If you do any sort of mailing, you might want to rush to the Post Office before Sunday because that’s when the price of postage goes up again.
All First-Class mail products will be subject to a 2% price increase on Sunday. The cost of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp will increase from 66 cents to 68 cents.
Stamp prices just increased in July from 63 cents to 66 cents, after going from 60 cents to 63 cents in January 2023. Rates for catalogs and newspapers will see increases well above the average, which harms consumers and businesses alike.
Sunday’s increase will be the fifth in the last two years — the most mailing rates have increased during the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) 248-year history. It’s something that bugs Keep US Posted, a nonprofit advocacy group of consumers, nonprofits, newspapers, greeting card publishers, magazines, catalogs and small businesses.
“These unprecedented postage increases are just driving down mail volume and fueling more fiscal instability for USPS,” said Keep US Posted Executive Director Kevin Yoder.
“The Postal Service just posted an operating loss of $6.5 billion in 2023 and is projecting a $6.3 billion loss in 2024 — all after receiving a $120 billion windfall from Congress in 2022. It’s time for Louis DeJoy to abandon the Delivering for America plan’s twice-annual stamp increases. Traditional mail is still the biggest money-maker for USPS, and each rate hike just drives more mail from the system.”
A spike in counterfeit stamps comes with the territory
Just like it did when the last price hike happened, over the holidays the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) noticed another flurry of counterfeit stamps entering the market. And with that, came another rush of websites hawking discount stamps. Some even go as far as spending money on Google to attract consumers who are searching for stamps, either because they are looking for a bargain or don’t have the time to go buy stamps.
For example, take this ad from Temu.
ConsumerAffairs reached out to Temu and asked them why they’re advertising such a discount and how they can offer “90%” off where no one else can. There was no immediate response.
Going legit
If you don’t have the time to go to the Post Office, there are legit retailers that sell stamps. Just search for them via this form (and make sure you check “National Retailer” under “Location Type”).
On the other hand, just like getting a Prada purse for $100 or a pair of high-end Sony earbuds for $50, every last one of the discount stamp sites you hear about are scammers ready to take you for a sucker. A half-price stamp is a full-time headache if you get caught, so you’d be smart to follow this advice from the USPS:
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2024-01-19 13:16:39
