Bulkmail.Info
Help Topics:

Getting Bulk Rate Discounts
Barcoding and CASS
Delivery Point Barcodes
Is it a Letter or a Flat?
Bulk Mail Postage Prices
Presorted First Class Prices
New Move Update Requirement

Search this site:

Add this site to your favorites

Barcodes are set of lines that represent numbers. There are many different types of barcodes, such as those on envelopes, those on grocery products, and those used in inventory systems.

The barcodes that you see on envelopes are called "Postnet" barcodes. To earn barcoding discounts on bulk mail, the US Postal Service requires the use of "delivery point" barcodes, which are Postnet barcodes that represent specific addresses.

The USPS is phasing out Postnet barcodes and replacing them with new "Intelligent Mail Barcodes" (IMBs). For most bulk mailers, there will be no advantage in service or pricing for switching to IMBs until fall, 2009. Postnet barcodes will be accepted until at least May, 2011. For now, the best plan is to stay with Postnet barcodes until the specific service and pricing benefits for using IMBs are announced in early summer, 2009.

If you are looking for information on other types of barcode labels, such as barcode labels for tracking inventories and other non-postal uses for barcodes, take a look at barcodesinc.com.

How do I create Postnet barcodes?

To create a Postnet barcode for mailing, you simply replace each digit that you wish to represent with a set a five bars that represent that digit. Each of the five bars can either be short or tall. Each digit, from 0 through 9, has its own combination of five short or tall bars that is always used to represent it.

For example, a "1" is always represented by three short lines followed by two tall lines, like this:

To make a Postnet barcode, you just replace each digit in the number you are representing with the barcode for that digit. Then, you put a single tall bar at the beginning and end of the string. So, a Postnet barcode for the zip code 11111 would simply be five sets of the barcode for "1", plus an extra tall line at the beginning and end,
like this:

Do I have to make all those lines by hand?

Fortunately not!

All you need is a Postnet font to do that for you. A Postnet font is just like any other font on your computer, such as "Helvetica", "Times", etc. Only instead of printing out a "1" like we would normally do it, a Postnet font prints it out like the bars we showed you above. So, if you are using the Postnet font, every time you type a "1", the computer will show you a

If you don't have a Postnet font on your computer, you can purchase one for only $15. Or, we include it free with several of our software programs.

Delivery point Postnet barcodes for bulk mail

The Postnet barcode required for bulk mail discounts is called a "delivery point" barcode. It consists of:

• a single tall bar, called a "frame" bar, followed by,

• the complete 9-digit zip code without the dash, followed by,

• a two-digit delivery point code, composed of part of the address, followed by,

• a single "check" digit, followed by,

• another frame bar to end the sequence.

There are a total of 12 digits, each requiring 5 bars, plus the single bar at the beginning and end. So, a complete delivery point barcode will have 62 bars.

Where do I get the delivery point code and the check digit?

Remember, you don't need barcodes to get bulk mail discounts. See our page on presorting to learn how to get bulk mail discounts without barcoding.

Our "Secret Barcoder Ring" software will compute check digits and create the barcode sequence for you automatically, and it's only $25!

The delivery point code is a two-digit code that comes from part of the address according to a very complicated formula. For simple numeric addresses without suite or box numbers, you'll notice that the delivery point code is the last two digits of the street number. For any address that is more complicated, the delivery point must be computed.

Normally, your delivery point codes will be provided as part of the CASS process. Make sure you store your delivery point codes as "text" values, rather than as "numbers", or else you might lose leading 0s. (A code like "09" may be converted to "9", which would give you an incorrect delivery point barcode.)

The check digit is also sometimes supplied as part of the CASS process. If it is not, you can create it. To create a check digit, add the nine digits in the 9-digit zip code plus the 2 digits in the delivery point code. Then subtract your total from the next highest number ending in 0. The result is the check digit.

For example, if your zip code is 12345-6789 and your delivery point is 12, the sum of all digits is:

The next highest number ending in 0 is 50. So, subtract 48 from 50. The result is 2, so that's your check digit!

Putting it all together:

Using the zip code, delivery point code, and check digit from above, your delivery point barcode would be the Postnet code as follows:

• a single tall bar, called a "frame" bar, followed by,

• the complete 9-digit zip code without the dash (123456789), followed by,

• a two-digit delivery point code (12), followed by,

• a single "check" digit (2), followed by,

• another frame bar to end the sequence.

So, if we use a "/" to represent the single tall bar, the sequence would look like:

When printed with a Postnet font, that sequence would look like (without the digits underneath):