Stamps Increasing By One Cent May 12
Stamp prices are going up by a penny on May 12th to 42 cents. A Forever Stamp, however, will still get your mail delivered at the regular ol price of 41 cents (see how that works?). Other price increases set for May 12: Large Envelope (2 oz.): $.97 to $1.00, Certified Mail $2.65 to $2.70, First-Class Mail International Letter: (1 oz. to Canada and Mexico $.69 to $.72, First-Class Mail International Letter: (1 oz. to other countries) $.90 to $.94.
Stamps Increasing by One Cent to 42 Cents on May 12 [PR Newswire]
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I'm tempted to buy a book of "forever" stamps and put them in my safe deposit box. When I'm 50 and it costs $3 to mail a postcard, I'd try to get them to honor it.
In other news, I'm starting to gain an inkling of why old people act the way they do :)
Hmm, this is interesting. I'm wondering if they're hoping that by increasing the stamps by "only" one cent, they're hoping people won't start buying up forever stamps at $.41.
1 cent on mail = $4 on an average ebay shipment
Instant 2.5% ROI if you buy them just before the price hike. I hope they don't change the forever stamp for the price change so they can be returned for instant profit.
When the Forever Stamps were first introduced, there was a very interesting article (was it here?) on how they were not a good deal at all. Basically, as stamp prices rise, previous versions of the Forever Stamp stop being a good deal, as inflation actually makes them cost more than the newly priced regular stamps.
What the heck is a forever stamp, where are they on the USPS website, and why aren't people buying a ton of these just to avoid paying .42? Or maybe they are, but I have to send out invitations before the change and get rsvps after the change...could these forever stamps save me money?
What the heck is a forever stamp, where are they on the USPS website, and why aren't people buying a ton of these just to avoid paying .42? Or maybe they are, but I have to send out invitations before the change and get rsvps after the change...could these forever stamps save me money?
Only in the very short term. Longer-term, postage rates are now indexed to inflation, so buying a ton of stamps now won't save you any money down the road, since you'd have been better off just sticking that money in a savings account.
I dont buy stamps anymore (unless its the 1 & 2 cent additional postage). I only use two stamps a month to pay bills I have to send out in the mail.... where do I get these stamps? From work. From letters recieved when a customer drops off their payment that they were going to mail, but decided not to & didnt remove the stamp they had placed on their letter. I also get the occasional stamp that went thru the mail that was missed by the cancelling machine at the post office (either because the machine made a mistake or because the person who put the stamp on put it lower than the area that the machine puts the cancellation mark). Technically... this is illegal, but everyone does it & it is never prosecuted. You'd be suprised at how many stamps I acumulate this way.
As for other people who DO buy their stamps.... I'd start buying a year or two worth of stamps right before the rate hike, because you can expect rates to jump every 1-3 years now. That was the whole reason for creating the forever stamp in the first place.... so they can raise rates quicker than they ever did before (the government committee that was in place that usually kept stamp prices low was disbanded once the forever stamp decision was made).
@UpsetPanda: Yes. The idea is you pay whatever the going rate is for a "first class stamp", and your stamps are good for forever despite postal rate changes. No more buying 1, 2, or 3 cent stamps to supplement.
Still a great deal, if you ask me... What annoys me is that they just keep raising the cost by a penny here and there - it makes it a pain in the ass to go out and find 1 or 2 cent stamps. Why not raise it by 5cents and be done with it for a few years already?!
@UpsetPanda: Forever Stamps are the ones with the Liberty Bell that you can buy online or in the machines at the post office. They don't have an amount printed on them, so that, I guess, makes them "Forever Stamps"...
I mailed my income taxes for myself and my roomate last week. That's four envelopes. I put two stamps on each envelope. But you know what? I have NO IDEA how much each stamp is worth. And I have NO IDEA what it costs to mail a letter. The whole thing is so ridiculous -- the rate increses and the stamps without values on their face. I'v got no idea what it costs to mail a letter anymore, so I just slap a bunch of them on there "to be sure."
I like how the govt finally made it simple to increase the rate with their forever stamps, especially when my letters now take 1 day longer on average to get there.
In other news...
Now I can put 42 once cent stamps on an envelope!
@Quellman: "Now I can put 42 one cent stamps on an envelope!"
I have done that just for fun. lol I imagine the looks the postal clerks make when the machine spits out an "insufficiant postage" letter & the worker has to count up the stamps to make sure it is the right amount. LOL! Actually they probably just take a glance, see the whole letter plastered with stamps & assume that its the correct amount & pass it through. I think they are supposed to hand cancel all the stamps too, but I have seen/recieved many a stamp-plastered letter where they didnt. Plus I figure that some frugal person (like me) who gets the letter will take off the stamps & reuse them, because that's what I do! :D
to me, buying stamps is a rare thing. I always pay my bills with my banks bill pay thingie
@DeltaPurser:
I agree, just increase it to 45 cents and leave us the hell alone for a few years, then raise it to 50 cents, shit.
