Bottom
& links
An unofficial
site by Jerry Nelson.
46 cent letters since
27Jan2013.
eBay ALERT 2013:
Increases over 100% (doubling the cost)
have come to
1st Class Int'l PACKAGES.
Returning your 1,2, or 3 oz no good gizmo to China will cost
$6.55, $6.55, $9.45
---=---
Inspired
by the friendliest home town post
office in the USA, Lafayette, TN
(see
"My Two Bits" at end)
Note:
mail that can’t get through a sorting machine
costs more.
A flat,
flexible business-sized envelope is cheaper than a flat, flexible
manila
envelope that needs bigger sorting machines and they
are cheaper than thick, inflexible envelopes of the same size
and weight that are UNMACHINABLE.
Letters
1st Class 46¢
+ 20¢
1
oz
$0.46
Bad
envelope penalty 20¢
2 ounces $0.66
3 ounces $0.86
3.5
oz $1.06
Heavier?
Go to FLATS (next).
Nonmachinable surcharge
increased to 20¢ May08
Up
2 cents from
$0.42 on 11May09.
Incrementing 20¢, not 17¢, on
17April2011.
Up 1 cent
from $0.44 on 22Jan2012.
Up 1 cent from $0.45 on 27Jan2013.
Rigid
object inside?
Metal clasp? Button & closure
string?
Add non-machinable surcharge ("bad envelope" penalty),
increased to $0.20 May08;
unchanged
for '09, '10, '11, '12, '13 praise the Lord.
Square? Goes though
their machines but they can’t
tell which way? Add
$0.20
Almost square (less than 30%
height-width difference)? Add $0.20.
Too
skinny?
(long
length more than 2.5x short)? Add
$0.20.
Length over 11 ½”
? Go to
“Flats” (next)
Height
over 6 1/8”? Go to
“Flats”.
(A "Size 14" envelope is OK;
Size 10 is normal.)
If you want to send someone a stamped,
self-addressed ("SSA") envelope
to return-mail you, it's nice to get a few Size 11
envelopes.
Thicker
than ¼”?
Go to “Flats”.
Tired?
Sorry. Too bad.
Congress gave away its power of oversight and let the Postal
Service change rates by itself.
“Flats” (Large 1st
Class
Envelopes)
1
oz
$0.92
and
add 20 cents
each additional
ounce as of 17Apr2011;
2
ounces
$1.12
unchanged 2012,13
3 ounces $1.32
(fold
it in half and go in a business envelope for 86 cents)
4 ounces $1.52
5 ounces $1.72
6 ounces $1.92
7 ounces $2.12
8 ounces $2.32
9 ounces $2.52
10 ounces $2.72
11 ounces $2.92
12 ounces $3.12
13 ounces $3.32
FLATS:
Over
13
oz?
Consider Priority Mail
flat-rate envelope.
Your envelope is inflexible,
lumpy, not rectangular? Go
to
“Packages”.
(No
cardboard to prevent creased photos, sorry.)
You want to send the photo anyway,
you've padded the envelope with
stiff paper to protect it,
but your envelope is still less than
1/4"
thick?
Stop! Go back in the house and
find a sheet of bubble wrap, anything, to reach
1/4".
Length over 15”
? Go to “Packages”.
Height
over 12”?
Go to
“Packages”.
Thicker than 3/4"? Go to
“Packages"
Under 3/4" but lumpy? Klutz! Go to "Packages", pay more.
After
12May08, it went up 3¢
After 11May09, it went up 5¢
After 17Apr11, it incremented 20¢ /oz instead
of just 17¢
After 22Jan12, it went up 2¢
After 27Jan13, it went up 2¢
First
Class LETTERS
FLATS
(manila envelopes)
Small
Pkgs
& padded envelopes Int'l Airmail
LETTERS + FLATS
Postcards
Domestic
PRIORITY boxes
Int'l Priority
1st Class Mail
INT'L PKGS
ExpressMail
$$$
MediaMail
BOOKS
Parcel Post
Money Orders, Delivery
Confirm
Small Packages /
Cartons / Lumpy envelopes 1st class
Padded
envelopes over 3/4" thick, rigid
photo mailers, medical samples, small boxes under 1 cubic foot.
You may write on
your little box, "1st Class Airmail." The official
name is "1st Class Package" or "1st Class Mail Parcel" (not
Parcel Post ! ). In 2013, an official name is also "Parcels" ( not
Parcel Post !)
We told you it is not
Parcel Post, and we told you again. Just to make sure you get it,
we are abolishing Parcel Post entirely. There's no such
thing. Get over it. As of 27Jan2013, those big cartons
are STANDARD POST. Again: these small cartons are
"Parcels", there's no
such
thing as
"Parcel Post" and the big parcels are "Standard Post". ((Why
did I start this Webpage? What ever made me think I could find
the logic or explain it to anyone?))
2011: No longer available on-line
to the American public.
Pitney-Bowes
can print it for eBay Inc, but you and I have to stand in line at the
Post Office.
But
wait! To send small 1st Class Packages ON LINE, go
to this unpublicized URL
("Universal
Resource Locater" or Web
address): https://www.paypal.com/ShipNow
(Thank you, JohnD.)
You
must be a registered PayPal user (a part of eBay, Inc). You
must enter a PayPal user name and password. No
coffee
breaks! If your session times out, you'll lose the address
you were typing and have to start over.
This
page normally comes up only if you sold something on eBay and must ship
it. There
is not supposed to be public access. When public access to
this
URL is shut down, there will be some excuse.
You didn't sell on eBay, we don't know what you are sending.
But all our parcels are subject to opening for postal
inspection,
so
tell me again, What are you afraid of? Explain one more time
why
it is
up
to eBay, Inc. to say whether we, the American people, have the
right to use our own postal system? Keep small
parcel
access available on line -- the Post Office needs the money.
Americans want a Postal Service.
Our Constitution
(Sec 1, Art 8) promised one to us. 1Jan2013: Still no public
online access to First Class Mail
Parcel postage.
1 oz
$2.07
2 ounces $2.07
3 ounces $2.07
and
add 17 cents each additional
ounce
4 ounces
$2.24
5 ounces $2.41
6 ounces $2.58
7 ounces $2.75
8 ounces $2.92
9 ounces $3.09
10 ounces $3.26
11 ounces $3.43
12 ounces $3.60
13 ounces $3.77
(After 12May08,
it went up 4¢ )
(After 11May09 it went up 5¢ )
(After 17Apr11 the 1st 3 oz were made all the same &
only 2¢
less than what 4 oz used 2B)
(After 22 Jan12 it went up 24¢.
