Bulk mail and the discounts offered are a wonderful communication medium. However, nothing turns a stomach faster than realizing that you have just printed 5000 postcards and didn’t leave enough room for the post office to put it’s bar code on the bottom.
Generally speaking, you’ll want to leave a space about 3″ high x 4″ wide clear at the bottom-right of any mail piece. You can have color in this area, but be sure it is not too dark that it will reduce the contrast with the address. Also, if you have a web address or some final thought that you want to put on the bottom of the mail piece, it will be covered up if the post office needs to put their bar code in the same space. They will happily put a sticker on top of your offending content, then put their bar code on top of that. The best way to avoid the heartburn is to take a final draft of your piece to a mail house or post office. Getting their blessing may help avoid the avoidable.
