Looking for more revenue, one Postmaster wrote me and suggested that smaller offices be allowed to sell greeting cards and gift cards
"In rural areas, there is not a 'Wal-Mart' down the road," she writes.
Some of the arguements against selling these items revolve around inventory, restocking and waste.
What do you think? Comment here.
27 comments:
They need to let us small rural offices sell cards and gift cards.We have no stores here ,so customers would buy these items.
Since 2004 I have sent the over 2 dozen suggestions. One would save the USPS $1 billion and the Fed government $2 billion a year with a simple change in the law.That was sent 3 times to 2 Presidents and from 4 to 13 Senators and 4 Congresspersons. Were they interested you bet the weren't. Here is another I have not sent yet. Are you really interested in saving the USPS? Here is what I do I add an extra 10cent stamp to all my mail, its sort of a voluntary postage increase. If every one did that we would be out of the red.
I believe us smaller ones should be able to sell the greeting cards. I think we would have a lot of people whom live around those areas would buy them.
I agree about getting the cards in small post offices, the more we have to offer to our customers, the more value we are in the community.
I fully agree, we could sell these cards. As one PM stated we are a ways from the nearest "card" store.I would sell this product before I would sell some of the other required "stocked" product.
We would make alot more money if they would cut out the MPOO positions. The position doesn't appear in any manuals. Just another level of management that's not needed.
I could sell several things that USPS has taken away from my office, but let me control the inventory. They want to send 50 Daffy Duck ties to a rural community, but no baseball caps - how dumb was that?
Let PMs control their destiny. If they think they can sell cards and gift cards, let them. If they don't want something, don't push it on them. Many of these people know their communities and what will or will not sell. I agree with the comment about having 50 ties and no baseball caps. Come on!!!! Give them a fightin chance to save this business.
Selling greeting cards and gift cards in smaller offices would be a GREAT customer SERVICE! Isn't that what we are REALLY ALL ABOUT!
they need to ask the internal and external customer which is is employees/PMs/OICs and postal customers for feedback--i know that the big money is from the bigger offices, but add all the money generated from the smaller offices (from the input on what they can and do sell) and it should be a nice percentage. Listen to them.
I think they should let smaller offices order merchandise, just like they order stamps; they should know what will -- or won't -- sell in their areas.
Totally agree that small offices should be able to sell greeting cards. We are so far from a store here I think it would fly. Also at hunting season and such it would work.
I agree that we should be allowed to order the retail merchandise that we know will sell in our small offices. But it won't happen - we had the liberty cash card program and it worked wonderfully - a pre-loaded card that was perfect for small businesses and organizations. "They" discontinued it and never gave us a definitive reason.
I have requested several times to my retail manager to be sent retail products to sell. She said she would check into it but never heard anything more. The cards would really sell in my small office. If they would send an assortment of all occasion cards to the small office's that requested them they would be some retail revenue. My customers only go to town 10-15 miles away for gas and groceries once a week. I am told several times that it would be a nice convenence. I do not think the Level 18 Post Office 12 miles from here have cards either.
Let us small office sell the gift cards and all occasion cards.They would sell .
I definitely agree. We also should be able to provide passport services, photos, and notary services. The rural offices are targets for closure. Why not offer what larger offices offer? Why should I have to send my customers to the large office 13 miles away for a passport? Why are we like the red-headed stepchildren of our organization?
They biggest problem with this suggestion......red tape. The USPS could not allow just a few sites to sell them, under their dogmatic walk on the universal service thing....everyone would have to be the same. If they would just let the local postmasters decide what is best for their community, that is the smartest thing they could do in these times. Let us control what we could and could not sell, let us offer wrapping services, let us provide fax and copy service....anything??!!
Of course offices should sell cards, it is a natural fit for a Post Office! Employees would certainly buy them since it would save a trip to a store! But they need to be reasonably priced!!
I am in a small office and totally agree that we should be able to sell greeting cards. We have a "captive audience" in our town as we don't have businesses to sell them like larger towns do. Our office sold a lot of OLRP items when we had them.
I was in a very small community (pop 100) and was able to sell the t-shirts, ties, and posters.
However, offices need some control over the type and quantity of merchandise received to sell.
I think smaller offices need to have the ability to send greeting cards. The nearest places for our customers to buy greeting cards is from 20-25 miles away. We have an elderly community and some of these people cannot get out of town very often.
I am in a level 21 office and we sell greeting cards. I guess you could say we sell them, about 5 a month. Hallmark supplies them and stocks them so we don't have any cost associated with that part. Just the pay for my custodian to dust them off once a week.
I would LOVE to trade with any of you offices that actually WANT to sell cards and decorative readypost! I get this stuff shipped automatically to my office and barely anything sells. What's worst is that after the promotion period ends AFTER it's been in the 1/2 price section, I still have to box it up and get rid of it. Yes, get RID of it! Readypost has already charged the Post Office for this stuff and I'm suppossed to donate it to nursing homes! Seriously?!?!?
Yes, smaller offices should be allowed to sell greeting cards and gift cards. If you think about the costs involved in delivering a card, you will see that our profit for selling a card should be much greater than our profit for delivering a card!
Greeting cards, gift cards, notary service, fax service, gift items...all of these are great ideas, but the PM's should be given some control over what items are offered for sale. HQ needs to start thinking outside the PO Box and make the small rural offices the hubs of the communities they are in, rather than closing them all down!!
i agree with last comment.let the small offices be the hub of the communities rather than closing us down.we should be able to sell passports, charge fee for making copies, faxing, sell greeting cards and gift cards.let us keep our offices open.
I am in one of these small offices with only a general store here! There are no places to get gift or greeting cards so we could sell them and make money! My suggestion would be to limit supply to demand for each office this means you start with a few of each card and order more as you sell!
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