United States Postal Service

Patient: Doc, this postage increase worries me. Should I switch from a standard-size catalog to a digest or slim jim? How can I switch without making my business sick? Catalog Doctor: A digest or slim jim can produce a strong, healthy business. The smaller size often evokes a more personal, “company-that-cares” feel. When combined with upscale design and photography, it also evokes quality and “best of class.” Patient: How can I tell if a digest or slim jim is right for me? And how do I avoid the potential pitfalls? Catalog Doctor: A digest or slim jim might work for you if you fall under one

Washington, DC – May 25, 2007— The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) today offered interim rate relief for Standard Regular flats and catalog mailers in response to the Governors of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) who requested reconsideration of the recommended rates in March.   The Commission’s Second Opinion and Recommended Decision on Reconsideration recommends a transitional temporary rate reduction of three cents ($0.03) for all Standard Mail Regular flats and two cents ($0.02) for Standard Regular nonprofit flats.  By law, the average revenue per piece for nonprofit mail is only 60 percent of the average revenue for commercial mail.  No other rate changes were recommended by

For companies that ship to residential locations, it may behoove them to take advantage of the U.S. Postal Service, which can still provide cost-effective shipping despite the recent rate increases. That was the message of Alicia Berry, COO of DVD Empire, a Web-based DVD retailer, at a session during the recent National Conference on Operations & Fulfillment in Schaumburg, Ill. “The most important thing you can do to control costs is to figure out where each of your packages is going and how much it costs — the daily numbers,” she said. “That way, you’ll be able to take advantage of what the USPS has

With the much dreaded postal rate increase taking effect this month, hopefully by now most catalogers have made at least some of the adjustments needed to continue to grow — or at least survive. As we’re in the heart of the industry’s conference season, many have been feasting on scores of postal cost-cutting tips coming from presentations, special emergency sessions and the media. For our part, after breaking the news on our Web site (www.CatalogSuccess.com) about the Postal Regulatory Commission’s punishing catalog rate increase that was more or less hidden in its rate recommendation to the U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors,

Although the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors today approved most of the rates recommended by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) last month, they asked the Commission to re-think the whopping catalog rates the PRC stunned the industry with, accepting them “under protest.” In making the announcement today in a teleconference, James Miller III, the chairman of the postal governors, said the Board asked that the Commission “reconsider certain issues” regarding Standard Mail flats as well as the First Class nonmachinable surcharge rate and the Priority Mail flat-rate box. Miller tempered any possible enthusiasm of a modification of the catalog rates, warning that the Commission could

Plenty of mailers got their letters in to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors by the March 8 deadline, some protesting the horrific catalog postal rate increases recommended by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). In fact, I checked with the Governors’ office this morning (March 9), and heard that the office received more than 1,000 letters — though not all necessarily concerning the killer catalog rates. That’s a nice big number indeed, but I’m taking a glass half empty approach to this edition of The Corner View. That is, let’s go on the assumption that these unfair rates will be accepted by

Plenty of mailers got their letters in to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors by the March 8 deadline, some protesting the horrific catalog postal rate increases recommended by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). In fact, I checked with the Governors’ office this morning (March 9), and heard that the office received more than 1,000 letters — though not all necessarily concerning the killer catalog rates. That’s a nice big number indeed, but I’m taking a glass half empty approach to this edition of The Corner View. That is, let’s go on the assumption that these unfair rates will be accepted by

Despite the passage last month of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, mailers soon will be faced with significant changes to the U.S. Postal Service’s Domestic Mail Classification Schedule, the document that serves as the regulatory framework for all postal rates and classifications. In my last column (“Beyond Rising Postal Rates,” October 2006 issue, pgs. 66-67), I shared some of what the USPS proposed in its current postal rate case. Postmaster General John Potter has said that mailers should be ready for new rules and rates to be implemented by May 7. Prudent mailers will get ready to adapt to many changes by early May. Part

At long last, President Bush on Dec. 20 signed into law the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 in a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington. It was the first sweeping reform of the U.S. postal system since 1970. The bill, nearly a dozen years in the making, was passed through both chambers of Congress on the night of Dec. 8 and into the following early morning. Its passage will have no bearing the current postal rate case, however, according to Association of Postal Commerce president and Catalog Success columnist Gene Del Polito. Here’s a brief summary of how the reformed Postal

I recall watching a TV sketch more than 20 years ago in which Bette Midler depicted this mopey, depressed woman whose reaction to just about all situations in life was (in the character’s whiney, Noo Yawk accent), “Why bothuh?” Performed solo, the skit and her character were at the same time hilarious and chilling. When I think of lobbying for key catalog legislative issues — namely, postal reform and privacy — that character often creeps into my mind. Postal is perhaps the more pressing of the two concerns for catalogers. Since the first postal reform bill was introduced more than a decade ago, the Direct