Standard Mail
USPS Standard Mail is an alternate mail class (only available in the US) that provides lower postage rates, but at slower speeds than USPS First Class. USPS does not provide delivery time guarantees for Standard Class mail. Most customers leverage Standard Mail for marketing use-cases, as it is an obvious choice due to the lower cost when sending in high volumes.
Please note, you cannot use this class of mail for sending PII or PHI mails and these must go via First class mail and cannot be sent as standard class as we have to be compliant with USPS regulations. Non-compliance will result in potential removal of your mail batch from the mailstream, customer delays, and/or order cancellation.
Delivery times for Standard Mail are listed below:
- Letters - 7 to 21 business days
- Postcards - 7 to 21 business days
First Class Mail
USPS First Class Mail is one of the most common types of mail speeds for mailpieces.
Mailpieces using First Class can take anywhere between 3-5 business days for them to arrive at their intended destination. USPS prioritizes First Class Mail over Standard Mail, which makes it an obvious choice for customers looking to have shorter delivery times for all different types of mailipieces. Most customers leverage First Class Mail for compliance mailpieces.
Certified Mail
Certified mail is an add-on service offered by USPS for First Class mail that provides proof of mailing to the sender. With electronic USPS tracking, the sender is notified when the mailing was delivered or that a delivery attempt was made. An Electronic Return Receipt showing the recipient's signature is also available.
When you make a request for Certified mail you will immediately receive a carrier tracking number (retrievable via your Lob Dashboard), which can be used to track the mail via the carrier’s website - or you can choose to track the mail via the scan events within your Lob Dashboard.
Please note that both the Certified Mail and Electronic Return Receipts add-on features will each receive an additional charge that is independent of one another. Both the Certified mail and the Electronic Return Receipt add-ons are only available for First Class mail sent domestically within the US.
*Delivery times above are estimates; Lob uses USPS as our primary carrier and USPS experiences delays from time to time. To see the most up-to-date status of your mailing, check the tracking information of your particular mailing through a GET request or on your Dashboard.