Stamp ceiling

We hit it. We officially hit the stamp price ceiling at which I'm prepared to mail items willy-nilly. 39 cents.

Who know that would be it? I didn't feel it coming on when we were at 37 cents - the fifth increase since 1991. I remember feeling a pang of irritation each time the postal service would tack on another cent here, another cent there. But I would pay it, not really changing how I did anything. "Bloodsuckers," I'd think. But then someone would say how it costs $3 to send a letter in Ghana or something, and I'd be glad I live in the U.S. and go on about my business.

But then I heard on Saturday, while I just happened to be listening to the morning news instead of a food show or "The Soup" as I would normally do on a Saturday morning, that Saturday was the last day to mail anything for 37 cents. Those masters of inefficiency at the postal service had hiked the rates yet again.

Now, let's make sure we get this. With the rise of email, virtually no one writes letters anymore. With the popularity of e-cards, hardly anyone writes cards anymore, except for very special occasions. Thanks to autopay options for bills, only a portion of one's bills in any given month actually need to be paid with a check stuffed in an envelope adorned with a stamp. So, as I understand the trend of the last 10 years or so, demand for the postal service's product has diminished. At the same time, there is no shortage of supply - I have yet to walk into a post office, ask for a stamp, and be told, "There's been a run on them, ma'am. I'm sorry, but we're fresh out. You'll have to come back next week. Would you like to place a pre-order?"

Now, I only took a smattering of Economics courses during my academic career, but one thing I remember pretty clearly: when demand rises, prices rise. Taking it a step further: if demand is high, and supply is low, prices rise even higher. The converse is also true: if demand decreases, prices decrease. If demand decreases, and supply is high, prices decrease even more. And eventually, if no one wants your product, or they're not willing to pay what you're charging, you go out of business. There you have it, folks: Capitalism 101.

So, how is it that the postal service can keep increasing prices as the demand for their product decreases? That's simple. The postal service is not subject to laws of the marketplace. The US Postal Service is a quasi-government organization. Like every other government enterprise, it need not be efficient to stay in business.

Not that I'm not glad they ARE in business. I'd still rather pay 39 cents per letter than $12 to send it FedEx (though each piece of mail would be tracked and would get there the next day - BOY do those folks at FedEx know what they're doing!). But as I said at the beginning, I've hit a wall. I've looked at my budget to see which bills I can feel comfortable putting on autopay to my credit card (so I can still dispute a charge if I need to) so that I can avoid what amounts to a 39-cent tax on every bill I pay. I've switched over a couple of bills already, and I'm trying to decide about putting my SBC on autopay. The bill pretty much never changes since I use my cell for long distance, so I don't see a reason not to. But I'm not sure I'm ready to give SBC unfettered access to my credit card. I'm not sure I trust them. Something about them might be evil.

Anyone else out there use autopay for their bills? Online pay? What's your experience?