Wow! No wonder they publicized only
the other changes.)
(After 27Jan13, it went up 12¢,)
To get the above small carton estimates even if you can't purchase the
postage on-line, enter the USPS site by clicking on the cartons symbol
and look
for "First Class Mail & Other Options."
THICKNESS HORROR
STORIES:
"I am
writing because the USPS has been overcharging (stealing from ) many
customers who are using padded mailers that meet the Large Envelope
(Flat) requirements. It seems that about 50% (!) of them are
thinking and saying, "All padded mailers must go at parcel rate.
This has been an ongoing battle I have waged for several years now, but
the USPS is just too big to get everyone, everywhere properly trained."
--Sue L.
It's flat, but they tell you to pay the higher parcel rate.
Should you just pay it so that you can mail stamps to a stamp
collector, seeds to your garden group, guitar picks, collectable
postcards, whatever? Not so fast. If it's flat, it had
better go as a flat:
"I've
had several flat eBay items I've ordered make it clear to my P.O. but
get kicked back to sender because of this; the seller used "First Class
Parcel" but then mailed a thin, flat item <3/4" and it gets bounced
back or, worse, charged postage [at the] Priority Mail rate."
--Jon J.
BIGGER?
If over 13 oz and going overseas,
you want "First-Class Package International Service" good up to 4
lbs. (Other names: "1st Class International Parcel", "1st Class
Mail International Packages".) After that, try Priority Mail
International's flat rate
boxes (limited to 20 lbs to most countries; see International section
next).
If over
13 oz domestic, try Priority Mail
flat rate boxes (any weight if you can fit it in). Over 15 lbs, Parcel
Post ("Standard Post") will never be cheaper than a Priority Flat Rate box.
Online: "Parcel Post Select" purchased online includes free tracking.
But length plus girth for Parcel Post Select is 84 inches.
Length plus girth for ordinary Parcel Post was 130 inches. Let me know if they still take your pkg.
Too big for the box? I prefer the brown UPS trucks
from ups.com.
You have
to register.
Length
plus girth over 108”? Go to Parcel Post calculator.
No even Priority will take you.
Length plus girth over 130"
Go to UPS like I told you -- Post Office won't
take it.
Posters rolled up (maximum
post office length): Global Express Guaranteed is only 46",
Express Mail Intl. is 60", domestic Priority Mail is maybe 60", and
sometimes there is a formula of length plus how tight you rolled it up,
so you don't really get the maximum. I'm terribly sorry
about this -- they can't seem to pick one rule, if they pick a rule, then
they don't always tell the public, and, if the public ever finds out,
then they
change it.
First
Class LETTERS
FLATS
(manilla envelopes)
Small
Pkgs
& padded envelopes Int'l Airmail
LETTERS + FLATS
Postcards
Domestic
PRIORITY boxes
Int'l Priority
1st Class Mail
INT'L PKGS
ExpressMail
$$$
MediaMail
BOOKS
Parcel Post
Money Orders, Delivery
Confirm
International
Airmail Letters
REVENUE = price x how many use the
service.
Please
make the service easier to use.
1
ounce any country $1.10. Thank you for this simplification.
International 1st-ounce forever
stamps appear in 2013. Thank you for this mercy.
One
ounce is a
business envelope with 5 sheets of typical Xerox paper, or 1 sheet and
six 4x6" photos. Leave out 1 sheet or 1 photo to be
safe.
"3.5" oz means you can't weigh more, but you
pay for 4 oz.
Limits, all countries: value under $400, size under 6 1/8" x
11 1/2" x 1/4" thick.
CANADA
1 oz
$1.10
up 25¢
from $0.85 +32¢/oz in 2012;
You can now buy international
"forever"stamps.
2 oz
$1.10 +45¢/oz
3 oz
$1.55
3 1/2
$2.00
MEXICO
1
oz
$1.10 +55¢/oz
2
oz
$1.65
Next ounce 55¢ more? Not same price like Canada?
3
oz
$2.20
You have to bribe them to take
the letter?
3 1/2
$2.75
Rest of World 1 oz
$1.10
2
3
Check below see of you are in a cheap or costly
country group.
31/2
COUNTRY
GROUPS
Group 1 Countries is CANADA (see above).
Group 2 Countries is MEXICO (see above).
Cheaper Countries,
Groups 6-9. Central and South America,
Middle East, Africa,
central Asia,
New Zealand, Philippines, Taiwan
1 oz
$1.10
2 oz
$1.90 +80¢/oz
3 oz $2.70
3 1/2
$3.50
Costly Countries, Groups 3-5.
European Union (France, Italy,
places
with chateaus & good food) ,
Russia & Turkey, China, Hong
Kong,
South
Korea, Japan,
& Australia
(kangaroos,
Rupert Murdoch,
Julian Assange
and
host to a key ground
station in a
famous spy
satellite system),
1
oz $1.10
+ 95¢/oz
2 oz
$2.05
3 oz $3.00
3 1/2
$3.95
BIGGER
THAN A LETTER? MORE THAN 3.5 OZ?
Int'l Flats
For envelopes up
to 15" x 12", there are international Flats up to 4 lbs. Costs
are:
Canada, roughly $4/lb;
Mexico roughly $7/lb,
ROW roughly
$8/lb.
To
ROW at over about 3 lbs, a Priority Flat Rate Envelope will be
cheaper, but it's a couple inches smaller both ways, so get the legal
size Priority Envelope 9
1/2" x 15" (which is the same price as classic size in International
service).
To check
First Class Mail International Flats pricing, select the large plain
envelope icon at http://postcalc.usps.gov/
and then select
"First-Class Mail Int'l Options". You still cannot buy the
postage online as of 1/2013. This is stupid.
As with all
flats, the International Flat envelope
cannot be rigid (so it can round the curves on
their conveyors past high-speed scanners). And
thickness? We are going up to 4 pounds here, folks, so the
infamous "quarter-inch warning" does not say you can't be thicker than
1/4 inch. Instead, the warning is, don't
have more than 1/4" VARIATIONS in thickness. So, use padded envelopes lined with
bubble-wrap. If you
fail the thickness test, you are a
First Class International Package box,
not a First Class Mail flat, and
prices are 40, 50% higher, even double for the low weights.
eBay returns to
China: a padded envelope International Flat is your lowest possible
cost -- $2 or $3 to return one dead CPU or fraudulent
USB thumb drive.
