Excited rumors have been circulating for several weeks now that the post office is preparing to put postage "on sale" this summer. The USPS says that organizations mailing more than one million Standard letters and/or flats between October 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008, could qualify to get up to 30% rebated on postage spent from July 1 through September 1 of this year. At the end of October, the USPS will determine the applicable rebate based on a complicated formula. The gist: If 2009 volumes exceed 2008 volumes, the rebate can be as high as 30%. But if 2009 numbers don't match the previous year's numbers, the rebate is reduced. At the end of the December, the USPS deposits the appropriate funds into mailer's permit account.
Two problems: 1) Only about 5% of the 160,000 mailers with permits will qualify. To qualify, you have to mail more than 500,000 pieces at one time this summer. 2) Those pieces must be delivered to one individual end user, meaning smaller mailers can't gang-run multiple orders and qualify for the discount.
This is looking more and more like a "help out the big guys" program, the USPS TARP equivalent of bailing out AIG.
If you're a smaller mailer, you can email summersale@usps.gov and let your voice be heard.