Why can't the USPS use simpler mathematics? Stamps and price
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JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
As of January 8, 2006, the price of first class mail sent via the U.S. Postal Service takes a slight jump from $0.37 to $0.39. Percentage wise, it's not a big jump (do the math yourself if you really must know), but pain-in-the-posterior wise, this latest $0.02 jump is yet another confirmation that the U.S.P.S. is not a very consumer friendly organization.
For years people like myself have railed that the U.S.P.S. should be smarter about their price increases for stamps. When the price went from $0.32 it was suggested that we should just jump to the next "round" number. Of course that didn't happen, and along the way we stopped off at the $0.37 price point. We stayed there a few years, until -- of course -- the U.S.P.S. starts crying that they need more revenue to cover costs (which admittedly do have to be covered, especially given the high costs of fuel for the U.S.P.S. fleet) and then the prices are raised again.
I understand that the U.S.P.S. is stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place here. If they raise prices too much, they irritate customers, and worse, they start stockpiling revenue that their employees start looking at and lusting after, and it just feeds a perpetual cycle of increased prices to cover increased salaries. They also have to deal with (going by memory, so I may be off in the details of the process) an oversight board for stamp price increases that won't let them raise the prices too quickly.
Yet... there are people like myself and others that look at the U.S.P.S. and think they have got to be totally freaking clueless when it comes to stamp prices. If they would raise their prices to amounts that are divisible by nickles or dimes, it may cost us a bit more, but they could then hopefully stockpile the funds for a while and have the cash around during leaner times that would help delay future increases just a bit longer. It would make transactions for stamps a little smoother since customers wouldn't need to fish for pennies or accept them in change when purchasing postage. It would make the math simpler for the customer service people at the U.S.P.S. and for everyone else as well.
Unfortunately my postal service utopia continues to seem unattainable. Maybe next time, but then again what are the chances that the next price increase will only be $0.01, and not something higher? Probably somewhere between slim and none. { frown }
For years people like myself have railed that the U.S.P.S. should be smarter about their price increases for stamps. When the price went from $0.32 it was suggested that we should just jump to the next "round" number. Of course that didn't happen, and along the way we stopped off at the $0.37 price point. We stayed there a few years, until -- of course -- the U.S.P.S. starts crying that they need more revenue to cover costs (which admittedly do have to be covered, especially given the high costs of fuel for the U.S.P.S. fleet) and then the prices are raised again.
I understand that the U.S.P.S. is stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place here. If they raise prices too much, they irritate customers, and worse, they start stockpiling revenue that their employees start looking at and lusting after, and it just feeds a perpetual cycle of increased prices to cover increased salaries. They also have to deal with (going by memory, so I may be off in the details of the process) an oversight board for stamp price increases that won't let them raise the prices too quickly.
Yet... there are people like myself and others that look at the U.S.P.S. and think they have got to be totally freaking clueless when it comes to stamp prices. If they would raise their prices to amounts that are divisible by nickles or dimes, it may cost us a bit more, but they could then hopefully stockpile the funds for a while and have the cash around during leaner times that would help delay future increases just a bit longer. It would make transactions for stamps a little smoother since customers wouldn't need to fish for pennies or accept them in change when purchasing postage. It would make the math simpler for the customer service people at the U.S.P.S. and for everyone else as well.
Unfortunately my postal service utopia continues to seem unattainable. Maybe next time, but then again what are the chances that the next price increase will only be $0.01, and not something higher? Probably somewhere between slim and none. { frown }