Don't try
to mail a small envelope over 3.5 oz. "LETTER" service up
to 64 oz was dropped on 12May2008, so now there's only big
"flats". Some post office minds think,
therefore, that you have to put the small envelope in a big one to make
it a "FLAT", and then put the additional stamps on it. You can't
persuade them to just take the money -- the same money, all the
additional stamps. They want the envelope too. They want to
fill the airplanes with big envelopes.
HEAVIER THAN 4 LBS?
Priority
international boxes take up to 20 lbs, cost a fortune, and require the
#2976 Customs Form. Sketched in Priority section below.
First
Class LETTERS
FLATS
(manilla envelopes)
Small
Pkgs
& padded envelopes Int'l Airmail
LETTERS + FLATS
Postcards
Domestic
PRIORITY boxes
Int'l Priority
1st Class Mail
INT'L PKGS
ExpressMail
$$$
MediaMail
BOOKS
Parcel Post
Money Orders, Delivery
Confirm
Postcard
33¢
4
¼ x 6" max,
0.016”
max (0.016" is "16
mills". A typical business card is 12 mills)
Minimum thickness 7 mills; cheap glossy inkjet photo paper is 10 mills,
so mail it.
Too
big?
Mail under
letter rates for domestic first class letter.
Increased
2¢ 11May09
Increased 1¢
17Apr11
Increased 3¢
22Jan12
Increased 1¢ 27Jan13
International
Postcards 1.10¢ all countries
Old price history:
Canada: $1.10 -- up on 17Apr11 from
75¢;
up on 22Jan12 from 80¢; up on 27Jan13 from 85¢
Mexico: $1.10 -- up
on 17Apr11
from 79¢,
up on 22Jan12 from 80¢; up on 27Jan13 from 85¢
RestOfWorld: $1.10 -- unchanged 17Apr11;
up on 22Jan12 from 98¢;
up on 27Jan13 from $1.05
Aerograms
/ Air
Letter Sheets are
discontinued by the postal service of the United States. .
Was $0.75
to any country, postage printed on the paper,
no stamps. Write whatever you
want, mail it to any address you want -- done. The good old
days.
If you have old
Aerograms,
you can use them at the current First-Class "Regular" Letters
rate by adding additional stamps.
Or
save them for eBay.
First
Class LETTERS
FLATS
(manilla envelopes)
Small
Pkgs
& padded envelopes Int'l Airmail
LETTERS + FLATS
Postcards
Domestic
PRIORITY boxes
Int'l Priority
1st Class Mail
INT'L PKGS
ExpressMail
$$$
MediaMail
BOOKS
Parcel Post
Money Orders, Delivery
Confirm
Domestic PRIORITY Envelope & BOXES
To
cope with the complexity and to obtain a discount that is about
4%, purchase Priority postage online at:
http://postcalc.usps.gov/
For
local shipments, use straight Priority and drop the flat rate
boxes. Otherwise:
Since 12May08,
everything but flat-rate varies by zone.
So let's
concentrate on flat
rate.
In 2010, everything was $4.75
on-line and $4.90 at the counter.
This was too simple.
New tiny "small" and "gift card" sizes make you pay more for
less, so we'll ignore them.
The standard 12-1/2" x
9-1/2" size
is less on-line than at the counter, so let's use that.
$5.60
flat rate envelope
domestic, any
zone, any weight $5.05 on line.
as long
as you can seal the envelope without extra tape, and
as long as it's the standard size, not big (legal) or padded.
Chris H., thanks for getting the 2013 on-line prices --
couldn't find them published anywhere before they went on line.
$5.15 at the counter Jan2012, up from
$5.00
$5.60 at the counter 27Jan2013, up from
$5.15
SIZES
Stnd
12-1/2" x
9-1/2" $4.90 online
Stnd
Now
(2011) available in a padded
version.
Add 35¢
online
Legal
New (2011) longer
size for legal
sheets, 15" x 9-1/2" Add 15¢
The next 2 smaller
sizes from 2011 save them
money, cost you same, so to heck with it:
Gift card
10" x 7" $4.75 in 2012
"Small"
10" x 6" $4.75 i 2012 (Print your own cards on
regular
8.5x11" paper, fold in half.)
$5.80
small flat rate box domestic,
any zone, any weight
, $5.15 online
as long
as you can close the flaps on the seams..
8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8"
$5.00 online in 2011, up from $4.85 in
2010
$5.15 online in 2012, up from
$5.00
$5.80 at the counter 27Jan13, up from $5.35 in 2012
$12.35
regular/medium flat
rate box any zone, 70
lb max,
$11.30 online
Two medium-size boxes are available:
11"
x 8.5" x 5.5" and
13.625" x
11.875" x 3.375
$10.50
online in 2011,
up from $10.20 in 2010
$10.85 online in 2012, up from
$10.50
$12.35 at the counter 27Jan13, up a buck from $11.35
$16.85
large-size box
to any zone, 70 lb max, $15.30 online
APO/FPO/Diplomatic mail gets a price break of about 4% to 10%.
$12.20
online, up from $11.95 in 2010.
$12.50 to some locations.
$12.65 online, up from
$12.20 in 2011.
$16.85 at the counter 27Jan13, up $1.40 from $15.45
Two large-size boxes are
available:
12" x 12" x 5.5"
23 11/16" x 11 3/4" x 3"
2009
size down from 12" x
12" x 6", and
regular non-APO
online price up from
$12.95
2008, $13.50
2009, $13.95
2010, $14.20
2011, $14.65
in 2012, $15.?? in 2013.
(Caution: these rates
typically change in January -- most parcel prices change in May.)
The flat-rate-size Priority
boxes may be used internationally
(20 lb maximum;
4 lbs for the small
one).
See Priority Mail International below.
TO
ORDER PRIORITY BOXES: store.usps.com
If this USPS
link stops working, search on
site:usps.com 0.00 Rate Box like
this. Look for a hit from store.usps.com.
If you are registered with eBay, try getting some free boxes here and
let me know how it goes:
http://ebaysupplies.usps.com/usps
SIZE LIMITS --
Escape from a flat rate box.
Internationally, NON-FLAT-RATE
PRIORITY costs about as much as the large box, and gives you sizes up
to 79" long and length plus girth of 108 inches. More costly
Express Mail is more limited: 42" long and length plus girth of 79
inches (2013). Sometimes there are country-specific
surprises.
Over
108", Priority stops (airplanes get crowded fast)
and Parcel Post is all you have left (trucks have more space).
Stay under the 70 lb limit, but other than that, your weight is
irrelevant -- you pay the "Oversized Penalty Price" until 130"
for length + girth brings your expulsion from the Postal Service
altogether. Remember that girth is width + height +
width + height. Check prices online.
