New IPhone App lets users create and mail greeting cards
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple, which revealed a new app Tuesday that lets users to create and mail greeting cards with their iPhones, might want to consider crafting its own condolence card for traditional greeting card companies.
A brief mention the $2.99 app that lets people design and send greeting through the postal service immediately sent the stocks of greeting card companies tumbling as much as 10 percent.
Scott Forstall, Apple’s senior vice president for iOS mobile software, released details of the app during an event at the company’s Cupertino, Calif. headquarters as it also unveiled the latest version of the iPhone.
The announcement of the new technology, perhaps the perfect app for procrastinators, sent shares of American Greetings Corp., based in Cleveland, down 8 percent to $16.40. Shares of International Greetings PLC fell 8 percent on the London Stock Exchange where it’s traded.
source: Associated Press
USPS To Test Greeting Cards Using Prepaid Postage
Samples of greeting card envelopes bearing prepaid postage and Intelligent Mail barcodes to be used in an upcoming market test.
The Postal Service has begun a 2-year test of its Alternate Postage Payment method for greeting cards. This new payment method allows customers to send greeting cards without affixing postage.
Greeting card companies producing the cards will add Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMb) and other markings specified by the Postal Service to each envelope so the cards can be identified in the mailstream by automated scans.
In a filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission, USPS said the Alternate Postage Payment test will make it easier for customers to purchase and mail cards because they don’t have to determine the correct postage and then affix it separately. Increased volume will benefit both the greeting card industry and USPS, the filing said.
The test is similar to an agreement announced last year between USPS and Hallmark to produce and market a new line of postage-paid greeting postcards .
Greeting card companies will pay USPS 50 percent of the postage based on company reports of greeting cards sold to customers. The remainder of the postage will be collected based on scans of the cards that are mailed.
This payment will be retained by the Postal Service even if a customer purchases the card but does not mail it.
The premium product offering will be priced above First-Class Mail single-piece postage.
USPS Makes it Simple to Send Season’s Greetings
Create Customized Cards, Produce Personalized Postage
WASHINGTON — Turn precious digital photos into greeting cards and postage stamps with a simple click of the mouse. Create a treasured holiday greeting at usps.com without ever leaving the house.
“The Postal Service’s website brings the card store directly to you,” said Paul Vogel, president, Mailing and Shipping Services. “With a computer, an internet connection and a digital photo, anyone can design perfect cards and postage stamps.”
At CardStore (usps.com/createmail/) customers can create greeting cards using personal photos or choose from more than 50 card designs, including traditional, religious, multi-cultural and non-denominational images. Ordering online takes only minutes and the cards are printed and shipped the next business day. Customers can choose to have the cards sent directly to recipients or to their own address. Prices start at just $0.79 per card.
Other online options for holiday greetings include Click2Mail and Premium Postcards. Click2Mail provides the perfect solution for end-of-year holiday letters and can be sent by First-Class Mail or Standard Mail rates. Premium Postcards can be created in black and white or full color to announce new holiday products or discounts, to send a personal greeting, say Happy New Year!, or to thank customers for their support throughout the year.
Adding the personal touch doesn’t have to stop with the card. The outside of the envelope can be personalized as well. Customized postage (usps.com/postagesolutions/customizedpostage.htm) allows customers to create postage using digital photos or images — a family photo from the vacation this past summer, a warm embrace under the mistletoe, or a favorite pet playing in the snow. It can be used on First-Class Mail, Priority Mail and Express Mail.
Customers in 1,600 locations across the country can purchase greeting cards at a local Post Office. In addition to holiday greetings, the selection includes cards celebrating birthdays, new babies and wedding anniversaries, as well as those offering encouragement and sympathy.
Select Post Offices also are offering Evergreens note cards featuring artwork from the 44-cent Evergreens Forever stamps, depicting the foliage and cones of four different conifers: ponderosa pine, eastern red cedar, blue spruce and balsam fir. The set of eight blank cards and envelopes comes with eight Evergreens Forever stamps.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
Visit the Postal Service’s interactive holiday press room at usps.com/holidaynewsroom. For holiday mailing reminders and shipping tips, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/holidayshipping.
Friends have exchanged same greeting card for 40 years
In October 1970, his friend was pushing 40. Newhouse decided to send a birthday card. “These days you can rent almost anything,” said the card’s exterior. Inside the message continued, directing the recipient to return the card in time so the sender could get his “deposit” back.
That’s all it took for the card to be returned, over and over. The card has now made 78 roundtrips via regular First-Class Mail. “I am going to frame it and hand-deliver it to my friend for the 79th and last trip,” Newhouse said, “in celebration of his 80th birthday.”
