Oh, and I don’t get this either. If I basically deliver my own “mail” to people, how can the PO charge me for it?
Because the post office in many countries has rights as a monopoly of the carriage of mail (yes, even lost dog notes sometimes), and they don’t like having their revenue taken away from them. I’m not sure of the US situation, but in many countries (such as mine), there is a very strong distinction between addressed and unaddressed mail. We are allowed to walk the streets putting fliers in people’s mailboxes, but only if there is no address on them. Once there is, the post office will say we are impinging on their God-given monopoly, and that we (as an alternative mail delivery “organisation”) must charge x times the standard letter rate before we are allowed to do it (it’s either five or ten times, I forget which - but it virtually guarantees everyone is going to use Australia Post instead).
There is a whole range of similar scenarios too - there are laws against posting a large number of articles to the same distant city by putting them in a parcel, mailing it to your friend in that city as express mail, and having him re-post them locally at a cheaper rate.
The laws do vary from country to country, but most countries are members of the Universal Postal Union, and there is a fair bit of similarity in the spirit - if not the letter (ho ho!) - of the laws.
As for mail volumes decreasing, as somebody mentioned upthread - that’s not entirely true. Standard letter volumes are down due to electronic communication, but parcels are up - ironically, for the same reason. The post office loves Ebay, Netflix, et al.
That is a probably a Great Debate but they can and they do and the alternatives are much worse. Postal regulations and postal inspectors can be among the scariest of the federal law enforcement types and they have rules and technicalities that allow them to do almost anything they want to people if you decide to run afoul of their law book.
Life advise that I have learned from the hurt that friends and family went through over the years:
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If you feel the need to commit vandalism, don’t screw with people’s mailboxes. There will be federal investigation and your family will be devastated over the cost and heartache and you won’t have anyone to help you because it is coming from D.C. and not your home town.
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If you want to send people things that could potentially be considered fraudulent, don’t send it via U.S. mail because the mailing part is what is going to hurt you.
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If you want to send something potentially illegal to someone, dont worry about the item itself. The mailing it via USPS is what is going to screw you.
Seriously, as noted by a postal worker above, Postal Inspectors are people you don’t want to screw with, and if you aren’t familiar with them, make sure you never get acquainted with them at all.
I imagine the federal agent hierarchy to be:
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Secret Service on Presidential detail.
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Postal Inspectors
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Other Secret Service
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FBI
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CIA
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Other intelligence agency officers.
Basic life advice that should be given to all children is never to fuck with people’s mail or their mailboxes. It often works out OK for innocent transgressions but you never know when something will go horribly wrong. Never have volunteers, family, or employees decide to stuff people’s mailboxes with your stuff either.
It’s #2, although many postmen are not anal about it. I know I’m old, but I remember an incident that I can’t believe no one else here has brought up yet. The postal service actually sued an organization back in the 1970s or 1980s – I’m thinking the Boy Scouts but am unsure – for going door to door and putting fliers in mailboxes. It was ruled that no one but the postal service can put stuff in people’s mailboxes.
Tried to google the incident but am having no luck. Does anyone else remember this? I’m not imagining it, it was a big news story at the time, mainly because of its oddness value.
Putting a note to your neighbor in his mailbox is not against federal law.
Bolding mine.
I bet it was #3
Then what was that lawsuit about? Again, does anyone else remember this? Maybe it was because rather than involving personal letters, it was some sort of mass advertising?
It really has less to do with revenue than with what we call ‘the sanctity of the mail’. Checks, credit cards, social security cards, prescription medications, etc. are sent via USPS. We do an extensive screening of our employees, and still we occasionally catch an employee stealing mail. If everyone was permitted to put flyers in mailboxes, it would be really simple for a theif to arm him/herself with flyers and walk around checking people’s mailboxes.
That’s what great about the Dope and its wide spanning contributors. I’d be willing to bet there’s some aspect about everyday Kiwi life that’s so common place you’ve never thought of commenting on it, yet it would astonish us 'Merkins.
When I was living on Okinawa I’d hear what sounded like an icecream truck playing a little ditty over and over at 6am. After wondering who’d want a Popsicle so early for several weeks, I discovered it was the garbage truck warning you to get your can out to the curb now before they passed by.
If your mailman hadn’t taken action, Wilford Brimley would have made him wear a bucket on his head.
Hampshire,
It is very important that you listen to me. That man insulted your honor! He insulted your wife and your godly union. You have to put the little flag up for them to even be able to take from your mailbox. It’s highly unlikely a feature that is very rarely used by a home was being used during the exact time your invitations were sitting in their mailbox.
This man thinks he owns you Hampshire. It’s about honor, family integrity, and being a man Hampshire. That man spits on your family.
With Great Respect
operator47
Yeah, Hampshire, go slap him with a glove or something.
And hurry. The statute of limitations on first degree honor insulting is seven years.
Zombies don’t mail things.
What’s the postage 7 years later? Is it like a lost library book? Zombies have no honor!
Well, NOW I want to know how the party went.
(Also, #3 is the most likely scenario. It’s not like letter carriers go around with “Insufficient Postage – RTS” stamps and inkpads on their routes.)
I’ve always thought the rule against putting flyers into mailboxes is a very early anti-spam rulr. Someone up thread posted the regulation from the 1930’s. It seems likely that was in response to local stores and vendors filling the post boxes with flyers. Labor was cheap back then and an entire neighborhood could get covered in a few hours.
Now, they have to pay bulk mail fees to spam us. 
About once or twice a year someone blankets our neighborhood with flyers. They are left in the screen door. Not the post box.
That was 7 years ago. Bob the mailman died in 2012 you inconsiderate bastards. Show some respect.
I see the shame and guilt finally got to the perfidious old bastard!
I have a mailbox on the front porch…If there is outgoing mail,I clothespin it to the red flag… If the mail has ran,and I have a bill with a check in it,I roll (powerchair) 2 blocks to the bluebox…then visit the Library on the way back…
Sorry.
…I thought that the mail had been a bit slow lately…
When they try, the mail always winds up in the dead letter office.