Getting started

Sending over 300 letters and documents? We’ve brought together what you need to know about sending Bulk Mail to make it as easy as possible for your business.

Get an NZ Post Business Account

So where do you start? You’ll need to set yourself up with an NZ Post Business Account to ensure we can process your payments and quality check your sending data for the appropriate Bulk Mail discounts. Sign up today to get an NZ Post Business Account.

Get an approved PermitPost number

PermitPost allows you to pay by deferred payment and is available to NZ Post credit account holders. It can be used to pay for most of our postal services when sending 300 or more mail items at a time within New Zealand or when sending 400 or more items overseas and is mandatory when using Bulk Mail. Find out how to apply for a PermitPost number.

Decide who’s going to process your Bulk Mail

Next, you will need to decide who’s going to collate, bundle and sort your Bulk Mail – will you get a mail house to do it on your behalf, or will you do it yourself?

No matter who processes your Bulk Mail, see our guidelines around how to lodge your Bulk Mail.

Decide whether you need to get set up on Lodgement Manager

Depending on who you choose to process and lodge your Bulk Mail e.g. yourself, a mail house or another party, you may need to get set up on Lodgement Manager. Lodgement Manager is an easy to use, web-based lodgement tool designed to enable organisations to easily manage the lodgement of business mail. Find out more about Lodgement Manager.

Choosing the right Bulk Mail service

Now that you’ve got an NZ Post Business Account and decided who’s going to process your mail, you need to decide what Volume Mail service is appropriate for your mail.

We have four Bulk Mail services available: VolumeMail, FlexiMail, AdCard and Publication Mail. Find out more about our Bulk Mail services.

How to meet Bulk Mail product criteria

To use Bulk Mail, there are a few things you’ll need to consider:

  • Address quality: Are the addresses in your database accurate against the Postal Address File (PAF)? For more information please refer to validate customer addresses for further information. Address quality and item destination, through Zonal Pricing, are used to determine your Bulk Mail price.
  • Have you used the correct address and envelope format and layout? Refer to the Envelope Layout Standards for further information.
  • Are your letters sorted by postcode?

These requirements allow us to process your mail quicker therefore resulting in a reduction in cost.

Validate customer addresses accuracy

One of the most important tasks when sending Bulk Mail is to ensure your customer addresses are valid NZ Post addresses matched against our Postal Address File (PAF). 

Having a high level of addressing accuracy (“Address Accuracy Percentage”/”AAP”) helps you achieve the lowest possible postage prices and ensures your mail can be delivered successfully first time, reducing the risk of returned mail and inefficient processing. 

Find out more about our addressing certification.

Address Accuracy Percentage & Addressing Standards

A minimum AAP rating of 80% is required to qualify for Bulk Mail pricing. Contact [email protected] or your current data cleansing provider to assess and cleanse your database to increase your AAP percentage

Find out more about the Address Layout Guide

Envelope Layout Standards Ad (ELS)

Ensuring your addresses and envelopes are laid out to our standards means we can process your Bulk Mail efficiently through our mail sorting processes.

Find out more about Envelope Layout Standards  or contact [email protected] for signoff of your copy

Mail sort order

Ordering your letters prior to lodging with us helps our sorting processes and supports our delivery targets. You can find further information about Bulk Mail sorting requirements under the Bulk Mail product information in the Postal Users' Guide.