Importance

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Abstract

A method participated in by a mailer, a recipient, a postage vendor (PV), and a postal service. The mailer sends an outgoing mailpiece to the recipient, who in turn assembles and mails a reply mailpiece (possibly, but not necessarily to the mailer). The reply mailpiece includes one or more components (reply component(s)) from the outgoing mailpiece, and may further include components provided by the recipient, for example a check. The outgoing mailpiece may include an outgoing envelope, in which are located a reply envelope and other inserted materials. The reply components thus include the reply envelope, and typically at least a portion of the inserted materials. The reply mailpiece bears visible indications of a reply address, a reply destination code signifying at least part of the reply address, and a mailpiece identification (MI) code uniquely identifying the reply mailpiece. The reply destination code is for use in automated sorting of the reply mailpiece, while the MI code is for use in tracking and accounting for postage of the reply mailpiece. The MI code is also applied to a portion of the outgoing mailpiece that is not used to assemble the reply mailpiece, and there may also be instructions how the recipient can use the MI code to track the reply mailpiece, for example to make sure that a payment was timely received.

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