Today, many people send an e-mail instead of writing a letter.  A fair number pay their bills electronically.  Businesses are shifting to electronic transactions and carriers like UPS, DHL and FedEx account for the majority of the parcel shipping market.  In a world like this, you'd think that services such as the United States Postal Service would be having trouble, that the Internet might have made them obsolete.  However, the USPS has found a niche for itself, a way to ride the wave of eCommerce and enjoy some perks along the way.

The boost comes from, of all places, shipping from Internet commerce sites such as eBay and Amazon.  For small-time sellers looking to pawn off their old record collection on eBay, the Post Office presents the easiest option for shipping to buyers.  And if you buy from Amazon.com and select either their super-saver shipping, or standard ground delivery, chances are they'll automatically select the USPS for you.  The USPS has a wider reach domestically than any of the other parcel carriers and their service, while often not as fast or consumer-friendly as others, can often be the most reliable, not to mention that for small shippers, it can be the cheapest of all options.

Check out the CNet News article that goes into detail on how the Internet is helping boost the USPS bottom line.