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Price increase for stamps annoys some Valley consumers
TweetBy Jon Moffett
YOUNGSTOWN — A rise in the price of postage hasn’t been met by every consumer’s stamp of approval.
The cost of a first-class stamp will increase from 42 cents to 44 cents Monday.
The U.S. Postal Service says it’s part of an annual price adjustment.
Consumers were not afraid to give their two cents on the increase. Many locals said the price change was “ridiculous” and “unnecessary” given the economic climate.
“It’s kind of ridiculous because it seems like every time you turn around the price is going up,” said Helen Ford, 50, of Boardman. “And they wonder why people are e-mailing more.”
Ford says she uses the mail often. She pays her bills and sends letters through the postal service because she doesn’t trust “online hackers” with her personal information. She said sending out her bills, about 11 each month, is getting costly with the increases.
In 2006, Congress signed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act into law, ensuring a cap on the rate in which postage can be adjusted.
“Generally, with the 2006 law, we are able to increase the rates annually,” said Vic Dubina, spokesman with the USPS. He added that the adjustment is determined by the inflation rate.
The postal laws divided the office into two sections, mailing and shipping. The shipping side had rate adjustments in January.
Dubina said the bad economy and an increase in Internet communication contributed to falling revenues.
“We’re charged by Congress to operate as a business, meaning we do operate on revenue,” he said. “We’re not immune to the same pressures everyone else is facing as costs go up.”
He added that the USPS has seen a decrease in volume over the past few years. People are sending more e-mail and paying bills online rather than through the postal service, he said.
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.
Comments
Maybe, it's time for some downsizing rather than increasing the cost. Snail mail will continue to drop as services are performed more often electronically.
Also, cost of commodities (fuel, human capital, basic capital purchases, and overall cost to purchase almost anything has dropped drastically). Cost going up? I don't think so ....
Pet peeves about USPS:
- Slow and frankly is less reliable.
- Service attitude of postman are generally horrible. Maybe some of them might need to change a job or something.
- Costs too much. $5-$7 for an envelope to get a signature?
Are you kidding me?
I think the want (not need) for postal service will lessen even more over time. It's obvious why ... Please keep the price increases, with that poor quality of service and please .. go right ahead and be less and less competitive ... Oh .. and please do keep posting nasty notes to people who park in front of their homes close to the mailbox ...
Yet another government run industry......
Do you folks really want universal health care?
The United States Health Service?
If the price of gas / diesel / heating fuels would be lessened to $1.00 a gallon with a 65% reduction on all other petroleum products the price of a stamp would be 35 cents with no increases. Posted by Allan
Well we know wehy no one ges to the psot ofiice anymore. It cost to much and you never know when your mail will get thier or even if it will.
Now come on, be realistic, you take an envelope, place a stamp upon it, stick it in a mailbox in Ohio and it gets delivered all the way to say, San Diego, California for 44 cents! The U. S Postal Service is one bargain in this day and age. I wish they'd just raise the stamp to 50 cents and be done with it for the next decade. This one penny now, two pennies next year, and two more in three years gets to be a major inconvenience.
I wish my wages would just go up because of inflation!!! I'll use less since the postal service has done little, in my eyes, to deal with their costs. I also agree about some postal workers....my regular carrier is a waste! Complained...went no where. She could be the first to go.
I rarely use stamps or the post office. I pay all my bills online including magazine subscriptions. For the rarity that I MUST use the post office, this little increase rarely affects me. I send e-cards, e-mail, etc. The only other time I use the post office is at Christmas time for cards and THAT is less and less. For sending packages, I use UPS or FEDEX (much more reliable) Personally I think they should eliminate the Saturday delivery to cut costs.
I absolutely agree with XFilesX on all counts.
I use E-mail for everything.
Sometimes though a personal hand-written card or note is required. My mail carriers pick them up for me. They are great men and women. They work hard no matter what the weather conditions and they go out of their way for all of us.