There is USPS rate increase on the first class stamp. The USPS rate increase on first class mail stamps is set to increase to 66 cents from 63 cents. The first class stamp cost is going up by 3 cents on Sunday. Stamp price increasing for the third time since the last 12 months.
The first class stamp cost of USPS is being revised from 63 cents to 66 cents, up 32% since 2019 when the price of a stamp was 50 cents. The stamp price increase is set to take effect on July 9 pending approval by the postal regulator.
Why first class stamp cost increase matters?
It’s the 17th USPS rate increase since 2000 and the shortest time between stamp prices increasing in the Postal Service’s history.
USPS rate increase last was in January. Before that, they rose in July 2022 and August 2021. First class stamp cost to send a letter by certified mail and insure packages will also increase.
The Postal Service said in April that the increases raise first class stamp cost by approximately 5.4% to “offset the rise in inflation” and are needed “to address continued elevated inflation and prior year’s defective pricing model.”
“With three unprecedented postage hikes in 12 months, USPS has kicked off runaway ‘stampflation’ like the U.S. has never seen, and it’s making the situation worse,” Yoder said in a statement.
Surging prices have dented business across the globe over the past two years, in many cases pushing up workers’ wages and increasing the costs of doing business. USPS rate increase is also due to this reason. Although inflation has been cooling over the past nine months prices were up 5% last month on an annual basis. It remains above the central bank’s target of around 2%.
“these price adjustments are needed to provide the postal service with much needed revenue,” the agency said in a statement.
The big picture
This stamp price increasing will amount to 32% over the past four years. First class mail is becoming a smaller part of the Postal Service’s business because of online communication. The number of individual letters sent each year has fallen by about half in the past decade. USPS expects to lose $4.5 billion in 2023.
Yoder said that after January’s rate increase began, “mail volume immediately decreased nearly 9% year-over-year, while expenses increased by 16%.”
In 2022, USPS handled 127.3 billion pieces of mail compared to the high of 213.1 billion in 2006, data shows.
When does postage increase?
Sunday, July 9 is the day the new rates go into effect and postage cost of one forever stamp letter is 66 cents, up from 63 cents. The first-class stamp will be double the 1999 rate of 33 cents.
Other increases
- Metered 1-ounce letters will cost 63 cents, up from 60 cents.
- Postcards sent domestically are 51 cents, up from 48 cents.
- International postcards and 1-ounce letters are $1.50, a 5-cent increase
The cost for Certified Mail, Post Office Box rental fees, money order fees and insurance are also increasing.
Forever stamps price
Flashback: Forever stamps price when the Postal Service first started selling then in 2007, was 41 cents. Since 2011, all first class commemorative stamps have been issued as forever stamps. “If you don’t have forever stamps, now is a good time to stock up,” Yoder said.
What’s next?
More first-class stamp price increasing are expected as part of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10 year delivering for America plan “to achieve financial sustainability.”
