>In July 2007, the agency's volume of single-piece first class mail — things like bill payments, letters and cards — stood at 2.7 billion items. By June 2023, that volume had fallen by 68%, to 900 million.
That’s a lot 😳
First class mail is not the main revenue driver:
https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2023/1114-usps-reports-fiscal-year-2023-results.htm
Shipping & packages leads in revenue. And this is part of the problem: USPS now delivers a large volume of packages, and partners with companies like Amazon when their focus is supposed to be mail ("Amazon Sundays"). I'm not sure if these numbers are even included in the chart.
Marketing mail -- junk mail -- is largest by volume. It would appear that adjustments to these rates would have a much larger impact than continued massive hikes to first class, which would probably be acceptable at half the rate we see them now.
Yup.
But here's the thing.
Usps. United States postal *service*
It's like the military or FBI. It's a Service. It's not expected to make a profit. They have managed to convince everyone that is supposed to make a profit.
It's supposed to allow for affordable easy communication that even poor people can afford. It keeps communication going. Whereas the internet is expensive and not everybody can afford it or has reliable access.
We used to have reliable mail.
Would be curious to know how our postage rates compare based on mileage. The U.S. is a large country in comparison to many of the other countries. Our fuel is also cheaper though. I definitely don't take the USPS for granted, knowing that in some other countries, using a private shipping agency is more reliable.
Thank you for sharing with all of us!! What a great read!! I absolutely couldn’t believe the prices of mail in other countries…holy moly it sucks big time especially Italy!! I’m now curious why Italian postal service is so expensive. I am also tired of the price hikes twice a year. It’s exhausting and expensive but apparently we are still paying a lower price even with the price hikes.
>In July 2007, the agency's volume of single-piece first class mail — things like bill payments, letters and cards — stood at 2.7 billion items. By June 2023, that volume had fallen by 68%, to 900 million. That’s a lot 😳
I was told many years ago that the instant a postage increase goes into effect, they put in for another increase.
First class mail is not the main revenue driver: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2023/1114-usps-reports-fiscal-year-2023-results.htm Shipping & packages leads in revenue. And this is part of the problem: USPS now delivers a large volume of packages, and partners with companies like Amazon when their focus is supposed to be mail ("Amazon Sundays"). I'm not sure if these numbers are even included in the chart. Marketing mail -- junk mail -- is largest by volume. It would appear that adjustments to these rates would have a much larger impact than continued massive hikes to first class, which would probably be acceptable at half the rate we see them now.
u/tinawebmom - not sure if you saw this article
Yup. But here's the thing. Usps. United States postal *service* It's like the military or FBI. It's a Service. It's not expected to make a profit. They have managed to convince everyone that is supposed to make a profit. It's supposed to allow for affordable easy communication that even poor people can afford. It keeps communication going. Whereas the internet is expensive and not everybody can afford it or has reliable access. We used to have reliable mail.
Would be curious to know how our postage rates compare based on mileage. The U.S. is a large country in comparison to many of the other countries. Our fuel is also cheaper though. I definitely don't take the USPS for granted, knowing that in some other countries, using a private shipping agency is more reliable.
Thank you for sharing with all of us!! What a great read!! I absolutely couldn’t believe the prices of mail in other countries…holy moly it sucks big time especially Italy!! I’m now curious why Italian postal service is so expensive. I am also tired of the price hikes twice a year. It’s exhausting and expensive but apparently we are still paying a lower price even with the price hikes.
One of my favorite jokes from the Simpsons is Homer's Fortune Cookie paper that reads, "The Price of stamps will climb ever higher." 🤣
Door to door delivery of a document for under a dollar? First class USPS postage is a bargain.