Invention Idea #1

I don't think this idea is patentable, and, even if it were, I currently do not have the resources to do so. Furthermore, were I able to secure a patent, I'm confident that this idea would get bogged down in the bloated behemoth that is the US Postal Service for years.

So, I'm sharing it here, with you, Considerate Reader. My idea is to put a vending machine that dispenses stamps inside every Post Office.

If the Post Office had stamp vending machines, it would be a win-win for a variety of reasons. First, it would increase efficiency. I posit that some significant portion of people who wait in line at the Post Office simply want a stamp or stamps. Stamp machines would help unclog the dreadful lines, better utilizing the time of both the employees and the customers. Next, it would allow the USPS to increase their margins on stamps. I would gladly pay an extra 11 cents--thus raising the price to 60 cents, roughly a 20% increase--to not have to wait behind several people only to get a stamp.

Maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps not enough people buy stamps in small quantities at the Post Office to make this a profitable idea. I'm unsure. The only way to be sure would be to analyze the data; a relatively straightforward proposition, if the organization in question were not a slothful bureaucracy.

Ultimately, I think we will never know the answer to this question; that even if this idea were to make it up the long convoluted foodchain, the ultimate decision maker would deem it too insignificant to look into. But maybe, just maybe, someone more competent than me will read this and prove its feasibility, one way or the other. Regardless, I feel better now that I've released this idea out into the public. 

If you read this, I sincerely appreciate it.