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and yet its cheaper then other countries. I figure its cheaper to mail anything 2000 miles from east coast to west at 50 cents then to drive it there. Still in awe about the postal system and how quick a check can get lost in the mail but those Bills sure make it each and every time!
its has been wonderful keeping the papermills in business I figure if my credit card company is going to slap me with frivolous fees I might as well hold them to mailing out my statements and any concerns I address to them ...gets mailed Certified. I'm not killing any trees...Most are dead before they get to the papermill
I don't see why we even need the U.S. Postal Service anymore. Most of what I receive is junk mail that goes right in the trash without even being opened.
It’s absolutely essential for business. I send many letters per week - that’s how we pay contractors nationwide. We also ship hard drives nationwide to our shooters and USPS is way cheaper than UPS. While some of our contractors accept PayPal they’re eating a 2.9% fee that I certainly won’t eat, but I love it when they do because I get my 2% cash back paying them by credit card. Most of our business is by check though and we only accept checks from our clients. There’s no way we’d accept electronic solutions that charge huge fees for $5,000 checks or whatever. Even the $20 wire charge is WAY more than a stamp and envelope.
I do think - even though it doesn’t help me out - the postal service should charge more for stamps if they’re losing money though. I mean ultimately I’ll pass along the small cost to my clients and it won’t affect anyone that much. Oh no an extra $10 per year in stamp prices, however shall I survive this great hardship?! Lol
Not to mention all that junk mail from AAA advertising their life insurance 25 times a year if you ever bother joining, and all the other discounted bulk mail from charities that target the elderly. If you ask me they should not discount any mail, ever... everyone pays the same price. Would eliminate a lot of problems and generate a lot of revenue.
That mail costs less to send, because of the way it is sorted and delivered ahead of time. Last I checked, all the junk mail was the only reason why first class rates are not even higher.
Same here, I can't remember when I last got a piece of mail that I actually opened. All of our bills are paperless and paid online. I wouldn't be able to find a stamp to save my life, have not used one in years.
I would have expected the USPS to go under years ago if not for their Amazon deliveries.
Obviously not as much anymore, but there still are some mail that we depend on USPS for and here are my most recent:
- correspondence to/from the town such as tax grievance & results (concerns thousands of $ a year for each family). They don't communicate through email, just phone and mail.
- sim cards for our new cellphones
- town swimming program - checks & correspondence. They don't go through online/email.
- NYS just sent us a tax rebate check
- Amazon delivery through USPS (much preferred over UPS / Fedex who always arrive late in the day compared to USPS by 1pm)
- receive new credit cards
- rebate checks / submissions
I'm in IT and prefer to do everything online, but I like to receive credit card & utility bills on paper because then I actually review them. When was the last time you actually logged in to review a bill they said is now available? I bet not many do and only log in to pay it by the due date. I'm also able to reference them via paper a few months back, such as when I was comparing my T-Mobile bill for the last few months because of billing errors. That's a huge hassle with online-only.
While I pay most bills online, I also still use checks and stamps because not everyone has an online presence. Especially with local kids' programs and private instructors... that's a big category that hasn't all moved online.
If we can get rid of the solicitation mail, I'd still look forward to receiving USPS mail because then I know all of it is important. Right now, I get maybe 3 mail pieces a week that are important.
Right. I had my parents' mail forwarded to my address after my dad died and my mom went into memory care. Yesterday I had a huge mailbox FULL of stuff - and I threw every single piece of it away. Every bit of it was junk mail.
I made that catastrophic mistake 3 1/2 years ago. My stepfather had his health event and died. I had no choice but to move my mother with dementia to assisted living. I forwarded her mail to my summer house. My mailbox would totally fill with junk mail in 2 or 3 days. Dozens of catalogs, every snake oil salesman, free magazines. I seasonally forward my mail in the winter when I'm not at that house so it was only a summer problem. After 3 1/2 years, 90% of the stuff has stopped.
Live & learn. Next time I do a permanent forward, it's going to a PO box and I'll change the address on the things I care about.
