USPS Office of Inspector General

The U.S. Postal Service’s unassuming money order product actually has quite a distinguished history. The government established the United States Money Order System in 1864 as a safe way for Union soldiers to send money home to relatives.

A century and a half later, Americans still find money orders valuable. Last year, over 6 million American households purchased about 100 million of them with a face value of roughly $21 billion. Money orders – among the Postal Service’s most profitable products – generated $159 million in revenue in fiscal year 2015.

The law of unintended consequences tells us that actions, especially on a large scale, may have surprisingly unexpected results. Take the eCommerce boom. The $350 billion eCommerce industry (in the United States) has transformed the retail and delivery business and given the customer greater control of the buying experience.

Would you pay more for a postage stamp if the extra money went to support a cause you consider important? Many people would, and do. It’s the idea behind semipostal stamps. You may be familiar with the Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp, but might not know about its history or the semipostal stamp concept.