jaunty75

Every year (or every other year or whatever length of time I renewed for last time) I get a postcard from the OCA regarding renewing my membership, and every year I have to chuckle.




What is the deal with the "Third Class" rate business? It makes no sense from the OCA's standpoint. They charge less money, but it requires more work of them.


First, the OCA needs to get into the 21st century with this. The term "Third Class Mail" has not been used by the post office in at least 20 years. It became "bulk mail" and is now called "standard mail."

Most importantly, though, to mail something at Standard Mail rates requires that the sender do some of the work the post office would otherwise do, and that is to pre-sort the mail by zip code.

So if the OCA is mailing JWO to first class rate members, all they have to do is slap the address label on the magazine and drop it in a mailbox. But to mail something "third class" requires the OCA to first collect up all the magazines for the subscribers who paid only the third class rate, sort all of those by zip code, and then deliver them to a post office at one time. So, like I said, that's more work.

Yes, standard mail is slower than first class, but I've never thought of my monthly JWO as a time-is-of-the-essence publication, and I've never paid anything but the third class rate in more than 20 years of membership. I always get my magazine when I expect it, and I never have a problem.

The OCA could save itself lots of money, since they've shown they're already willing to sort by zip code, by putting everyone on the standard mail rate and mailing all the magazines that way.

D. Yaros

A) Many members do consider the mag a "time of the essence pub," and gladly pay extra for 1st Class Mailing.

B) I believe the printer does all the labeling, sorting and mailing of the mag?

jaunty75

Why? And how much time do you actually save? So I get my April issue on March 4 instead of March 2. So what?

Whether the printer does the sorting or the JWO staff does it, someone is already doing it.

My point is, since they're already doing the sorting anyway, instead of sorting only the magazines going to the "third class" subscribers, they might as well sort ALL the magazines. It probably wouldn't cost much more than they're already paying now to whoever does the sorting, and JWO would see a significant drop in mailing costs which could be passed on to the subscribers. JWO's entire mailing operation would be more efficient if there were only one class of mailing used.

I've never seen any other publication do this. I subscribe to a number of magazines, and I have more many years. In no other instance, when starting or renewing a subscription, have I been given the opportunity to choose the mailing class that will be used to mail me the magazine. I get one price, and I receive the magazine by whatever mailing method the magazine chooses.

vette442

I'd guess that enough people are too cheap to join at $40 but will at $30, so they keep offering that option.

BlackGold

Third class isn't the option, first class is. And you're right, most publications don't give their subscribers the option.

Why do you have a problem with the OCA offering this extra-cost option to the people who want it and are willing to pay for it. (For the record, I choose third class, because, like you, I don't care about the couple of extra days.)

Two days earlier is the difference between purchasing that rare part you've been looking for or missing out. For a lot of the older membership who aren't internet-savvy, the JWO classifieds are their only shopping ground.

jaunty75

I think this happens so rarely that it's not a good reason for the OCA to incur the extra expense in running two mailing system. Anyone nowadays with a rare part to sell isn't waiting for the once-a-month appearance of a print publication to sell it. They're advertising it on sites like this, on craigslist, and on other online sites. It isn't 1975 anymore. The seller could have his rare part advertised and sold before the ad he submitted to JWO ever appeared in print.

More importantly, though, first class/third class/standard mail or whatever, the mail is still a crapshoot when it comes to delivery times. The two-day difference in delivery times in my earlier post is just an example. The first-class item might come four days before or six, or it might come on the same day as or four or six days after the third-class mail piece. Nothing is guaranteed, and it can vary from month to month, mailing to mailing.

Unlike UPS or Fedex two-day or next-day shipping, there is no guarantee on the part of the post office about delivery times. Even Priority Mail, which the post office brags typically takes two days, is not actually guaranteed to take two days.

There were numerous instances where people in my Olds club chapter back in Ohio received their first-class mailed JWO after I received my third-class mailed JWO.


My contention is that people who pay for the first class option are wasting their money, which is theirs to waste of course. It's also my contention that the OCA is incurring extra expense for no good reason in having to run two mailing systems when one system would work just fine and is what is used by every other mailed publication known to mankind.

