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Mailing A Letter? It Will Now Cost You A Penny More
May 12, 2008
The cost of mailing a letter jumped a penny to 42 cents on Monday, the latest in what are expected to be annual price adjustments by the U.S. Postal Service.
A new law regulating the post office makes it easier to raise rates as long as the agency doesn’t exceed the rate of inflation. Rates are to be adjusted each May.
But the post office also has introduced a way for people to save money when the price goes up, the Forever stamp, which remains valid for first class postage regardless of any increases.
With the rate increase approaching, sales of the Forever stamp reached 64 million a day in April, postal officials said.
Forever stamps sold for 41 cents until midnight Sunday night, but can be used after the rate increase without any additional postage. But now that the postal rate is up a penny, so was the price of Forever stamps that are 42 cents Monday.
Unlike the Forever stamps, other 41 cent stamps will require additional postage under the new rates, and postal officials said they printed an additional 1.5 billion one cent stamps in anticipation of the demand.
A set of five 42 cent stamps honoring pioneering journalists went on sale in April, as did a set of four stamps featuring the American flag flying at different times of day.
A 42 cent stamp featuring singer and actor Frank Sinatra (pictured left) was released Tuesday morning.
The cost to mail a post card also went up a penny Monday, to 27 cents.
But, the Postal Service said that overall prices for Express Mail, its overnight service, will be lower at the weights and in the delivery zones used by most customers.
And Express mail and Priority mail customers can save money simply buying postage online, the agency said. Express mail customers will receive three percent off the published retail prices and Priority mail customers will save an average 3.5 percent.
The new 42 cent stamps, as well as penny stamps to go with your old 41 cent stamps, are available online at usps.com or at post offices across the area, including the post offices in McDavid, Molino, Century, Walnut Hill and Cantonment.
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