With holiday card sending way down, is the Post Office the next to crash?
Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Remember when the Post Office started coming out with self-stick stamps? The novelty was thrilling. No longer did we have to lick them! It felt like we were in a golden age. For a while there, sending stuff felt fresh. In 2008, though, the United States Postal Service tried out something new that seemed to scare people away: Raising the price of postage again. Never mind that now we've got the "Forever Stamp," which essentially encourages us to hedge the price of postage. The way it played out, people simply reached the tipping point.
Last year, the Postal Service delivered some 20 billion pieces of mail between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, the figure was more like 19 billion. As the Miami Herald put it, that's three fewer pieces of mail for every American. Bad news for the USPS, which is already $1 billion in the hole.
"The mail reflects our economy," said a U.S. Postal Service spokesman. "The economy has been down all year."
Right. And also wrong. The mail mavens of the Postal Service are kidding themselves if they think the drop-off is just about the economy. It's not just the economy that has changed. It's the way we live. E-mail is no longer a novelty, just as self-stick stamps are no longer a novelty. Whereas five years ago, you might scoff at a friend who only sent e-mail cards as a cheapskate, e-mail has matured into an acceptable way to send heartfelt greetings.
This month, my in-box has been swamped with notes from people who used to send cards through the mail to me. Respectable people. Grandmothers. The convenience is contagious. For the past two years, the only people who received paper holiday cards from me were ones who sent me one first. If they're the type of person that wants a paper card, then a paper card they'll get. But I'm fine with typing out my love--or even with text-messaging it.
These days, even the classiest businesses rely on digital holiday greetings. Take the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau--surely a bastion of high manners if ever there was one.
It's in the face of this cultural shift that the Postal Service--duh!--raised its price again this year. So unsurprisingly, it now has to deal with a 5% drop in the usage of its product. Then the USPS tried to combat the shortfall by telling clerks to try to trick customers into paying for more expensive mailing options by failing to mention when a cheaper one is available. Double duh--we already hate going to the post office, but now we have to cross-examine the clerks to get the best deal, too?
The decline of snail mail is only going to accelerate. As the Herald points out, Hallmark cards shut down three plants and laid off 335 workers earlier this year. But unlike the car manufacturers or a retail brand, America can't shrug off the failure of the postal service. The feds would simply have to take it fully on board.
Let's hope the suits at the USPS can be postmasters of their own domain, and don't let the @ sign drain the Service so much that it becomes yet another drag on the federal budget. We have a stack of Forever Stamps we actually want to last forever.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 20)
12-26-2008 @ 11:32AM
SassyFrassy said...
ohh whose kidding whom?? While we all admit to being hooked on our computers (more than we would care to admit our one vice in life??) Nothing replaces the snail mail greeting cards with the beautiful artwork on cards and stamps. Those extra services are things that tell customers whom signed for their beloved christmas package and when a small price to pay for peace of mind mailers have to have when mailing something.
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12-26-2008 @ 5:10PM
Master Shake said...
The Post Office's business has skyrocketed during the last decade due to online shopping. Their main problem has been keeping pace with the demand for their services. As for self-stick stamps being a revolution, HA! Self-stick stamps were common in other parts of the world decades earlier. In Tonga (of all places!) there were self-stick stamps back in the 1960's in the shapes of bananas and coconuts. The US was one of the very last countries to finally get it together and make stamps you don't have to lick.
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1-01-2009 @ 7:13PM
Cecilia said...
As a Postal employee for over 25 years I have seen a drastic decline in greeting card mailing...especially at Christmastime. As for the self stick stamps move to Tongo.
1-01-2009 @ 10:56PM
Ray Weinmann said...
Yah! move to Tonga and take UPS (dirty brown truck ) with you. Us postal worker retired.
12-28-2008 @ 8:13AM
Postal Pete said...
"Let's hope the suits at the USPS can be postmasters of their own domain, and don't let the @ sign drain the Service so much that it becomes yet another drag on the federal budget."
Please get your facts correct with the above statement in your article. The USPS is not on the federal budget. Its revenues are generated by stamp purchases.
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1-01-2009 @ 7:53PM
Brdlover said...
From one postal to another! You tell em Pete!
1-02-2009 @ 2:28PM
Bill said...
It's revenue is generated not only by stamps but it's other services such as packing labels and confirmation delivery and registered mail,certified mail,insured mail,It's stamped pins and many other sevices!
