Shipping Note -- Increase in Cost of Postage

[FNSafari]

A 46% increase since 2019. Along with everything else having skyrocketed in price. If this pace keeps up we are in deep financial trouble, if we aren't already.

"From Sunday, a first-class mail Forever Stamp will cost 73 cents each — a 5 cent, or 7% jump from its current price of 68 cents. The only other 5 cent increase occurred in January 2019, when first-class stamps increased from 50 to 55 cents.

In January 2023, the price of stamps was 63 cents each. That increased to 66 cents in July of the same year and then to 68 cents in January 2024."

 

[butchlambert]

Went to the mailbox and guess what! The mail person put our new mail on top of the ones that we were mailing out. Guess I will need to drive to town and mail it at the PO.

 

[jxb]

That's only the half of it, wait till you get your next homeowners insurance bill.

 

[rijndael]

That's only the half of it, wait till you get your next homeowners insurance bill.

Or cancellation notice.

 

[FNSafari]

If I read the story correctly I think the PO is slated for two increased next year also. It certainly isn't going down!

 

[Straightshooter1]

A 46% increase since 2019. Along with everything else having skyrocketed in price. If this pace keeps up we are in deep financial trouble, if we aren't already.

"From Sunday, a first-class mail Forever Stamp will cost 73 cents each — a 5 cent, or 7% jump from its current price of 68 cents. The only other 5 cent increase occurred in January 2019, when first-class stamps increased from 50 to 55 cents.

In January 2023, the price of stamps was 63 cents each. That increased to 66 cents in July of the same year and then to 68 cents in January 2024."

Am sure glad I bought a couple hundred Forever Stamps at 47¢ several years ago at Costco; before that I had bought 100 at 33¢ that lasted quite a while. Since I don't use postage stamps much any more, I've still got enough to last several more years.

With the proliferation of email, it seems the only place the postal service can make money on postage is on bulk mail postage (other than postage on packages, where they to compete with the likes of FedEx and UPS).

 

[1911nut]

I couldn’t deliver a letter to my town which is 5 miles away for 73¢

The post office has worked very well for me for decades.

A big change is how many bills I pay online, I mail far fewer letters/bills now.

 

[cmysix]

USPS employee's have a sweet heart pension deal, and for years, the taxpayers were expected to pony up the billions of dollars to cover the short falls, because the program does not generate enough money to cover the lavish pension payments. that have finally come to an end and instead of actually fixing the problem. they have embarked on a steady price increase and service decrease Trying to keep up with it, 8 days for a letter to go 300 miles, priority mail, the two day guaranty went away and the price went up, Luckey to get that in 8 days too. remember they also do not pay in to SS and they should! you to fix SS, make them pay it like the rest of us, military pays, what's so special about them?

 

[Majday]

That's only the half of it, wait till you get your next homeowners insurance bill.

In wa I just got my car insurance and it went up 20%. I was told by my insurance the state mandated 20% across the board. I'm not sure why the state has that authority to tell insurance companies they have to raise rates x percentage.

 

[1911nut]

“…what's so special about them? “

They gave them better benefits to keep them from going Postal

 

[Jayplace]

USPS employee's have a sweet heart pension deal, and for years, the taxpayers were expected to pony up the billions of dollars to cover the short falls, because the program does not generate enough money to cover the lavish pension payments. that have finally come to an end and instead of actually fixing the problem. they have embarked on a steady price increase and service decrease Trying to keep up with it, 8 days for a letter to go 300 miles, priority mail, the two day guaranty went away and the price went up, Luckey to get that in 8 days too. remember they also do not pay in to SS and they should! you to fix SS, make them pay it like the rest of us, military pays, what's so special about them?

Having only part of the information can lead to incorrect conclusions. Not all Postal workers are entitled to Social Security and newer Postal workers do pay into Social Security.

Postal workers are not special, some are really good and some are not. I'm glad we have the service.

Sorry you have such bad luck with the mail, considering the volume they handle, I've had pretty good service overall.

Postal Service did take a nose dive several years ago when a new Postmaster General was appointed and he is still not helping much. Of course he is also in charge of a service that competes with the USPS so there isn't much incentive to improve it.

 

[TIMO]

Postal Service did take a nose dive several years ago when a new Postmaster General was appointed and he is still not helping much. Of course he is also in charge of a service that competes with the USPS so there isn't much incentive to improve it.

Not stirring the pot, but guess who appointed him, that might explain why that specific individual may not have been the best choice for the Postmaster General position which has made a mess of USPS which continues to spiral down.

Just my .02

Tim

 

[cmysix]

Having only part of the information can lead to incorrect conclusions. Not all Postal workers are entitled to Social Security and newer Postal workers do pay into Social Security.

