Postal Service Raises Magazine Rates

Last Saturday, the U.S. Postal Service raised its rates an average of twelve percent for mailing magazines--"a move many feel favors larger magazines at the expense of smaller ones" according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PP-G).

The Postal Service claims these new standards will encourage publishers to combine multiple magazine brands into a single mailing. The director of the Postal Regulatory Commission's office on Rates, Analysis and Planning argues that, "It cost a little, but if they get a significant reduction in rates, they come out a winner because the overall costs have come down."

A English professor from the University of Pittsburgh says smaller magazines have two choices: either make their publications lighter or shift to publishing online.

"While the average increase is about 12 percent, the postal service said, publishers claim that postal rates for smaller publications could increase by as much as 30 percent while the increases for larger-circulation magazines could be less than 10 percent because they take advantage of the discount incentives." (PP-G)