Post offices to remove stamp vending machines

Get ready to either stand in line or go online the next time you need to buy a book of stamps. The U.S. Postal Service is removing postage vending machines from all of its locations nationwide.
The machines at post offices in the immediate Harrisburg area are to be removed by the end of the month. The machine at the branch on Market Street in Harrisburg is to be removed Tuesday.
At the rest of the post offices in the Central Pennsylvania district, the machines are to be removed by Sept. 30. The stamp vending machines are the victims of technology, competition and aging parts, said Ray Daiutolo, Postal Service spokesman for the central Pennsylvania region. The service can no longer find parts for its 15,000 vending machines, he said. But perhaps the biggest reason they are going the way of the pay phone is that people no longer use them. Consumers are buying postage on the Postal Service's Web site, and through its "stamps by phone" and "stamps by fax" services. People also can find stamps at most grocery stores, and some banks offer them at their ATMs. "The cost is simply debited from their account with no fees from us," said Jason Kirsch, spokesman for the Swatara Twp.-Commerce Bank/Harrisburg. "With the ability to purchase stamps at our ATMs, that's one less errand to run." Giant Food Stores has been selling stamps at its stores for the last 10 years. It used to sell them at the customer service desks, but because of customer demand have since made the stamps available at all of its checkout aisles, said Dennis Hopkins, a spokesman for Carlisle-based Giant. The grocery store chain does not plan to stock up on more stamps because the Postal Service is doing away with its vending machines, but will keep an eye on how many it's selling, Hopkins said.