Undeliverable as Addressed Mail: Facts, Figures, and Fixes (Part 1)
In the classic song “Return to Sender,” Elvis laments the fact that his apology letter came back in the mail—no such number, no such zone. Though the system has since undergone a few updates, the fact remains the same: His letter was known by the USPS as Undeliverable as Addressed (UAA) Mail.
For individuals, this can be an annoyance, a yellow label that effectively tells them to double-check their addresses and possibly write a bit more legibly.
For business mailers, however, this can become a costly issue. Because this isn’t simply one mailpiece sent. It’s not even just one percent of mail. It’s roughly four percent. And the costs can stack up.
Today, we’re looking at Undeliverable as Addressed Mail, exploring what it is, the reasons it could be considered undeliverable, how the USPS treats UAA and NIXIE Mail, and the costs it can have if left untreated.
Know Your Enemy: Undeliverable as Addressed (UAA) Mail
It’s a threat to your budget. It’s a waste of paper and postage. And it’s a drain on the entire Postal System. It’s Undeliverable as Addressed (UAA) Mail, and it’s a waste of time and money both for the USPS and the mailer.
What Is Undeliverable as Addressed Mail?
Undeliverable as Addressed (UAA) Mail is any mailpiece that cannot be delivered to the name and/or address printed on the piece. This requires the USPS to either forward the piece, return it, or properly dispose of it.
Whether it’s in the form of First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail, a Periodical, or Package Services, UAA is costly for everyone involved and can have a significant impact both on postal operations and the success of your campaigns.
Why Might Mail Be Considered Undeliverable?
There’s no sole cause for Undeliverable as Addressed Mail. In fact, the USPS cites five main categories of Undeliverable as Addressed Mail:
The individual, family, or business to which it is addressed has moved.
The address is incomplete, incorrect, or illegible.
The addressee is unknown or deceased.
The addressee refuses or fails to claim the mail.
The necessary postage has not been paid.
If you look at any of the UAA datasets, there are 16 defined reasons that fall into two main buckets: COA and NIXIE.
Change of Address (COA)
For some mailpieces, the USPS can see that a recipient has moved. When it comes to UAA, Change of Address (COA) includes potential recipients who have registered a move. But this only includes a limited set of individuals, families, and businesses (those who file an official Change of Address with the USPS).
It’s highly recommended a mailer runs their list through National Change of Address databases before sending. If you see a recipient changed their address, you can mitigate risk by updating the address yourself (something we’ll discuss in part 2). If you rely on the USPS to do it for you, it might not reach the recipient (more on that below).
NIXIE
Derived from the English slang ‘nix’ and the suffix ‘-ie’, the term NIXIE can refer to the mailpieces considered undeliverable or the people/systems in place to determine what to do with this mail.
This makes up the majority of undeliverable mail and often occurs when addresses are incomplete, incorrect, or unreadable; the recipient is deceased; or forwarding is impossible.
How Does the USPS Treat UAA Mail?
The USPS prides itself on timely, accurate delivery. And knowing this, they can only do so much with the mail for whom they can’t deliver. Depending on the class of mail sent and the reason it’s considered undeliverable, the USPS has different default handling processes in place:
| Reason for UAA | First-Class Mail | Marketing Mail | Periodicals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change of Address (COA) | Less than 180 Days: Forward More than 180 Days: Manually Return to Sender (RTS) |
Destroy—No Notification | Forward for first 60 days |
| NIXIE | Manually Return to Sender | Destroy—No Notification | Return to Sender |
UAA by the Numbers
Whether they shred it, return it, or forward it, the USPS has no choice but to deal with UAA mail. And unlike the simplicity of an email bounce, this occurs after you have paid for the printing, processing and postage.
More Than a Billion Dollars Lost Annually
If you want some good news, FY 2023 had the lowest volume and percentage of UAA mail in the past 25 years. Compared to FY 1998 (Oct 97-Sep 98), mailpieces considered undeliverable were cut in half—from 9.3 to 4.37 billion. It’s great news… Until you realize that the average cost per unit recorded has nearly doubled.
