Booklets
Summer Postage Sale – well, sort of a sale, no, more like a small rebate
summer sale
To those that are excited about the impending summer postage sale, there are a few details you need to know, first, did you receive a letter from the USPS recently?
Here is what it looks like: summer-sale-electronic-letter
Here are the details:
The USPS has made it official (almost) that they are going forward with the proposed ‘Summer Sale’ event. The PRC must still weigh in with their decision, which is expected in late May, to make this program official. This program would provide a 30% postage credit on mailings submitted between July 1, 2009 and September 30, 2009. This incentive program is designed to increase mailing activity during the usually dormant summer months, when the USPS has their most excess capacity available.
Unlike most sales however, there are a multitude of qualifiers that apply to the Summer Sale.
Who and what qualifies?
For the most part, the USPS has already determined what mailers qualify. Letters were sent out on 5/7/09 to approximately 3,200 mailers whom they determined will be eligible for this program by utilizing the mail volume data that exists within their internal system.
1. This program only applies to Presorted Standard letters and flats.
2. The next qualifier is that you must have mailed a minimum of 1,000,000 pieces during the time period of October 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008. Total volume is calculated by mailer, so even if you utilize multiple permits, your total volume will be calculated across all permits that are associated to your organization. This also applies to “Ghost Numbersâ€, which are created if your mail is sent through a Mail Service Provider. If you feel you are eligible, but have not received a letter, then you can request a contact by emailing your information to summersale@usps.gov.
If you have met the criteria above, you are ready to begin to calculate the ‘Sale’ portion of the program. The 30% postage credit will be given only on the number of mail pieces that exceed your mailing threshold for the time period of July 1, 2009 to September 30, 2009. The caveat to this all is that your mail volume in October must not fall below your mailing threshold for that month. If this occurs; the total credit accrued from mailings between 7/1/09 to 9/30/09 will be deducted by the amount of pieces that fell below the threshold in October and that will be the final credit. The credit will be issued at some point in December of 2009 once the USPS has completed the above calculations.
How to calculate your potential savings:
Below is an example of how to calculate the savings that you as a mailer may receive through this program. Listed in this example is the all important Threshold, which will be the key to planning your mailings to take advantage of this program.
1. Base volume (7/1/08 – 9/30/08): 500,000 pieces
2. Trend:
a. Volume 10/1/08 – 3/31/09 = 1,800,000 pieces
b. Volume 10/1/07 – 3/31/08 = 2,000,000 pieces
c. a/b = (1,800,000 / 2,000,000) = .90 or 90%
3. Base x trend = Threshold:
500,000 x .90 = 450,000
4. Rebate = (Actual volume – threshold) x (actual postage cost / actual volume) x 30%
a. Actual volume for 7/1/09 – 9/30/09 – threshold =
475,000 – 450,000 = 25,000 pieces
b. Actual postage cost / actual volume =
$103,075 / 475,000 = $0.217
c. Rebate =
25,000 x $0.217 x .3 = $1627.50
The October Effect:
It is important to keep your mailing volume for October in mind when factoring the potential savings. If your volume falls below the calculated threshold, then your overall credit will be impacted. Below is an example of how to calculate this effect.
a. October 2008 volume x trend (in #2 above) = October threshold:
300,000 x .90 = 270,000 pieces
b. If October 2009 (260,000 pieces) < October threshold:
Threshold – actual = adjustment
270,000 – 260,000 = 10,000
Rebate adjustment
a. Actual volume – summer sale threshold – rebate adjustment:
475,000 – 450,000 – 10,000 = 15,000
b. New rebate:
15,000 x $.217 x .3 = $976.50
For those of you that have received a letter; be sure to certify the volume that the USPS has provided to you since this will be a binding once you have agreed to enroll in the program. Also be sure to have your response in by August 1st, 2009.
This program is a great way to potentially reach more customers at a lower cost and therefore enhance your business’ ROI. The system is not perfect, but it is a step in the right direction for the USPS to utilize their new found pricing freedom to help mailers.
From the Federal Register today:
Federal Register Notices
DATE: Pending publication in the Federal Register.
Standard Mail Volume Incentive Program (aka Summer Sale)
AGENCY: Postal Serviceâ„¢.
