A permit imprint (indicia) is a convenient way to pay for bulk postage, no buying postage in advance, resetting meters or affixing stamps.  A permit imprint or permit indicia can take the place of a postage stamp or metered stamp by preprinting or stamping it on your mail piece in the upper right hand corner in the place of a regular postage stamp.  The permit imprint requires a permit through the post office which has an initial fee of $160.00 to open and an annual fee of $160.00 to maintain.  All mail with a preprinted permit indicia must be entered into a Bulk Mail Entry Unit (BMEU) before it enters the mail stream.  If you want to mail individual leftover pieces of mail that have a permit imprint on them you can,  you will need to cover up the imprint with a regular postage stamp before placing the mail in the mailbox like normal.  The use of a preprinted permit eliminates the need for applying stamps or metering the mail saving you money in mail processing.  We offer the free use of our First class or Standard Class permit to all of our customers who we process mail for.  When using a permit on your mail piece it is important that each piece of mail is identical in paper size and weight.  When permitted mail is entered into the BMEU the number of pieces is verified by first weighing a small number of pieces then weighing the entire mailing to determine the overall weight.  Next the information is used to compare with the paperwork we are submitting which claims a piece count.  If the paper weight or size varies it will effect the overall weight of the mailing and may result in additional charges to you.  When using a permit make sure you follow the samples below and include each of the 5 lines indicated, do not leave out any of the information.  Below are samples of our permit indicias.  The first permit is used for Standard Class presorted mail, often referred to as bulk mail and has a 200 piece or 50 pound minimum.  The second permit is used for non-profit mailers who have authorization to mail at non-profit rates through the post office and do not wish to have their own permit or have authorization to mail in Seattle but maintain a permit in another city. The third permit is used for 1st Class mail that has been presorted and has a 500 piece minimum.  The fourth permit is used for fully paid 1st class mail and saves you from needing to affix a stamp, this permit also requires a 500 piece minimum.  The fourth permit is the only permit not requiring any type of presorting.