Postage rates go up today

Anyone know if they are still selling those 'Forever Stamps' after this rate increase? I don't mean just until they are totally gone, I mean are they going to make MORE of them for the rest of this year and next year.

US Postal service is a legalized rip-off. They increase rates without even making any public announcement! And, what do we get for this increased rate? Lost and delayed mail, rude postal employees or crazy postmen? NO matter, at the end, US Postal will loose business to other ( more reliable) carriers, so they will have no choice but to increase rate more, and soon!!

it been announced I have seen on TV, newspapers, and at the local P.O at least where I live.

Kirlak wrote:

US Postal service is a legalized rip-off. They increase rates without even making any public announcement! And, what do we get for this increased rate? Lost and delayed mail, rude postal employees or crazy postmen? NO matter, at the end, US Postal will loose business to other ( more reliable) carriers, so they will have no choice but to increase rate more, and soon!!

Find a cheaper method of sending a letter anywhere in the US. Just 42 cents, it’s still a deal. Part of the reason rates continue to climb is lost revenue to email. So many people used to send letters to family and friends. That’s been replaced with email.

I haven’t had any lost mail in years, I did recently have a customer payment delayed more than 30 days. It was postmarked when the customer claimed it was mailed but didn’t arrive for more than a month. But, that too was a rare event.

Rude employees, I’ll have to give you that one. But, I encounter rude employees in many businesses.

I’ll admit I wasn’t happy having to buy 300 one cent stamps, but it was only $3. I buy 500 stamps each time I buy stamps. That’s enough to last me 60 days.

Costco update....100--41 cent never expire stamps for 40.75

why doesn't the post office save itself some money and energy and stop delivering mail on Saturday.

Got penny?

You can still buy no-expiration 41 cent stamps for less than cost (100 for 40.75) at some of the big-box stores...

sorry about the double entry--slow connection in posting made me think I got zapped for the brand name

JackSchidtTypWytPrsn wrote:

This is exactly why I no longer MAIL anything that I can do online. I have gone from mailing about 7-8 bills to mailing ONE. The only one I mail is a utility that has no website.
If the IDIOTS out there would BOYCOTT the Postal Service.......... the price would not continue to go up.
Mostly everything I get is JUNK MAIL, anyway. I am S-I-C-K of it.
BOYCOTT postage stamps and the US POSTAL SERVICE.

As eternal cynic stated, that's exactly WHY it keeps going up...it's because people aren't mailing as much, not the other way around...

Donna Atlanta GA wrote:

why doesn't the post office save itself some money and energy and stop delivering mail on Saturday.

that's actually not a bad idea!

boy I'm glad I bought all those 41 cent forever stamps when they came out

Kirlak wrote:

US Postal service is a legalized rip-off. They increase rates without even making any public announcement! And, what do we get for this increased rate? Lost and delayed mail, rude postal employees or crazy postmen? NO matter, at the end, US Postal will loose business to other ( more reliable) carriers, so they will have no choice but to increase rate more, and soon!!

The postage hasn't gone up as fast as gas, and I know that they use a lot of fuel to move the mail around. I'm surprised that they didn't increase it more.

They need to double the rate for junk mail. The postal service wastes to much time processing junk mail. Processing Junk mail adds to the cost of postage, usually gets thrown out, and wastes paper resources. I'm sick of junk mail.

eternal cynic wrote:

<quoted text>
Find a cheaper method of sending a letter anywhere in the US. Just 42 cents, it’s still a deal. Part of the reason rates continue to climb is lost revenue to email. So many people used to send letters to family and friends. That’s been replaced with email.

A Post Office representative was on NPR this morning. He said it costs the Post Office $8 million a year for each cent the price of gas rises.

He also said that the Post Office has been told that it can no longer break even, it needs to turn a profit to make up for the decreases in funding it keeps getting hit with.

So like any business, the best way for them to make a profit is to raise prices.

And the bottom line is, like you said, even at 42 cents, it's still a bargain to send a letter through the USPS.

Corruption control wrote:

They need to double the rate for junk mail. The postal service wastes to much time processing junk mail. Processing Junk mail adds to the cost of postage, usually gets thrown out, and wastes paper resources. I'm sick of junk mail.

actually, junk mail , while a nuisance to us, is a source of income for the post office...

Corruption control wrote:

They need to double the rate for junk mail. The postal service wastes to much time processing junk mail. Processing Junk mail adds to the cost of postage, usually gets thrown out, and wastes paper resources. I'm sick of junk mail.

BRAVO!!!!

42 cents is still cheap. but if it bothers you, go eMail. its still free.
Its the parcial delivery prices that worry me. Oil will double in a years time thanks to China and India and their need for it.

Donna Atlanta GA wrote:

why doesn't the post office save itself some money and energy and stop delivering mail on Saturday.

I do believe that everytime it is suggested, Congress goes ballistic and stops it. The USPS has three unions that are pretty formidable on the lobbying front.

Personally, I think that 4 days a week would work fine... skip wednesday as well.

Observant fan wrote:

<quoted text>actually, junk mail , while a nuisance to us, is a source of income for the post office...

He's correct, without the direct marketing mail, you'd be paying a buck for a stamp. I don't mind that mail either as if you don't want it you throw it out. But how many times a month do I get something like a coupon for an oil change, car wash, restaurant that I end up using... pretty much every month.

Keep the direct marketing mail.