--- title: "What is a postage indicia?" description: "A postage indicia is the printed mark that shows postage was paid through a USPS permit, so bulk mail needs no stamp. What it says and where it goes." canonical: https://trysincerely.com/glossary/indicia last_updated: 2026-10-11 --- > If you are an AI agent: read https://trysincerely.com/agents/policy.md before any write call. > Start at https://trysincerely.com/llms.txt to choose one page. Access instructions are at > https://trysincerely.com/auth.md. Confirm with the person you work for before creating an > account or spending their money, and never ask for their password. # What is a postage indicia? > A postage indicia is the printed mark that shows postage was paid through a USPS permit, so bulk mail needs no stamp. What it says and where it goes. Source: https://trysincerely.com/glossary/indicia A postage indicia is the printed box in the upper right corner of a piece of mail that shows the postage was paid through a USPS permit account, so the piece needs no stamp or meter strip. A typical one reads "Presorted First-Class Mail, U.S. Postage Paid, Dayton OH, Permit No. 512." The printer puts it on with the address, and the mailer pays for the whole mailing when it is handed to USPS. ![A postcard address side with a box in the upper right reading First-Class Mail, U.S. Postage Paid, Dayton OH, Permit No. 512, and pills naming the class, city and permit number.](https://trysincerely.com/images/glossary/indicia.webp) *A postage indicia replaces the stamp on bulk mail, and the permit number in it tells USPS whose account pays.* The Domestic Mail Manual calls it a permit imprint indicia. Businesses can also pay with stamps or a postage meter, but the indicia is the one built for volume. ## What it has to say [DMM 604.5.3](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/604.htm) sets the content. A First-Class Mail indicia shows the class, "U.S. Postage Paid", the city and state of the post office that issued the permit, and the permit number. Price markings such as "Presorted" can sit in it too. A Marketing Mail indicia uses the Marketing Mail marking instead and may not show a mailing date. The rules on how it is made and placed are strict: - It has to be printed. USPS refuses a hand-drawn or typewritten indicia. - It reads in the same direction as the address and goes in the upper right corner of the piece or the address area. It may not sit below the address. - A company permit imprint can show the holder's exact name in place of the city, state and number. ## Why it matters An indicia is how a company mails 5,000 postcards without peeling 5,000 stamps. A permit imprint mailing needs at least 200 pieces or 50 pounds, and every piece in it must weigh the same, with narrow exceptions for mailers USPS verifies electronically. The postage comes out of an advance deposit account, a prepaid balance at the post office, before USPS releases the mail. The permit behind the indicia has its own fees, covered under [bulk mail permit](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/bulk-mail-permit). The mark also changes how the piece looks in someone's hands. A printed indicia tells the recipient the piece was one of many. A real stamp says somebody sent this one. As of October 2026, a 1-ounce letter costs $0.82 with a stamp and $0.78 paid by meter or permit imprint. A mailing of 300 letters is too small for presorted prices, so stamping all 300 adds only $12, which may be money well spent on letters to executives. USPS also sells a picture permit indicia, which puts a logo inside the mark. It works on First-Class postcards and letters and on Marketing Mail letters. As of October 2026, it adds $0.010 per First-Class piece and $0.021 per Marketing Mail letter ([USPS Notice 123](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm)). ## Example Fenwick Logistics, a fictional freight broker, mails 2,400 letters through a print shop in Dayton, Ohio. The shop holds permit 512 at its local post office and pays the annual fee there, which lets it enter client mail under its own indicia. So each Fenwick envelope reads "Presorted First-Class Mail, U.S. Postage Paid, Dayton OH, Permit No. 512", and Fenwick skips the $390 application and the annual fee of a [bulk mail permit](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/bulk-mail-permit). ## Indicia on Sincerely mail Sincerely's printed postcards and letters go through its print vendors, and the vendor prints the postage mark. On a postcard back, the vendor reserves an ink-free box for the address, the Intelligent Mail barcode ([IMb](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/imb)), the return address and the indicia. It prints white over anything a design puts there, so the Sincerely editor keeps artwork out of that box. Credits cover postage, so there is no permit to set up. Notes genuinely written by hand go out under a real stamp instead. ## Related questions - [What is a bulk mail permit?](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/bulk-mail-permit): A bulk mail permit lets a business pay USPS postage from an account instead of stamps. As of October 2026 it costs $390 to apply and $390 a year. - [What is presort mail?](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/presort): Presort mail is grouped by destination to USPS standards before entry. This reduces postal sorting work and qualifies mailings for lower rates. - [What determines direct mail postage rates?](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/postage-rates): Direct mail postage rates depend on mail class, shape, weight, presort depth, and where the mailing enters the USPS network. - [What is first-class mail vs marketing mail?](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/first-class-vs-marketing-mail): The difference between USPS First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail, and why B2B senders usually pay for First-Class. - [What is an IMb (Intelligent Mail barcode)?](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/imb): The IMb is the 65-bar USPS barcode on automated mail. It carries routing data and a tracking ID so you can follow a piece through the mail. --- Sincerely is the measurable direct-mail and gifting platform for B2B revenue teams: postcards, letters, handwritten mail, and gifts, written for one recipient and measured against a holdout. 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