CRUZN 66

Based on NOT knowing actual numbers of Third Class vs First Class subscribers, I would suspect a revenue loss of $10/$15 per each First Class subscriber if only Third Class was used..... If the First Class mailing list has a sufficient number of subscribers, that $10/$15 could amount to a large revenue base.... If First Class were to be eliminated, who knows, a Third Class rate increase may be needed to offset the loss revenue..... JMO....

jaunty75

Postage is not supposed to be a revenue source!!!! Whether people choose third or first class membership should make no difference to the OCA's bottom line as the difference in rate should be due only to the difference in mailing costs and nothing else. The OCA should not be accumulating a little pile of money on the side from the first class rate-payers. If they want more revenue, they should raise the dues overall. In fact, THIS would be the ideal thing for the OCA to do. Instead of a single rate that includes mailing costs, whether it be third or first class, which hides the true cost of the membership alone, the dues amount should be broken into detail.

The yearly dues statement should be something like this:

For third class mailing:

$XXX for the membership itself (which includes the cost to produce the monthly magazine)
+$YYY postage for third class mailing
$ZZZ your total dues payment for this year (= $30 currently)


For first class mailing:

$XXX for the membership itself (same as above)
+$WWW postage for first class mailing
$TTT your total dues payment for this year (= $40 currently)


First class costs more, presumably, because the postage rates are higher. If the OCA is inflating the cost of the first class membership level beyond the difference in mailing costs, then they are misrepresenting what the higher rate represents.

72skytop

I'm sorry. I was reading my JWO.


What did you say?

MDchanic

The depths of my apathy on this subject cannot be plumbed.

I write only to reiterate that this sort of thing is the reason why I am not a member of the OCA.

It appears to spontaneously generate meaningless, yet white-hot, controversy the way that rotting meat generates flies.

- Eric

jaunty75

Yes, but what did you pay for it?

jaunty75

You posted in this thread. Your apathy is not as deep as you claim.

72skytop

I can't help you to plumb up your apathy, but ya don't know what you are missing.


If all there is to gripe about is how a monthly publication is shipped, that is where I want to be and will stay.


I am going back to reading my Journey with Olds. If I get time, I might actually turn the publication over and see what method of post I signed up for, but I doubt it.

jaunty75

I love it when people claim to be apathetic and then immediately demonstrate that this is not true by taking the time and effort to state it. If you're so apathetic, why not demonstrate it best by simply not posting at all?

Koda

I guess you can be apathetic on the choice in a situation but intrigued why others are interested?

I may join OCA once I get moved in to my new place.

brown7373

I think it is kind of a years ago issue at Hemmings. There was a lot of complaining that some people got their magazine earlier than others, and it was somewhat important, because the early birds got first crack at NOS parts going up for sale. So Hemmings started offering First Class at an upcharge so if you wanted to get first crack, you could. Now days, there is very little NOS advertised in Hemmings, or on ebay either so it is a moot point.

D. Yaros

As brown7373 pointed out, some folk want access to the classifieds at the earliest possibility and are willing to pay for this. The fact they are willing to pay extra, (I don't/won't) is hardly a reason to attack/fault the organization for making available what some members want.

72skytop

What a poetic way of humilating me into never posting again. Looks like it did not work.


What next?

Mr Shifty Sidney

Wow. I have been receiving JWO first class for 10 years now. I did not realize how bad the world was.

Don W

MDchanic

Jaunty is a bit of a curmudgeon. But don't worry, deep inside, he has the heart of a curmudgeon.

- Eric

Tedd Thompson

I would like to say that he does represent that statement in the finest manner...Tedd

66-3X2 442

The OP was petty to even bring it up.

59-59-59

This just made my top 5 dumbest threads of 2015 on here

allyolds68

I can't believe that it still comes in hard copy at all. Imagine how much money you'd save if you didn't mail it OR print it

66-3X2 442

There's something about getting it in a hard copy. Digital is great but it's nice to go to my bookcase and pull out 32 years of JWO. I went back through mine and I'm only missing an issue or two.

66-3X2 442

He's trying to get his post count up.

allyolds68

I understand how all you old timers feel......lol

J/K Mike

I get Muscle Car Review in digital and it's a PIA. They won't let you download it. It's only available to read when you're on-line. I hardly ever read it except when I go on vacation once a year. Then I print it out, one page at a time, and take it with me. Kind of defeats the purpose of subscribing digitally.....