Stamp Free 2014!

If you aren't aware,... stamp prices are going up again in January.

The USPS thinks raising stamp prices will raise revenue... I think they will be sorely mistaken.

I've been holding off doing electronic bill paying in mass. But the time has come.

I've set a personal challenge of being stamp free for 2014! I doubt I'll be able to do zero,... but I'll be happy if I can get it down to 1 a month.

(for reference,... I currently burn though about 25 stamps a month)

Anyone else in?

other than Christmas cards we might use 2 stamps per year max


IMO the solution is too charge junk mail 1st class rates

My bank has had free bill pay for a long time, it's really convenient. I rarely mail anything these days however the price of first class postage is still quite a bargain IMO.

I use so few stamps, I can never remember where we keep them when I want one.

What are stamps?

I buy a roll for Christmas cards in December and still have stamps left over the next December. Actually, I think I had enough forms that had to be mailed (not faxed or e-mailed) that I used most of the back log of stamps this year. But then again, it is always fun paying for $16 in postage on a package with individual stamps...

So I'm the only 1 currently funding the USPS??!!

They're screwed. 'Cause I'm done! :grin:

This doesn't really apply to me since I'm Canadian, but at most I probably use 1 or 2 stamps a year.... NOW if shipping rates for boxes went up I'd be screwed... LOL!

People still use stamps?

The Postal Service is in a fairly terrible position. They have to deliver mail, but email and electronic payment have cut first class mail to a fraction of what it was, and the only way they have a prayer of financing it is to raise postage rates... which will drive mail usage down even further, and they know it.

Blockbuster's already been through bankruptcy and is now out of the DVD business; magazines and newspapers are dropping like flies. These are examples of other enterprises that have been decimated by technological change, and in addition they are additional reasons why mail volume is dropping. The reality is that for first class mail to continue to exist, it's going to have to be government funded. As much as Congress likes to pretend otherwise, the days of thinking the USPS could be self-supporting are over.

Aside from Christmas cards, which I would've stopped sending a few years ago but my wife has kept it up, I think we use maybe about 20 stamps a year these days. Maybe​ 30. Probably not.

I'm like the rest of you with the Cmas cards, but I prolly use 5-6 stamps a year. (have to pay the US Treasury on a monthly basis now and then) Technology has indeed took a bite out of some big business. Look what happened to Kodachrome. Mail deliveries for photos, Wanna talk about Newspapers? The carriers in Charlotte NC (back in the day) had the lousiest service I ever saw. Newspapers in puddles of water and thrown out in the rain even though there was a paper box. I get my news online. My Aunt Rosie is the only person I know that still writes a hand written letter, and aside of Cmas cards, I never write letters. Here's what I think might happen to postal delivery. Someday, USPS, FedEx, UPS,yadda yadda, will no longer exist, (the way we know it). Just like the "milk man." Mail and package delivery will be all about YOU going to a mail hub to get your stuff. The hub automatically alerts you via whatever techno device you are using and we'll prolly have to pay to get our mail/packages out of holding. Speculation of course, but it smells realistic.

K'Tesh said:

What are stamps?

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They are old-timey things that people collect.

Does the post office except S&H Green Stamps?

prices have gone up less than inflation... and will carry a letter from NY to LA for less than 50 cents. Lets see anyone else do that for 10 times the price (no one will)

Whats the issue?

I put off switching over to online bill payment.
Two years ago I gave in. It's really the only way to go!
I use only one sheet (twelve stamps) each year.

FRankly, within reason, I don't care what a first class stamp costs. Raise it by a dime if they need to, fine with me, as long as they raise bulk rates too. I just want the service to continue as a reliable, 6 day a week operation. All this talk of ending Saturday service annoys the crap out of me. I like to get and send mail on Saturday... It's probably the day I care most about, in fact. Not only is mail sometimes entertaining on Saturday, pickup of mail at my house's mailbox is essential for my Netflix disc subscription, so that they will receive them Monday and ship new releases. I also pay paper bills and do other correspondence Friday evening or early Saturday, so my Saturday pickup probably averages 4 pieces. Last thing I want is to have to drive to the post office or find a "mail box"... remember those big blue things?

I say the gov't should stop the ridiculous pre-funded retirement thing that has caused much of the financial strain, then pick prices that let them maximize volume / revenue to make it break-even.