Postal workers are not special, some are really good and some are not. I'm glad we have the service.

Sorry you have such bad luck with the mail, considering the volume they handle, I've had pretty good service overall.

Postal Service did take a nose dive several years ago when a new Postmaster General was appointed and he is still not helping much. Of course he is also in charge of a service that competes with the USPS so there isn't much incentive to improve it.

they have been in business, for what 200 years? it's not just a little problem here or there. they should be kicking UPS and FEDEX down the street , instead they get worse and worse. a few more years and they will go belly up or more likely they will come whining to the taxpayers for another 20 billion.

Not stirring the pot, but guess who appointed him, that might explain why that specific individual may not have been the best choice for the Postmaster General position which has made a mess of USPS which continues to spiral down.

Just my .02

Tim

and the postal union has fought him tooth and nail. tell me you really need mail on Sat? No Saturday delivery would have gone along way to fix the problem. yea I know buddy, I think Trump caused WWII also. I bet you already sent your vote in for Biden, good job!

 

[Downhill]

For years I refused online bill pay. But postage prices kept going up and quality of service took a nosedive. Ours got lazy and decided mail boxes had to be moved to the edge of the road. Wanted me to pay for it. Told them no. Postal Service moved it and struck the city waterline( a OneCall 811 would have prevented this) then declared it was my expense to repair it. Didn't think so. Now the mailman is too lazy to close the mailbox door so mail gets wet with rain ruining return envelopes. Postmaster has been utterly useless in resolving this issue. We do 100% online bill pay now. Barely use USPS.

 

[TIMO]

and the postal union has fought him tooth and nail. tell me you really need mail on Sat? No Saturday delivery would have gone along way to fix the problem. yea I know buddy, I think Trump caused WWII also. I bet you already sent your vote in for Biden, good job!

You are entitled to your opinion, now mine. No, I am not wasting a vote on Biden. You are very narrow minded in your statement when someone else's opinion differs from yours.

Most political appointees do well, then there are some that should not even be taking out the trash. I have experienced where too many people have filled a position and they are ineffective or lack the competency to execute the task at hand then, they remain in position until they die or there is a change on the elected political side.

Leadership goes a long way and empire building (personal agenda) is not what is in the best interest of the American people or the country no matter who you are at any level.

I support the United States of America period.....

Tim

 

[Charlie-NY]

I'll just remark about my local PO. The quality of employee there has decline dramatically over the last 20 years. Staff seem to generally be incompetent and most have a terrible attitude. Like I should be grateful when they are just doing what they are paid to do. Even the postmaster had a terrible attitude when I inquired about a parcel that I shipped to Hawaii that hadn't been delivered in 3 weeks. I was told that it's probably floating around on a ship somewhere and that I should inquire again unless it doesn't show up in another month!

Understaffing is just another issue. Locally, there is usually two windows open. However, one clerk is ALWAYS assigned to handle passports applications which take quite some time to complete. The applicants have appointments, so they get served but regular customers often trail out the door waiting for service. The clerk that is stuck with the long line appears to be going as slowly as possible to make a point of her dissatisfaction with the situation.

 

[M-61]

I'm not sure why the state has that authority to tell insurance companies they have to raise rates x percentage.

That’s a great question. Or a tricky answer to just get you off the phone.

 

[TIMO]

I just recently sent a check to a member here for some brass, the letter with payment seemed to take forever to arrive, this was not what I planned and made me feel as though the person receiving the payment was left hanging, but with good communication with the member we waited then I resent a new payment and it arrived in a normal amount of time and then the next day the original letter with payment arrived.

Not the best service but we adapted to what was dealt to us.

Tim

 

[ebb]

The stumbler-in-chief told us that inflation was just a myth, under his insightful leadership we are thriving. So just stop believing all of these lies.

 

[JSH]

I couldn’t deliver a letter to my town which is 5 miles away for 73¢

I agree 100%, but if you want it there in a timely fashion, hand delivered would be a safe bet. Last time I mailed some Christmas cards, my neighbor a couple of miles away got his about new years, my sister on the opposite side of the country got hers two days later.

I have watched some tracked packages and where they go to is ridiculous at times. If I order/buy anything from St Louis area, it is about a guarantee that it will take close to 10 days. Goes right by a distribution center to another distribution center about 50 miles away, then it may sit there for 2-3 days average. Then go to the distribution center if went by to begin with, then to my PO.

Local smaller PO nearest to me opens at 10 and close at 2 and is closed from 12-1 for lunch. Saturdays it is open from 12-2. Most folks want to mail things in the morning.

If Amazon starts shipping letters and packages the USPS could be washed up pretty easy.