Most every year, the USPS changes rates across mail the mail classes and services. But this is the first time in nearly 97 years that the price of a stamp is set to go down. The reduction is part of a pre-arranged agreement with Congress. Back in 2014 the Post Office was able to increase the price of stamps by 3 cents, but it was only set to last two years. The rate of postage increases cannot exceed the rate of inflation, and since it’s a government agency, there are watchdog programs that caught the last increase was higher than the rate of inflation. Standard mail, such as first class letters and postcards, make up 76% of the Postal Service’s sales, all of which have prices capped by Congress.
What does this mean for you? Since postage is often the most expensive part of direct mail marketing, this is good news for you and your marketing budget. You may be able to mail more pieces or add additional design elements that you couldn’t have been able to afford beforehand with the higher postage rates.
- First class single piece letter = $0.47
- First class single piece postcard = $0.34
- First class single piece flat = $0.94
- Presorted automation first class letter mixed rate = $0.419
- Presorted automation first class postcard mixed rate = $0.272
- Presorted automation first class flat mixed rate = $0.75
- Presorted automation standard letter mixed rate = $0.291
- Presorted automation standard flat mixed rate = $0.539
- Presorted automation nonprofit letter mixed rate = $0.176
- Presorted automation nonprofit flat mixed rate = $0.40
Of course, all those Forever stamps you bought at $0.49 are now worth $0.47 and you won’t ever see the difference…