Well, I went to the post office and got 100 stamps. $73.00 dollars. I thought the price was 69 cents a stamp. Talk about inflation, excessive labor costs or mismanagement, the price is rising 8-10 % a year.
Postage Rates
- Thread starter Narragansett
- Start date
When I started at the Post Office, a ways back in time, stamps were a nickel and shortly after went to 7 cents. Doom and apocalypse were predicted
Still a bargain.
That’s nothing. Letters are a loss leader, have you mailed a package lately?
73¢ won't take me very far if I have to deliver an envelope myself.
DWalt
Member
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2009
- Messages
- 36,645
- Reaction score
- 33,863
- City & State/Province
- South Texas & San Antonio
Postage prices will drop when the USPS gets all those new economical electric delivery vans on the road.
Yep. We've all had beefs with the USPS, but to send a Christmas card to the UK is only a buck.
gjgalligan
Member
When the USPS learns how to deliver items to the proper address without going to several out-of -the -way cities & states then maybe they will start to be profitable.
OP
I did. Very small 2.1lbs, $12.95. That was on top of the 73 dollars of postage
I remember back when the Forever stamps first came out, there was a story about a retired gentleman who bought $2000 worth. I wonder if he wad able to use all of them.
John
John
Hate to tell you, but you’re paying more than 73 cents for a stamp because the post office is subsidized with your tax dollars.
And I agree. That’s still a bargain.
And I agree. That’s still a bargain.
GypsmJim
Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2009
- Messages
- 4,512
- Reaction score
- 8,103
A stand up comedian had a joke that went something like this.....
"I walked into a Post Office with a letter but had no stamp. The clerk behind the counter sold me a stamp and took my letter. I replied " you mean to tell me you are going to take this letter all the way to Alaska in 3 days and it's only going to cost me 73 cents?"
"I walked into a Post Office with a letter but had no stamp. The clerk behind the counter sold me a stamp and took my letter. I replied " you mean to tell me you are going to take this letter all the way to Alaska in 3 days and it's only going to cost me 73 cents?"
$4.41 to mail a three-ounce thick envelope across the US as a parcel. About to go up. Ridiculous.
It's sad at the rate of inflation on letters. UPS and FedEx rates are jumping too. Also, local delivery. I have a P.O. Box that I got in the mid-70's for $20 a year. My annual bill for a box that collects 60-75% misdirected mail is now $182 a year. Closed it.
I bought two hundred Forevers several years ago at, if I remember, $0.48 each. Soon after I quit getting my bills in the mail and started paying online. I still have 9 stamps left. Should I frame them?
I bought two hundred Forevers several years ago at, if I remember, $0.48 each. Soon after I quit getting my bills in the mail and started paying online. I still have 9 stamps left. Should I frame them?
I recall seamail fondly. Would take a couple of months for stuff to arrive, but it was cheap. Used to move back and forth from Japan that way as a student in the 70s, clothing, books, etc. Cheap.
Sent two sets of pajamas to Japan for my grandkids for Christmas during the pandemic a coupla years ago. $80!
Sent two sets of pajamas to Japan for my grandkids for Christmas during the pandemic a coupla years ago. $80!
DWalt
Member
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2009
- Messages
- 36,645
- Reaction score
- 33,863
- City & State/Province
- South Texas & San Antonio
I bought 200 stamps just before the last postage hike. Should last awhile as most of my payments are on credit cards which are paid with monthly direct drafts on my bank account. My guess is we probably don’t use more than 50 to 75 stamps per year. And write even fewer checks.
charlie sherrill
Member
Stamps for letters don't bother me too much. I use four or five a month to mail bills. Used to be a lot more. What bothers me is when we send a package in the US it costs many more times than foreign packages coming into the US, especially China. I don't buy much from overseas now because if you have to return it most of the time the US shipping is more than what the product costs.
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2006
- Messages
- 6,297
- Reaction score
- 6,529
- City & State/Province
- Sierra Nevada foothills
That's why I don't send many Christmas cards.
BigBoy99
US Veteran
I still have a roll left of the several rolls of stamps I bought for $48 a roll.
Letters can become “parcels” if they meet certain criteria. Goodbye 73 cents.
First-Class Mail Fact Sheet).
Say WHAT??????
GypsmJim
Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2009
- Messages
- 4,512
- Reaction score
- 8,103
Recently I had to send several packages. I checked all the rates and the USPS was the lowest of all. I don't get the complaints about their "high" prices.
What bothers me now is that many of the vendors on EBay are now using a "shipping partner". When you follow the tracking you see that the vendor gave it to the partner a day after the order, and then it sits with them for a week and a half before they turn it over to the USPS. THEN, they get it to my house in 2 days.
What bothers me now is that many of the vendors on EBay are now using a "shipping partner". When you follow the tracking you see that the vendor gave it to the partner a day after the order, and then it sits with them for a week and a half before they turn it over to the USPS. THEN, they get it to my house in 2 days.
Walkin Horse
Member
Let’s get Amazon to run the post office and we could get free shipping.
VaTom
Member
My local small post office has great folks. The problem here in Roanoke Va. is that USPS closed the sorting center in the valley. Now if you mail a letter to go across town or in the area, they truck it to Greensboro NC (2 hours away) for sorting then truck it back to Roanoke for additional handling and delivery. I guess some higher up figures it is more economical but burning diesel fuel for a semi to haul it 200 miles (out and back) doesn’t make sense to me.
Last edited:
LVSteve
Member
They have just "sold" Royal Mail in the UK to some oligarch type. I predict that in about 5-10 years a government will take it back. They have already taken back several ailing train franchises and the Defence Ministry has bought back the military living quarters it had farmed out some years ago to a contractor. Result of that was sloppy/non-existent maintenance and the UK military living leaky, damp homes.
Oh, and if you think our military does better with it's private contractors, check this out.
Navy’s Cruiser Modernization A Lesson In How Not To Run Such A Program: GAO Report
The USPS is the least of our problems.
Oh, and if you think our military does better with it's private contractors, check this out.
Navy’s Cruiser Modernization A Lesson In How Not To Run Such A Program: GAO Report
The USPS is the least of our problems.
Jack Flash
Member
That had to be 50, 60 years ago. All those years of inflation wreaked havoc on the dollar.
My general rule of thumb is take prices from back then and multiply them by 10, and that's probably too conservative considering what's gone on the last few years.
So 7 cents then is 70 cents now. About the same cost for a stamp when adjusted for inflation.
I remember talking to my father about my great-grandfather who had to live with one of his daughters due to his age and financial situation.
In my ignorance, I made some comment like "Gee, at least he has social security."
My dad scoffed "Yeah, every month he gets about enough to buy a pair of shoes."
Last I checked on this forum, there were no complaints that social security has gone way too high!
A reason why rates are going up is lack of volume. I used to go through a roll of stamps a month. Now with e mail A roll of stamps lasts several months. My default communication with clients is e mail. Try the letter-PDF and attach to e mail. Scan in the original and trash the hard copy. At the end of the case-client has electronic copies of everything. If they don't have a computer, they get charged extra for the snail mail approach and in the end I mail them a thumb drive with their file-they can go to office depot if they want a paper copy. Spell it all out in advance in the retainer contract so I'm covered with the bar association.
Snail mail is a means of last resort now if you are sending something. If hard copy originals with wet signatures is required to be sent it's with FedEx ot UPS. Post Office is working on a outdated business model that is doomed to failure
Snail mail is a means of last resort now if you are sending something. If hard copy originals with wet signatures is required to be sent it's with FedEx ot UPS. Post Office is working on a outdated business model that is doomed to failure
Similar threads
