Post Office's Rescue Plan: Junk Mail

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Wall Street Journal

Many consumers are irked by the catalogs, credit-card pitches and other "junk mail" they receive. But the U.S. Postal Service loves it—and wants to deliver more.

The agency, beset by historic losses and a plummet in first-class mail, is running promotions, easing rules and planning television and radio ads to encourage more businesses to send pitches by standard mail, the official term for bulk mailings used by marketers to prospect for customers.

"What we want to do is to make standard mail more interesting for customers so we can grow the total volume," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in an interview. "We don't call it junk mail—it's a lucrative avenue for anyone who wants to reach customers."

The volume of first-class mail—used for everything from birthday cards to thank-you notes—continued its decline in fiscal 2011 that ended Sept. 30. It fell 7% versus a year ago through August, the latest figures available.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204612504576606743516301586.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_editorsPicks_1

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. The Postmaster General is right to a point

but should be pressuring Congress to fix the legislative mess they created in 2006... bush appointee, what are the odds?

[jimmil]

6. Yep you're right...

The Post Office "contributes" billions to the general fund yearly. No matter how much they take in they will never get right side up because of the legislative mess.

[Akoto]

2. Junk mail? Around here, lucrative for paper shredder manufacturers. n/t

[phantom power]

3. fuck "the volume" -- increase the fee on junk mail.

If they go down this path they'll be nailing their own coffin shut, not saving themselves.
:banghead:

[DCKit]

4. Today on Martha Stewart: How to turn a trash can into a mail box. nt

[Trillo]

5. The post office could offer junk mail blocking, charge a monthly fee

to recipients who don't want their time wasted sorting and tossing away junk mail, and not deliver it to those addresses paying for the service. Then, the post office could earn income on both sides. Get fees from those mailing junk. Get fees from those not wanting to receive any junk. After that, they could create a premium junk mail level with a higher sender fee, that gets through to folks paying for the junk mail blocking service. Maybe they could call it "1st" class mail, instead of "First" class mail.

[sarcasmo]

7. I would sign up for that with a quickness. Since I pay everything online

the actual mail I receive amounts to about six legit pieces of mail a month.

[kestrel91316]

8. If they charged FULL RATES on the junk mail they now deliver, there

would be NO postal financial crisis.

[Freddie Stubbs]

9. Or would there be a lot less junk mail and a lot less revenue for the USPS?

[pinboy3niner]

10. This is a diversion from the real issues of union-busting and privatization

Unfortunately, it seems to be working. :(

[DeSwiss]

11. So I take it that this is the Post Office's version.....

...of the "junk shot???" I'm sorry Mr. Postmaster, but killing more and more trees in order to send out more and more crappy junk mail telling us to buy more and more shit with money nobody has -- isn't going to solve your problems.

- Nor ours.......

K&R