The card now is scribbled with numerous comments about strange little snacks (which Newhouse also included each year as a gift). “Every year my friend put his collection of cans, jars and bottles on display for the family to enjoy,” Newhouse said. Along with the display of food, the colorful and long-lived birthday card appeared, again and again.
“This card is a testimony of a long and blessed friendship,” Newhouse said. “It also testifies to the professionalism and efficiency of the United States Postal Service, because the card has never been delayed or damaged in any way. I appreciate and thank the countless Postal employees who, for 40 years, faithfully cared for our unique and well-worn treasure.”
USPS and Hallmark To Introduce New Line Of Postage-paid Greeting Postcards
Starting next week, USPS and Hallmark will introduce a new line of postage-paid greeting postcards.
The postcards use Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) technology, allowing customers to buy them with pre-paid postage — also referred to as “Alternative Postage Payment.”
The postcards come in packs of eight. There are two sets, each with eight unique designs. The sets will be available in 2,000 Hallmark Crown Stores across the country.
Hallmark research suggests that making First-Class Mail easier to mail encourages consumers to send more greeting cards. With pre-paid postcards, customers won’t have to buy postage — or be concerned about how much postage is needed.
Barcode sorters performing IMb scans during normal mail processing will track the number of postcards entering the mailstream to calculate Hallmark’s total postage payment.
“Alternate Postage Payment is a breakthrough product that uses technology to create convenience for consumers and revenue for USPS and its business partners,” said Steve Monteith, manager of Transactions and Correspondence Mail. “When sorters read the IMb code, the prevailing rate for First-Class Mail postage will be applied.”
Alternate Postage Payment postcards also feature three other technology elements — a legend that includes a permit number, a new facing identification mark to orient, separate and trigger an image capture of both sides of the mailpiece, and an imprint that reads, “No postage necessary if mailed in the United States.”
Monteith says employees should follow normal processing and delivery procedures for these postcards. “To ensure timely processing, employees should not obliterate barcodes or other information within the address block,” he said.
For more information about postage-paid greeting postcards, send an e-mail to janine.m.kalthoff@usps.gov. Enter “Hallmark postcards” in the subject line.
USPS To Hold Public Meeting On Consolidation of Fox Valley and South Surburban Illinois P & DCs
AREA MAIL PROCESSING (AMP) FEASIBILITY STUDY
Fox Valley, IL P&DC to South Suburban, IL P&DC
Date: 5/19/10
Area Mail Processing (AMP) is the consolidation of mail processing operations from one or more postal facilities to other facilities to improve operational efficiency and/or service.
An AMP study was initiated to evaluate the transfer of originating mail processing operations from the Fox Valley, IL Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) with those performed at the South Suburban, IL P&DC. The initial results of this study support the business case for consolidation.
This study, currently in review at United States Postal Service Headquarters and its Area Office, is subject to change.
A public meeting will be held to share the initial results of the study and allow members of the community to ask questions and provide feedback. The public’s input will be considered prior to a final decision.
The meeting will be held on Thursday, June 3, at Waubonsee Community College, Route 47 at Waubonsee Drive, Sugar Grove, IL 60554 at 7:00 pm.
Below are preliminary highlights from the feasibility study:
1. Business Case:
Proposed annual savings in the draft AMP feasibility study are approximately $1,552,397.
2. Postal Employees:
Due to the consolidation, a net decrease of approximately 40 positions is projected. All
reassignments will be made in accordance with collective bargaining agreements.
3. Local Customer Considerations:
Services that are currently available from the Fox Valley facility will continue to be available to
customers.
• Collection box pick-up times will not change as a result of the AMP.
• Retail services will remain the same.
• Business mail acceptance will remain the same.
• A local postmark will be available for stamped First-Class Mail.
• Delivery of mail to residences and businesses will not change as a result of the AMP.
4. Commercial Mailers:
• Mailers who presort mail will continue to receive applicable postage discounts.
• Mailers who drop ship mailings will continue to deposit them at the Fox Valley facility.
Comments may be sent to:
CONSUMER AFFAIRS MANAGER
CENTRAL ILLINOIS DISTRICT
6801 W 73RD ST
BEDFORD PARK IL 60499-9631
All comments must be postmarked by June 18, 2010.
USPS Issues New Butterfly Stamp For Irregular Shaped Greeting Cards
Butterfly stamp for irregular shaped cards
NEW YORK — The U.S. Postal Service today announced the first in a new series of postage stamps that will make it easier for card customers to know how much postage to put on their envelopes. The new 64-cent Butterfly stamp is designed to be used on cards that have an irregular shape that require additional postage.
Participating manufacturers will print a silhouette image of a butterfly on their envelopes, which will start to appear in retail stores in mid-summer, making it easy for customers to understand the new butterfly stamp or equivalent postage is all that is needed to mail the card.
