postal stamps going up

starlord · Post by **starlord** » Tue May 13, 2008 2:27 pm

I wonder how expensive it would get if it went to the private sector? It wouldn't be 42Cents, would it?

Post by **Denyer** » Tue May 13, 2008 2:32 pm

Context is your friend.

secretcode · Post by **secretcode** » Tue May 13, 2008 3:39 pm

What's this? I don't even...

Post by **Denyer** » Tue May 13, 2008 3:47 pm

Well, a good start would be which country / state / locality this is about, rather than more hit-and-run thread starting...

RID Scourge · Post by **RID Scourge** » Tue May 13, 2008 4:06 pm

It's about the United States Postal Service (USPS). [Almost] Every year they increase postage to make up for lost revenue from email/inflation/whathaveyou.

USPS's first class mail option was 41 cents. The price has been increased to 42 cents.

Clogs · Post by **Clogs** » Tue May 13, 2008 5:09 pm

RID Scourge wrote:It's about the United States Postal Service (USPS). [Almost] Every year they increase postage to make up for lost revenue from email/inflation/whathaveyou.

USPS's first class mail option was 41 cents. The price has been increased to 42 cents.

I'm not sure Royal Mail in the UK will be able to put tariffs up again due to the fact that no one quite knows how it works any more:

http://www.pricinginproportion.co.uk/

Rurudyne · Post by **Rurudyne** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:15 am

starlord wrote:I wonder how expensive it would get if it went to the private sector? It wouldn't be 42Cents, would it?

There are two constants in American life: Washington asking for more money and Hollywood's navel epic of self discovery and narcissism. I don't know if Europeans have a complementary notion to our "fly over territory", but I, for one, am glad I live in ours.

RID Scourge · Post by **RID Scourge** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:34 am

Eh. Really doesn't affect the common person all that much. I mean how often does one mail something. I used to do it once a month for rent, but other than that it was more like 2-3 times in a year.

It's more something that would add up for ebay power sellers (or shippers of similar volume) and offices that send out large volumes of mail.

Clogs wrote:I'm not sure Royal Mail in the UK will be able to put tariffs up again due to the fact that no one quite knows how it works any more:

http://www.pricinginproportion.co.uk/

I only know all this because I'm the one who goes out and buys the stamps for my office.

Ackula · Post by **Ackula** » Wed May 14, 2008 3:07 am

RID Scourge wrote:It's about the United States Postal Service (USPS). [Almost] Every year they increase postage to make up for lost revenue from email/inflation/whathaveyou.

USPS's first class mail option was 41 cents. The price has been increased to 42 cents.

Your ability to get this from what was posted is amazing. I'm serious, no sarcasm. You are like Sherlock Homes dude!

Notabot · Post by **Notabot** » Wed May 14, 2008 5:12 am

I've got no problems with the postal rates. Gripe as much as you want, you can send a letter coast to coast for less than fifty cents. Even packages wind up being pretty dang cheap for the most part.
I heard somewhere that USPS has to keep postage increases below the inflation rate. This came out around the time that they introduced the forever stamp and people bought thousands of them, theoretically locking in their postage rates for life. Comparitively, though, postage rates can only go down.
So to you, Mr. Postman in your mid-forties yet wearing shorts to work... I salute you!

RID Scourge · Post by **RID Scourge** » Wed May 14, 2008 4:04 pm

Notabot wrote:I've got no problems with the postal rates. Gripe as much as you want, you can send a letter coast to coast for less than fifty cents. Even packages wind up being pretty dang cheap for the most part.

In my experience I've also found that they treat packages with a bit more care than Fedex or UPS.

I used to get documents overnighted to the office on a daily basis before we started excepting faxes on a large scale. The UPS packages came in bent and with skid marks most of the time. Fedex was slighly better about it, but weren't always prompt in delivering packages.

Angelic Knight · Post by **Angelic Knight** » Wed May 14, 2008 4:29 pm

It's odd but I haven't seen it as meriting great attention just yet. Look at this way -- What has been ridiculously cheap for many years is not somewhat less really cheap. Not really a big deal.

Springer007 · Post by **Springer007** » Mon May 19, 2008 12:58 am

The only problem I have with the postage going up is they still lose my pay stubs from the university I work at. Even though I can get a copy from the website, it still bugs me they lose the mail. They will also lose my water bill, and once my credit card bill.
If the price of stamps goes up, then the quality of service should also go up. I know there are pay online options, but I feel better mailing it, or hand delivering it (if possible). I've been praying that Fort Smith would get a Capital One office, but that'll never happen. And lastly, the most retarded thing to happen was I was supposed to get a deposit from the old place I lived at, and it got lost in the mail - and that party involved could have wired it, but they aren't that bright methinks....
And I agree that the government, and I worked for them for a bit, just enjoys taking money little by little out of the pocket books of people. Our minimum wage never goes up to counter the gas prices, food prices, stamp prices, etc. because let's face it, that'd be silly! I also love how the "forever" stamp only meant the design on the stamp was "forever" and not the price.....

Notabot · Post by **Notabot** » Mon May 19, 2008 1:34 am

Springer007 wrote:I also love how the "forever" stamp only meant the design on the stamp was "forever" and not the price.....

The forever means that you won't need to add postage to it later on if rates go up. If you bought a forever when first rate postage was .41, you could use that stamp down the road even if rates jumped up to .83. They sell at whatever the current rate is, but are good for... dang, what's the word I'm looking for?

RID Scourge · Post by **RID Scourge** » Mon May 19, 2008 1:44 am

Actually the forever stamp means that if you buy the stamp today for 42 cents, and the price goes up, then you can still use it for first-class postage without having to buy those 1 or 2 cent stamps to make up the difference as opposed to the stamps with the price written on it. Buying the forever stamp after rates go up does no good since they'll sell it to you at the new price.

Question: Has anyone seen Starlord post in any thread or does he just start random topics? I'm just curious because he starts a lot of topics where he poses a question, but I never see him voice his opinion or post in any other threads that he hasn't started.

It's like he's cursed to pose questions, but never share his opinion . . . wooooooooooooooooh!!!! Sorry. That 70's show reruns are on, and I guess it's a halloween ep because they're telling ghost stories.

Springer007 · Post by **Springer007** » Mon May 19, 2008 2:05 am

I am most likely getting horrid information from the post offices locally then. I do enjoy reading input

. I just finished watching the American Dad season finale, spring break themed episode. Good schtuff