Many businesses find the use of business reply envelopes to be of great value in obtaining fast and convenient replies, orders, or payments from customers. Following is a condensation of postal regulations governing the use of business reply envelopes:

1. An annual permit fee ($85.00) must be paid on a yearly basis. When fee is paid, user will be assigned a Permit No. which must be printed on all business reply mail envelopes (see illustration).
2. Facing Identification Marks (FIM Marks) must be printed in a prescribed location on all business reply envelopes (see illustration).
3. The postal service will upon request provide customers with a unique bar code for identifying business reply envelopes with the new 9-digit Zip Code.
4. A surcharge of 44c per piece plus first-class postage is made on each business reply envelope delivered. If envelopes do not meet the "letter-mail" size standards, an additional 11c surcharge is made.
5. If a user expects to receive more than 625 pieces of business reply mail within each calendar year, then it would be wise to establish an advance trust account with his post office ($205 annual fee). This reduces the per-piece postage surcharge from 44c to 10c.
6. The BRMAS System (Business Reply Mail Accounting System) enables a user to further reduce the per-piece postal surcharge from 10c to 2c if the following requirements are met:
   1. Mailer must submit a letter to his local Postmaster requesting to participate in the BRMAS program;
   2. Mailer must submit two pre-production sample BRM pieces showing the proper ZIP +4 codes, barcodes, and other BRMAS required markings;
   3. Payment of an annual permit and accounting fee of $205