I haven't read the whole thread so this may be a duplicate but junk mail has always subsidized first class mail. With the internet, companies are spending their money with Google and Facebook rather than direct mailing so USPS revenue for junk mail is way off. Like most of us, I'd be totally happy to do everything online but I still get a few paper bills and have to write a few paper checks. $1.00 for a first class stamp wouldn't kill me at the rate I mail things. It might be 25 stamps per year.
Obviously not as much anymore, but there still are some mail that we depend on USPS for and here are my most recent:
- correspondence to/from the town such as tax grievance & results (concerns thousands of $ a year for each family). They don't communicate through email, just phone and mail.
- sim cards for our new cellphones
- town swimming program - checks & correspondence. They don't go through online/email.
- NYS just sent us a tax rebate check
- Amazon delivery through USPS (much preferred over UPS / Fedex who always arrive late in the day compared to USPS by 1pm)
- receive new credit cards
- rebate checks / submissions
I'm in IT and prefer to do everything online, but I like to receive credit card & utility bills on paper because then I actually review them. When was the last time you actually logged in to review a bill they said is now available? I bet not many do and only log in to pay it by the due date. I'm also able to reference them via paper a few months back, such as when I was comparing my T-Mobile bill for the last few months because of billing errors. That's a huge hassle with online-only.
While I pay most bills online, I also still use checks and stamps because not everyone has an online presence. Especially with local kids' programs and private instructors... that's a big category that hasn't all moved online.
If we can get rid of the solicitation mail, I'd still look forward to receiving USPS mail because then I know all of it is important. Right now, I get maybe 3 mail pieces a week that are important.
Yes there are some things more difficult without paper. When I was applying for my moms long term care Medicaid, they wanted copies of all checks over $500 going back five years. I have taken over her finances by then and was doing everything online via the bank app. Little did I know there is no way to get copies of e-checks. It added an extra layer of difficulty. State and Federal governments are going to have to modernize sometime and realize online will be the future, but we are not there yet.
Yes there are some things more difficult without paper. When I was applying for my moms long term care Medicaid, they wanted copies of all checks over $500 going back five years. I have taken over her finances by then and was doing everything online via the bank app. Little did I know there is no way to get copies of e-checks. It added an extra layer of difficulty. State and Federal governments are going to have to modernize sometime and realize online will be the future, but we are not there yet.
I'm going to have to deal with that mess if my mother lives long enough to run out of money. The paper checks don't exist. I'll have to get the financial company to recover the scans.
"Before Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006, the USPS operated under a pay-as-you-go model for retiree health care funding. The new law requires the Postal Service to pre-fund its benefit obligations."
It’s absolutely essential for business. I send many letters per week - that’s how we pay contractors nationwide. We also ship hard drives nationwide to our shooters and USPS is way cheaper than UPS. While some of our contractors accept PayPal they’re eating a 2.9% fee that I certainly won’t eat, but I love it when they do because I get my 2% cash back paying them by credit card. Most of our business is by check though and we only accept checks from our clients. There’s no way we’d accept electronic solutions that charge huge fees for $5,000 checks or whatever. Even the $20 wire charge is WAY more than a stamp and envelope.
I do think - even though it doesn’t help me out - the postal service should charge more for stamps if they’re losing money though. I mean ultimately I’ll pass along the small cost to my clients and it won’t affect anyone that much. Oh no an extra $10 per year in stamp prices, however shall I survive this great hardship?! Lol
It is not essential for business. This is the 2000s, not the 1980s. Any correspondence in letters, can be done with emails. Anything that can be paid for with a check, can be paid for electronically. Most banks charge less for an ACH processing fee, then the cost of a postage stamp. So you are not doing yourself a favor, by continuing to use paper for correspondence and payments.
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I figure if my credit card company is going to slap me with frivolous fees I might as well hold them to mailing out my statements and any concerns I address to them ...gets mailed Certified. I'm not killing any trees...Most are dead before they get to the papermill 
