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How much does the USPS make from first class mail these days? I find it somewhat strange that people are bringing up the fact that e-mail has killed old-fashion

How much does the USPS make from first class mail these days? I find it somewhat strange that people are bringing up the fact that e-mail has killed old-fashioned letters while ignoring the fact that online shopping has led to a dramatic increase in the number of parcels shipped. Is the profit margin on parcel delivery really that much lower than that of mail? If so, then how are FedEx and UPS able to make a go of it?

badlucklottery 11y ago
I would guess that the spam mailers subsidize a lot of USPS's mail services. If they're already getting paid to ram advertising garbage in my mailbox, adding an actual letter in there is probably relatively cheap.
matthewowen 11y ago
There are a number of reasons which I'm sure others will go into, but one point to mention is that FedEx and UPS can charge what they like and ship where they like. USPS must deliver to every address and, to my knowledge, isn't allowed to charge more to deliver to some addresses than to others. So FedEx and UPS can make money by doing a large volume of deliveries in cities, and not delivering to rural areas (or charging through the nose to do so). USPS doesn't have the same freedom. In practice, this means that shippers go with UPS or FedEx unless those places don't go to the address, in which case USPS gets saddled with the unprofitable business.
- yuhong 11y ago
  This also reminds me of private vs public health care. For fun, look up the "American Letter Mail Company" too.
- karthikb 11y ago
  First class is fixed, however other services are prices based on zones: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/notice123.htm#1152653 http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/notice123.htm#1152653
  - matthewowen 11y ago
    Thank you, TIL.
ourmandave 11y ago
This chart breaks out the total pieces in 2015 as total volume was 154.2 billion pieces. First-Class Single Piece Mail was 20.6 billion. That being: Mail bearing postage stamps — bill payments, personal correspondence, cards and letters, etc. https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-facts/decade-of-facts-and-figures.htm https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-facts/decade-of-fac...

badlucklottery 11y ago

I would guess that the spam mailers subsidize a lot of USPS's mail services. If they're already getting paid to ram advertising garbage in my mailbox, adding an actual letter in there is probably relatively cheap.

matthewowen 11y ago

There are a number of reasons which I'm sure others will go into, but one point to mention is that FedEx and UPS can charge what they like and ship where they like. USPS must deliver to every address and, to my knowledge, isn't allowed to charge more to deliver to some addresses than to others. So FedEx and UPS can make money by doing a large volume of deliveries in cities, and not delivering to rural areas (or charging through the nose to do so). USPS doesn't have the same freedom. In practice, this means that shippers go with UPS or FedEx unless those places don't go to the address, in which case USPS gets saddled with the unprofitable business.

yuhong 11y ago
This also reminds me of private vs public health care. For fun, look up the "American Letter Mail Company" too.
karthikb 11y ago
First class is fixed, however other services are prices based on zones: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/notice123.htm#1152653 http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/notice123.htm#1152653
- matthewowen 11y ago
  Thank you, TIL.

ourmandave 11y ago

This chart breaks out the total pieces in 2015 as total volume was 154.2 billion pieces. First-Class Single Piece Mail was 20.6 billion. That being: Mail bearing postage stamps — bill payments, personal correspondence, cards and letters, etc. https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-facts/decade-of-facts-and-figures.htm https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-facts/decade-of-fac...