It has been over a year since US Postal Rates increased, but prices went up again - effective today, Monday May 14th.
There is a quote from the Postmaster General in an article published on Yahoo! News this morning:
Postmaster General John Potter has said that even with the higher prices the agency expects a deficit this year as it struggles to compete in a swiftly changing communications market.
For me personally, there is very little impact. I use the postal system less and less each year. Bills can be paid by automatic debit or bank draft, messages can be sent online, etc. I generally only mail one item per month, for a total of a dozen stamps used each year.
It's easy to see why the US Postal Service is suffering in the "swiftly changing communications market".
On the other hand, I order products online more and more. And while the shipping charges are generally free for me (the customer)... they are paid by the shipper. With the rise in online shopping and therefore package deliveries, you would think it would offset the decline in the use of first class mail.
For those of you that use the US Postal service regularly for mailings and shipments, I would be interested to hear how this will affect you directly.
But envelopes that don't bend or are thicker than normal — such as eBay purchases — will cost more.
It's the first time the U.S. Postal Service is charging by the shape of the mail, and many mail-intensive businesses will take a big hit. (source)
Your thoughts are welcomed...
Best,
Technorati Tags: 41 cents, forever stamp, ebay sellers, us postal rates, priority mail
About Lynn Terry
Just to put things in perspective, you still pay half of what we pay over here in Sweden. And Sweden is a really small country.
On the other hand, I don't really suffer since I almost never use regular mail. But I do get a few mails per day from banks and similars, so I suppose I am paying a lot of postage indirectly.
Oh, it's affecting us. However I was happy to see our prices went down on a few of the items we ship via first class, (3.3 ounces & 9.3 ounces).
I was speaking with someone at our local PO when I went to get stamps and she was saying she thought they were trying to get people to use click-n-ship more. We use that now for many of our larger shipments, but from what I understand there are limitations on what you can ship that way.
We use the USPS mostly because we're in a rural area and they will come to us to pick up packages every day (including Saturdays) at no charge. Also, you can get stamps delivered to you at no charge...just stick an envelope (provided by the PO) in your mailbox with your order & payment, and the next day you'll have stamps. 😉