Local Bulk Mail

What is Local Bulk Mail?

Any single lot of 2,000 or more identical mail items posting to local addresses is classified as Local Bulk Mail, no matter there is a discount or not. This section serves as the guidelines on posting Local Bulk Mail.

Conditions

All posting of Local Bulk Mail shall comply with the following posting procedures and conditions.

1. All mail items must include a local return address
2. The size and weight limits of Letter Mail Format apply.  Please refer to Hongkong Post website / Post Office Guide for detailed information. The “Letter Format Indicator” is available at all post offices for reference.
3. Payment must be made at the time of posting.  Posting with pending payment will not be accepted.
4. Posting is accepted only at any of our Bulk Acceptance Offices.  Items posted by the latest time of posting (LTP) will be delivered according to the respective delivery standard.  Items posted beyond the LTP will be processed on the next working day* after posting.  The LTP of mail by different payment options are as follows:

   Bulk Ordinary

   Payment Options	Central Mail Centre	Other Bulk Acceptance Offices
   Permit and Franked Mail	5:00pm	3:00pm
   Postage Prepaid Mail^	3:00pm	12:00pm

   Remark:

   * Saturday, Sunday and public holidays are excluded.
   ^ Postage Prepaid Mail is only applicable to mail items that are being charged at local principal postage, and all MLSS Compliant Small Letters.

5. Permit account customers must submit their posting statements online at EC-ship platform (ec-ship.hongkongpost.hk) prior to the posting of mail. You may click here to download the user manual on preparing posting statements.
6. Posting Non-MLSS Compliant Mail (see Local Bulk Mail Service Posting Guide, downloadable from here) in a quantity that exceeds 50,000 identical items per day, disregarding the mail format and delivery standard, is required to submit a posting statement online at least one working day prior to the date of posting at the EC-ship platform, giving details of the posting date, posting office and mail volume.  Posting made without submitting advance posting statements as required will be processed on the next working day.
7. Local bulk mail is subject to checking by the respective Bulk Acceptance Office at the time of posting.  The mail items will be further verified by the mail processing centre. If the postage paid falls short of the required amount, the sender shall make up the difference immediately upon notification.  Such mail items will be processed only after full postage is settled and they are subject to delayed delivery.
8. All mail items in each lot of posting must be:
   1. identical in appearance, size, shape and weight;
   2. in the same format, type and delivery standard;
   3. arranged in a way so that the address sides are all facing the same direction;
   4. bundled or boxed in 50 or in multiples of 50 for Small Letters and Large Letters; properly bundled, boxed or bagged in segregation of 10 or multiples of 10 for Packets;
   5. put in mail containers with the information label facing outside;
   6. paid using the same payment option (i.e. permit, franked or postage prepaid);
   7. separated from other lots of mail.
9. The word “Economy” should be marked on the address side at the top left hand corner of the envelope for items posted as franked or prepaid (for MLSS Compliant Mail  (see Local Bulk Mail Service Posting Guide, downloadable from here)  only) for identification. As for permit mail, the word “E” or “Economy” should be printed in the Postage Paid box on the top right corner.
10. Senders or his/her mailing agent shall collect the pallet(s) that is/are used for posting from Hongkong Post within one week from the date of posting.  Hongkong Post reserves the right to charge the sender the cost of disposing of the uncollected pallets should he fail to do so in the specified time frame.

Discount

Discount is offered on posting mail items (limited to Small Letter and Large Letter formats only) that comply with the requirements of Hongkong Post’s Mechanised Letter Sorting System (MLSS)* and/or that allow to be delivered in a less speedy standard. These mail items are categorised as MLSS Compliant Mail and Bulk Economy Mail respectively.

* MLSS adopts the advanced Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to read addresses on envelopes.

MLSS Compliant Mail items are Small Letters that fully meet the specific mandatory requirements of Hongkong Post’s Mechanised Letter Sorting System.  For details of the mandatory requirements, please refer to Local Bulk Mail Service Posting Guide, download from here.

Bulk Economy Mail is delivered within three working days after posting.

Postage Rates and Delivery Standard

For the Bulk Ordinary Mail items that are not covered in this booklet, the postage rates follow those of the ordinary local mail that is being charged at the local principal postage.  The same delivery standard also applies. Please refer to here.

For customers who are interested in exploring other work-sharing options such as “Pre-sort to Delivery Offices” or “Counter Collection”, please contact your account manager or our General Enquiry Hotline at 2921 2222 for assistance.

Payment Options

There are three payment options available, namely Permit Mailing, Franked Mailing and Postage Prepaid.

Permit Mailing

To use permit mailing, simply apply for a Permit Licence with a unique Permit Number from Hongkong Post. Subject to the receipt of all the required documents, fulfilment of the terms and conditions of the specific services and payment (if applicable), your application will be processed within one working day. Payment of postage can be made by cash or EPS. You may also prearrange with Hongkong Post Financial Services Division to pay by cheque or through a Hongkong Post Deposit account.

No postage stamp is required and the articles posted under this system will not be datestamped.

Franked Mailing

To use franked mailing, simply apply for a Franker Licence (which will normally be issued within five working days, subject to the receipt of all the required documents, fulfilment of the terms and conditions of the specific services and payment (if applicable)) and prepay postage for the machine meter beforehand. Please contact our Private Franking Machine Unit at 2921 2860 for further information.

Corporate logo or slogan can be added to the franked impression for business promotion upon successful application. Franked mailing item will not be datestamped by Hongkong Post.

Notes on Using Private Franking Machine:

Frank all items to the full amount, just the same as amount sending local non-bulk mail.

A credit note will be issued by Hongkong Post Financial Services Division after posting. This serves to refund the difference between the full rate and the local bulk mail discounted rate, which can be used when the machine meter is reset next time.

For Digital franking machine, credit will be refunded by cheque.

Prepayment in Money

Postage Prepaid is acceptable for local bulk mail that is being charged at the local principal postage, including Small Letters, Large Letters and Packets, and all MLSS Compliant Small Letters. Prepaid mailing item will be datestamped by Hongkong Post.

Hong Kong

• Aberdeen Post Office
• General Post Office
• King's Road Post Office
• Morrison Hill Post Office

Kowloon

• Central Mail Centre
• Cheung Sha Wan Post Office
• Kowloon City Post Office
• Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office
• Wong Tai Sin Post Office

New Territories

• Kwai Fong Post Office
• Sai Kung Post Office
• Sha Tin Central Post Office
• Shek Wu Hui Post Office
• Tai Po Post Office
• Tsuen Wan Post Office
• Tuen Mun Central Post Office
• Yuen Long Post Office

Please click here to see the bulk posting acceptance hours.

1. How to arrange and use the different payment methods?