I think that paying $0.50 to send a letter across the country is still a bargain. It may be slow, but to have someone come to my house, take the mail out of the box for me and send it across the nation for less than $0.50 is still a bargain.
Oh dear, I just assured the 95 year old who I help out that the prices just increased so another wasn't likely soon. I'll have to urge her to use her $.41 stamps before her Forever ones and try to explain why.
Wonder of wonders, all the Post Offices in my area are conveniently out of the "Forever" stamps and have no idea when they will get more. I bet they will have plenty on May 14 ;)
@Morton Fox: Man, get used to it. They've jacked the hell up out of all international rates.
Also, who didn't see this...more frequent postage increases...coming with the Forever Stamp.
God it's a pain in the ass when they raise stamp prices so much. I still to this day think back when they raised it from 0.25 to 0.28 I think it was, they should have just went to 0.50 and left us alone for a couple decades!
Now I'll probably stick two stamps on stinking letters because it'd cost more in gas and time to bother to get and keep up with penny stamps.
I'll have to remember to pick up forever stamps next time. At least that is a good thing they did.
@XianZomby: I hate that! Why can't they just print the damn value on ALL stamps? I think they do it on purpose so people will forget what their stamps are worth and use too much postage.
Anyway, here's a handy like for those of you similarly situated:
One thing I'd like to know is how do the mail-sorting machines know that a first class stamp from 10 years ago has a value less than one made 2 years ago?
@smitty1123: Where do you get this information?
As far as postal rates, I can't remember the last time I bought stamps or mailed a letter or bill. This has just about become a dead service, except for old people, right?
The gas prices in my area went up 30 cents a gallon from Sunday to Monday. Yet, everyone has to gripe about a stamp going up a penny over ONE YEAR. Get over it.
Gas goes up 15 cents overnight, Fedex raises rates 10%, UPS follows suit. Airlines float the idea of hitting customers for $50 for a second bag.
Then people complain about a penny a year increase? Have a $3 cup of coffee and quit complaining.
There, I feel better
It's only a matter of time before some douche comes on here and posts what a great deal the postal service is and how great their service is.
I may use 1 stamp a month but, I really like the 42 1 cent stamp idea.
This can't be privatized fast enough.
@forgottenpassword: That's a good question. Someone on metafilter asked the same thing:
I don't think there was a definitive answer. Somebody said the machines read a fluorescent mark on the stamps; another person said the machines can't really tell, so it's all on the Honor System. There have been people who've made joke stamps that are just the right size but with wacky pictures on them and supposedly the mail was still delivered. I love the idea, but I wouldn't try it.
The whole purpose of Forever stamps is it is easier to raise new prices, so people don't complain. I am sure this is first of many hikes in the next couple years.
How much does it cost the post office to re-print all their big signs and change everything every time they raise the price of a stamp a penny? The ends don't justify the means. Just raise the damn stamp price to 50 cents and leave it at that for 5 more years.
Interesting that you listed the 2 oz. large envelope (currently $.97) but failed to mention the base cost of a large envelope, which is 1 oz. for $.80. And yes, it is quite possible to have a 1 oz. large envelope.
WTF???!!! They just raised the rates. Fukking pain in my ass that I have to go get new stamps. Just raise it to 42 cents a year ago!
I suppose I'd worry if I were putting stamps in my gas tank or heating my house with them, but compared to how much everything else has gone up with energy costs, I'd still rate stamps as pretty reasonably priced.
I use about 6 of them every month to mail out bills, so I'll just suck it up and fork over the extra 6 cents every month. Woe is me.
I bought a huge roll of stamps at Costco a little over a year ago. A few months back all my bills got returned to me with "insufficient postage" labels on them. I had no idea they were no longer the right rate. Instead of buying a roll of 1 cent stamps I just put two of my old ones on letters now.
I wish I could discontinue using USPS and not even have a mail box. All I get these days is junk mail. I can fill a paper box full of junk mail in about 3-4 weeks. I called my local post office to see about not delivering bulk mail to my address and they stated they have to deliver it because someone paid for it to be delivered. Bastards!
@dirk1965: Even worse is junk mail addressed to a previous resident of your home or apartment. My parents receive so much junk mail that important bills are lost or forgotten.
Why yes, if someone pays to deliver mail to you, the post office is actually required to deliver it. Does that seem hard to comprehend?
Hint: USPS has a Federally mandated monopoly on all first-class mail and most "junk class" mail. Not on other mail classes though.
As pointed out by others, gas prices have skyrocketed. Now, do you think USPS uses a lot of fuel by any chance? Hmmm..
Third, there's a reason why the price can't just be jacked-up a whole bunch at once. It's called the Postal Regulatory Commission. Oh, and Congress.
All USPS financials for 2007 are available on-line, you know. USPS had a 4 billion dollar loss last year. Which is mostly thanks to stupid accounting tricks from the Whitehouse...
Why can't we just make them 50 or 55 cents or something and just leave it at that price for a while instead of all these B.S. increases every year?
I wish I could get forever stamps for the international postcard rate. It went up from 75 cents to 90 cents last year and will go up to 94 cents this year. I use that a lot for Postcrossing.