50-Cent Stamp, Other Postal Changes Coming

So we’re going to raise the rate for first class stamps again! Instead, why don’t we raise the rate on all of the junk mail I seem to get? The first class mail is subsidizing all of the junk. If we make the rates the same on both I suspect the post office would be profitable enough to stop raising the price of mailing a letter!

Every single day my mailbox is stuffed with garbage mail from car dealers, furniture stores, local merchants, magazines, solicitations, travel agencies, all sorts of stuff I never asked to have sent to me. It’s called JUNK MAIL! And every time I mail a First Class letter, I am subsidizing all this junk mail, which I take UNREAD directly from the mailbox to the trash basket, and then pay to have hauled away in the garbage. STOP THIS INSANITY! Raise junk mail prices to meet their cost to the post office, and leave my first class rates alone!

I always liked his early songs. Should he get a stamp ? He got my stamp of approval.

Decreasing services and making them more expensive is not a very smart way to make a business more competitive.

lets see we are losing money due to less mail being processed, so lets raise our rates , slow down our delivery and make less efficiant for people to use us, yeah that will get us alot of new business. hmmm what happens when bureucrats run a business…….idiots

Stop selling all the extra garbage at the post office as well. I don’t need birthday/get well/etc cards, no dolls, no pretty packages, whatever other stuff is hanging on the wall for sell. They should only be selling stamps and taking mail. Pre-sorted, Non-profit, Blind, etc should pay the same rate as everyone else. Try adding in town/out of town mail boxes. So much mail is needlessly sent to far off locations only to be resent back down to the location down the street.

I bough a bunch of Forever stamps when they were first issued. That seems to be one of the best investments I ever made!

All it takes is one trip to the local post office to observe how inefficient the place is ran. The worker at thecounter should collect the money in a quick transaction and not to spend 30 min. on explanation on how people should fill out form and package their goods. These helping operations should be staffed to a separate table to answer inquireies and help people who needs help. For the rest of us, we just want to pay at the counter and avoid the line of 45 min. wait. With this small change in Service policy, I think the post office can collect more revenue. Increase the speed of serving the customers at the counter to collect money is key.

Hate to disappoint you Steve and Dr Bob, but rates for Standard Mail (what you call “junk mail” went up as well). Rates went up across the board. And for those of you who complain about the “junk mail” in your mailbox; if it weren’t for the “junk mail” you would be paying over $1.00 for a letter!! I love how people who have never seen what it takes to get a letter from one mailbox to another complains about the cost of a letter. The processing plants are a thing of wonder including machines that will flip an envelope right side up and facing forward in order to cancel the stamp. And that is just one machine that the one letter passes through. For those who say, “I remember when a stamp was a nickel!!” Well, I can remember when a Snickers bar was a nickel. How much is that now? Over $1.00. Stop complaining and be grateful you life in a country that has the great postal service in the world. GEEZ!!!

maybe i am missing something here. if postage goes up, and sat. deliveries are ceased, that translates into $3.7 billion. where is the rest of the yearly projected loss of over $18 billion supposed to come from. i am sick to death of hearing about USPS woes and how it’ caused by their supposed lowest rates anywhere. how did they survive for so many years at a profit? what happened to way they ran it back then? maybe the powers that be see the unfortuitous end to postal service as we know it, and are socking away billions in private accounts.

Marcel, ther rest of the savings will come from reduction in the workforce. This will happen largely in the letter carrier group. There will also be a fuel cost saving, all those mail trucks will not be burning fuel on Saturday. It would be a huge savings, I do not know the exact number, but makes good business sense. I cannot beleive I just said “good business sense” in reference to the postal service, but in this case, it is. Forget telling them to get rid of the top-heavy management, they are in denial about that, and will contiue to stay that way. Who really cares if they get mail on Saturday anyway?

The Post Office is such a torturous experience; full of long lines with minimal staffing of old faces filled with monotone voices — you show me ONE person who LIKES to go to the Post Office and I’ll find you Obama’s US Birth Certificate! To continue to raise the price of an antiquated system seems like an oxymoron — why not join the rest of the shipping industry, who’s taking your business, and add in some Customer Service!

I agree with all of y’all. It is rediculous the amount of junk mail that we get. On email I can understand it, even though I don’t like it in there either, but as soon as we visit a site whether we subscribe from them or not, you can bet on hearing from them, but you can delete them by unsubscribing. So no problem there.

