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Opinion
Raise rates for junk mail, not first class
Thursday, May 4, 2006
I remember the time when mail was delivered to your home TWICE each day and the cost of postage then was probably less than 2 cents. Now granted, I understand much has changed since those bygone days. But the Postal Service announced yesterday they want to raise the price of stamps to 42 cents next year and I can't help but wonder how long American consumers will rely on "snail mail."
The Postal Service will force many of us - reluctantly or otherwise - to begin paying our bills through the Internet. Millions of consumers already take that approach. And that in turn will reduce the mail and force the Postal Service to raise rates even higher to cover costs. It's a perfect "catch 22" situation.
The Postal Service, which expects to lose a cool $2 billion this year, blames much of their financial woes on the rising gasoline prices. And I don't doubt their argument. But in business, you reach a point where you can't raise your prices without losing substantial business. And that in turn forces you to raise prices even higher.
I think the Postal Service has it all wrong. I think they should leave the price of first class postage unchanged and, instead, put a premium on the "junk mailers" who stand to make a profit from their use of the Postal Service.
I don't know about you, but probably two days a week (or more), I throw every piece of mail in my box directly into the trash. It's unwanted, unwelcomed and unrequested literature trying to sell me something I neither want nor need. Now I don't necessarily want to ban these unwelcomed visitors but perhaps the Postal Service should target them for the rate increase. In theory, these people are the ones making money from their mail service delivery.
Maybe we will always have higher costs and higher wages and someday that gallon of milk will probably cost $10. And maybe someday it will cost a buck or more to mail a letter home. But that doesn't mean I can't complain about the higher costs and try to seek an alternative.
I strongly suspect I am not alone.