Clever or Cheat?

[earlene]

I agree with the above statement to some degree, however the USPS has been losing money for decades. One of the major reasons is the junk mail rate the USPS charges. Look at how much junk mail each household receives on a weekly basis. The postal carriers do not like handling it as it slows them down, etc., but the reason it's there is because of the ridiculously low rate that is charged to the customer. Other than helping to start a charcoal fire starter, the only other use for this voluminous amount of printed colored paper is to scrunch it into balls and use it for padding INSIDE the USPS Priority Mailing boxes. Compare the weight of the junk mail, especially the big tabloid-style ads to the first class mail. It was an eye-opener for me.

I know there are some who are the "Couponing" type of person... yet those are usually few and far between.

Then you should be happy to know that marketing mail volume has decreased over 11.5 billion pieces since the pandemic started. (Possibly closer to 13 billion, but it is hard to extrapolate from the FY reporting as it correlates to the dates the pandemic was declared.)

Just as a point of interest, we don't receive hardly any junk mail at all, after I made a concerted effort to have our address removed from junk mail lists. It was a little bothersome to do, but quite effective.

 

[Stephd31]

I agree with the above statement to some degree, however the USPS has been losing money for decades. One of the major reasons is the junk mail rate the USPS charges. Look at how much junk mail each household receives on a weekly basis. The postal carriers do not like handling it as it slows them down, etc., but the reason it's there is because of the ridiculously low rate that is charged to the customer. Other than helping to start a charcoal fire starter, the only other use for this voluminous amount of printed colored paper is to scrunch it into balls and use it for padding INSIDE the USPS Priority Mailing boxes. Compare the weight of the junk mail, especially the big tabloid-style ads to the first class mail. It was an eye-opener for me.

I know there are some who are the "Couponing" type of person... yet those are usually few and far between.

I just used dmachoice.org to unsubscribe my deceased mother and my hoarding father from junk mail. More people should know about this service.

 

[MGM]

Oh I know that the USPS is, for the most part, self-funding, which is quite a feat. Imagine a country even larger than the US, with 10% of the population, which still guarantees service for everyone in every corner of it (some accessible only by float or ski planes), ideally at the same price point. You would require such a population to supply their own packing materials, even if you didn't think they would cheat.
Other interesting differences between US and Canada....Canadian postal workers walk their route. We don't have those little trucks that drive around neighbourhoods. You take the bus to the beginning of your route, walk 25km or so over 8 hours, then take the bus home....not for the faint of heart!
And, we don't have Saturday delivery. When I lived in France, some businesses got mail delivery twice a day! Now, this was a couple of decades ago, but how posh is that?? They were probably drinking red wine and smoking cigarettes while they opened it....

 

[Zany_in_CO]

That is what is really going on with the USPS. Some lawmakers want it to fail so they found a way to make that happen with total disregard to what is right or fair or for their actual constituents.

Thanks for that explanation, @earlene. Sadly, it just makes me crazier about the system than before.

Here's what arrived by USPS last Saturday. A 98¢ lamp part I ordered from a company in Chicago.

It was wrapped in a
USPS PRIORITY MAIL, PADDED FLAT RATE ENVELOPE - $8.55
Then placed in a second one - $8.55
Then mailed in a plain padded envelope:
5 OZ. FIRST CLASS PARCEL RATE, ZONE 5 NO SURCHARGE, "ComBasPrice"
Which I assume was $4.00 because that's what I was charged.

I guess what I'm saying is, although it may be illegal, @MGM was spot on. The behavior is rampant -- both businesses and John Q. Public are using USPS for whatever suits them -- packaging materials, soap molds, and most notably, moving boxes for books and like items -- because they are well-made and FREE!

ETA: I told myself long ago that I wasn't allowed to complain unless I had a solution for the problem. For the life of me, I am unable to some up with a solution to this one, given the divergent attitude of the Fed. vs USPS!!!

 

[earlene]

Thanks for that explanation, @earlene. Sadly, it just makes me crazier about the system than before.

Here's what arrived by USPS last Saturday. A 98¢ lamp part I ordered from a company in Chicago.

View attachment 56303
It was wrapped in a
USPS PRIORITY MAIL, PADDED FLAT RATE ENVELOPE - $8.55
Then placed in a second one - $8.55
Then mailed in a plain padded envelope:
5 OZ. FIRST CLASS PARCEL RATE, ZONE 5 NO SURCHARGE, "ComBasPrice"
Which I assume was $4.00 because that's what I was charged.

I guess what I'm saying is, although it may be illegal, @MGM was spot on. The behavior is rampant -- both businesses and John Q. Public are using USPS for whatever suits them -- packaging materials, soap molds, and most notably, moving boxes for books and like items -- because they are well-made and FREE!

ETA: I told myself long ago that I wasn't allowed to complain unless I had a solution for the problem. For the life of me, I am unable to some up with a solution to this one, given the divergent attitude of the Fed. vs USPS!!!

I know that few people really want to get involved to the extent of reporting waste of federal resources, but here is a lint about something citizens can do that might be help with a solution: https://www.uspsoig.gov/hotline

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I know that few people really want to get involved to the extent of reporting waste of federal resources, but here is a lint about something citizens can do that might be help with a solution: https://www.uspsoig.gov/hotline

Cool. I bookmarked it. Thanks!