70 LB WEIGHT
LIMIT: the maximum box weight, any size,
domestic shipment, is 70 lbs.
Pouring the small box full of liquid lead gets you 29 lbs, so I say
their weight limit shows an intelligence limit.
You
can fill any box with a solid block of aluminum and they'll
ship
it. (On the large box, leave 1/2" of free space on top.)
The medium-sized boxes can be about half-full of solid
iron. The
large box needs to be under 1/3 full of iron to pass -- solid
iron
all the way up to the top of the box would be 225 lbs, lead
would
be 325 lbs., and don't even think of gold.
I have a friend who could handle the 552 lb avoirdupois weight of
solid gold, but I
don't have the $8 million. (552.5 lbs Au, 14.583 Troy oz per
lb
Av. With gold at $1000/oz Troy, that's $8M.) Meanwhile the
price has gone up
from $1000/Troy oz. to $1600/Troy oz. I
waste my time
with these stupid calculations while
everyone else makes another $5 million on gold speculation.
If it's not a flat rate
shipment,
you can use your own packaging.
If it's virtually a local shipment, don't use flat-rate.
70 lbs is the limit throughout the USPS, period: Parcel Post,
Media Rate, and
Priority.
Insurance:
Pre-May 12, 2008:
insurance up to $500
was available on-line;
up to $5,000 if you presented the
package to a Post Office clerk.
2011:
You can buy larger amounts of insurance on line --
$thousands.
For some easy-to-steal-and-sell items, you may be forced to
get
insurance when you fill out the customs form.
Priority “Dimensional
Pricing” -- beyond flat rate:
Packages larger than 1 cubic foot
traveling far (Zones
5 through 8) are priced by size because
such trips use air transportation.
Or rather, you use the same old tables that price everything
by
weight, but you must use an imaginary weight calculated from your
package size as 8.9 lbs
per cubic foot.
This works out to LxWxH
in inches
divided by 194. <rant>: These people are trying to
have something both ways at once
(size
or weight? We can't decide!!) Now we have a world of lies:
your box surely does not weight exactly
8.9 lbs/cubic foot. Complexity, lies, and indecision might
be
some people's definition of "bureaucracy". </rant>
First
Class LETTERS
FLATS
(manilla envelopes)
Small
Pkgs
& padded envelopes Int'l Airmail
LETTERS + FLATS
Postcards
Domestic
PRIORITY boxes
Int'l Priority
1st Class Mail
INT'L PKGS
ExpressMail
$$$
MediaMail
BOOKS
Parcel Post
Money Orders, Delivery
Confirm
Priority Mail Int'l - check out the price
increases
FLAT RATE ENVELOPE & SMALL BOX
Canada $19.95, up $7 from 2012
$12.95, a 54% rate increase in 2013 (We want the tar sands, why this?)
ROW $23.95,
up $7 from 2012 16.95, a 41% increase in 2013.
Up $3.70 from 2011 $!3.25, +28%.
MEDIUM FLAT RATE BOX
Canada
$40.95, up $ 8 from 2012 $32.95,
a 24% increase in 2013. Up $6.40 from 2011 26.55, +24%.
ROW $59.95,
up $12 from 2012 $47.95, a 25% increase.
LARGE FLAT RATE BOX
Canada
$53.95, up $14 from 2012 $39.95,
a 35% increase.
ROW $77.95,
up $17 from 2012 $60.95, a 28% increase.
Some countries will go up to the USPS
absolute max of 70 lbs if you go outside the flat rate system and pay
over $200.
INFLATION:
These prices are up 24%, 35%, 41%, more.
Isn't it nice when the government is free from cost of living
adjustments (COLAs) ? That way, these postage costs can
rise more than ten times the average 2% rate of inflation
(2009-2012). We need to do the same thing for Social Security
COLAs. Uh, oh yes, that's not so they can go up ten times
faster. You meant, screw them down while everything else goes up,
didn't you?
First
Class LETTERS
FLATS
(manilla envelopes)
Small
Pkgs
& padded envelopes Int'l Airmail
LETTERS + FLATS
Postcards
Domestic
PRIORITY boxes
Int'l Priority
1st Class Mail
INT'L PKGS
ExpressMail
$$$
MediaMail
BOOKS
Parcel Post
Money Orders, Delivery
Confirm
1st
Class Mail International PACKAGES
The flat rate envelope and small box prices in Priority Int'l are
reasonable, but, for little boxes of any different shape you want,
First-Class Package Int'l service, also called
First-Class Mail International
PACKAGES, also called
First-Class International PARCEL.
This is the "Letter Post" group. It
embraces all forms of international mail: LCs (Letters and Cards)
joined
with AO ("Air Mail -- Other").
Size limit is 1 cubic foot maximum, and no one dimension over 24
inches.
Rolled up poster max width: 36" x 3"diameter.
4 lb weight limit.
Customs Form 2976 (the green one) must be filled out, max value is $400.
RATES (CHECK OUT THE PRICE INCREASES):
Here are the 1,2,3 oz rates you need to return a dead CPU, a fraudlent
USB memory stick, a cable adapter to China.
1st Class PACKAGES to CHINA
Africa, So. Amer, NZ are a few cents more (over 2 lbs) or less (under 2 lbs.
Goes up by quarter lbs -- a few oz over 2 lbs does not mean you pay for 3 lbs.
24 June 2012
27 Jan 2013
1 oz
$3.00
$6.55 Increased 118%. The
prize for 2013 is right here, folks.
2 oz
$3.78
$6.55 Increased 73%
3 oz
$4.56
$9.45 Increased 107%
2
lbs
$24.15
3
lbs
$31.55
4 lbs max
$30.44
$38.95
CHINESE POSTAGE RIDDLE: How can Chinese companies flood us with
goods under $5 and free shipping if the cheapest postage I can
find for Americans is $6, $9 -- more than the whole
item-from-China itself? Lord help you if the you have to return
any item to China for a refund. The same mailman comes to my
door, but it cost one thing to mail the envelope if it's going out of
here, and we charge the Chinese next to nothing if the envelope is
coming in. If the mailman walks backwards with my return pkg to
China, can I pay as little as my government and eBay charge the
Chinese?
So any "return for full refund"and "protected by PayPal" promises for
junk from China are totally meaningless unless each item costs
less than $6.55.
SELECT YOUR COUNTRY: The USPS calculator
gives you a list of about 500 destination. This is tedious.
