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Are mail boxes an endangered accessory?

In this age of communication how necessary is snail mail? It has some use in business but how often do you write a letter? Would you rather send greeting cards or eCards? 

Posted - January 16, 2017

Responses


  • 2500
    Pretty hard to e-mail merchandise. And the USPS is STILL cheaper than FedEx or UPS in the States.
      January 16, 2017 4:55 PM MST
    4

  • True, that. I'd forgotten about e-shopping. 
      January 16, 2017 5:09 PM MST
    1

  • 7280
    And the USPS frequently delivers Fed Ex & UPS parcels to their ultimate destinations.

    They are delivered in bulk by Fed Ex & UPS to the local post office that services the ultimate zip-coded destination.


      January 16, 2017 5:25 PM MST
    1

  • I ordered some copies of my novel from the US when it was first published. The airfreighted them to Oz as part of a much larger consignment and they were mailed on to me at Ausrtralian postal rates. Didn't take long. They were well organised. 
      January 16, 2017 5:35 PM MST
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  • 2500
    Yep, I've received FedEx packages via the USPS. But it's still a FedEx shipment. 

    Also, FedEx now carries a lot of "Next Day" stuff for the USPS. 
      January 16, 2017 6:55 PM MST
    0

  • "Could be, but they still have some uses."

    I read an article, a couple of years ago, about a man who fueled his furnace, in the winter time, with the "junk mail" he received during the year.
    He lives somewhere on the Eastern Coast of the U.S. and he deliberately got on every list he could find.
      January 16, 2017 5:06 PM MST
    3

  • Ya gotta pay ingenuity.
     
      January 16, 2017 5:10 PM MST
    0

  • 5808
    Give me my snail mail
    it's that extra time before i
    get the bill you know.
    I support our Mail people
    and their jobs.
      January 16, 2017 5:24 PM MST
    2

  • Good to see you standing up, Baba. Where are all those clamouring conservationists protesting about endangered occupations? 
      January 16, 2017 5:36 PM MST
    1

  • 318
    We no longer get door to door delivery, but rather have a bunch of mailboxes a block away. The old mail box at the house is only good for ads that are hand delivered.
      January 16, 2017 6:27 PM MST
    1

  • Interesting. We might come to that, too. The Australian post office is now making fewer deliveries and is charging more for them. The need is no longer as great. 
      January 16, 2017 6:32 PM MST
    0

  • 17582
    Happening in new subdivisions here in the states too.  I hope it doesn't change here.  The good thing is that the mailboxes lock but they are teeny tiny.
      January 16, 2017 11:53 PM MST
    1

  • I started a project back about the time all the Millennials were too young to be a nuisance, and went letterboxing to promote it. I was surprised at how small so many of the mail boxes were, especially in blocks of home units/apartments. How people got anything other than small envelopes in them is a wonder to me. 
      January 17, 2017 1:17 PM MST
    1

  • 10052
    I miss writing letters and sending cards! I suppose I could still do it, but it does seem antiquated, doesn't it?

    Who would my dogs bark at every day if there was no more mailman? :)
      January 16, 2017 7:03 PM MST
    1

  • You'd think the animal welfare societies would have picked that up before now. 
      January 16, 2017 7:39 PM MST
    1

  • 17582
    I write letters and send birthday and thank you cards.  It isn't antiquated.  It's classy.  Classy people don't invite people to weddings via text or email nor do they send email thank you notes.  I have  friends in the European countries with whom I have written letters for  years.  I also pay my bills with checks via mail.  This post was edited by Thriftymaid at January 17, 2017 1:18 PM MST
      January 16, 2017 11:57 PM MST
    1

  • Yes it is, Thrifty. I've gotta confess that I've been switching my Christmas Cards to email (well, JibJab which is quite clever) but I may go back to snailmail next Christmas. It's a lot more personal and, as you say, classier. 
      January 17, 2017 1:19 PM MST
    0

  • 5835
    I live in a tourist town where the population is a few hundred in the summer and almost twenty thousand in the winter. Quartzsite, AZ (spelled with an 's') is another town like that: maybe three thousand permanent residents, but in the winter the town turns into a rock show and flea market with three hundred thousand participants. Most of those winter visitors rent p.o. boxes so they can get mail. http://www.desertusa.com/cities/az/quartzsite.html

    BTW I get cat food sent to my p.o. box -- 65 pounds a month!

    The story of the parcel post bank. (Opens in new window.)
      January 17, 2017 12:05 AM MST
    1

  • For me, that's truly amazing. Thanks Jewels. 
      January 17, 2017 12:59 AM MST
    0

  • 14
    I don't know, never had real mailbox.
      January 17, 2017 3:21 AM MST
    2

  • Welcome to AnswerMug, Answerer Omega.  Enjoy your stay here. :)
      January 17, 2017 6:48 AM MST
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  • I can see why you chose Omega as part of your name. No mailbox? That really IS the end of the line. 
      January 17, 2017 1:20 PM MST
    0