5-cent stamp hike could have a ripple effect

Postal Service asks for increase amid drop in mail volume

If you still send out mail through the U.S. Postal Service, you might want to stock up on stamps. The agency is asking the Postal Regulatory Commission for a rate increase for first-class forever stamps, which would bring the price from 50 cents up to 55 cents a stamp.

The increase would be the biggest hike for the firstclass stamp since 1991, the Associated Press reports, and comes as the postal service struggles with a drop in mail volume and pension obligations.

For those who send out the occasional letter or bill payment, the increase probably isn’t that big of a deal.

However, for small businesses, that increase could translate to a chunk of change. Think about a small business that sells a service that requires monthly invoicing. The bigger the client base, the more revenue that comes in. This could apply to lawn care services, pool services, home cleaning services, etc. If those small businesses don’t have online billing in place, they would have to send out invoices via the postal service to their client base on a monthly basis.

Say that small business has 500 clients. Adding 5 cents to a stamp costs adds an additional $25 a month to their mailing costs for their monthly client billing, or $300 a year. One of the keys to successful small businesses is keeping expenses low, so increasing the cost of a stamp could have an impact.

Such a move might inspire businesses to change how they send out billing, for example, perhaps sending them over to online billing. That type of move might require an initial investment of time and money to set it up, but in the long run, there’s likely to be a savings in both postage and time.

Ultimately, if many small businesses made the decision to move away from the postal service, that could in turn negatively impact the postal service’s bottom line.

Five cents might not be a big deal. But it could ultimately have some ripple effects, driving users away.

What do you think, Yuma? Is the 5 cent increase reasonable, or too much? Let us know. Share your thoughts online at www.YumaSun.com, or send in a Letter to the Editor at letters@yumasun.com.