But don't end Saturday service.

If this means a $0.60 cent stamp for a letter, so be it.

Marc

hcmbanjo said:

I put off switching over to online bill payment.
Two years ago I gave in. It's really the only way to go!
I use only one sheet (twelve stamps) each year.

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I like paying bills online also. Local stuff in a small town is just part of the afternoon rounds for me. Drive thru utility payments & rent. The one thing I dislike is automatic drafts from my account. Sirius Radio wont have it any other way so I have to deal with that. A lot of companies would like you do do that also but I refuse. I still prefer to have flexibility on that note.

ThirstyBarbarian said:

They are old-timey things that people collect.

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I thought those were antiques.

I had two instances of utility bills not getting paid because they were lost in the mail. They only had to go a few miles to get there. I think the gas company and city electric put a surcharge on online payment. I pay the electric bill at the CU. Like many of you have stated, the most stamps go on greeting cards.

This discussion comes up from time to time... and is usually just as polarized as most other things tend to be.

I agree that I'd LOVE to see the junk-mailers have to pay a "regular stamp" first class postal rate same as anything else going out (non-profits and charities exempted, of course). The fact that 95% of what I receive is JUNK MAIL that I then have to go to the additional trouble to burn anyway just p!sses me off... Personally I could do without mail delivery AT ALL nowdays-- Betty gets all our bills online and pays them all online, or phones it in. Back in my mom's day, she'd pull in to the office after closing time on a Saturday and have me slip a hot check in the envelope under the door, hoping Dad's check would cover it and it'd be good by the time it hit the bank Monday evening and the tellers actually ran it sometime Tuesday. Course I'm not advocating that, but it's how my mother 'did business' LOL

Heck our mailbox got knocked down by punks or non-English speaking idiots driving tractors for the neighboring farmers last summer, and I didn't bother putting the d@mn thing back up for over a month-- we don't get anything but junk mail anyway. Betty was going in to the post office once a week and picking our crap up all at once-- MUCH handier than all the stupid crap that usually ends up in the box... Finally they told her we had to fix the box or buy a box in the post office, which is what my brother did since he got sick of fixing boxes torn down by drunks, punks, and morons. Course, I'm not PAYING to get deluged with junk mail... so I patched the box up, but I don't ever get the mail... nothing but crap. Any packages I get don't fit in the box anyway and we either get a note to pick it up at the post office, or the mail person just drives up and toots the horn and either tosses it on the porch steps or hands it to me if I get out there fast enough.

I think next time my mailbox gets knocked down, I'm just gonna go buy a burn barrel in town from that old man for $5 bucks, and screw the mailbox to the side of it... that way I can just toss the 95% of the mail that's worthless junk in there all week, and then on Saturday squirt a little lighter fluid and toss a match in on top of it and burn it all in-situ...

Anyway, back to postal rates... much as we'd all like to see the junk-mailers have to pay full rates, supposedly they're the bread and butter of the postal service-- the lion's share of the postal service's income supposedly comes from bulk mailers getting premium rates to drown us in their garbage. Course what it costs to transport and deliver all that trash nobody ever seems to mention, but we'll ignore that for a minute. Personally I don't care if it's their bread and butter-- I JUST HATE JUNK MAIL AND WANT IT TO STOP. Nobody has ever adequately explained to me why *I* should pay more to send a real letter than some junk mailer sending out tons of garbage to folks not wanting it, and them get a sweetheart deal for doing it. So, while I agree with the sentiment whole-heartedly that ALL mail going for "standard delivery" should be priced the same by the piece, regardless if you're sending 1 or 100,000, evidently it's anathema to even suggest that to the postal service, IOW it'll never happen. So be it... that's why for my part, I could care less if the postal service went toe-up tomorrow-- at least I wouldn't be swamped with junk mail!

Oh well... I don't send enough stuff to even care... If I mail maybe two things a year that's a big volume for me. Other than "Farm Show" magazine, there's nothing I get in the mail that I even give a rip about, either...

Later! OL JR

DizWolf said:

prices have gone up less than inflation... and will carry a letter from NY to LA for less than 50 cents. Lets see anyone else do that for 10 times the price (no one will)

Whats the issue?

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$0.47 is more than free. 25 x / month and 12 / year = $141/year of free money in my pocket.

