http://www.foliomag.com/2013/magazines-ready-offensive-possible-exigent-rates-near#.UiiiD7yYyKw
Direct mailers are up in arms and banding together as the United States Postal Service (USPS) circles a potential exigent rate increase for 2014. With the USPS Postal Board of Governors set to convene on Sept. 5 and expected to discuss a possible path toward solvency, periodical publishers are preparing to argue against what they believe is an additional financial burden.
According to Cregan, Washington, D.C. insiders are expecting the USPS to
pursue an exigent rate increase of up to 10 percent across the board for magazines,
effective Jan. 2014. The estimated figure is based on precedent set by the 2010
filing in which the USPS requested a 5.5 percent across the board rate increase
for all mailers plus 3 percent for magazines and catalogues, which they claimed
were not covering their full costs, and an added adjustment for inflation. The
unexpected cost is a huge budgetary consideration for subscription-based
periodicals that rely on mail on the ground for circulation distribution.Direct mailers are up in arms and banding together as the United States Postal Service (USPS) circles a potential exigent rate increase for 2014. With the USPS Postal Board of Governors set to convene on Sept. 5 and expected to discuss a possible path toward solvency, periodical publishers are preparing to argue against what they believe is an additional financial burden.
The MPA says that magazines spend about $3 billion annually on postage. With the addition of a 10 percent increase, the industry would now be on the hook for $300 million in unplanned costs in 2014.
The MPA is concerned that the added monetary drain could force publishers to move toward digital or even shutter titles. Any dips in print circulation would decrease the overall volume of mail, hurting an already wounded USPS.
B-to-b mailers also face significant financial burdens if the exigent rate were to increase. The Association of Business Information & Media Companies (ABM) and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), a joint trade organization representing media and information companies, including those that publish b-to-b industry magazines and newsletters, polled its members—publishers of more than 600 print periodical titles—in July to determine the expense of an added rate increase.
