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The postal service makes a large fraction of its revenue from those advertisements. They are absolutely charged actual prices.

briandear 6y ago
No they aren’t. There is highly discounted “bulk mail rates” that are far cheaper than what sending a single letter costs.
- Fjolsvith 6y ago
  That's because they are presorted.
- kn0where 6y ago
  Those discounted rates are still profitable. The margin is small, and they make it up in volume. There’s an economy of scale to be had when every single person on the route gets the same bundle of local grocery ads, whereas if I send a first class letter, that has to actually be sorted and delivered to a specific address, potentially across the country.
- blck 6y ago
  I always thought bulk mail made more money than first class just by sheer volume of how much bulk mail is sent but color me surprised that in FY2019 marketing mail made up a significantly smaller dollar amount than first class mail. First class mail just barely edges out shipping packages here. For anyone who wants to check it out: https://about.usps.com/what/financials/annual-reports/fy2019.pdf#:~:text=FY2019%20Annual%20Report%20to%20Congress%20%E2%80%94%20United%20States,of%20Governors%20Chairman%20on%20our.%202.%20operations%201 https://about.usps.com/what/financials/annual-reports/fy2019...
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 6y ago
  Actual prices for bulk mail, that is. It costs a lot less to deliver the same piece of mail into 1000 adjacent mailboxes than it does to send 1000 letters to different addresses around the country.
- gnopgnip 6y ago
  Bulk mail is on the order of half the retail price of postage. So it is still a big part of their revenue. And you can get the commercial discount rate by printing your own postage at home for one off packages. If you are mailing 100+ things a month, presorting them etc, you can pay bulk rates too
- jessriedel 6y ago
  As others have noted, the fact that bulk mail rates are lower per piece does not mean the postal service isn't making money or that the price is less than the marginal cost. Junk mail is a cash cow for USPS, and it couldn't survive without it unless it raised prices on normal mail.

briandear 6y ago

No they aren’t. There is highly discounted “bulk mail rates” that are far cheaper than what sending a single letter costs.

Fjolsvith 6y ago
That's because they are presorted.
kn0where 6y ago
Those discounted rates are still profitable. The margin is small, and they make it up in volume. There’s an economy of scale to be had when every single person on the route gets the same bundle of local grocery ads, whereas if I send a first class letter, that has to actually be sorted and delivered to a specific address, potentially across the country.
blck 6y ago
I always thought bulk mail made more money than first class just by sheer volume of how much bulk mail is sent but color me surprised that in FY2019 marketing mail made up a significantly smaller dollar amount than first class mail. First class mail just barely edges out shipping packages here. For anyone who wants to check it out: https://about.usps.com/what/financials/annual-reports/fy2019.pdf#:~:text=FY2019%20Annual%20Report%20to%20Congress%20%E2%80%94%20United%20States,of%20Governors%20Chairman%20on%20our.%202.%20operations%201 https://about.usps.com/what/financials/annual-reports/fy2019...
9nGQluzmnq3M 6y ago
Actual prices for bulk mail, that is. It costs a lot less to deliver the same piece of mail into 1000 adjacent mailboxes than it does to send 1000 letters to different addresses around the country.
gnopgnip 6y ago
Bulk mail is on the order of half the retail price of postage. So it is still a big part of their revenue. And you can get the commercial discount rate by printing your own postage at home for one off packages. If you are mailing 100+ things a month, presorting them etc, you can pay bulk rates too
jessriedel 6y ago
As others have noted, the fact that bulk mail rates are lower per piece does not mean the postal service isn't making money or that the price is less than the marginal cost. Junk mail is a cash cow for USPS, and it couldn't survive without it unless it raised prices on normal mail.