Each and every single year over the past quarter century, UAA has been a billion dollar problem. In FY 2023, the nearly four and a half billion UAA mailpieces set mailers back $1,325,542,000.
It’s Probably Not Getting Where It’s Supposed to Go
As mentioned in our section on how USPS treats UAA mail, the entity will generally forward COA First-Class Mail for the first 180 days, and periodicals for the first 60. Unfortunately, in FY 2023, forwarded First-Class Mail only made up 25% of First-Class Mail deemed undeliverable.
Though the 1998-2023 Roll-Up only looks at First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail, the numbers are staggering:
1.2 billion pieces of First-Class Mail were returned to sender in FY 2023, representing 63% of the mail class. At $0.576 per piece, returned First-Class Mail cost nearly $700 million.
The USPS shredded 2.25 billion pieces of Marketing Mail in FY 2023.
The USPS has come across 103 billion undeliverable mailpieces, and shredded nearly two-thirds of them in the past fifteen years.
How Much Can UAA Mail Cost You?
There’s something beautiful about direct mail. Not only does it allow a business to create a personalized, memorable, and engaging experience through design, its effectiveness is unmatched. But when it’s undeliverable, it’s not doing the work it’s supposed to do.
Direct Costs
UAA mail is a budgetary vampire. It quietly sucks the life out of a direct mail campaign.
If you send a million pieces of mail at $0.40/piece and only 1% is considered undeliverable, you just wasted $4,000.
But here’s the problem: The average rate of undeliverable mail isn’t 1%. It’s somewhere between three and six percent. So it’s not just $4,000 lost for every million pieces of mail, it’s somewhere between $12,000 and $24,000.
So, whether it’s forwarded, treated as waste, or returned to sender, the direct costs add up.
Opportunity Cost
Direct monetary loss on printing and postage is bad enough. But it’s easily tracked. Unfortunately, that’s only part of the equation. Opportunity cost is the other.
Imagine that you’re sending an extremely time sensitive message to a very specific, highly lucrative, yet somewhat outdated segment of your list. The mail goes out on time, and your mailpiece is in the system. Unfortunately, something went wrong and the mail was deemed UAA. Now what?
If the mailpiece is sent First-Class AND the recipient has a documented as a Change of Address (COA), the USPS might be able to forward it in time. If it’s sent as Marketing Mail, it’s most likely gone. Either way, that whale of a target was unable to act in time. That’s the hidden risk of UAA—and another reason why it’s so important to keep it under control.
Slaying the Beast: The Many Ways to Fight UAA Mail
Though the numbers are staggering, they represent mail coming from a wide range of mailers and mail service providers that may not have the best systems in place. But now that you know the risks, costs, and challenges, it’s time to understand the preventative measures and remedies for Undeliverable as Addressed Mail.
In part two of this blog, we will explore some of the best ways to maintain mailing list hygiene so that you can become part of the solution. Among the topics to be discussed:
Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS)
National Change of Address (NCOA)
Proprietary Change of Address (PCOA)
The Move Update Standard
USPS’ Address Correction Service
How to Use the Correct STID
And more…
Stay tuned—and follow Sepire on LinkedIn for all the latest updates.
Mail Done Right: At Sepire, It Comes Standard
Getting the right message to the right person at the right time is no easy feat. There are so many steps that go into the process—and so many places where a campaign can go awry.
If you’re looking to partner with a company whose Touch & Toss workflow ensures printing perfection and whose pre-mail data hygiene process maximizes deliverability, and whose reporting capabilities deliver unmatched transparency, look no further than Sepire.
As specialists in the field, we have perfected the process of secure and direct mail. Because for our clients, anything less than perfection isn’t good enough.
From regulated industries to personalized marketing, we’re always asking how we can do more to help companies like you.
Learn more about us and schedule a time to talk by visiting our contact page.