Quick answer: every EDDM piece needs exactly two things printed on it — the EDDM Retail indicia (a small postage-paid box reading PRSRT STD / ECRWSS / U.S. POSTAGE / PAID / EDDM RETAIL) and the address block ("Local Postal Customer" for Retail mailings). The whole label has to sit on the top half of the address side. No stamp, no meter, no permit number, no recipient names — that's the entire point of EDDM.
Last updated: June 2026. Formats from the official USPS EDDM Quick Reference Guide.
What an Indicia Is (and Why EDDM Gets Its Own)
An indicia (the printing trade says "in-DEE-sha") is a printed marking that replaces a stamp or meter strip — it tells the Post Office the postage on this piece is paid, and how. Most indicia require a paid USPS permit with an annual fee and your permit number printed in the box. EDDM Retail is the exception: USPS created a special permit-free indicia so small businesses could mail neighborhoods without opening a permit account. You print the approved wording, pay postage at the counter when you drop the mailing, and that's it.
One head-scratcher up front: the indicia still says "PRSRT STD" (Presorted Standard) even though USPS renamed the class "USPS Marketing Mail" back in 2017. The approved indicia text never changed — print it exactly as shown, even though the class name on your paperwork says Marketing Mail.
The EDDM Retail Indicia, Exactly As USPS Wants It
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
EDDM RETAIL
Five lines, in a visible box, and every one of them matters:
- PRSRT STD — the mail class (Presorted Standard, today's USPS Marketing Mail).
- ECRWSS — short for Enhanced Carrier Route Walk Sequence Saturation. Translation: this mailing saturates an entire carrier route in the order the carrier walks it. USPS requires "ECRWSS" to appear either in the address area or within/below the indicia — putting it in the indicia (as shown) covers you.
- U.S. POSTAGE / PAID — the actual postage statement.
- EDDM RETAIL — tells the acceptance clerk which program (and which payment flow) this mailing belongs to.
Three practical rules we hold every file to:
- No stamps, no meter strips, no online-postage labels. EDDM Retail postage is paid at acceptance — the indicia is the only postage marking allowed on the piece.
- Keep it legible. USPS doesn't publish a minimum point size for this indicia, but the clerk has to read it at the counter. Our house rule: dark type on a light background, roughly 1" wide, never reversed out of a photo or buried in artwork.
- Reuse it forever. The Retail indicia has no date, ZIP, or permit number in it — the same artwork is valid on every EDDM Retail mailing you ever send. Build it into your template once and stop thinking about it.
The Address Block: "Local Postal Customer" and Its BMEU Cousins
EDDM's superpower is that you don't address anything to anyone. Instead of a name and street address, every piece carries a generic address block — and the wording depends on how you enter the mailing:
| Address block | Entry method | Who receives it |
|---|---|---|
| Local Postal Customer | EDDM Retail (Post Office counter) | Every active delivery on the route — homes and businesses |
| Postal Customer | BMEU (permit) | All active deliveries, business and residential |
| Residential Customer | BMEU (permit) | Residential deliveries only — skips businesses |
| PO Box Customer | BMEU (permit) | PO Box deliveries |
Notice what's not on the Retail row: a homes-only option. At the Retail counter, "Local Postal Customer" is your only choice, and it goes to every active delivery on the route. If you need to skip businesses, that's a BMEU mailing with the "Residential Customer" block — we cover the full Retail-vs-BMEU decision in its own chapter of this guide. (The USPS mapping tool does let you see residential vs. business counts per route, so you can at least pick routes that are nearly all homes.)
BMEU pieces also carry an optical-sort line above the address block — *********ECRWSSEDDM**** — and USPS recommends (but doesn't require) the city, state, and 5-digit ZIP underneath. And one genuinely obscure rule that trips up oversized pieces: at a BMEU, any piece longer than 10.5" up to and including 11.5" must include "EDDM" immediately after "ECRWSS" on the label line. Retail pieces don't carry any of this — "Local Postal Customer" alone is the approved format.
Placement: The Top-Half Rule Most Designers Miss
USPS's placement rule is short but strict: the entire mailing label must sit on the "top half" of the mailpiece — and "top half" is defined by the piece itself, not by your layout. Per the Quick Reference Guide:
- Length is always the longest side, and the shortest end is always the top half. On a 9" × 6.5" postcard held landscape, the top half is the upper 3.25".