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY:
The Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), to add section 709.2 which introduces new standards for a special volume incentive program for mailers of Standard Mail® letters and flats with mail volume exceeding their individual USPS™-determined threshold levels. The program period will be from July 1, 2009 through September 30, 2009.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Gunther at 202-268-7208.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Postal Service is implementing a volume incentive program for qualified high-volume mailers of commercial or Nonprofit Standard Mail letters and flats, for volume mailed between July 1, 2009 and September 30, 2009, above their USPS-determined threshold level. This program encourages mailers to provide new volume and to take advantage of our current excess capacity to process and deliver additional volume.
NZ Post completes NZ$200 mln sale of 7.5% bonds
Now this sounds like an excellent idea USPS anyone reading this???
17:53 April 24, 2009Article
Article – Businesswire
April 24 – New Zealand Post Group Finance completed its NZ$200 million sale of bonds that pay 7.5% annual interest.
NZ Post completes NZ$200 mln sale of bonds paying 7.5%
April 24 – New Zealand Post Group Finance completed its NZ$200 million sale of bonds that pay 7.5% annual interest.
The notes pay annual interest through until Nov. 15, 2014, the reset and step-up date. The initial margin is 2.8%, the postal service’s finance unit said in a statement. The debt matures in November 2039.
All NZ$200 million of the notes were sold to clients of investors who participated in its bookbuild. The sale was for NZ$150 million of notes, rated A by Standard & Poor’s, with oversubscriptions of NZ$50 million.
NZ Post chairman Jim Bolger the postal service is “delighted with the positive reception to this offer and the large number of investors who participated in the offer, which maintains New Zealand Post’s very strong financial position.â€
The notes are expected to begin trading on the NZDX market on April 27. NZ Post joins corporate including Contact Energy in selling debt securities, taking advantage of dwindling deposit rates, which spur demand for fixed-income returns.
(Businesswire)
Spain’s Banco Santander Makes a U.S. Deposit
This is a great article about the power of data modeling and analytics and the amazing effect it can have on a business, from Business week, April 15th.
With its Sovereign Bancorp purchase, Santander takes its strong acquisitions record to the American market
Madrid – Spain’s Banco Santander has every right to be smug. While rivals were jumping into investment banking and complex derivatives, Santander stuck largely to its plain-vanilla retail operations in Europe and Latin America. That extra-safe strategy helped Santander rack up $11.7 billion in profits last year even as its peers were hemorrhaging cash.
One place Santander has largely avoided is the U.S., but that’s about to change. The bank in October paid $1.9 billion for the 75% of Reading (Pa.)-based Sovereign Bancorp (SOV) that it didn’t own already. Emilio BotÃn, Santander’s 74-year-old chairman, plans to use Sovereign’s 747 branches and 2 million customers in the Northeast to muscle his way into U.S. retail banking. That will involve spending some $400 million by 2012 to upgrade back-office technology, retrain staff in marketing techniques, and consolidate a far-flung management team. The deal will make the U.S. Santander’s No. 3 deposit base, behind Britain and Spain.
While the expansion may be a gamble in these tough economic times, Santander has a strong track record in acquisitions. In Spain, Britain, and Latin America, the bank has followed a similar strategy: Buy a small stake in a local player to get to know a market, then jump on bigger game when they come up for sale. In the past two years, Santander has spent some $31 billion on nine deals across three continents. “BotÃn always has been a hunter,” says Robert Tornabell, former dean of ESADE Business School in Madrid.
But cracks are appearing just as BotÃn embarks on this U.S. adventure. In 2008 the bank’s nonperforming loans doubled, to $8.9 billion—2% of Santander’s portfolio—and they’re expected to double again this year as Spain, Britain, and Brazil hit the skids. A $3.1 billion loss related to Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme also has tarnished the bank’s credibility. “Even Santander’s conservative retail banking model won’t do well in the current climate,” says José Manuel Campa, a finance professor at IESE Business School in Madrid.
Not so, says Santander Chief Financial Officer José Antonio Alvarez. He says bad-loan provisions—mandated by Spain’s central bank—will ensure that Santander can weather the crisis. He also notes that Santander has a healthier loan book than most of its rivals. “We only invest in markets that we understand well,” Alvarez says.
And BotÃn knows how to squeeze every last dollar, euro, and pound from customers. Branch managers use in-house technology, dubbed Parthenon, that provides constant updates on clients. The system analyzes accounts and suggests products, such as credit cards or home equity loans, that customers are likely to want. And it flags clients who are falling behind so the branch can work out a payment plan. “We know who pays and doesn’t pay, and the exact services to sell,” Esther Sanchez, a manager with Santander unit Banesto in Madrid, says as she thumbs through client files.
