Cutting the costs of postage stamps
The Postal Service printed $37 billion worth of stamps in fiscal 2008 at a cost of $78 million and eventually destroyed $2.8 billion worth of them. As the mail volume and profits continue their sharp decline, the mail agency's watchdog is seeking ideas on how to cheaply and more efficiently produce the thumbnail-sized images.
"Are there better alternatives to stamps?" asks a blog post posted Monday the Postal inspector general's blog. "Business customers often rent postage meters and use permits for bulk mail. Now, the advent of online postage vendors has given individual customers an alternative to stamps."
"What about stamp collectors? Would philatelic sales suffer if the Postal Service reduced the denominations it offered? Commemorative Forever Stamps could be issued in limited quantities to satisfy collectors," the blog suggests.
What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and submit your ideas to the Postal Service.
By
Ed O'Keefe
| January 25, 2010; 1:00 PM ET
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Agencies and Departments
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Posted by: jralbert | January 25, 2010 11:58 PM | Report abuse
Why were the stamps destroyed? It can't be because the theme/celebration on the stamp has passed. Right now the post office near me only sells Kwanzaa and wedding stamps
Posted by: ashdaleuf | January 26, 2010 11:37 AM | Report abuse
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It would be helpful if the story explained WHY the post office was forced to ddestroy the stamps. As it stands, the piece is really thin.