# USPS, junkmail, and 37 cent stamps **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-junkmail-and-37-cent-stamps/149875 "2003-01-20T22:54:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-junkmail-and-37-cent-stamps/149875/1 "2003-01-20T22:54:42Z")
hello all. i (thank the heavens) don’t receive much junk mail. but my workplace does, and i’m the mail guy, so i see all of it. my question is this- by approximately how much money would stamps go up in price if junk mail were eliminated? it seems like shitters of junk mail is one of the few things keeping our postage so low. jb ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-junkmail-and-37-cent-stamps/149875/2 "2003-01-20T23:34:51Z")
Well, stamps have gone up many times in the past few decades and the volume of junk mail doesn’t seem to have changed. ---
**Author:** ![Blueapple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Blueapple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blueapple)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-junkmail-and-37-cent-stamps/149875/3 "2003-01-21T05:23:46Z")
I believe it can be as cheap as 22 cents (such as for non-profits) to mail letters in the US if you buy a bulk permit. ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-junkmail-and-37-cent-stamps/149875/4 "2003-01-21T13:25:19Z")
I think what **jb\_farley** is asking is how much does junk mail subsidize everyone else’s postage rates? (i.e., how much more expensive would a first class stamp be without all the junk mail in the Postal System?). This is a good question, for which I’m curious to see an answer. ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-junkmail-and-37-cent-stamps/149875/5 "2003-01-21T14:44:41Z")
I believe that each segment of the postal service (Express Mail, First Class, bulk mail, etc.) is required by law to pay its own way, so that one segment does not offset the costs of another. In that case, the answer to your question would be “approximately none.” However, even if this is the case, a large volume of junk mail would introduce economies of scale that would benifit all the mail (i.e., automation and huge sorting systems) even if no money is transferred. I will look for a cite… ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-junkmail-and-37-cent-stamps/149875/6 "2003-01-21T14:54:18Z")
I found [this cite](http://www.usps.com/strategicdirection/_txt/AppendixR.txt). Here’s a quotation from the 4th paragraph: > [@](#): > > Another ratemaking principle of the [Postal Reorganization] Act requires “that each class of mail or type of mail service bear the direct and indirect postal costs attributable to that class or type plus that portion of all other costs of the > Postal Service reasonably assignable to such class or type,” 39 U.S.C. 3622(b)(3). ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-junkmail-and-37-cent-stamps/149875/7 "2003-01-21T15:10:07Z")
Here’s the [USPS revenue reports page](http://www.usps.com/financials/rpw/welcome.htm). It looks like for the 2002 fiscal year, there was $16 billion in revenues from standard mail, vs. $36 billion in revenues from first-class mail. $21 billion of that first-class mail was people just sticking stamps on an evelope – the rest is presorted business mail. Not quite an answer to the question, but some numbers to use as a starting point. For instance, if first-class had to make up all the revenue from standard mail disappearing, a stamp would go from $0.38 to $0.54 (in the roughest estimation ever). ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-junkmail-and-37-cent-stamps/149875/8 "2003-01-21T15:29:04Z")
J.B. Farley, eh? Well, if J.A. Farley (FDR’s Postmaster General) was your dad you should be ashamed at yourself for asking this question! [Grinny here.]