GROWING PAINS
Santander plans to replicate the strategy at Sovereign. Last year productivity at 30 branches around Philadelphia jumped by 50% when managers started using Santander’s selling techniques. That pilot program has been expanded across all Sovereign branches, a move Santander expects could net the bank $215 million in savings over the next three years.
Still, Sovereign carries some risks. Santander already has written down $2 billion of Sovereign’s questionable assets. And the Spaniards want to get rid of a further $10 billion in loans by yearend. Despite those growing pains and its troubles back home, Santander remains confident about the U.S. “It’s not about luck,” says Juan RodrÃguez Inciarte, the bank’s strategy chief. “We make decisions at the right time.”
BookSwim: Netflix for books?
by Peter Glaskowsky
A new Web-based rental service called BookSwim describes itself as Netflix for books.
After checking it out, that seems to be a fair enough summary.
The pricing doesn’t seem to be quite as good a deal as Netflix; the fees are slightly higher and the average price of books is somewhat lower than for movies. But it’s in the ballpark.
For example, BookSwim offers a subscription with three books out at a time for $19.98 per month. BookSwim covers shipping both ways via U.S. Postal Service media mail, though books over two pounds do carry an extra fee based on the actual difference in postage.
This is not too far away from the three-DVD subscription from Netflix for $16.99 per month, also with free shipping.
BookSwim is aimed at high-volume readers; its plans go up to 11 books at a time for $39.94 per month.
BookSwim has an additional requirement that is probably a consequence of the media mail rate schedule. Customers must return multiple books at a time, depending on the service plan: 2 or 3 for the 3-book subscription, 4 or more for the 11-book subscription. Then BookSwim ships multiple books at a time to the customer.
I was curious about the weights of books, so I grabbed a few Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle novels off my recently read stack and weighed them on my kitchen scale:
Fallen Angels (with Michael Flynn) in paperback: 0.48 pounds
Inferno in trade paperback: 0.51 pounds
Escape from Hell in hardcover: 1.27 pounds
It looks like paperbacks will never exceed the two-pound mark. However, I can see larger hardcovers getting into excess-weight fees, especially technical nonfiction:
GPU Gems 3 by Hubert Nguyen: 3.8 pounds
Physically Based Rendering by Matt Pharr and Greg Humphreys: 5.77 pounds
Fortunately, the fees would be low: only an extra $1.40 each way for the latter book based on the published media mail rates, cheap compared with its current $74.36 price on Amazon.com.
One might think about using BookSwim to rent textbooks. At $120 for four months’ use of seven textbooks, this would be a great idea…except they thought of it first, and they don’t do that. BookSwim has a separate service to help students find textbooks, but it’s nothing like the regular subscriptions; mostly it consists of referring customers to BookRenter.com, where textbooks rent for a large fraction of their retail price.
In its online media kit, BookSwim addresses the obvious question: why not just go to a library?
The company’s answer includes these main points: no late fees, 24-hour browsing, a wider selection, less waiting for popular titles, and no need to leave home.
I’m not persuaded by all of these reasons. I don’t believe BookSwim’s selection is as wide as a major city library. The Martin Luther King Jr. Library here in San Jose claims a collection of over 1.5 million items. And its catalog can be searched online, like most libraries these days. BookSwim’s selling points probably mean more to customers who don’t have a big library nearby.
I suspect the waiting-list and convenience issues will favor one side or the other, depending on the customer and the books they’re reading.
The page also says this about BookSwim’s selection: “Can’t find a book on BookSwim.com? Let us know and we’ll buy it!”
If I really believed that was true without restriction, I’d sign up in a hurry, since there are many more technical books I’d love to read that are way out of my price range. Rare books would be another great way to take advantage of this promise, and it would also seem to provide a way to get textbooks through BookSwim. The promise doesn’t appear in the company’s Terms of Use agreement, however, so it probably isn’t meant to be taken literally.
All in all, BookSwim seems like a pretty good deal for avid readers. It seems to make the most sense for people who like to read popular, new hardcover books, especially if they read a lot, don’t care to keep all the books they read, and prefer to use their spare time for reading rather than running to the library.
That summary may sound like a narrow market, but it fits me pretty well, and I think it could make a decent business for BookSwim.
Peter N. Glaskowsky is a technology analyst for The Envisioneering Group. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Police: Postal worker threw away mail because it was printed on inferior paper
The discerning postal employee…
A former postal worker in upstate New York has been arrested for tossing mail.
Glen Helmer was arrested Thursday morning and charged with destroying mail he was supposed to be delivering.
