U.S. Postal Service Proposes Raising Stamp Prices Again

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: New York Times

April 10, 2024, 1:35 a.m. ET


The United States Postal Service on Tuesday proposed an overall increase of nearly 8 percent on the price of postage, the latest in a series of stamp hikes over the past three years.

The new prices would take effect in July, pending approval from an independent regulatory commission. Among other changes, a Forever stamp would cost 73 cents instead of 68 cents, and the price of a domestic postcard would rise to 56 cents from 53 cents.

The proposed changes, like several others since 2021, are part of the service’s 10-year plan to raise prices and slow some deliveries, among other measures, to try to recoup $160 billion in projected losses over a decade.

The Postal Service has faced financial issues for years because it is required to fund retiree health care benefits for its employees in advance. It’s also facing headwinds, like other postal services globally, as fewer people send mail. Its operations are generally not funded by tax revenues.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/us/postal-service-stamp-price-increase.html

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No paywall (gift)

[Autumn]

1. I have the Daily Digest from the post office that notifies me 6 days a week what mail is going to

be delivered in my mailbox. I get an e mail with pictures of the mail every morning. My mail carrier, a private contractor delivers me mail two, sometimes three days a week. Pay more get less. The post office is sinking fast.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. They will actually run the Digest emails 7 days a week

to capture if something is scheduled to be delivered on Sunday (I have that Digest service as well - really convenient to know what is coming - like my mail ballot)!

[bucolic_frolic]

2. I get 3 important pieces of mail a year

I could get them electronically I think. They won't turn off my junk mail. I'd like mail delivery on the first and third Saturday of the month, only.

Packages are so expensive ... I missed that Regional Rate Boxes were discontinued over a year ago.
https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Regional-Rate-Boxes

Effective January 22, 2023, Regional Rate Box pricing has been discontinued. Remaining Regional Rate Boxes can still be used for shipping, but they will be treated as weight and rate packages. Customers who currently use these boxes are encouraged to place orders before supplies are depleted.

The recommended alternative for Regional Rate Box pricing is Priority Mail™ Cubic. Priority Mail Cubic is a sub-service of Priority Mail in which commercial customers ship items using their own packaging and the pricing is based on the outer dimensions of the package rather than weight. In addition:

This option offers similar cost savings as Regional Rate boxes.
Priority Mail Cubic packages must measure 0.5 cubic feet or less, weigh 20 pounds or less, and the longest dimension may not exceed 18 inches.
Priority Mail Cubic has zone pricing with five price tiers up to 0.5 cubic feet

[groundloop]

3. And yet again.... why hasn't Louis DeJoy been replaced?

[Rebl2]

10. Apparently

Biden is fine with him. I ordered something from a department store, said it was delivered to my PO BOX. That was over a week ago and still haven’t received it. Think it was put in wrong box and that person decided to keep it I guess. Why I don’t know.

[forgotmylogin]

5. This is fine.

The fact that it currently costs less than a dollar to physically transport a letter or paperwork to someone anywhere in the United States and that it usually takes a week or less (based on USPS coverage) is astonishing.

And the price shouldn't be a problem because postal mail is not the only venue to share documents. (Which is likely the cause of the price increase - they're not making money in bulk, but just on paperwork that has to be physically sent; usually to people without computers.)

The only downside - where I work we routinely email standard documents to people which takes no time and costs nothing. We have to make a special request to physically mail something to the "I don't use a computer/I don't have a printer" people, which of course costs money when email does not. My company is trying to discourage people from demanding physical mailings except where necessary by raising the delivery window from "14 business days" to 4-6 weeks. I don't think it's actually taking that long, but they are severely trying to limit physical mailings of generic paperwork to save money...and I guess paper as well.

I remember how stuck my Luddite father was who refused to have internet. The IRS used to mail tax forms to everyone routinely. Then they stopped mailing automatically and provided free forms you could pick up in the post office. Now you can only get mailed paper forms by calling in the request (which is frequently an hour on hold) or by requesting online. I ended up being in charge of downloading and printing 100 pages of tax documents per year and delivering or mailing them to him, until I learned it was quicker to go online and order the forms mailed to him. The request is free, but only available for like 2 months before the tax deadline.

[electric_blue68]

9. You do realize some people can't afford a computer, or a printer, and maybe don't want to use public computers at the...

library.

[SWBTATTReg]

6. Thanks for posting. I have, over the years, bought mostly forever stamps, and I have to laugh, I couldn't remember

the actual prices of stamps. Now I know!

Thanks!

[mpcamb]

7. Let's fire DeJoy instead of raising rates.

[PSPS]

8. Still cheap at twice the price. Door-to-door delivery for 73 cents? I'm certainly fine with that.