Are U.S. Postal Stamps at the point of extinction?

) November 20th, 2010

Sending a stamped letter or package is still, by far, the cheapest route to take for its delivery. But, have we come to the time, when UPCs can take the place of stamps? Now, we can download and print certain UPC codes for package delivery, so why not the same for postage stamps? The U.S. Postal Service will save money, by not having to print as many stamps and waiting in a Post Office line may become non-existent. Question: Would it be feasible for The U.S. Postal Service to discontinue printing postage stamps, in lieu of home downloaded UPC stamps?

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3 Answers

First I have to say that I like stamps and would be sad if they went away.

But I print postage all the time, the USPS has an online application for Priority and Express mail called Click-N-Ship. You get a discount for using it and it makes tracking your packages much easier.

There is also Stamps.com for 1st class print-at-home postage.

And of course the old postage meter has been around for a century.

http://www.usps.com/shipping/label.htm
http://stamps.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_meter

jaytkay (25810

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If you didn’t have a computer, how would you mail things? I like using stamps, and always have some with me.

BarnacleBill (16138

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US postage stamps have been around for 163 years ( since 1847 ) and even though we are using less of them, I forsee us using them for several more decades. There are just some things that are better sent via the mail: like birthday cards from Grandma with a fiver in ‘em, and telling off someone anoymously.

Don917 (180

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