According to the criminal complaint Helmer admitted to throwing away bulk mail circulars.
Investigators caught Helmer in the act when they followed him on his route last summer.
It is estimated that Helmer tossed business mail between 100 and 120 times during the last eight years.
On the criminal complaint, Helmer said he didn’t like the flyers because they were printed on inferior quality paper.
Helmer’s next court appearance is set for June.
Discounts for Saturation mailers who up mail quantities
From the U.S. Postal Service: The Postal Service recently announced a first-time growth incentive program for Saturation mailers. This incentive program will allow customers to earn substantial credits on new volumes: 3.7 cents per piece on regular letters; 2.2 cents per piece on nonprofit letters; 4 cents per piece on regular flats, and 2.4 cents per piece on nonprofit flats. The credit will be calculated for mail volume above what the customer mailed in the previous year and paid at the end of the program year. While we targeted this incentive program to a particular category of mailers, we think many of its elements could work in other categories. Right now it’s critically important that all interested customers sign up! Some already have or are in the process of doing so.To qualify, you must be able to demonstrate a two-year history of Saturation mail, either nationally or within a specific market. Once you have established that, you apply through your local Manager, Business Mail Entry (BME), following the procedure outlined in the attached Fact Sheet. The necessary forms can be obtained from your local BME office or at http://ribbs.usps.gov/index.cfm?page=saturationmail. The deadline for applying is Thursday, June 11, 2009.
Did you know you could ship animals through the mail???
The Postal Service proposes to revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) by changing the refund guarantees for Express Mail shipments of live animals delivered within 3 days of the date of mailing. In some instances, the Postal Service must reroute Express Mail shipments of live animals to alternative flights or routes in order to protect the well-being of the live animals. This is particularly necessary if other shipments on the same flight contain dry ice or solid carbon dioxide, which will evaporate en route and may displace oxygen. If live animals were shipped in the same cargo hold, the carbon dioxide could cause asphyxiation. The use of alternative flights and rerouting to protect the well-being of the live animals can delay shipments. Therefore, even though the live animals arrive as promptly as possible and in good health, these shipments may not meet normal Express Mail service guarantees. In those instances, some mailers then apply for full postage refunds.
Currently, postage refunds for Express Mail shipments of live animals are granted based on the next day or second day delivery guarantee provided at the time of mailing. This current postage refund policy does not account for the flight changes that may occur to protect the well-being of the animals. Therefore, the Postal Service is proposing that Express Mail shipments containing live animals be exempt from the next day or second day delivery guarantee and that the delivery commitment for Express Mail of live animals be extended to within 3 days of the date of mailing. Postage refund requests for Express Mail shipments of live animals delivered after 3 days of the date mailing would still be granted.
Pompous self-righteous dork
Ok Ok, my feelings are expressed in the title of this blog, I just don’t get it, and maybe I’m the idiot dork. What would the world be like without mail? Do you think you won’t get bills or other bad news? Do you know how many industries are supported by direct mail, what are you thinking? And do you think that little of savvy direct marketers that they think they can just use, as you call it “spam” or email instead of direct mail? If it were that easy and effective don’t you think this would have been done long ago? Is this really the bright spot of the economic downturn, less junk mail, is it really that bothersome? All questions i would love to know the answers for.
 You tell me, check out the video:
Interesting…savings accounts through the postal service
Postal sector feeling the pinch, but financial crisis not all doom and gloom
(Press release from the Universal Postal Union)
High-level conference reveals risks and opportunities for the sector and the world economy
The results of a recent Universal Postal Union (UPU) survey indicate that postal networks are increasingly trusted to further the growth of e-commerce and provide financial services. This trust is keeping this postal sector’s head above water as the financial crisis wreaks havoc on the global economy.
While operators are feeling the pinch, especially in the letter-post and express business segments, financial services and some areas of parcel post are showing signs of growth.
This is what the UPU reported today during a high-level conference on the impact of the financial and economic crisis on the postal sector, held at its Berne headquarters. More than 200 participants from 100 countries, including about 40 of the world’s postal CEOs and leading sector stakeholders operating in e-commerce, direct marketing, consulting and equipment and technology manufacturing, attended the special debate.
Results of the survey conducted among 15 of the world’s largest Posts and private courier companies show that the sector is certainly feeling the effects of the crisis, but it is not showing signs of an economic depression like other sectors. Surveyed operators account for 66% of total worldwide letter-post volumes, 88% of parcel-post traffic, and up to 75% of express volumes, providing a statistically valid sample to analyze market evolutions, according to UPU experts.