The first stamp design in the new series features one of the most recognizable butterflies in North America, the monarch. It was dedicated today, in conjunction with the Greeting Card Association (GCA), at the National Stationery Show held at the Jacob Javits Center. The stamp is published as a pane of 20.
“This stamp was designed in conjunction with the Greeting Card Association for the convenience of our customers,” said Stephen M. Kearney, senior vice president, Customer Relations, U.S. Postal Service. “These stamps take the guesswork out of how much postage to put on the square greeting card envelopes that are so popular with consumers.”
“The Greeting Card Association is extremely pleased to see the Butterfly stamp become a reality,” said Valerie Cooper, GCA’s executive vice president. “Our members have worked long and hard to help develop this special stamp to meet the needs of card senders.”
Monarch butterflies can be found in most of the continental U.S. While they are concentrated in North, Central and South America, they can also be found in the Pacific islands and other locations.
Nationally acclaimed artist Tom Engeman used images of mounted butterflies to inspire the stamp art he created by computer. The result is a highly stylized, simplified image of a monarch rather than an exact replica.
Engeman, of Bethany Beach, DE, has designed a long list of stamps for the Postal Service, including the Liberty Bell Forever stamp, various stamped cards in the Historical Preservation series and 60 stamps for the Flags of Our Nation series that began in 2008.
How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at local Post Offices, at The Postal Store website at www.usps.com/shop
or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes to themselves or others, and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
Monarch (Butterfly) Stamp
Postmaster
Special Events
421 8th Avenue, Rm. 2029B
New York, NY 10199-9998
After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by July 19, 2010.
How to Order First-Day Covers
Stamp Fulfillment Services also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic Catalog. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-STAMP-24 or writing to:
Information Fulfillment
Dept. 6270
U.S. Postal Service
PO Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014
Philatelic Products
There are two philatelic products available for this stamp issue:
114661, First-Day Cover, $1.02
114691, Ceremony Program, $6.95
Postal Service Expands Greeting Card Retail Network
WASHINGTON — Now, just in time for Valentine’s Day, the Postal Service has expanded a test of greeting card sales from the 500 offices that initially offered greeting cards to about 900. Busy consumers can buy, stamp and mail a greeting card while conducting other Postal Service business under this year-long pilot program launched last fall. By the end of March about 1,500 locations will offer cards.
Offering greeting cards on a limited basis serves as a market test to determine if customer interest is high enough to warrant expanding the program throughout the country, according to Robert Bernstock, president, Mailing and Shipping Services.
“Greeting cards are a great way to let someone know you are thinking about them,” Bernstock says. “And our customers’ response has been enthusiastic. They seem to appreciate the convenience of having greeting cards available while doing business at the Post Office. It’s a real time saver.”
More than half of the 7 billion greeting cards sold in the U.S. are sent through the mail. “Cards are incredibly linked to the mail,” notes Bernstock. “What better place to sell them than at our Post Offices.”
In addition to valentines, the greeting card assortment includes cards for birthdays, baby announcements, encouragement, sympathy and wedding anniversaries. Seasonal displays will offer cards appropriate to various holidays and times of the year, including Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and graduation.
Greeting cards join a selection of shipping and mailing products at Post Offices designed to better meet the needs of harried customers. In addition to mailing tape and packaging, special decorative mailing boxes make sending gifts easier than ever.
According to the Greeting Card Association, Valentine’s Day is the next most popular time to send cards after the winter holiday season. The most popular everyday cards are birthday cards, followed in popularity by cards celebrating anniversaries, and cards of encouragement, including get well, friendship and sympathy cards.
A special edition CD, “Love Letters From Ella,” featuring 10 classic love songs by Ella Fitzgerald, is also available during February at many larger Post Offices and online at www.usps.com/shop.
USPS Partners With Hallmark to Provide Greeting Cards At Post Offices
Jack Ehlert was the first customer to purchase a greeting card at an Illinois
The Postal Service has partnered with Hallmark to provide greeting cards. Reportedly the “Greeting Card test pilot” will be performed in 1,500 Post Offices. The test phase is expected to run at least one (1) year which started October 1, 2009. USPS intends full implementation to approximately 15,000 Post Offices.
USPS has implemented the Greeting Card test pilot in parts of Illinois. According to Deana Carr, retail specialist, United States Postal Service: “Greeting cards are a true fit to the Postal Service’s core business. If customers are purchasing shipping supplies to mail their holiday, birthday, graduation or other gifts and they forgot to bring a card to mail with it, there will be a selection of greeting cards for their convenience.” source: Naperville (Ill) Sun
picture source: Naperville (Ill) Sun