One segment of the November 3 Mailers Technical Advisory Committee meeting’s focus group session on Customer Experience, Product Solutions, and Innovative Business Technology featured Sharon Owens, USPS VP for Pricing and Costing.

In her presentation, Owens sought to explain trends in the Consumer Price Index, on which the price cap on market-dominant rates is based, and the factors that determine the additional pricing authorities derived from the Postal Regulatory Commission’s November 2020 decision.

 By late June, the Postal Regulatory Commission likely had received more comments than it had expected about the Postal Service’s proposal to change the service standards for First-Class Mail and some Periodicals.

Aside from the briefs and statements of position from the eleven intervenors in the case, plus the commission’s “public representative,” the PRC also got comments from other groups and interested parties, including from 478 individuals from all over the country.  (Whether there was a coordinated campaign behind those isn’t clear; many of the comments didn’t follow a pattern.)

Commercial mail producers and others whose businesses have regular contact with postal services may be aware of a price increase but not really understand why it happens or what it means.  As we did last year, in an attempt to offer answers, below are some of the questions that commercial mail producers and their clients may have.

Price changes generally

The following article is an excerpt from the Dec. 9 edition of Mailers Hub News

In an order issued on December 6, the Postal Regulatory Commission approved the First-Class Mail rates proposed on October 9 by the Postal Service, as those were later corrected on October 10 and amended on November 20.

People often ask about price changes – why they’re when and what they are, and why the USPS can’t simply reduce its costs. It’s really not that simple.

The Postal Service has filed new prices for market-dominant mail that, if approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, will take effect on January 26, 2020.  The average increase for the market-dominant classes of mail is 1.9%, in line with the CPI-based cap; First-Class Mail will increase, on average, by 1.919%, and Marketing Mail prices will rise by an average of 1.891%.  Barring problems during the PRC’s review of the filing, a decision should be expected by mid-November.

New prices for competitive products, set by the Governor of the Postal Service, also were announced.  They will be reviewed for statutory compliance by the PRC and, barring problems, also will be effective January 26.

Don't miss our upcoming FREE Webinar on October 20, 2019; Looking Over the Horizon – Possible Changes to Postal Prices and Discounts.  Yes, rates will change next year, but the question is by what degree, and will those be accompanied by changes to the rate structure, discounts, and fees?  Will there be classification changes, new products and services?  What’s the timeline?  Learn about what is likely to be happening so you can better inform your clients and build your company’s value.

Click Here to Register Now

Excerpted from the February 4, 2019 edition of Mailers Hub News 

The price of a stamp went from $0.50 to $0.55 last month but a challenge to that increase continues.

As previously reported, the Postal Service submitted its Annual Compliance Review for fiscal 2018 to the Postal Regulatory Commission at the end of December. Given the span and scope of such a document, it’s normal for the PRC staff to pore over it carefully and ask about data or statements that they believe need further clarification. These questions, officially know as “Chairman’s Information Requests,” or CHIRs, generate a response by the USPS.

The occasional nugget

In separate orders issued November 13, the Postal Regulatory Commission approved without changes the Postal Service’s proposed prices for both market dominant and competitive products. Also approved as filed were the promotions the USPS proposed as part of its market dominant filing. As a result, both sets of rates will be implemented as planned at 12:01am ET on January 27, 2019.

Market dominant  products