With more and more people using electronic transfers of bill payments, is it fair the Post Office will be...?

Question

charging more for a postage stamp..? Is this a rip-off by the Post Office..?

Post Office May Issue 'Forever' Stamp
First-Class Rate Would Rise to 41 Cents
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
AP
WASHINGTON (Feb. 26) -- A postal regulatory commission recommended a 2-cent increase in the cost of mailing a letter Monday and urged the Post Office to introduce a "forever" stamp valid for first-class postage even when rates rise.

The recommendation to increase postage to 41 cents was a penny less than the postal service had requested.

The commission recommended a 26-cent rate for post cards, also a penny less than the Post Office had sought.

The first ounce of a first-class mail would rise to 41 cents, but each additional ounce would cost 17 cents under the proposal. Currently, each additional ounce of first-class mail costs 24 cents.

The matter now goes back to the Board of Governors of the Postal Service for a decision on whether to accept the recommendation or ask the commission to reconsider. If the governors accept the recommendations the new rates could be implemented in 60 days.

A key part of the plan is the so-called forever stamp, which would allow consumers to hedge against future rate increases.

The stamp, which would not show a denomination, would sell for the first-class rate at the time of purchase and would remain valid for mailing permanently, even if rates increase.

Answer 1

Being a retired Postal worker, I see things in a different way. The reason that rates are going up is mainly due to the fact that Bulk Mailers have a large lobby and have been getting away with murder for decades, shifting the cost of their mailings onto the public at large. But it's more than them getting the Board of Governors to "see things their way" - there is a more sinister element at work you need to be aware of.

Most may not know this, but for the "average" Route there is most likely more Third Class (Bulk) mail delivered than all other forms combined. The Post Office loves that because, except for the extremely high-volume days like after a Holiday, they can have a good estimate of the time a typical Route will take to be delivered because the base volume only fluctuates if the "real" mail fluctuates. In fact, most of the cost of delivering can be attributed to "junk" mail. I personally saw days during emergencies (5 sick calls out of 15 routes) when the Supervisor had a free hand in curtailing all unnecessary mail, with the result that I personally was able to do my route, sort two others and deliver half of another one - so about 50% of the cost was caused by "junk" mail.

But that's not all. The real effect all that "junk" mail has on the cost of delivering mail when the "junk" gets unleashed in torrents is that it drives overtime through the roof - and simultaneously stresses out the carriers because their Supervisors use threats to make sure they under-report OT caused by the "junk", which, as an ex-Union Steward, I can tell you was the cause of most of the Grievances I had to file. Those of us in the Craft (as Union members call themselves) tried to explain to Management that it would behoove them to give decent Bulk Mailers the option of spreading the mail out over two-three days and giving them a slight rate break by their help in reducing OT (which causes an increase in the cost of doing business), thereby reducing stress AND sick calls (most sick calls IMO are the result of stress or being mad at a Supervisor).

But so far the Big Guys (like Macy's, Williams Sonoma, et al) have resisted, because they see the past history of how Postal Supervisors were able to intimidate the carriers into getting it done regardless of safety issues, such as the time when I and my co-workers were ORDERED to go out with Miner's lantern-style hats and deliver in pitch dark because a big-wig happened to come by looking for trouble and found some "curtailed" mail (that deliberately postponed so the Supervisor would not get into trouble for assigning too much overtime). In this case some were actually forced to work more than 12 hours/more than 60 hrs that week, which is against Federal Statutes. Better believe my first thing the next day was to file several Grievances - we won about $1,000 each for 15 guys. Bettter believe that crap stopped!

So the Bulk Mailers have hoodwinked the Board of Governors and the American Public, shifting the blame to "those lazy carriers and their healthcare costs", allowing the little guy (YOU) to shoulder the burden of rising costs, all the while adding stress to the workers who are caught in the middle and, like me, could not WAIT to get out of that hell-hole.

BTW the "hedge" is a smokescreen. They hope a lot of people will buy two-three years' of postage at a time - if you lose it, NO refund!!! That way they not only can have some money in the kitty earning interest, but they hope that since the stamps are already paid for, who knows - you may just increase your use of them and send more stuff. It is lose-lose for the consumer.

Answer 2

I don't know if it's fair, but it is basic business economics:
In order to make money (or just pay your bills and stay in business) you have to sell your product. You can sell high volume at low profit per, or you can sell low volume at more profit per. The post office used to raise prices because they were a virtual monopoly and we had no choice (supply and demand). Now they have to raise their prices in order to cover the revenues lost from reduced sales.

Answer 3

I guess this means fluffy is "going postal". :o)