Future Stamp Price Increases

The USPS is planning another stamp price increase in July 2022 and then two in 2023.

Based on these planned increases, some people might starting viewing Forever stamps as an alternative investment to the stock market or bonds LOL.

https://www.linns.com/news/postal-u...ting-in-2023

They should just go for it all right now and be done with it. Politics dictates that by the time 2022 and 2023 roll around those scheduled increases will become partisan fodder.

I agree, I think that they should make First Class mail $1.00, this would still be less than the world-wide average and will help offset the actual cost. The also need to adjust up Third Class mail, which has seen very large volume increases in the year or two.
Don

The rate in Canada is about US $0.71 (unless you buy stamps one at a time - then it is about US $0.83)

The worldwide average First Class letter rate is the equivalent of $1.17 (US).
Don


(Source The U.S. Postal Service Five-Year Strategic Plan FY2020-FY2024)

Maybe it's time I sell off my denominated sheets and invest in forevers… but the pretty ones are so few and far between…

It's worth noting that the cost to mail a first class letter today is not much more than it was decades ago in the 3c and 4c era or even during most of the late 19th century. Generally, throughout all of U.S. postal history, excluding some eras like with the very first stamps in the 1840s, mailing a first-class letter has cost "about" 50c or so in today's money. In today's money, that "or so" could be as low as 30c or as high as 60c with one brief jump to 80c in the 1870s for some reason. In the 1930s, rates went to about 65c in today's money, though the actual mail rate was only 3c then. Current first-class rates are in line with this range of being "around 50c" in current dollars. I think $1.00 would be a break with tradition so not likely to happen.

However, since about 1960, first-class postal rates have climbed from "around" 35c in today's money to today's 55c. This is the era people are referring to when they complain about the cost of mailing a letter today. But that covers a period of over 60 years, so it doesn't seem all that bad to me.

The cheapest first-class rates were in 1920 and 1960, 2c and 4c, respectively. That's equivalent to 20c and 30c in today's money. Pretty cheap!

It's worth putting mail rates in perspective. If you wanted to send someone an important letter, a check, a bill, or some other communication, and they lived all the way across the country, what would you be willing to pay someone to take it there? I bet it would be a lot more than 55c.

The US postal service of 'yesterday' did not have to cover the future health costs of all employees past and present. Congress is controlling the USPS purse strings yet it is touted as being an independent profit/loss organization.

In my opinion we can stick a fork in First Class mail, it has been replaced by the internet and the volume of it will continue to shrink every year**. USPS (and other postal system) have to switch to parcel services, accept that they will lose money, or go out of business. But if tax payers are ok with running a postal system bleeding red ink because they have nostalgic feelings, then set the rates at whatever keeps the tax payers happy, blame those who run the postal system, and keep voting for the same bums every election cycle. <shrugs>
Don

**Source USPS First Class mail volume at 50 year low https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/p...nce-1926.htm

"The worldwide average First Class letter rate is the equivalent of $1.17 (US)."

Iceland, Italy & Denmark are clearly outliers. Excluding them the average falls to about $0.94. The average of the yellow countries (which are the most relevant countries to compare to) is $0.81. You have labor including pensions & health plans (the US has a strong postal union, and France is the most socialistic of the yellow countries, and of course there is the issue of who has more management overhead), degree of automation lead, (I would expect the US to but have zero data) , distance traveled (the US being so large is at a disadvantage like Australia), and then there is the last mile (costs far less to deliver to an apartment mailbox cluster than to widely spaced houses in a rich neighborhood or out in the sticks, and I don't have the wildest guess which country has an advantage or disadvantage here.

There are a million ways to look at it. "Sticks" delivery in my "sticks" is done by contract carriers that get paid diddly. Bottom line for the US is that it is bleeding money. Congress has much to do with that situation but do not expect them to fix it or much of anything for that matter. Could do a bail-out I suppose while printing the other 3.5 or 6 or 9 trillion. Matters little at this point.

Why keep continuously nickel and diming? Because they want to get the public to the magic rate without noticing it. If the public notices it they might blame whoever is in power and we cannot have that.

Somebody needs to grow a pair and advocate for real rates that have some legs and will put the USPS into the black at least for a little while or until Congress throws more wrenches into the gears.

It is ALL politics now. Every single molecule.

If you look at it in terms of what other countries are paying, what we in the US pay for first class mail is a bargain. And if you look at it in terms of distance travelled it's even more of a bargain for the longest distances. Think of it, you can still send a letter from Hawaii to Maine for 55 cents, that's probably over 5,000 miles, whereas to send the same letter from Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, or Point Roberts, Washington to Tsawwassen, British Columbia, or San Ysidro California, to Tijuana, BC, Mexico a distance that might be only a few hundred feet will cost $1.20

What I would like to see the USPS forecast on first class mail volume vs mailing costs. I am sure DeJoy wants to charge as much as FedEx and UPS for packages.