Bye Bye, 46 Cent Stamps

by Marsha Ward

The cost of postage stamps for letters is about to rise--again--but it's supposed to be a temporary price increase unless the rate of inflation catches up with it at the end of the two-year extension. The price will increase from the 2013 rate of $0.46 to $0.49 on January 26, 2014. The post card rate will also go up another cent. Highlights of the increased prices for single-piece First Class Mail include:

• Letters (1 oz.) — 3-cent increase to 49 cents
• Letters additional ounces — 1-cent increase to 21 cents
• Letters to all international destinations (1 oz.) — $1.15
• Postcards — 1-cent increase to 34 cents

An interesting feature of the new prices is that a 20-cent surcharge will be levied on packages that do not have an Intelligent Mail Package Barcode on the shipping label. In addition, a new First Class Letter rate called "Metered Mail" will cost one cent less than the regular price. This applies to letters and postcards imprinted from postage meters or online postage services.  

While I don't use a huge number of stamps except for Christmas card mailings (which I did not do last year), I like to keep a stock of stamps on hand for unforeseen needs. Therefore, I got myself to the post office to purchase a supply of Forever Stamps while they were still 46 cents.
 

My colorful stash

I was informed that all stamps are now Forever stamps, something I had not realized previously. Nice to know.  

Do you plan to purchase postage stamps before the price jump?