They do not tell you that there are only two groups of countries
besides Canada and Mexico. This is unhelpufl. These groups
are the same "Cheaper Countries, Groups 6-9 (Central and South America,
Middle East, Africa, central Asia, New Zealand, Philippines, Taiwan)
and "Costly Countries, Groups 3-5" (European Union, Russia, Turkey,
China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Australia) that we saw for International Airmail letters.
To get the approriate USPS calculator,
pick the small carton symbol, enter a weight under 4 lbs, and a
country overseas. The less expensive choices will be listed
last in closed menu items and you must click to reveal (open)
them.
First
Class LETTERS
FLATS
(manilla envelopes)
Small
Pkgs
& padded envelopes Int'l Airmail
LETTERS + FLATS
Postcards
Domestic
PRIORITY boxes
Int'l Priority
1st Class Mail
INT'L PKGS
ExpressMail
$$$
MediaMail
BOOKS
Parcel Post
Money Orders, Delivery
Confirm
Express
Mail -- Does everybody agree I can drop this page
because the prices are ridiculous?
Envelope
$19.95
Flat rate box $39.95; 70 lbs max
Maximum not-flat-rate charge is $370.20.
Sample rates:
--- for 2 lbs to near-to-far zones, expect $18.10 to $39.40
--- for
4 lbs, expect $22.95 to $50.80
Since 12May08,
everything varies
by zone.
2011:
no changes for flat rate.
22Jan2012:
Envelope goes up to $18.95, flat rate box goes to
$39.95; 70 lbs max (not flat rate) goes to $342.10.
27Jan2013: Envelope goes up to $19.95, flat rate box stays
at $39.95; 70 lbs max (not flat rate) goes to $370.20.
To
cope with the complexity and to obtain a discount that is nearly
5%, purchase Express postage online at:
http://postcalc.usps.gov/
Any
Express letter up to
1/2 lb must
use a "Flat Rate Envelope".
If
not a flat rate shipment,
you can use your own packaging, but, if it will fit, a flat-rate mailer
is
usually cheaper, because:
a $19.95 flat rate
envelope takes any
weight to any zone.
Since 2011
there's a longer size for
legal paper, 15" x 9-1/2", and padded envelopes, all at the same
price.
Order
flat rate envelopes in cardboard or Tyvek here.
To
find the page if they move it again, search on site:store.usps.com
$0.00 express mail box like this: sample
search.
First
Class LETTERS
FLATS
(manilla envelopes)
Small
Pkgs
& padded envelopes Int'l Airmail
LETTERS + FLATS
Postcards
Domestic
PRIORITY boxes
Int'l Priority
1st Class Mail
INT'L PKGS
ExpressMail
$$$
MediaMail
BOOKS
Parcel Post
Money Orders, Delivery
Confirm
Media
Mail Rates -- BOOKS
No
variation by zone; not
cheaper
locally, but still cheapest per pound if you qualify.
OK
for: books, DVDs, manuscripts, printed music, big educational charts.
Because advertising is forbidden, you must take all magazines out of
your box. The books themselves may add only incidental
announcements of other books -- as old-fashioned publishers so often
did on the otherwise blank end-pages. No video games.
After
27Jan2013: Domestic
Rates
Up to 1 pound:
$2.53
Up to 2 pounds: $2.98
Up to 3 pounds: $3.43
Up to 4 pounds: $3.88
Up to 5 pounds: $4.33
Up t0 40 lbs $19.42
70 lbs max $32.32
Yes, it goes to 70 lbs,
see http://postcalc.usps.gov/
After you
get to 7 pounds for $5.23, the increments are 43¢ per
pound, all
the way up to $32.32 for the 70 lbs max. At the Post
Office, be
prepared to open and reseal the box. If you don't qualify,
regular parcel post (now called "standard post") is double to triple
the cost, depending on zone.
To
send Media Mail packages ON LINE, go to this
unpublicized URL
("Universal
Resource Locater" or Web
address): https://www.paypal.com/ShipNow
(Thank
you, JohnD.)
You
must be a registered PayPal user (a part of eBay, Inc). You
must enter a PayPal user name and password.
Normal United States citizens are not allowed to buy Media
Mail
postage on-line. Corporate customers are privileged
to enjoy
services
that US citizens don't get, even though the USPS is authorized by the
Constitution of the United States to serve all its people. Of
course,
when public access to this URL is shut down, there will be some excuse.
But all our parcels are subject to opening for postal
inspection,
so
tell me again what you're afraid I'll mail.
Explain
one more time why it is up to eBay, Inc. to say whether we, the
American people, have the privilege of fully using our own postal
system. Keep Media Mail access open -- the Post Office needs
the money.
|
Before
12May08:
Up to 1 pound: $2.13
Up to 2 pounds: $2.47
Up to 3 pounds: $2.81
Up to 4 pounds: $3.15
Up to 5 pounds: $3.49
|
Before
11May09:
Up to 1 pound: $2.23
Up to 2 pounds: $2.58
Up to 3 pounds: $2.93
Up to 4 pounds: $3.28
Up to 5 pounds: $3.63
|
Before
22Jan12:
Up to 1 pound: $2.38
Up to 2 pounds: $2.77
Up to 3 pounds: $3.16
Up to 4 pounds: $3.55
70 lbs max: $29.29
|
Before
27Jan13:
Up to 1 pound: $2.47
Up to 2 pounds: $2.89
Up to 3 pounds: $3.31
Up to 4 pounds: $3.73
70 lbs max: $30.19
Up to 40 pounds:
$18.19
|
|
First
Class LETTERS
FLATS
(manilla envelopes)
Small
Pkgs
& padded envelopes Int'l Airmail
LETTERS + FLATS
Postcards
Domestic
PRIORITY boxes
Int'l Priority
1st Class Mail
INT'L PKGS
ExpressMail
$$$
MediaMail
BOOKS
Parcel Post
Money Orders, Delivery
Confirm
PARCEL
POST
To
send Parcel Post pkgs ON LINE, go to this unpublicized URL
("Universal
Resource Locater" or Web
address): https://www.paypal.com/ShipNow
(Thank
you, JohnD.)
You
must be a registered PayPal user (a part of eBay, Inc). You
must enter a PayPal user name and password.
This
page normally comes up only if you just sold something on eBay and need
to ship it. We'll see how long public access lasts.
Normal
United States citizens are not allowed to buy Parcel
Post on-line. Corporate customers are privileged
to enjoy
services that US citizens don't get, even though the USPS is authorized
by the Constitution of the United States to serve all its people.
