The Postal Service has more than 10,000 prices contained in a 1,800-page customer manual known as the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM). The DMM provides individual and commercial mailers with information about postal services and standards for both domestic and international mailings. The Price List, also known as Notice 123, contains domestic and international retail and commercial prices for all postal products and services.
The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA) changed the way the Postal Service sets rates. It divided postal services into two broad categories: market dominant (mailing services) and competitive (shipping services). Market dominant products constitute about 90 percent of postal revenue. They include First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals, and some Package Services. Products such as Priority Mail, Express Mail, and bulk Parcel Post are considered competitive. The PAEA placed a cap on price increases for market dominant products.
Stamp prices are traditionally in whole cent increments. That means it is difficult to target a particular percentage increase. For instance, a one-cent increase on the 42-cent stamp would have been 2.4 percent; while the two-cent increase was 4.8 percent.
Often when you make a charitable donation in response to a direct mail campaign, you’re asked to put a stamp on the prepaid envelope. It’s another way to help the organization save on costs. And for a nonprofit, those savings can add up.
The prepaid envelope is known as business reply...
Read More
This fiscal year (FY) appears to be unlike any other. In December, just two months into FY 2016, the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors lost its last remaining presidentially appointed governor when his holdover term expired. The Board, which operates much like a corporate board of directors...
Read More
It seems the pricing of parcels in today’s market is a lot like the story of Goldilocks and the three bears (with the U.S. Postal Service playing the role of Goldilocks): If USPS sets prices too high, it opens the door for the big retailers to come in and make their own deliveries. If it prices...
Read More
The rapid growth in ecommerce and expansion of the package delivery market has created opportunities for the Postal Service, helping drive double-digit growth in package volume since 2015. To expand package processing capacity, the Postal Service plans to purchase and install an additional seven...
Read More
The Postal Service uses competitive fixed-price contracts to hire Highway Contract Route (HCR) contractors to transport mail between post offices and other designated stops. In fiscal year 2016, the Postal Service spent about $3 billion for about 8,664 HCR contracts, making them the largest...
Read More
The post office lobby is the principal business office of the Postal Service and often the only close-up view customers get of postal operations. The lobby’s appearance and maintenance directly affect the Postal Service’s image and are essential to its business. A bright, clean, and welcoming...
Read More