You are correct it's a bargain... when it's needed. But when I can pay on line for free,... why would I.

The point is,... every day the USPS loses more people to electronic bill pay,... e-mail,... online holiday cards and party invitations.

hcmbanjo said:

I put off switching over to online bill payment.
Two years ago I gave in. It's really the only way to go!
I use only one sheet (twelve stamps) each year.

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I'm pretty sure I can get down to <1/month.

I use one month. Student loans wont let me pay online without signing up for automatic payment every month.

Junk mail bothers me because it wont fit in our apartment mailboxes, everyone's goes in one bin that nobody ever bothers to go through, that then gets all thrown out occasionally, along with any real mail that has to go in there because the boxes are so small. I havent gotten my nar magazine in a while. Chances are it was mixed in there and thrown out.

There is a free stamp....of sorts. Like when you get those credit card application forms. Do the mail system a simple service and use that prepaid envelope to send back all the stuff they sent you. With VOID written across everything. Not only does it tell the receiver that you are laughing in their face, but they have to pay for that mailing also. Cheap thrill and it helps out USPS.

OK, so it may not be prepaid, but if you use it, they have to pay for it.

Sparkytfl said:

I use one month. Student loans wont let me pay online without signing up for automatic payment every month.

Junk mail bothers me because it wont fit in our apartment mailboxes, everyone's goes in one bin that nobody ever bothers to go through, that then gets all thrown out occasionally, along with any real mail that has to go in there because the boxes are so small. I havent gotten my nar magazine in a while. Chances are it was mixed in there and thrown out.

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If you can't convince the apartment to install modern boxes, sometimes the best thing to do is get a PO box. As for the NAR mag, file a complaint online at usps.com. Trust me, it makes it a SERIOUS pain in the ass for the carrier and you'll be getting the mag.

This situation is like many things that irritate Americans, the problem is with our lawmakers. The US Post Office has submitted several plans to get thier business model afloat, but they have to get permission, and are refused.
I had a bad experience with online bill pay; my dad passed a few years ago, right after he passed, Geico processed a car insurance payment, I called told them they just processed a payment for someone that died two weeks ago, would they please give the money back? Geico said, No. I would have to get my mom to write a letter, get it notarized, with paperwork proving they were married, on and on. Several months later we got a partial refund. If that had been a paper bill from Gieco I would have just thrown it in the trash. So I like my paper bills and the stamps that must go on them.

As cheap as I am, and as much as i hate to see prices (of anything) go up, the price of stamps doesn't especially bother me. Every time I begin to think that we pay too much, about this time of year we get mail from relatives overseas and I see how much the rest of the world pays for postage. Typically two and even four times as much. it cost me about 75 cents to send a letter to Germany, and it cost them two or three Euros to send one back. Ouch.

michigander said:

other than Christmas cards we might use 2 stamps per year max


IMO the solution is too charge junk mail 1st class rates

Click to expand...

amen!

DizWolf said:

If you can't convince the apartment to install modern boxes, sometimes the best thing to do is get a PO box. As for the NAR mag, file a complaint online at usps.com. Trust me, it makes it a SERIOUS pain in the ass for the carrier and you'll be getting the mag.

Click to expand...

I just checked and the last one I got was the september/october issue. Part of the problem is I'd never know when I'm supposed to get it. I dont even know how often they're sent out, since I got used to my parents throwing them out before I moved a couple months ago.

I like the USPO.
No, they are not perfect....but they provide a great service that I want to keep around.
I DO USE stamps....how else are they going to stay in business?
A successful boycott can only mean one thing -- out of biz.
Why lose that service? For a few pennies?
How else am I going to get my ORM-D chemical shipments???

Online bill paying from your bank is a very good thing. Automatic drafts are not. Just remember not to confuse the two. Online bill paying is just like a check, you choose who you want to pay, when, and how much, same as if you wrote a check and mailed it.

Junk mail gets lower rates because they barcode the mail and sort it all the way down to the carrier route level so the USPS doesn't have to do that work like they have to do with 1st class mail. Some junk mailers even pay truckers to deliver their mail directly to the local USPS bulk mail centers to save even more money.

I use stamps so infrequently that I sometimes forget where I put them when I last used them. (They should have a designated place, but they don't.) I can't even recall the last time I bought stamps.