Why doesn’t the USPS look at all the mistakes that are being made by their carriers, like always putting someone else’s mail in the wrong box. The carriers are coming later and later everyday. What about calling the post office because you are having a problem. I still remember the turmoil I went through one time, when I found charges on my debit account at the bank for postage services where I could print them from home. I never ordered anything like it. I went on line and ordered a roll of 100 stamps, that was all I ordered. I kept getting shuffled back and forth between the online usps and the post office and neither one would do anything about it. So the way I see it,if they raise the postage, we are the ones paying for their mistakes.

Kathy

The USPS has no one to blame but itself. They paid no attention to the advances of email, other mail/parcel services. So far, in my area, small post offices have been put out of business, allowing its customers to drive lengthy distances to retrieve their mail. Those people have a right to try mail services elsewhere. If the USPS thinks that pricing their services to the point where alternative mail services are the better option, then the USPS needs to rethink what it’s doing. Why waste millions of dollars trying to sell useless “gift” items that are pure junk and over priced. The P.O. could make more money by not wasting money on superfluous junk.

Many years ago I took the postal workers exam, and I passed it and landed in the top 10%. Did I get the job? No. It IS a tough job physically and mind-bending mentally. Yet there are many people who been there for years and love their job. I went to work for the Feds, in another department.

If the USPS wants to play stupid and think the public will have sympathy for them, they need to think again. However, I agree that now is the time to start buying and hoarding the Forever stamps.

Today’s postal workers make too many mistakes and too much money and don’t really care about what they’re doing or the customers they’re ticking off. I’ve had a number of bad experiences since I’ve moved to my new location, and I hate having to deal with the postal system at all. It they don’t care about their job or the customers they’re dealing with, then they can raise their rates through the roof, and I can quit sending cards and using email. I can use another shipping service for parcels. If they want to tick me off, then I can take my business elsewhere. They aren’t seeing they have plenty of competition waiting to take the place of the P.O. I don’t think they can raise postal rates to 50-cents without many fights and arguments against the USPS. .

USPS sucks big time. I don’t receive but 2 or 3 mails a month that are relevant to me. All bills are paid on line. Paychecks are electronically deposited. The USPS is so out of touch like the slow pony galloping across the desert picture. And I don’t work in a union environment so I hate union. And I don’t get early retirement so I hate early retirement.

Complain about the 50 cents, but have you lately tried to send a letter with UPS or Fed-Ex. We need the US Postoffice, so support it. Mail a Thank You card for the gifts you received in the past, the recipient would be surprised and think you care. Most Grandparents are not up to speed on e-mails, but would appreciate a hand written note.

I am really tired of all the so-called experts who know everything about the Postal Service and NEVER worked there. Part of my job was to train the new people who were just starting and if I had a dime for all the people who couldn’t cut it, I’d have retired by now. Most of the people making those comments wouldn’t last a DAY doing my job. And many didn’t. My favorite quip from one of the quitters was “Too much work.” Gotta love it. The postal haters are here to stay, and I for one am not going to try to convince them otherwise. Someone is always trying to cut us down. Do we make mistakes? Are we human? Are they done on purpose? I’d like to see these complainers work ONE day, bet we wouldn’t hear a peep. And as far as the “Postal Bailout”, what postal bailout? We haven’t asked for one cent from the “Taxpayers”. We don’t get anything from the taxpayers except their patronage. I’m actually tired of trying to explain that one. But these know-it-alls will spew their ignorance around and you know what they say, ignorance is contageous. The newcasters aren’t much better. They have their angle, so much for unbiased news. We are not asking for sympathy, but if you think the U.S. will be better without it, think again. Anyone price how much it is for UPS or FEDEX to express anything? or send a letter for that matter? Think about the elderly, who still rely on stamps to send their bills and cards and letters. You think the world is an unfriendly place now? Just wait.

I’ve just spent fifteen minuters reading all the above comments about USPS. 75% look like they are from whiners and 25% read like they are from USPS employees. Most need to realize that the cost of doing business and the cost of living has increased as much for one as for the other.

For the worry-free trip you will remember for many years, you should always be designed with the important points. It’s always safer to be secure than sorry, specially when you might be going to a strange country. Age Concern travel insurance manages a lot of things you worry about, but other companies apparently disregard. Plan well in advance, learn more about what Age Concern travel insurance can give, and enjoy your travels regardless of how far the fun and excitement walks you