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Thursday, April 28, 2005
USPS: TRACKING INTERNATIONAL FORGERS
TRACKING INTERNATIONAL FORGERS. More than 3,700 counterfeit postal money orders were intercepted from October to December, exceeding the total for the previous 12 months, according to the Postal Inspection Service, with most of the forgeries originating in Nigeria, Ghana and Eastern Europe. Inspectors are warning financial institutions to be vigilant and are working to intercept packages containing bogus money orders as they enter the country. Arrests of 160 individuals have been made in the U.S. Find tips to help identify counterfeit postal money orders at the Postal Inspection Service site.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Picture Stamps Could Return As Early As Next Month
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE SEEKS CUSTOMIZED POSTAGE VENDORS
Request for proposals reflects USPS commitment to meeting customers' needs
Washington, D.C. - Personal photos on postage could return as early as next month as the Postal Service moves into the second phase of an extensive test of this popular product that debuted last year.
Customized postage allows a customer to personalize postage with pictures or images using PC Postage® technology. The United States Postal Service today began looking for qualified PC Postage® vendors able to produce customized postage to be used on First-Class Mail, Priority Mail and Express Mail for personal use only.
"We're combining the trust people have in the Postal Service with the technology and efficiencies of the private sector to bring customized postage to our customers," said Nicholas Barranca, Vice President of Product Development. "Customized postage allows us to make mail more valuable and more meaningful to people."
Customized postage will have two parts: a customer-supplied image and a state-of-the-art secure bar code. All customized postage is compatible with the Postal Service's automated mail processing systems.
Like postage meters, PC Postage® facilitates customer access to postage payment and use of the mail. PC Postage® is not a stamp and the use of customized postage will not affect the Postal Service's production or commitment to postage stamps, Barranca said.
Customized postage will be limited to personal use only during the one-year test. This is the second step in the Postal Service's testing of the product to determine its appeal to customers and the value it may add to postal services.
To become an authorized PC Postage® provider, applicants must be able to prove the ability to generate high quality, computer-based postage or metered postage and demonstrate they routinely use secure encryption technology to protect postal revenue.
"We want to make sure that anyone we authorize has the ability to produce postage in an efficient way," Barranca said. "While we continue to strive to meet the needs of our customers, we want to make sure that any product also meets our standards for quality and security."
USPS will require vendors to produce a product that meets current postal regulations and conclusively prove that all images produced and services provided abide by all federal laws, including copyright laws.
Authorized vendors will determine pricing and are expected to price their products based on the value provided to the consumer. The Postal Service's role is to authorize and monitor qualified providers.
The formal request for proposals from qualified vendors will be advertised in the Federal Register on April 27.
The year-long test is expected to last through May 2006. Vendors may begin offering PC Postage® within 20 days of being authorized by the United States Postal Service.
Request for proposals reflects USPS commitment to meeting customers' needs
Washington, D.C. - Personal photos on postage could return as early as next month as the Postal Service moves into the second phase of an extensive test of this popular product that debuted last year.
Customized postage allows a customer to personalize postage with pictures or images using PC Postage® technology. The United States Postal Service today began looking for qualified PC Postage® vendors able to produce customized postage to be used on First-Class Mail, Priority Mail and Express Mail for personal use only.
"We're combining the trust people have in the Postal Service with the technology and efficiencies of the private sector to bring customized postage to our customers," said Nicholas Barranca, Vice President of Product Development. "Customized postage allows us to make mail more valuable and more meaningful to people."
Customized postage will have two parts: a customer-supplied image and a state-of-the-art secure bar code. All customized postage is compatible with the Postal Service's automated mail processing systems.
Like postage meters, PC Postage® facilitates customer access to postage payment and use of the mail. PC Postage® is not a stamp and the use of customized postage will not affect the Postal Service's production or commitment to postage stamps, Barranca said.
Customized postage will be limited to personal use only during the one-year test. This is the second step in the Postal Service's testing of the product to determine its appeal to customers and the value it may add to postal services.
