The new year will bring with some changes to USPS rates and services. Slated for release early next year, the First-Class Mail Global Forever stamp will allow you to mail letters anywhere in the world for the set price of $1.10.
The price for First-Class Mail single-piece letters will increase by just a penny when prices change in January. The new 46-cent Forever stamps will allow customers to mail letters to any location in the United States. Forever stamps are always good for mailing a one-ounce letter anytime in the future regardless of price changes. The postcard rate will also increase by just a penny to 33 cents.
Shipping Services
Several new Shipping Services products will be available in January. Free tracking will be offered to all competitive packages, including retail Priority Mail and Parcel Post (recently renamed Standard Post).
Anyone shipping Critical Mail letters and flats will now have the option of receiving a signature upon delivery as part of the service offering.
We will continue to offer a large variety of flat-rate boxes and envelopes for Express Mail and Priority Mail, including the padded and legal-sized flat rate envelopes.
New domestic retail pricing for Priority Mail Flat Rate products include:
- Small box — $5.80
- Medium box — $12.35
- Large box — $16.85
- Large APO/FPO box — $14.85
- Regular envelope — $5.60
- Legal envelope — $5.75
- Padded envelope — $5.95
The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) will review the prices before they become effective January 27, 2013.
No one wants four pennies change all the time. Why not simply raise the rate to 50 cents? One, it would be simpler on everyone, and more importantly, you wouldn’t have to raise rates again for quite a while instead of upping the cost every year!
Rates increases cannot be more than the pace of inflation, by law.
You need to explain the jump in priority prices than, much higher rate than inflation.