1. Royal Mail Group:
Publishing Volume Commitment Incentive

2. What is the Publishing Volume Commitment Incentive
What is the Publishing Volume Commitment Incentive? The Publishing Volume Commitment Incentive supports the use of mail for the circulation of publishing titles. The Incentive rewards customers who post publishing mail volumes at the same level (or higher) than the year before entering into the incentive. Customers who at least match their volume target can earn postage credits on all their publishing mail volume at a rate of 2% off the Access price. The incentive can be used by any company who sends publications, whether they are organisations who send an individual title such as brand and membership magazines, or a publisher sending multiple titles. How does Publishing Volume Commitment Incentive work? The customer will need to complete and submit an application form telling us how much publishing volume they posted in total during the last 12 months. This is known as the Matched Volume Target. In the application form the customer must also forecast the total volume they expect to send during their 12 month incentive period. This is known as the Agreed Volume Commitment. If the publishing volume the customers sends during the incentive period at least equals 95% of the Matched Volume Target we will award postage credits. Postage credits will be awarded for every publishing mail item sent by the customer up to the maximum limit, (the Agreed Volume Commitment). The customer may contact us at any time, during the incentive period, to advise us of any change they expect to their Agreed Volume Commitment. 2

3. Postage Credit rate (p)
 What is the offer?
For items sent using the eligible services we are offering customers a postage credit of 2% based on the Access price.
To qualify as publishing mail the item must be a magazine, newsletter or journal which matches the definition on page 4 of this guide.
Who is eligible to participate in the incentive?
Any customer sending publishing mail items is eligible to participate for the incentive regardless of whether they post directly with Royal Mail Retail or via an Access Operator.
The incentive is available only to customers that are sending items that meet the Royal Mail definition of publishing mail as defined on page 4 of this guide.
The customer must have posted at least 250,000 Publishing Mail items in the 12 months before the date of their application and the Volume Commitment must be for at least 250,000 items.  
Royal Mail Wholesale Product Description
Format
Weight Range
Postage Credit rate (p)
70 Mailmark
Large Letter
0-100g
0.6
1400 Manual
70 Manual
0.8 g
1.0 g
1.2 g
1.6
1.9 3

4. What is Publishing Mail?
A publishing mail item is a newsletter, journal or magazine.
The front cover of each publication must clearly show its title and at least one of the following:
the date of issue;
the month;
the season; or
the issue number.
At least one-sixth of the publication must be editorial content. Editorial content does not include:
advertising material or data; or
any information relating to a product or service, such as pricing information or product descriptions, which relate to either the publisher of the magazine, the owner of the magazine or a third party.
The front and back covers are not included in calculating editorial content.
Catalogues, brochures, directories and exhibition guides are not deemed to be magazines, newsletters or journals and are therefore not eligible as Publishing Mail. Goods and articles that are in fulfilment of an order or request made to the sender, seller or supplier are also not eligible. 4

5. What items are eligible for Publishing Volume Commitment Incentive
What items are eligible for Publishing Volume Commitment Incentive? To be eligible for the incentive the items must meet the Royal Mail definition of publishing mail described on page 4 of this guide. Royal Mail will perform verification checks to confirm the titles meet the publishing mail definition. The customer must declare on their application form the name and annual volume all of their publishing mail titles. All titles will be included in the Matched Volume Target If the customer launches a new title during the incentive period the mail volume for the new title may be counted towards the matched volume target. The customer must first inform us in writing of the name of the title and the forecast volume. If any of the customers publishing mail volume is receiving postage credits from other Royal Mail incentives then the volume may be counted towards the total Matched Volume Commitment. However that volume will not be eligible for postage credits. 5

6. Name of Publishing Titles and Volume:
Application form
The customer must complete an application form to be accepted on to the Publishing Volume Commitment incentive.
Supply Chain Details:
On the application we ask for details of the customer supply chains e.g. whether they post with Royal Mail, either directly or through an Access Operator, or with an alternative delivery provider.
Name of Publishing Titles and Volume:
On the application we ask the customer to declare for each of their publishing mail titles:
Annual volume (last 12 months and next 12 months)
Frequency of posting
Average weight
Service (Mailmark or Non-Mailmark)
Note:
If the customer acquires a new publication from a third party during the incentive period, they may add this volume by informing us in writing, however this will result in an increase to the Matched Volume Commitment. 6