To become an authorized PC Postage® provider, applicants must be able to prove the ability to generate high quality, computer-based postage or metered postage and demonstrate they routinely use secure encryption technology to protect postal revenue.
"We want to make sure that anyone we authorize has the ability to produce postage in an efficient way," Barranca said. "While we continue to strive to meet the needs of our customers, we want to make sure that any product also meets our standards for quality and security."
USPS will require vendors to produce a product that meets current postal regulations and conclusively prove that all images produced and services provided abide by all federal laws, including copyright laws.
Authorized vendors will determine pricing and are expected to price their products based on the value provided to the consumer. The Postal Service's role is to authorize and monitor qualified providers.
The formal request for proposals from qualified vendors will be advertised in the Federal Register on April 27.
The year-long test is expected to last through May 2006. Vendors may begin offering PC Postage® within 20 days of being authorized by the United States Postal Service.
Woman Hurt Getting Mail Goes to Court
The Supreme Court will consider the case of an injured postal customer that slipped and fell on mail delivered to the porch of her home instead of to her mailbox.
Barbara Dolan, is suing the United States Postal Service for the back and wrist injuries she suffered. She is suing for negligent mail delivery.
Barbara Dolan, is suing the United States Postal Service for the back and wrist injuries she suffered. She is suing for negligent mail delivery.
USPS: NEW BARCODE MOVES FORWARD
NEW BARCODE MOVES FORWARD. A new postal barcode is being tested. The four-state barcode — named for its four vertical bar types — is being tested at the National Customer Support Center in Memphis, TN, to ensure that barcode sorters can read, decode and transmit data correctly. The four-state code contains more data than current codes, with the potential to benefit both mailers and USPS.
Monday, April 25, 2005
USPS: Carrier Pickup reaches 8 million mark
An online company that sells blue jeans worldwide — usedblue.com — has shipped the 8 millionth package collected as a result of Carrier Pickup Online Notification.
Akron, OH, North Hill Station Letter Carrier Rita Shook takes package number 8 million from customer Julie Godfrey-Cornish Saturday.
Julie Godfrey-Cornish of Akron, OH, started her company about a year ago and now ships about 500 Priority Mail parcels a month to U.S. addresses — plus another 60 internationally.
A competitor’s service was “very expensive and not very convenient,” says Godfrey-Cornish. “With the Postal Service, I’m saving $2,000 a month in shipping costs.”
Part of that savings is in Godfrey-Cornish’s use of Priority Mail envelopes and flat-rate boxes supplied free by USPS.
“Carrier Pickup Online Notification is helping us grow package revenue,” says Northern Ohio District Manager Kathy Ainsworth. “Business customers like usedblue.com appreciate the value and reliability of shipping packages with the Postal Service, especially with an option like Carrier Pickup to make their business models work.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations to usedblue.com from Fast-Pack.com !
Akron, OH, North Hill Station Letter Carrier Rita Shook takes package number 8 million from customer Julie Godfrey-Cornish Saturday.
Julie Godfrey-Cornish of Akron, OH, started her company about a year ago and now ships about 500 Priority Mail parcels a month to U.S. addresses — plus another 60 internationally.
A competitor’s service was “very expensive and not very convenient,” says Godfrey-Cornish. “With the Postal Service, I’m saving $2,000 a month in shipping costs.”
Part of that savings is in Godfrey-Cornish’s use of Priority Mail envelopes and flat-rate boxes supplied free by USPS.
“Carrier Pickup Online Notification is helping us grow package revenue,” says Northern Ohio District Manager Kathy Ainsworth. “Business customers like usedblue.com appreciate the value and reliability of shipping packages with the Postal Service, especially with an option like Carrier Pickup to make their business models work.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations to usedblue.com from Fast-Pack.com !
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Shipping Basics for Auctions - Thinking Inside the Box!
Shipping Basics for Auctions
How thinking "inside" the box can dramatically boost revenues!
Courtesy of BidBoosters.com
Thinking outside of the box isn't always a good idea. At least not when it's the shipping box we're talking about. Most sellers spend a good amount of time preparing for an auction, but pay little attention to the revenue potential after the sale. If that's you we're talking about, then you're potentially leaving a lot of money on table.
