U.S. Mint discontinuing mail orders as 9/30/2017

Press release is here

https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-r...nt-announces-plans-to-discontinue-mail-orders

Not sure how I feel about this as although I don't use mail order myself. I recognize that there is a large portion of older collectors who may not be computer literate and this is essentially locking them out of an order method they may be familiar with.

 

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Going the way of the shopping mall.

 

I wholeheartedly agree. While the time certainly may/will come when this would be a perfectly reasonable move, I simply don't believe we're there yet. Very unfortunate, imho.

 

Of what use is a mailed order when the big dogs buy a new issue out in the first few minutes?

 

I think it's a smart decision. Mail orders have to cause more problems then anything else at this point. The extremely popular things are sold out before the catalog even arrives and mail orders have to be such a minuscule amount of the orders. Even computer illiterate people will be fine, they still take phone orders.

 

Shame, I feel its not time to get rid of mail orders.

 

It's ok with me. I quit buying anything they come out with. They don't care about collectors.

 

Mail orders were OK back in the middle 60's when I was a kid buying from the mint. And if I can become computer literate, anyone can........

 

Fair enough, but perhaps the greater question should be why one should HAVE to? Should grandma have to go out and buy a computer or smartphone, familiarize herself with it, pay for internet/data or possibly travel to use oneone else's, simply to place an order, possibly as a gift for a grandchild? This isn't about what one COULD do, but what they now HAVE to do.

ldhair is right in that the mint doesn't seem to care anymore, and the other guys also correct in pointing out that it may not matter anyway, but this doesn't make it right. You have a reason to use computers and the internet for things other than placing the sporadic mint order, but the same cannot be said for everyone.

 

Grandma has at least a land line phone, I am sure she knows how to dial it to order something if she doesn't and/or can't use computers.

 

What he said...........

 

Yes, there are other options, but is beside the point. Perhaps you could at least try to debate the post on its own merits (or lack thereof) for once?

 

I don't agree with their decision as it just doesn't make sense ,this won't effect me. I could care less of the junk that they stamp out. However to those who do I feel for , but as others have posted how can the everyday collector obtain a specimen when the corporations gobble up everything in the first few hours of sales.

 

There is no merit to complaining about it. No one is left out because it is gone. Everyone still has a phone they can use and almost no one used the mail system anyway. Anyone who used the mail system missed out on any hot item and then had to be told it was sold out when their letter finally arrived. Anyone so far off the grid that they don't even have a landline is not going to care what new mint products are out.

 

I honestly (and embarrassingly) didn't know they even did mail order.

 

Well, she could invest in a landline phone. But I hear they are going the same way as US Mint mail orders.

 

The mint hasn't received any of my business for decades. They have focussed on their public/private partnerships with the big dealers, leaving people like me behind. Their offerings have been, for the most part, uninspiring. IMO they are slowly trying to run as a business, meaning if a function is not profitable it gets axed. This reminds me of my bank where they want customers to do their banking online. Traditional banking such as paper checks, dealing with tellers, etc., are much more expensive. Those who don't get with the program are charged monthly fees to make up for the added cost. Progress?

 

I've mailed one thing in the last five years, and it's been double that since I've owned a landline. This year, landline usage has dropped below one-half of all households - over half the country is now cell-only.

 

The mint will save a lot of money by doing this. That means the price of everything will be going up.

 

Kind of a pain for an older generation not big on doing things online, but it makes sense from a business perspective. Phone orders should suffice as a replacement.