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A new Postmaster General was named. What does the future hold for USPS as far as postage rates? If the USPS does not receive Congressional funding by September, it could go bankrupt. Since the USPS is mandated by
Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution, could Congress privatize the USPS or contract out its functions to a private company? If privatized, would all the stamps in circulation become worthless or would there be a timeline for their redemption/validity?
No private company would take it on its current operational terms, especially the one that requires delivery to every address on US soil. The private services are profitable only because they (1) simply don't deliver to the remotest areas and (2) charge 20X the rate for a one-page letter. A national postal service has neither option.
It's a government function and needs to be done — diligently — by the government, whether it's "profitable, y'know, like a bidness" or not.
I wonder how much a 1oz First Class letter will cost to mail new year? Should one buy Forever stamps now or begin using them in case the USPS is privatized and the new contractor does not accept Forever stamps?
I wonder how much a 1oz First Class letter will cost to mail new year? Should one buy Forever stamps now or begin using them in case the USPS is privatized and the new contractor does not accept Forever stamps?
Historical data indicates about a 1 cent annual increase... taken from ForeverStampValue.com
USPS Forever Stamp Historical Prices
Date:Price:January 26, 2020$0.55
January 27, 2019 $0.55
January 21, 2018 $0.50
January 22, 2017 $0.49
April 10, 2016 $0.47
January 26, 2014 $0.49
January 27, 2013 $0.46
January 22, 2012 $0.45
May 11, 2009 $0.44
May 12, 2008 $0.42
April 12, 2007 $0.41
In the P.O. where I was employed when the Forever Stamp first became available, businesses were buying thousands of dollars worth at a time with the thought that the price would NEVER decrease...
Theoretically, you could use stamps to pay for the postage on a package by placing the amount of stamps to cover the cost. But this would target your package as "Suspicious" because of doing this...
Now if they did a Forever Postage for different levels of size and weight of packages may infuse a shot of revenue right now for USPS, and give them time to adjust through AI, Robotics and other ways to bring down operating costs to make it profitable. It could help small businesses with shipping costs and future increases...
If the new Postmaster implements higher shipping costs for their main customer Amazon, it would probably accelerate Amazon's need to bring delivery totally in house... and that revenue could vaporize.
Privatization ? If technical advancements were able to alleviate operating costs, certainly a possibility. No salary and healthcare costs for robots... vacation and sick leave eliminated.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I first heard this as a joke by Jerry Seinfeld, but it's actually a good idea. The USPS should open and scan our mail, and then email it to us. We can then delete the bulk of it (junk mail) and save a lot of bother and recycling chores.
Historical data indicates about a 1 cent annual increase... taken from ForeverStampValue.com
USPS Forever Stamp Historical Prices
Date:Price:January 26, 2020$0.55
January 27, 2019 $0.55
January 21, 2018 $0.50
January 22, 2017 $0.49
April 10, 2016 $0.47
January 26, 2014 $0.49
January 27, 2013 $0.46
January 22, 2012 $0.45
May 11, 2009 $0.44
May 12, 2008 $0.42
April 12, 2007 $0.41
In the P.O. where I was employed when the Forever Stamp first became available, businesses were buying thousands of dollars worth at a time with the thought that the price would NEVER decrease...
Theoretically, you could use stamps to pay for the postage on a package by placing the amount of stamps to cover the cost. But this would target your package as "Suspicious" because of doing this...
Now if they did a Forever Postage for different levels of size and weight of packages may infuse a shot of revenue right now for USPS, and give them time to adjust through AI, Robotics and other ways to bring down operating costs to make it profitable. It could help small businesses with shipping costs and future increases...
If the new Postmaster implements higher shipping costs for their main customer Amazon, it would probably accelerate Amazon's need to bring delivery totally in house... and that revenue could vaporize.
Privatization ? If technical advancements were able to alleviate operating costs, certainly a possibility. No salary and healthcare costs for robots... vacation and sick leave eliminated.
Do you think if the USPS is privatized, Forever and all outstanding will become valueless? There are potentially billions of outstanding stamps in possession of consumers and businesses.
Do you think if the USPS is privatized, Forever and all outstanding will become valueless? There are potentially billions of outstanding stamps in possession of consumers and businesses.
It would be a PR disaster imho if that were to take place...
I think they would be phased out (usable but no longer available for purchase) or maybe retain purchase value and not current value whenever the privatization should occur.
Who knows, I would think the uproar would involve government intervention to make it right...
I wonder how much a 1oz First Class letter will cost to mail new year? Should one buy Forever stamps now or begin using them in case the USPS is privatized and the new contractor does not accept Forever stamps?
Trump mentioned last week that the packages a rather large online presence ships via the post office is costing USPS dearly.
Might want to reduce residential delivery to maybe 3 days a week. Hell my carrier only zips through about that often anyway.
Trump mentioned last week that the packages a rather large online presence ships via the post office is costing USPS dearly.
Might want to reduce residential delivery to maybe 3 days a week. Hell my carrier only zips through about that often anyway.
Of course it is near impossible to get what that break even number is. Carriers on the line whom get paid $40 plus to deliver one package from Amazon because it was late or mis-routed know that what ever "revenue" is gained from the other pieces is snatched away by that one action that happens about daily in every station.
The post office is pretty much the only infrastructure mandated by the Constitution. I don’t see how privatization would survive the court challenge.
Personally, I like the idea of bringing back the Post Office bank. Run it cashless. Mandate that everyone accept a USPS debit card for payment.
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