Order fulfillment is a lot more than just getting the product into the buyer's hands. Once you have made a sale to a buyer, you have the potential to continue selling to them. When people are satisfied with a purchase they are more likely to buy from the same seller again. All you have to do is make that process easy for them to do.
It doesn't matter if you do the shipping yourself, or use a fulfillment house, when your package arrives on the customer's doorstep, it's the last chance you'll have to make a good first impression.
In "normal" bricks and mortar shopping, your customer has a chance to judge the quality of a business by the look and location of the store, the appearance and behavior of sales people, and the way that products are merchandised. As an online seller, you do not have the chance to dazzle your customer with any of those quality indicators. In fact, all you have is your shipping box and what's inside of it. This represents your entire physical presence in the real world, so let's put your best face forward.
Appearances count, so make sure that you look good. Use professional shipping boxes or envelopes. A used avocado box, from your local grocery store, wrapped with duct tape, doesn't motivate the customer to want to do business with you again. You can buy perfectly acceptable boxes, and professional, padded shipping envelopes, at any office supply store. If you make a lot of shipments, then consider buying wholesale. Check your Yellow Pages under the heading of "Boxes - Corrugated and Fiber", or "Office Supplies - Wholesale".
While you are at it, use a typed or printed shipping label instead of scrawling the address in magic marker. You can buy custom-printed labels with your company names for peanuts. It's a small investment and it creates a rich look.
Your next challenge is the packing material. You should avoid Styrofoam "peanuts" at all costs. Not only are the environmentally unfriendly, but they are expensive and many people do not like receiving them. A client of mine received a letter from the Environmental Protection Agency after he had shipped them some software they had ordered.
The letter thanked my client for using shredded paper as packing material, instead of non-biodegradable materials, and assured my client that his company would be their first choice for off-the-shelf software purchases in the future. That turned into a pretty good contract for him and all because he cared about his packing material.
If you have an office shredder you can shred your wate paper and not only keep it out of your dumpster but produce quite a bit of packing material as well. If you have more shipping than waste paper, consider buying corn starch "peanuts". They are 100% biodegradable and they're as sturdy as the Styrofoam ones.
Beside your product and invoice, there are some other important things that need to go inside of the box. Make sure that you have something that clearly explains your return policy. If your return policy is "All sales are final", then be sure to at least say that. If you require a Return Merchandise Authorization, then include one, or include instructions on how to get one from your web site.
Next comes the Thank You Note. Yep, a hand written one, on thank you note paper is best, but you can include a printed one if you have high volume. In it, thank the customer for purchasing from you, invite them to purchase again, and, if possible, include a discount offer for some other product or service. If you have a free giveaway, like advertising specialty items, be sure to include one in the box as well.
This is also the perfect time to offer other sales incentives like your catalog or flyer, special sale items, and any products or services that you might be an affiliate of. This is perfect opportunity to cross-sell, up-sell and convince your customer that you're worth doing business with again. If you have an electronic newsletter, or Ezine, make sure you invite them to subscribe.
In Louisiana, the Cajun people have a wonderful phrase. It's called lagniappe - "lan-yap", and it means "a little something extra". It's a merchant's way of showing a customer how valued they are. In other parts of the country it might be called a "Baker's Dozen" from the days when you would buy a dozen pastries and the baker would thrown in one more.
No matter what you call it, most people are defiantly not used to lagniappe these days. If you find a way to deliver a little "something extra", you can be pretty sure that the customer will notice and will think of you the next time the have a need. A happy customer is most likely to become a repeat customer, give you a top notch auction reviews, and tell everyone how great you are. If you use your auctions as a strategy to sell non-auction items to your customers as well, then "Thinking INSIDE the Box" will bring great rewards!
Printed with permission of BidBoosters.com :: BidBoosters.com helps power sellers and auction newbies save money, increase sales, and boost online auction selling success with professional templates, free embedded item photos, and insightful auction selling information.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looking for that lagniappe or "a little something extra" ? How about this for thinking "INSIDE THE BOX!?"