7. Calculation and Payment of Postage Credits
The customer must submit a claim for postage credit using a Publishing Volume Commitment Credit application form. We will check that the total volume of publishing mail items posted by the customer dung the incentive period at least equals 95% of their Matched Volume Target. If it matches we will award postage credits.
Royal Mail will check posting volumes using one or more of:
Customer Account (Retail customer) or UCID (Wholesale customer); and
Mailmark SCID (Retail and Wholesale customer)*
* The customer is not required to send their publishing mail items using the Royal Mail Mailmark® services but from a future date (which we will confirm in due course) all publishing mail items must be declared on a Mailmark e-manifest for it to count as an eligible Item. We will give at least one (1) months' notice before we introduce this requirement.
The value of the postage credits will be calculated by applying the applicable postage credit rate multiplied by the volume of eligible Items sent by the customer during the Incentive Period (up to a maximum of the Agreed Volume Commitment).
We will provide the postage credits to the customer in the form of a posting certificate which contains a unique voucher code (a Postage Credit Voucher) or, if preferred by the customer, directly into any account they may hold with Royal Mail. 7

8. Q&A: Q: How long is this incentive open for?
A: Royal Mail is accepting applications for publishing volume commitment incentives until 31st December 2018
Q: What type of items do I need to send to be eligible for this incentive?
A: You need to send publishing mail. Royal Mail defines “publishing” as a publishing
mail title or periodical
Q: How will you decide what my target volume amount should be when I apply for the incentive?
A: We will use the information you provide in the application to establish your target volume. We will validate this volume using both Royal Mail billing and supply chain data and audited external data sources such as ABC reports
Q: Do I need to include all of my publishing titles on the application form?
A: Yes, it is a requirement of the incentive that you declare all of your publishing titles and total publishing volume on your application form
Q: Are there any volume limits for my test mailing?
A: You must send a minimum of 250,000 publishing items to qualify for the incentive. There is no maximum volume. You will receive postage credit discounts for all publishing items that you send using eligible services up to 110% of your Agreed Volume Commitment.
Q: What if I add new titles during the year?
A: We understand that you may launch or acquire new titles that you did not know about at the time of applying for the incentive. Providing that you advise us prior to posting the new titles we will include the new title mail volume as part of your Matched Volume calculation.
If you are acquiring an existing title and we agree to this new volume it will result in an increase to your matched volume target and you will be required to meet 95% of this new target to be awarded postage credits. . 8

9. Q: What additional information might you need during the application stage?
A: If we have not seen your publication before we may ask you to send samples so that we can check that they meet the Royal Mail definition of publishing mail
Q: Can I send my publishing mail any formats other than Large Letter?
A: You may send your publishing items using letter or parcel format and they will still count towards your Matched Volume calculation as long as we can verify the volumes. However, only items sent using eligible large letter services are eligible for postage credits
Q: In order to calculate my postage credits how will you know which services I used?
A: We will use the supply chain details you provide in order to measure your mail volumes. It is important that you identify your mail volume to use using these supply chain details
Q: Do I need to complete a Mailmark e-manifest?
A: Not straight away but we are developing the Mailmark e-manifest to enable you to identify your mail volumes to us for the purpose of the incentive. We will provide you with a minimum of 1 months’ notice before we introduce this requirement.
Q: I don’t use Mailmark services, why do I need to complete a Mailmark e-manifest?
A: We are moving to a uniform process of using Mailmark to measure all incentive mail volume for the purpose of internal efficiencies and to help Royal Mail provide a better service to its customers.
We will therefore require you to complete a mailmark e-manifest for every posting of items that you wish to be included in the postage credit calculation. Ultimately we will use only the Mailmark data for the purpose of monitoring your mail volumes and the services you have used. 9

10. Q&A:
Q: What happens if I do not send enough publishing items to match the volume I sent last year?
A: You will only receive postage credits if you match at least 95% of the volume of publishing mail you sent during the last year.
Q: How do I claim my postage credit?
A: Within 6 months of the incentive period you must complete a Postage Credit Application detailing your publishing mail postings and send it to and write ‘Postage Credit Application’ in the subject bar.
Q: How will I receive my postage credit?
A: Postage Credits will be awarded to you via in the form of a posting certificate which contains a unique voucher code. Or we can pay the credit directly into an account you hold with Royal Mail if you would prefer this and you state this on your credit application form.
Q: How long will my postage credit vouchers be valid for?
A: Postage credit vouchers are valid for 12 months from date of issue.
Q: How do I redeem a postage credit?
A: You may use the postage credit towards payment of an invoice for any future posting. Postage Credit vouchers may be redeemed directly with Royal Mail, an access operator or with a mailing house that has signed a Voucher Redemption and Reimbursement Agreement. You will be provided with a voucher redemption form containing full instructions about how to redeem the voucher.
Q: Can I redeem Postage Credits with any mail provider?
A: Yes, the postage credit vouchers can be redeemed with any participating mail provider. 10

11. How to Apply and Enquiries:
To apply please complete an application form using the link at and submit this to
If you have any questions, or require further information regarding the Publishing Volume Commitment Incentive or any of our other incentives, please contact Royal Mail either:
By or
Visit Royal Mail online at: 11