Of course, when public access to this URL is shut down, there
will be some excuse. But all our parcels are subject to
opening
for postal inspection, so tell me again what you're afraid I'll mail,
what you're afraid you can't track. Explain
one more time why it is up to eBay, Inc. to say whether we, the
American people, have the privilege of fully using our own postal
system. Keep Parcel Post on-line -- the Post Office needs the
money.
I
use flat rate
Priority for
small stuff, and the brown UPS trucks for heavy boxes (over 5 lbs or
so).
http://www.ups.com/dropoff?loc=en_US&WT.svl=PriNav
UPS
insurance is free up to $100, I paid $5.40 for $600 in 2011, but
the sad truth is, you
have to jump through hoops to collect more than $1000 -- an original
receipt for the item, a signed receipt from the guy across the counter
when you dropped off the package, perhaps the original complete
packaging
saved exactly
as it looked at the other end, perhaps a police report . . . ).
Parcel Post (Standard Post) can be cheaper than UPS if you avoid two
pitfalls.
AVOIDING THE PARCEL POST BALLOON RATE
PITFALL AT 84 INCHES
When you are under 20 lbs (as most gifts and eBay shipments are), then
keep the box length plus girth under 84"or you will pay 20 lbs ($34.58
across the country, 2013) regardless of weight. When packing a
smaller, tighter-fitting box, place
padding into the bottom of the box, THEN add the shipment and
stuff the box tight. You want to float the shipment away from the
box bottom, away from all the walls.
AVOIDING THE PARCEL POST
OVERSIZE PITFALL AT 108 INCHES
If your length + girth goes over 108 inches, you pay an oversize
penalty rate which is more than double the rate for 70 lbs locally (you
pay around $65). Even going across country you pay $108.23 when
70 lbs in a smaller box would have been only $71.84. You can pack
your shipment up in as large a carton as you want, the price isn't
going to change with either your weight (up to 70 lbs) or your size (up
to 130 inches length + girth).
To preserve your
parcel post
sanity, use the USPS rate calculator for "package" or
"large package". http://postcalc.usps.gov/
Measure and weigh the carton first, get the Zip code.
GETTING YOUR OWN ZONE AND RATE TABLES
for PARCEL POST
If you need to work out all the pricing yourself, you need two
charts. 1.) You need to go from
Zip codes to postal zones, and then 2.) you need a chart of rates per
pound (for all those postal zones). I can give you both
charts. Translate your recipient's
zipcode into postal zone numbers
here.
POSTAL
ZONES FROM ZIP CODES
A personalized
chart from my
town McLean to ZIP XXXxx
Try http://postcalc.usps.gov/Zonecharts/
(a U.S. Postal Service link) to
get a chart like the one below for your own town. This chart
works for Priority boxes that are not flat
rate,
and for Parcel Post.
|
|
3-digit
ZIP
Code prefix is 221. The first 3-digits of your
destination ZIP Code determine the zone.
(* - Indicates zones eligible for Intra-BMC Rates)
|
|
ZIP
Code
Prefix
|
Zone
|
ZIP
Code
Prefix
|
Zone
|
ZIP
Code
Prefix
|
Zone
|
ZIP
Code
Prefix
|
Zone
|
|
005
|
3
|
254
|
1*
|
456..457
|
3
|
710..714
|
5
|
|
006..009
|
7
|
255..261
|
3
|
458..497
|
4
|
716..717
|
5
|
|
010..059
|
4
|
262..265
|
2
|
498..509
|
5
|
718
|
6
|
|
060..079
|
3
|
266
|
3
|
510..513
|
6
|
719..729
|
5
|
|
080..087
|
2
|
267..268
|
2*
|
514
|
5
|
730..731
|
6
|
|
088..119
|
3
|
270..286
|
3
|
515..516
|
6
|
733..741
|
6
|
|
120..123
|
4
|
287..296
|
4
|
520..528
|
5
|
743
|
6
|
|
124..127
|
3
|
297
|
3
|
530..532
|
5
|
744
|
5
|
|
128..129
|
4
|
298..315
|
4
|
534..535
|
5
|
745..748
|
6
|
|
130..132
|
3
|
316..317
|
5
|
537..551
|
5
|
749
|
5
|
|
133..136
|
4
|
318..319
|
4
|
553..561
|
5
|
750..768
|
6
|
|
137..154
|
3
|
320..342
|
5
|
562
|
6
|
769
|
7
|
|
155..159
|
2
|
344
|
5
|
563..564
|
5
|
770..784
|
6
|
|
160..165
|
3
|
346..347
|
5
|
565..567
|
6
|
785
|
7
|
|
166
|
2
|
349..352
|
5
|
570..577
|
6
|
786..796
|
6
|
|
167
|
3
|
354..355
|
5
|
580..587
|
6
|
797..816
|
7
|
|
168
|
2
|
356..358
|
4
|
588
|
7
|
820..831
|
7
|
|
169
|
3
|
359..361
|
5
|
590..595
|
7
|
832..838
|
8
|
|
170..176
|
2
|
362
|
4
|
596..599
|
8
|
840..844
|
8
|
|
177
|
3
|
363..369
|
5
|
600..609
|
4
|
845..847
|
7
|
|
178..179
|
2
|
370..374
|
4
|
610..617
|
5
|
850
|
8
|
|
180..188
|
3
|
375
|
5
|
618..619
|
4
|
852..853
|
8
|
|
189..199
|
2
|
376..379
|
4
|
620
|
5
|
855..857
|
8
|
|
200..212
|
1*
|
380..383
|
5
|
622..631
|
5
|
859..860
|
8
|
|
214
|
1*
|
384..385
|
4
|
633..641
|
5
|
863..864
|
8
|
|
215
|
2*
|
386..398
|
5
|
644..658
|
5
|
865
|
7
|
|
216..223
|
1*
|
399..410
|
4
|
660..662
|
5
|
870..875
|
7
|
|
224..225
|
2*
|
411..412
|
3
|
664..668
|
5
|
877..885
|
7
|
|
226..227
|
1*
|
413..414
|
4
|
669..672
|
6
|
889..891
|
8
|
|
228..239
|
2*
|
415..416
|
3
|
673
|
5
|
893..895
|
8
|
|
240..241
|
2
|
417..418
|
4
|
674..681
|
6
|
897..898
|
8
|
|
242
|
3
|
420
|
5
|
683..693
|
6
|
900..908
|
8
|
|
243
|
2
|
421..427
|
4
|
700..701
|
5
|
910..928
|
8
|
|
244
|
2*
|
430..436
|
4
|
703..704
|
5
|
930..986
|
8
|
|
245
|
2
|
437..447
|
3
|
705..706
|
6
|
988..999
|
8
|
|
246..253
|
3
|
448..455
|
4
|
707..708
|
5
|
|
|
|
chart
from http://postcalc.usps.gov/Zonecharts/
You've got the zone number. Now you need a table of charges to
that zone for all the weights up to 70 lb max.
