Stamp prices are rising again, one of several changes the United States Postal Service (USPS) will implement this month.
Starting Sunday, the cost of first class “forever” stamps will increase from 63 cents to 66 cents. The latest price comes just months after forever stamps rose from 60 cents to 63 cents in January, following a series of similar increases in recent years.
In announcing its intention to raise stamp prices forever to 66 cents earlier this year, the USPS cited rising “inflation-driven operating expenses” and the impacts of “a previously flawed pricing model,” and noted that the changes in mail service costs “are necessary to provide the Postal Service with much-needed revenue.”
Beyond forever stamps, a handful of other mail services will also see price increases starting Sunday. The cost of mailing a one-ounce first-class letter, for example, will rise to 63 cents, and domestic postcards will rise to 51 cents. International postcards and one-ounce letters will move to $1.50.
The Postal Service will also launch a new package delivery service, USPS Ground Advantage, on Sunday to replace and combine previous plans. Ground Advantage prices will reflect a 3.2% decline in retail prices and a 0.7% drop in commercials, the Postal Service says.
The Postal Regulatory Commission approved both the price changes and the implementation of Ground Advantage ahead of this month’s changes. The price changes had also been approved by US Postal Service governors as of the Postal Service’s April notice.
Sunday marks the fifth jump in prices for forever stamps seen since early 2019, when postage was 50 cents each. When adjusted for inflation, 50 cents in January 2019 is equal to about 60 cents in spring 2023, according to the CPI Inflation Calculator from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For the first quarter of 2023, Postal Service operating income was $21.5 billion, an increase of $206 million, even though volume decreased by 1.7 billion pieces, or 4.8%, compared to the same period of the year past. In all, the Postal Service reported a net loss of $1 billion for the first quarter, but that was an improvement of $519 million over the net loss of $1.5 billion during the same period last year.
