Postal Rates Rollercoaster

Stop the presses! Hold the phone! Shut! Up! Just when I thought I was blindsided by a stamp rate increase, turns out there's a stamp rate decrease right around the corner. Back in January 2014, when regular letter stamps went up to 49 cents, the U.S.P.S. explained that it was surcharge pricing to help them with the recession. The three-cent increase was approved, but only until the Postal Service could gain 3 billion dollars from it. They will hit that amount this summer and courts have ruled that they will have to roll-back the "surge" pricing. 

To quote the article in The Washington Post:

“The Commission sensibly concluded that the statutory exception allowing higher rates when needed to respond to extraordinary financial circumstances should only continue as long as those circumstances, in fact, remained extraordinary,” Circuit Judge Patricia Ann Millet wrote on behalf of the appeals court. “The Commission permissibly reasoned that just because some of the effects of exigent circumstances may continue for the foreseeable future, that does not mean that those circumstances remain ‘extraordinary’ or ‘exceptional’ for just as long.”

So... what will regular letters be priced at? No idea. They've yet to determine that and when the new rate will go into effect. Furthermore, the U.S.P.S. argues that the 3 billion dollar amount was arrived at arbitrarily and wants it re-examined by the Postal Regulatory Commission. 

This brings us back to the debate about non-denominated postage. "Forever" stamps purchased will be bought at a higher price than stamps, say, six months from now. It will still purchase the same service, i.e. delivery of a 1oz letter anywhere in the United States, but at a lower cost. I never even considered that prices could go down. Research showed me that this won't be the first time stamps have decreased in price; they went down by a penny in 1919. There was a higher rate used during World War One. Here's a neat chart I found tracking the increases and decreased over time.

Personally, I don't care. I think mail is worth it and that 49cents is a bargain. Still, it raises interesting questions.

 

P.S. Thanks to all of the members who tweeted and emailed this to us!

Comments

[Alyssabeth]

I think it's funny that the crazy situation with the alphabet in the upcoming book club book, is sort of coinciding with our crazy stamp situation at present.

[Elizabeth Bevins]

I had no idea postage rates could go down. Oh well...good that I just purchased a ton of old unused postage in various denominations. Now to just get them to add up to the amount I need AND fit on the envelope. :)

I love your blog!

[Phil]

@Elizabeth Where did you purchase the old postage? I'd be interested in picking some up too.

[ana]

I use your postal rate sidebar all the time. Will you update it with the new postal rates? Thanks!!!

[Katie]

I've purchased quite a bit of old postage (3, 4 and 5 cent stamps) on ebay.

[Cheryl]

I don't mind if domestic rates stay at 49 cents, but international rates just went to $1.20/ounce, which does NOT make me happy.

[Elizabeth Bevins]

Ebay and Etsy are where I find the stamps. You can find any kind you want--many I am able to get for less than face value. So not only do I get to be creative with my postage I save money too! Some sellers pre package them for you into .49 groupings.

[Julietta]

I wish the new stamps still had prices on them. Many postal workers I've talked to are annoyed with the non-denominational "forever" idea; they must memorize the prices of each stamp instead of just adding up the numbers... I'm not quite sure how to feel about the change, but so far I'm not a huge fan.

[FinnBadger]

Fascinating that there is the possibility for the first class letter prices to go down 1 or 2 cents. I bet the post office will fight this one tooth and nail.

P.S. The international rates in the side bar haven't been updated yet.

[Donovan Beeson]

It should be updated soon. Thanks!

[FinnBadger]

One thought about the possibility of a rate decrease and the new non-denominated stamps - if the rate goes down to, say, 48c for the 1st oz, then a 2 oz letter will be 70c and a 3 oz letter 92c. If the PO didn't have the non-denominated stamps they'd have a bunch of useless (to the public) 71c and 93c stamps on hand - at least until the 1 oz rate rises again - which would be terrible from a business point of view in terms of not just lost revenue, but also in terms of wasted storage space, and the need to print new stamps for the 92c rate. Then if the next rate change were to skip the 71c and 93c values due to let's say another 1c increase in the extra ounce rate, even more waste.

Perhaps the post office saw this coming?

[Chrystina]

Weird. I also don't know how I feel about the fact that I bought so many forever stamps a little bit ago now. One thing I do know though is that I would love to turn that chart you found into a really pretty graph. Such an Excel geek over here.