Tissue Paper 64 Colors Available
Colored Bubble Wrap ®
Colored Bubble Envelopes
Fun Foam Hearts (Void Fill Cushioning)
Colored Tape
How thinking "inside" the box can dramatically boost revenues!
Courtesy of BidBoosters.com
Thinking outside of the box isn't always a good idea. At least not when it's the shipping box we're talking about. Most sellers spend a good amount of time preparing for an auction, but pay little attention to the revenue potential after the sale. If that's you we're talking about, then you're potentially leaving a lot of money on table.
Order fulfillment is a lot more than just getting the product into the buyer's hands. Once you have made a sale to a buyer, you have the potential to continue selling to them. When people are satisfied with a purchase they are more likely to buy from the same seller again. All you have to do is make that process easy for them to do.
It doesn't matter if you do the shipping yourself, or use a fulfillment house, when your package arrives on the customer's doorstep, it's the last chance you'll have to make a good first impression.
In "normal" bricks and mortar shopping, your customer has a chance to judge the quality of a business by the look and location of the store, the appearance and behavior of sales people, and the way that products are merchandised. As an online seller, you do not have the chance to dazzle your customer with any of those quality indicators. In fact, all you have is your shipping box and what's inside of it. This represents your entire physical presence in the real world, so let's put your best face forward.
Appearances count, so make sure that you look good. Use professional shipping boxes or envelopes. A used avocado box, from your local grocery store, wrapped with duct tape, doesn't motivate the customer to want to do business with you again. You can buy perfectly acceptable boxes, and professional, padded shipping envelopes, at any office supply store. If you make a lot of shipments, then consider buying wholesale. Check your Yellow Pages under the heading of "Boxes - Corrugated and Fiber", or "Office Supplies - Wholesale".
While you are at it, use a typed or printed shipping label instead of scrawling the address in magic marker. You can buy custom-printed labels with your company names for peanuts. It's a small investment and it creates a rich look.
Your next challenge is the packing material. You should avoid Styrofoam "peanuts" at all costs. Not only are the environmentally unfriendly, but they are expensive and many people do not like receiving them. A client of mine received a letter from the Environmental Protection Agency after he had shipped them some software they had ordered.
The letter thanked my client for using shredded paper as packing material, instead of non-biodegradable materials, and assured my client that his company would be their first choice for off-the-shelf software purchases in the future. That turned into a pretty good contract for him and all because he cared about his packing material.
If you have an office shredder you can shred your wate paper and not only keep it out of your dumpster but produce quite a bit of packing material as well. If you have more shipping than waste paper, consider buying corn starch "peanuts". They are 100% biodegradable and they're as sturdy as the Styrofoam ones.
Beside your product and invoice, there are some other important things that need to go inside of the box. Make sure that you have something that clearly explains your return policy. If your return policy is "All sales are final", then be sure to at least say that. If you require a Return Merchandise Authorization, then include one, or include instructions on how to get one from your web site.
Next comes the Thank You Note. Yep, a hand written one, on thank you note paper is best, but you can include a printed one if you have high volume. In it, thank the customer for purchasing from you, invite them to purchase again, and, if possible, include a discount offer for some other product or service. If you have a free giveaway, like advertising specialty items, be sure to include one in the box as well.
This is also the perfect time to offer other sales incentives like your catalog or flyer, special sale items, and any products or services that you might be an affiliate of. This is perfect opportunity to cross-sell, up-sell and convince your customer that you're worth doing business with again. If you have an electronic newsletter, or Ezine, make sure you invite them to subscribe.
In Louisiana, the Cajun people have a wonderful phrase. It's called lagniappe - "lan-yap", and it means "a little something extra". It's a merchant's way of showing a customer how valued they are. In other parts of the country it might be called a "Baker's Dozen" from the days when you would buy a dozen pastries and the baker would thrown in one more.