That chart is below, and on this
page all by itself, from which you can print it out.
Click image to enlarge (browser must have "scripts enabled")
My
waste-of-time look at calculating parcel post ("standard mail") costs
from Bulk Mail Center (BMC) and Auxiliary Service Facilities (ASFs) is
here. These are the mail sorting
centers Congress wants to shut down to "save money". These
Congressmen want to help us "save the Postal System from financial
collapse." Once enough
of the sorting centers are gone, the Post Office will never again be
able to deliver
first class mail by the next day. There is not much difference
between "overnight delivery" and "next day delivery",
except that one costs $21.05 to $36.05 ("FedEx Envelope" up to 8 oz,
2013) and the other costs 86 cents (3 oz First Class business
envelope).
First
Class LETTERS
FLATS
(manilla envelopes)
Small
Pkgs
& padded envelopes Int'l Airmail
LETTERS + FLATS
Postcards
Domestic
PRIORITY boxes
Int'l Priority
1st Class Mail
INT'L PKGS
ExpressMail
$$$
MediaMail
BOOKS
Parcel Post
Money Orders, Delivery
Confirm
Domestic
Money Orders
Up
to $500 -- $1.15
$500.01
to $1000.00 -- $1.55,
International
Money Order $4.45
Your
overseas maximum is $700. The Hong Kong and Shanghai
Banking Corp. (HSBC, a British bank from colonial times) had a slightly
higher money maximum. They laundered at
least $800
million in drug lord and terrorist money into the American
economy and banking system, and yet nobody
went to jail. The best way to rob a bank is to own one.
(No, seriously, that's the book
on Amazon, The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One: How
Corporate Executives and Politicians Looted the S&L Industry
William K. Black.)
Domestic
Delivery Confirmation ("Signature Conf")
After 22Jan2012:
Sig conf $2.55 for most services,
and available online for $2.10 if the postage was.
Certified
mail (proof of being sent and delivered, but no signature): $2.95,
up from $1.15 in 2009; lots of
large price jumps here.
Return Receipt (proof they got it):
$2.35 (a discounted price if you also buy over $200 in
insurance or if you buy Registered Mail for $10.95 minimum.
Otherwsie . . . )
$3.95 for merchandise. $2.30 in 2009
Registration
(postal employees sign a register as the item passes each step in its
journey) starts at $10.95, little
changed from $10.60 in 2010.
Registration is a prerequisite to
adding large amounts of insurance.
Registration +
Declared
Value Insurance costs
Maximum
liability has been increased to $25,000
from $5,000 in 2009.
There is no
separate "Declared Value Insurance", only "Registration" at some
level of "Declared Value".
Express
Mail ($100 insurance built in) and Priority are limited to $5,000 --
less for some foreign-country destinations. But not to worry.
For $48.50, you can mail a declared value of $25,000 as a
registered item. But suppose you hit it big on Antiques
Road Show? For your items over $15 million, postage
starts at $21,013.50 to persuade the Post Office to carry it
(they are not liable) --
you then take the paperwork around to private insurance companies
looking
for actual insurance coverage. The
Hope Diamond was mailed this way. Let me know if you need my
address.
Fees vary a lot. Even Express and Priority mail are different
(insurance for a Priority shipment costs more than Express). As
an example, Express Mail International costs $15.85 for $5,000 of
insurance.
CASH TRANSFER
Restrictions
to as little as $400/envelope apply to foreign mail. To sell your
house & buy one overseas, try a wired bank
to bank transfer
instead. Banks
charge $25 or $50 per transaction. You need bank routing numbers,
not
just the account number for your deposit. The US government
monitored private bank transfers secretly until it got caught (so it
got permission and still
does it). Government spying is a problem for wealthy
Americans. Fortunately, banks
offer courier service to wealthy Americans who want to put (or
retrieve) hundreds of millions into off-shore, numbered accounts
to avoid taxes (funny, what are all those diamonds
in your toothpaste tube?). Seriously, does our rich,
job-creating class do this? 14,700
American came in for amnesty after a whistle blower unmasked 5,000
of them at
the
Union Bank of Switzerland
(UBS). The whistle-blower was the only one who went to
jail, of course. The IRS gets credit for collecting taxes
and it
needs whistle blowers to find the money. So the IRS awarded the
whistle blower with $104 million for recovering billions of dollars in
taxes
on illegally hidden wealth (the real tax rate at the top can be
zero). Meanwhile, the Department of Justice
saw to it
that the same man was convicted and jailed. I'm sure that made
sense to the people who work there, but maybe they could change
the name of their Department.
First
Class LETTERS
FLATS
(manilla envelopes)
Small
Pkgs
& padded envelopes Int'l Airmail
LETTERS + FLATS
Postcards
Domestic
PRIORITY boxes
Int'l Priority
1st Class Mail
INT'L PKGS
ExpressMail
$$$
MediaMail
BOOKS
Parcel Post
Money Orders, Delivery
Confirm
(return to top)
MY TWO BITS:
<rant> There is a choice between keeping our post
office simple so
that
people can use it, and running it to squeeze out
every dime. Squeezing out every dime makes the Post Office so
complex
that you can only use it online with a
computer. Today, services
change price every year -- "mail services" change price in January,
and "shipping services" change
price in May. Thanks,
guys. Why
not change rates every week?
Who
chose
to do this? Not me. Who
gave away power to let rates change without
Congressional legislation? Not me. It must
be the same
Congress that lost the power to declare war (we fight
anyway),
the same Congress that passes laws and then grants
retroactive
immunity if you break them, the same Congress that tells the people
what is "on the table" and what is "not on the table."
Funny, I
thought I was the one who sent them all to Washington as my
representatives.
You know, "House of Representatives"? As we watch
our Post Office fall apart, could there
be a hand under the table, a
soft
word behind closed doors? Does somebody like what's going on here?
THE
JUNK MAIL STORY: Well, I
can send up to a
pound of
junk
mail
for about what it costs you to mail just one letter.
Search in Google on
"Pound
Prices" Periodicals "Advertising Portion" maybe add site:usps.com.
Dig it out,
it's there. Again, **you** pay for your ounce, they pay less
for their
pound. And, are you home when the mail arrives?
Take
a look at the weight your Letter Carrier carries.
The
U.S. Postal Service no
longer serves the U. S. people. Whether you are working there
or just trying to mail a letter, the U.S. Postal Service no
longer
serves the people of this country.
