RIP USPS

The United States Post Office is going to ask to increase the cost of a regular stamp from $.37 to $.41 next year.

I don't know about you, but I very rarely send anything via the USPS. More often than a single stamp item would be a small package. I'd venture to say that other than 2 monthly bills, I use maybe 3 stamps per year. Unless, of course, I actually get to sending out Christmas cards this year.

There once was a time when sending a letter was the norm. Now, people send e-mails and instant message. Instant communication. You don't have to wait a week to get a response. With the increase in allowable attachment size in many free e-mail providers, people cans end their digital pictures to anyone with e-mail, where they can print them out for a fraction of the cost.

I see the USPS going to way of the dodo bird sometime in the next 30 years, unless they change their processes. If people want to send a package nowadays, they send it UPS or FedEx more ofte than they do the USPS. Why? Because these other carriers do it more quickly, more reliably for relatively the same cost.

So the USPS can't deliver packages like the other companies, and fewer people are sending fewer letters these days. I have nephews and nieces who have never sent a letter USPS, but they have sent out hundreds of e-mails. I think that when "the greatest generation" is laid to rest, the number of snail mail pieces will decrease to a point of iminent closure for the USPS.

So, when people are using you less, and you aren'y evolving to keep up with the demands and desires of the majority of your customers, simply attempt to stick them with a double digit price increase.

Yeah, that will save you...