Postal Service May Start Delivering More Junk

A number of customers may start to realize they are receiving a whole lot more junk in their mailbox than they used to. While these customers may not be thrilled about the credit card applications, fliers for grocery stores and various catalogs that they are receiving, the Postal Service is actually hoping to start delivering even more of this type of mail, which is often referred to as junk mail. And, why is that? It is believed that with the Postal Service sending out more of this mail, they will be able to generate more revenue, especially during a period in time where it is truly needed. According to data from the Postal Service, nearly 48 percent of the mail that is delivered to different people is for advertising purposes.

The postal service is currently dealing with significant declines and has had to make a number of cuts when it comes down to the different deals that it has with businesses and mail marketers. The postal service is looking for a way to generate revenue and increase sale pitches and what better way to do it than to increase the amount of junk mail that is sent out. The postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, has said, “Standard mail is the best way to reach your customer.” Donahoe also said, “You can advertise on Facebook, but I don’t see how you can trace the number of ‘likes’ to return on investment.”

The Postal Services has definitely started to embrace direct mail as a way of increasing revenue. At the same time, however, a number of cities are finding it more difficult to pay for recycling of such mail and it costing a whole lot of money when millions and billions of unwanted junk mail are filling up the landfills. The localities have made estimates that around $1 billion is spent, on average, each and every year for the collection and disposal of such junk mail. A number of cities have decided to work with a software developer to create a register that allows residents in certain cities to block certain form of mail from being sent to them if they do not want it.

In fact, over the past few years, hundreds of different cities have set up online registries for residents of the city. Thee registries allow residents to opt out of receiving any type of mail that could be considered junk mail, which includes catalogs and other forms of advertisements. In the United States alone last year, residents received a total of around 84 billion pieces of this kind of mail, the type of mail that they refer to as junk mail. A solid waste manager, Ed Gilbert, has said, “One of the biggest complaints that we get in Brookline from customers is about the amount of junk mail clogging up their mailboxes.”