Dear
US Postal Service, drop the
subsidy for big junk mailers and the
big corporations that use them. **Then** tell me about the
Internet. **Then** cry about fewer ordinary
people
sending fewer ordinary letters. All of us using this rate
page
can tell you
what it's really like to mail
something, but first drop your subsidy for corporations.
Dear
Corporations:
don't rail against "big government" while you feed on subsidies
at the public trough. It's not polite to talk with your mouth
full. Don't tell me about black welfare mothers and Food Stamps
until you get off welfare yourself. Pay
enough to give them a profit,
do not bleed my Post Office white. Pay enough, like the rest of
us. The Post Office serves the
country that I love, and shame on you for trying to take it away from
me.
THE
SMALL TOWN POST OFFICE I EMULATED: This
Web page was inspired by a similar rate page put up by the
local post office in Lafayette, Tennessee.
The government Websites were driving me crazy.
Finally I
found the Lafayette page that told me how many stamps to put on
my
letter so I could just put it outside and come back in for a cup of
coffee. Some guys who work there and one or two of their
buddies put up a Web page with the few simple rates
that most of us need most of the time. I put up my page to
be like theirs. I put up something myself
so I could be less formal than the government, and add some common
sense, such as, "If it isn't machinable, it costs
more--here's what the penalty is."
Then what?
Soon the
rates were changing two different times a year. The rate
structure was getting complicated. Zones where added for Priority that
used to be the same for the whole country. Rates to Canada and
Mexico that used to be the same became different. What a headache
for everybody.
Tennessee gave up. That's right -- the
town
post office took down
their rate page and gave up.
I challenge you to find any place that posts the postage rates of
the USA -- the ones you need,
all
on one page. I also apologize for any errors on my
page,
but at least you can get an overview and the logic -- if there is any
--
behind the rules. Maybe I helped you pick the service you
want before you went to http://postcalc.usps.gov/ Maybe you
won't stand in line like me only to discover you chose the
wrong
envelope (and have to go home to fix it).
Our Post
Office is part of our civic society
--
it is in all our
communities, it serves everyone, all of us in our daily lives, and it
is not a
corporation. Like many institutions of civic society in our
time, the Post Office has been
weakened. (By whom? Why?)
The
changes that have been made to "save money" and "make the USPS a
competitive player" in the "free market" have made the US
Postal
Service too difficult for most people to use. For anything
more than a letter, we all have to go on line or stand in line.
Anything else would be quicker than all this complexity -- an
email, a fax, anything.
The price is bad, the service is worse -- by design.
THE PROFITS THAT WENT INTO THE PIGGY
BANK.
The final blow has been a sensible requirement to make the Post
Office put money into the piggy bank NOW to cover the retirement
benefits
of all its employees TOMORROW. The Postal Accountability and
Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA) sounded sensible at the time, but it
forces
the USPS to get 75 years worth of future health care benefits for
future retirees funded now, in ten years — a requirement imposed
upon no other government organization. Humm. Until the
Great Recession, the Post Office was making enough profits to
fill a sixty billion dollar piggy bank. And 75 years?
People
retire at age 65, so the Post Office is being forced to save now for
the retirement of people they haven't hired yet. Humm.
Then
the lies begin. Did you know about the piggy bank? I didn't
think so. Did you know it was $50 to $60 billion big?
Guess nobody mentioned that either. The Post Office
is making profits and saving them to take care of its "family" for the
future, but what we hear is that, after the "cost" of feeding the piggy
bank, the USPS is a money loser. Bankrupt!! Financial
crisis!! Last chance before it's too late!!
It is a clever drama.
They're
not really lying, just waiting for us to forget. It's
simple: require the Post Office to
save whatever is extra, and then tell the public, Look,
there's nothing extra, they are not smart enough to make profits.
By
June 2011, the Post Office had put $20.95B into the Piggy Bank, and run
up a $19.50B deficit. Here's the math: $20.95B - $19.50B =
$1.45 billion dollars in profit for the Post Office since the 2006
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.
So,
deficit or a billion in profits -- you decide. Deficit!
Deficit!!! Gotta do something fast: Congress has already
decided. To
"save" the Post Office from running out of money, our national
leadership will see to it that the USPS closes more than half its mail
processing centers so that overnight delivery of first-class mail is
impossible now, and will never be possible again (think Netflix DVDs
that will go to FedEx or UPS).
Big
government can't run any businesses, they always fail. If they
are not failing fast enough, then we help them fail a little faster.
Amtrak, the Post Office, they are all the same, they are
all money-losers. Give their business to corporations that
know how to make a profit.
#3
FedEx
$34B in
revenues in 2010
#2 brown UPS
$50B
2010
#1 U.S. Postal Service $65B
2011
Number
One is the USPS, our post office: sixty-five billion in revs --
the 2nd largest
civilian employer in the country (over half a million career
employees), the largest fleet of vehicles in the world.
And when #3 and #2 tear out the profitable parts of the corpse,
I'm sure rural Americans will not pay more than the rest of us to
get their mail. Even if it costs more, corporations will
sacrifice profit to give rural America a fair go and the same chances
the rest of us have. It's only fair. And I'm sure all
574,000 USPS employees (2011) will
move into the private sector without layoffs. And all the pensions
will be protected and nobody will lose
their health insurance, and
there won't be any office temps
and even the contractors won't be
forced to drive their own cars because we would never hire contractors
just
to avoid giving out employee benefits. And don't tell us about
any Piggy Banks, and don't regulate us so that we save for our
employee's future. Kiddies need a Piggy
Bank but we are corporations, we are grown-ups, so don't tell us what
cash reserves
we should keep on our books.
A
token postal service, a cripple that can't fight but can't be killed
off completely either, because the Constitution says we have to
have something -- that is the future we are being led to as
a nation by those with power over us.
Civic
society -- our communities and our relations with one
another
-- can get lost when profit is the only goal. The
country
-- the welfare of the United States of America, its role in the world,
its greatness as a nation -- this is not what counts
when profit comes first.
In the end, we lose greatness itself when we become
preoccupied with profit alone. All of us can count on a future in
which the US Postal Service
delivers junk mail at
reduced rates for corporate clients right up until the day the system
vanishes forever. On that day there will be less
competition for
the corporations that killed it, paid for the funeral in advance, and
always wanted the business. Live
with
it, get with the program. The failure of post offices in
every town in the country is the free market at work. So just
accept it. And
when the banks failed?
--jerry
J. I. Nelson, Ph.D.
</end rant>
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