- Orientation is flexible — the label can run parallel to the long or the short edge — with one exception: a label running parallel to the shortest end must not be upside down.
- Folded pieces (like the 4.25" × 14" tri-fold menu) carry the label on an outside panel, with the final fold on the bottom edge — which keeps the label on the top half automatically.
Here's the trap: generic direct-mail advice — including our own pre-print checklist for addressed campaigns — puts the address block in the lower right, where USPS barcode equipment reads addressed mail. EDDM is the opposite. There's no barcode and no address to read; the label goes up top. Designers who reflexively drop the address block bottom-right build a piece the clerk can refuse.
Two finishing touches that keep clerks happy: leave clear space around the indicia and address block (no busy photography or dark backgrounds behind them), and keep the bottom half for your offer — that's the half the homeowner actually reads. Our size-requirements chapter covers what the piece itself has to measure.
What's Required vs. Just Recommended
| Element | Required? |
|---|---|
| Five-line EDDM Retail indicia, in a box, on the address side | Required |
| "ECRWSS" in the address area or within/below the indicia | Required |
| "Local Postal Customer" address block (Retail) | Required |
| Entire label on the top half of the piece | Required |
| City, state, ZIP under the address block | Optional (USPS recommends it for BMEU; Retail pieces typically omit it) |
| Return address | Optional — but we recommend it: it's free branding, and it's where undeliverable pieces would go |
| Your own permit number | Not needed for Retail; BMEU mailings print under a permit (yours or ours) |
| Stamp, meter strip, or online postage | Not allowed — postage is paid at acceptance |
| Recipient names or street addresses | Never — EDDM has no mailing list by design |
What Happens If You Get It Wrong
The same thing that happens with a wrong-sized piece: the clerk refuses the mailing at acceptance — after you've already paid for printing. The misses we see most, roughly in order:
- No indicia at all — the designer left a blank corner assuming someone else adds it.
- Address block placed lower-right, letter-style, putting the label on the bottom half.
- Missing "ECRWSS" — a hand-typed indicia that skipped line two.
- Indicia reversed out of artwork — white type on a photo the clerk can't read.
- "Local Postal Customer" reworded — "Dear Neighbor" is charming and non-compliant.
We place the panel for you — free. Every EDDM job at Catdi Printing gets the indicia and address block added (or checked) before it touches a press, and we'll send you a sized template with the panel pre-built if you're designing in-house. Start an EDDM quote and ask for the template.
EDDM Indicia & Addressing FAQ
Can I use a stamp or postage meter instead of the indicia?
No. EDDM Retail postage is paid when the mailing is accepted at the Post Office, and the printed indicia is the only approved postage marking. A stamped piece isn't an EDDM piece.
Do I need my own USPS permit?
Not for EDDM Retail — the permit-free indicia is the program's headline feature. BMEU-entered EDDM does require a Marketing Mail permit, but you can mail under your printer's permit; we run BMEU drops under ours so clients never buy one.
Does the indicia have to be black, or a certain size?
USPS specifies the wording and the box, not a point size or color. The working standard: dark, legible type on a light background, big enough to read at arm's length — about 1" wide is the comfortable minimum we print.
Is the indicia different for each ZIP code or mailing?
No. The Retail indicia contains no ZIP, date, or permit number — the identical five lines are valid on every EDDM Retail mailing, anywhere in the country. Set it once in your template.
Can the address block say something friendlier than "Local Postal Customer"?
No — the wording is the approved format, exactly. Put the friendly copy in the bottom half of the piece, where you have free rein.
Which side of the postcard does the panel go on?
Either side can be the address side — but whichever side carries the indicia and address block is it, and the whole label must sit on that side's top half. Most clients put the panel on the "back" and save the full front for the offer.
Do I need a return address?
Not required for EDDM. We recommend printing your logo, address, and phone in the top-left anyway — it's credibility, it's a second impression, and it costs nothing.
Get the Panel Right Before You Print
Send us your artwork — or just your size and a logo — and we'll place the indicia and address block to spec, size-check the piece, and price the run with postage itemized as a pass-through (you pay exactly what USPS charges). Start with an EDDM quote, see our full EDDM service, or call (713) 882-4629 — a Houston print rep picks up, not a phone tree.