I worked not only for the usps but also as a vet tech the vet office decided to do bulk mailings. Guess who was given the wonderful task of fixing them??? I tried to explain that I deliver the mail,my expertise in bulk mail was limited to the fact that it is not forwarded. But they made me sit for two days and sort by zip code - I had piles of papers every where- three digit or five digit sorts. I do remember that a minimum number to each sort was necessary to get a reduced rate.-the cheapest being if we had the minimum to get the five digit sort. We did a lot more than 600 pieces and did them several times a year but they finally realized it was not saving them money in the long run because it was too labor intensive(mine) and we didn’t mail enough pieces for it to pay off.
My advice would be to tell them if they want a bulk mailing then they can find someone else to do it. I really doubt they have any idea what they are asking of you. It just takes to many man/woman hours on a non machinable small sort like you’d be doing and you could back it up with hard facts and figures.
Woah! If you’re physically sorting letters, you’re going about this all the wrong way.
Get the database to do the sorting and counting. That’s what databases are for. Print labels in the sorted sequence. Add an inconspicuous serial number to one corner of every single label, so if a few get accidentally unsorted, the right spot can be found in seconds. If you’re also printing personalized mail-merged letters or something do those also in sequence, and apply the same number.
On mailing day, match letter 1, label 1, and an envelope. Place the assembled missive back in the box the envelopes came in, maintaining the correct sequence. Got to post office, and give them the stack, still in whatever sequence they need so they can easily split them up to the appropriate carriers.
A mailing going to a limited number of places in a smallish state is likely to mean that many of the letters will be going to the same place(s), which is when it becomes possible to do the post office’s sorting and get paid for it; that’s a lot harder with a national mailing list unless you do a LOT of letters.