The worldwide postal sector employs more than 5.5 million employees and operates 660,000 post offices, making it one of the largest industry workforces and the world’s largest physical distribution network.
Strong competition in the parcels and express business segments prevents the UPU from sharing detailed information about country-specific mail volumes, but analysis of survey results provides positive and negative growth rates and thus a good overview of the worldwide postal sector’s situation.
Here are the key findings by business segment (unless otherwise indicated, all figures reflect same-quarter comparisons in 2007 and 2008):
Financial services
Postal financial institutions are experiencing tremendous growth since the crisis began. Some European operators, such as Swiss Post and Deutsche Post, are experiencing annual growth rates above 50% in the number of postal deposits and savings accounts opened in 2008. Interestingly, a similar phenomenon occurred during the Great Depression, according to UPU statistics.
Parcels
After dropping from 0.5% in the first quarter of 2008 to 3.4% in the third quarter, compared to the same periods in 2007, domestic parcel volumes recovered 1.1% on a year-to-year basis in the fourth quarter. Experts say the increase could be due to record e-commerce sales during the last quarter of 2008 or strong resilience of online sales to the crisis observed in several countries.
The news is not so positive, however, on the international parcels front. After experiencing growth in the first three quarters of 2008, volumes decreased by 4.5% in the last quarter among surveyed operators. Experts again believe that international parcels are not benefiting from e-commerce as cross-border sales remain challenging.
Letter post
Domestic letter post is feeling the brunt of the crisis’ impact. In a year-over-year comparison, operators reported a 5.9% decrease in volumes in the last quarter of 2008, due in part to less direct mail being generated, especially by the financial sector as credit thresholds have increased, experts believe.
As direct mail is less developed in the international arena, international letter post is showing more signs of stability. In a year-to-year comparison, Posts reported volumes varying between 3.7% and – 2.8% in the last quarter of 2008 in terms of quarterly growth rates.
Express services
Survey respondents reported a 4.4% decrease of domestic express service volumes in the last quarter of 2008, compared to the same quarter in 2007, while international volumes went from a 7.1% increase in the second quarter of 2008 to a 2.2% decrease in the last quarter.
In last-quarter comparisons of 2008 and 2007, express revenues declined by 7.9% worldwide. Experts explain this drop as a consequence of consumers and businesses moving more towards low-end express services.
Stock-exchange listed Posts
Five Posts – from Austria, Germany, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Singapore – are listed on stock exchanges as well as two express courier companies, Fedex and UPS. A comparison of the evolution of their share price with their reference index from August 2008 to January 2009, the six months covering the worsening financial crisis, shows that, while the share prices of some operators were closely correlated with their reference index, those of others evolved much more positively than the market (see graphic in main report; link indicated below). Considered defensive stocks, listed postal services’ shares tend to resist better during a crisis and can even gain value, say UPU experts.
Comparison with the Great Depression
To compare the effects of this crisis with the worst performances achieved during the Great Depression, UPU experts also looked at historical postal statistics from the 1930s. Here’s what they found (all statistics from the UPU, unless otherwise indicated):
• So far, the sector has not reached performance levels recorded during the Great Depression, when postal revenues decreased by 12.3% in the United States between 1931 and 1932.
• Between 1928 and 1934, franking revenues in the United States decreased by 21.9%, with the highest drop (12.3%) occurring between 1931 and 1932; postal employment dropped by 17.6%; and the number of post offices fell by 7.8%.
• Postal savings account deposits multiplied eight-fold in the United States in the 1930s, reaching 1.2 billion USD (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs).
• In France, the sharpest decrease in franking revenues (24.8%) occurred between 1931 and 1932, following a 15.5% drop between 1929 and 1930.
• In Germany, the largest decrease in letter-post traffic reached 16.6% between 1930 and 1931.
It ain’t easy!!!
YONKERS – Police have charged a Yonkers woman with attacking a 50-year-old male postal worker as he delivered mail on Wednesday morning.
The woman, identified by Yonkers City Police as Rosemarie Santos, 20, approached the mailman and claimed that her monthly benefit check was in another person’s mailbox. When the postal worker did not open the other mailbox, she became enraged and punched and scratched the man. She also stole his Bluetooth headset and refused to return it.
Police arrested Santos and charged her with second-degree robbery. The letter carrier was treated and released at a local hospital for a laceration to his left hand.
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