No matter what you call it, most people are defiantly not used to lagniappe these days. If you find a way to deliver a little "something extra", you can be pretty sure that the customer will notice and will think of you the next time the have a need. A happy customer is most likely to become a repeat customer, give you a top notch auction reviews, and tell everyone how great you are. If you use your auctions as a strategy to sell non-auction items to your customers as well, then "Thinking INSIDE the Box" will bring great rewards!
Printed with permission of BidBoosters.com :: BidBoosters.com helps power sellers and auction newbies save money, increase sales, and boost online auction selling success with professional templates, free embedded item photos, and insightful auction selling information.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looking for that lagniappe or "a little something extra" ? How about this for thinking "INSIDE THE BOX!?"
Tissue Paper 64 Colors Available
Colored Bubble Wrap ®
Colored Bubble Envelopes
Fun Foam Hearts (Void Fill Cushioning)
Colored Tape
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Friday, April 22, 2005
USPS: APWU Drivers End Strike
APWU Drivers Will Continue to Press for Private-Sector Contracts
APWU Web News Article #18-05, April 18, 2005
Approximately 170 APWU truck drivers who work for Mail Contractors of America have concluded their nearly three-week strike, going back to work for MCA in Des Moines, Kansas City, KS, and Jacksonville, FL, but vowing to press on for fair contracts.
The APWU-represented motor vehicle operators, back on the job April 11, are seeking an end to unfair labor practices and policies the privately-owned MCA imposed last September that reduced the pay of some of them as much as $10,000 per year. They held out the option to strike again if MCA refuses to bargain.
“We felt we had no choice but to strike,” said Tony Olson, an APWU steward and MCA employee in Des Moines. The company hired replacement drivers, he said, “but we made our point.”
MCA is one of the nation’s largest private mail haulers; its collective bargaining agreements in Des Moines and Jacksonville expired in September 2003 (Kansas City drivers are trying to negotiate a first contract). Among the conditions MCA imposed on workers in all three cities last fall was that it stopped paying a portion of health insurance premiums, forcing drivers to assume the costs if they wished to maintain their coverage.
The company also began denying the drivers pay for required rest breaks – breaks they were paid for in the expired agreements. “We were tired of working under the imposed conditions,” said Russ Gallion, president of APWU’s First Coast Local, which represents MCA truck drivers in Jacksonville. “When we saw that Kansas City and Des Moines went out, we decided to go out along with them.”
Another large private mail-haul firm, Pat Salmon & Sons, has returned to negotiations with APWU-represented drivers. Hundreds of drivers and their families had their eligibility for health insurance cut off March 1 by the company as a collective bargaining agreement lapsed.
The drivers, who work out of terminals in Arkansas, Texas, and three other states, had been paying as much as $11,500 a year just to be eligible for the company plan. The company refused to consider maintaining the insurance plan, for which it was paying less than 10 percent of the premiums for family coverage, and nothing at all for individuals. APWU representatives said that many contractual items had been agreed upon. A federal mediator was brought in to the talks in April.
“They are remarkably insensitive,” said Bill Manley, Support Services Division NBA and lead representative for the APWU bargaining team. “It clearly isn’t about the money. The company has not complained about costs; it simply doesn’t want to talk about healthcare problems.”
“The company has always been almost entirely dependent upon the Postal Service for its livelihood, and it’s been doing very well for more than 50 years,” Manley said.
The drivers won their first labor contract in September 2003, following three years of negotiations, the filing of unfair labor practice charges, and a short but successful strike. The agreement covered Salmon employees at terminals in Dallas, Fort Worth, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Memphis and Shreveport.
UPS Q1 Profit Rises on Volume Increase
United Parcel Service, Atlanta, reported a 16 percent improvement in income and a 13.8 percent jump in operating profit for the first quarter of 2005, along with an increase in worldwide package volume.
First-quarter net income climbed to $882 million from $759 million in the same period in 2004. Operating profit increased to $1.39 billion from $1.22 billion.
Consolidated worldwide package volume in the quarter rose to 885 million, up 3 million from the same period in 2004. Average daily package volume increased by 38,000 to 13.82 million.
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