1-01-2009 @ 9:19PM
Mike said...
Dolt. The article was referring to the Feds having to take over the USPS if it tanks.
1-01-2009 @ 11:35PM
Ns2160 said...
Atta boy Pete! The Postal Service is a stand alone Federal agency that is controlled by a Board of Governors and the Postal Rate Commission. But, they survive, solely, on their revenue, NOT FEDERAL SUBSIDY, with any profit going to the Federal Treasury since the Postal Service is a NON-PROFIT agency.
1-21-2009 @ 7:04PM
JAK461 said...
I second that as well! But not only that the US Postal Service has given up billions of dollars of its own revenue back to the coffers of our U.S. Federal Government to boot!! I am a U.S. Postal worker of over 25 years & have several plus years before I can even think of retireing!
12-28-2008 @ 9:58AM
Hank said...
We will be punished by higher stamp prices AND a bailout because of year's of USPS mismanagement. The agency has run a deficit and been a drag on the federal budget for years and years now. It is ridiculous! The USPS has long ago priced itself out of the market.
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1-01-2009 @ 6:54PM
rebecca said...
hank, u r exactly right! had to send a snail certified letter the other day, and it has went up from 2-3.00, to a whoppin 5.32 from knox to nashville!!! what a rip. i don't expect to see them lasting another 5yrs
1-01-2009 @ 6:52PM
a warren said...
Actually, this is correct. Mismanagement as in most failed companies. Who hires these people?
1-01-2009 @ 7:14PM
Mac said...
Increases in postage rates over the oast few years could've been avoided. Due to an error in calculation by the Office of Personnel Management, the PO has been overpaying the OPM for retirement benefits. The amount overpaid could reach into billions of dollars. (http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0103/013103w1.htm)
Had this error been corrected when first uncovered, the PO could have operated, without a postage increase, well past 2010.
1-01-2009 @ 7:26PM
Deb said...
Can you tell me the name of the service you use to get a letter from San Francisco to Orlando for $.42 ? Can't be the same one that delivers on Saturday for free rather than a $10.00 Saturday delivery charge? I'm sorry your town has unfriendly clerks. Mine work like the devil and are very friendly, but then again you would probably be a type of person that complains just to complain. Since you like cold holiday e-mails why don't you use the USPS online services instead? You try being outside in all kinds of weather making your skin age at terrible speeds. I bet 20 years ago they lost a letter to you and have never forgotten it even though 19 billion pieces of mail are delivered every year. Oh, yeah. Do your research. Not a government agency.
1-01-2009 @ 8:15PM
cindy said...
The Postal Service is NOT a drain on the federal budget, nor does it receive any government funds. We actually CONTRIBUTE to the budget. We are also mandated by Congress to now make a profit, submit our financial standing every spring and adjust prices accordingly. Historically we have always been content to break even over 4 years. We don't even get to select what a stamp should cost, but are "issued" the amount via the Postal Rate Commission, which is not the postal service. We are struggling like every other business for various economic reasons. The last rate increase did not even take into consideration the soaring price of gas for all those months.
1-01-2009 @ 8:01PM
rick said...
I hate to inform you but the Post Office has not been a part of the Federal Government's rule since 1971, we have been self suficient since that time, we are not like Amtrac or other's and as you can see we are not asking for a bailout. Just take a look at DHL, we are not in the same class. Mail a letter or package anywhere in the world and see what they charge you, no one on the face of the earth is cheaper than the good ole USPS. The cost of fuel is the main factor in why stamps go up and yes computers did take a bite out of our first class mail, but we are still the best bargain for what you pay for.
1-01-2009 @ 10:43PM
Linda said...
Hank, the Postal SERVICE, has not been a branch of the Government since 1972 with the Postal reorganization. They do not receive any monies from the Government.
1-01-2009 @ 8:47PM
Jerry said...
Get your facts straight Hank. The USPS has not had any sort of Federal funding since 1972. The Postal Reform Act of 1972 did away with all federal funding. We make our living by selling ours stamps and services. The USPS is a self sufficient business.
1-02-2009 @ 8:06AM
rick said...
Get it right Hank,the usps has not had federal money since Nixon was in office.Also it has always worked under rules set up in the Constition.In other words no profit is allowed.If it was, then you would see a lot more merchandise in the post offices and one dollar stamps as the norm.You can also check your overnight prices and see that the usps is still the best deal for the buck.