Today, the New York Times has a report on how states pay the USPS to mail ballots to voters.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, said the Postal Service under the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, a major donor to the Trump campaigns, had “informed some states that they may need to pay a first-class rate to deliver ballots rather than the normal rate — nearly tripling the cost.”
Important note: As a voter, know that regardless of how you get your ballot delivered to you, you’ll be returning it to your local voting authority with First Class mail. The debate is over how states get the ballot to you in the first place. There are two ways states have been distributing ballots to voters:
First Class mail — This is the same mail service that delivers consumer letters you mail every day. It’s the same service you get by paying the price of a stamp and attaching it to a letter. It usually takes 3 to 5 days.
Marketing mail — This service is meant for bulk mailing and most “junk mail” and the USPS defines this to include “printed matter, flyers, circulars, advertising, newsletters, bulletins, catalogs and small parcels.” It’s cheaper, but it can take up to 10 days to reach its destination.
Because marketing material is a lower-priority than other mail mail, USPS officials have been recommending that states use the more expensive First Class postage option. That way, they’ll get ballots to voters promptly and reliably. For some states, the more expensive First Class option is too expensive.
“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.”
― Josh Billings, 19th-century American humorist
Effective 1/27/19, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has made changes to the price of a stamp. While some decreases can be found, the big change came in the largest-ever stamp price increase in history. And some prices have seen no changes at all. Read on for a complete guide to the price of a stamp and other postage increases 2019!
USPS Postage Price Changes – At a Glance
Mailing Services Products – approximate increase of 2.5%
Priority Mail Express – approximate increase of 3.9%
Priority Mail increased approximate increase of 5.9%
Stamp Prices Are Low – An Overview
The USPS reportedly has some of the lowest postage rates in the world and offers competitive rates for shipping. The USPS, unlike other carriers, does not add extra fees for things like fuel, residential delivery, weekend delivery, or holiday season delivery. In addition, seeing zero tax dollars for operations, it subsists solely on sales of postage, products, and services to support its entirety. Before
we get into the new prices, to whet your appetite, here are a few other USPS
facts:
493.4 million mail pieces are
processed each day
That is 20.6 million each hour
Per minute, 342,638 are processed
And 5,711 mail pieces are
processed every second
So, when you send your grandmother a letter letting her know you’re doing just fine, and yes you did get that $5 she mailed last week (thanks, Oma!), that’s factored into these statistics. When you sell your DVD boxset of The Nanny on Ebay because you have a digital copy now, and you ship that on to Utah, that’s another tick on the ol’ USPS fact sheet. When your hand has uncramped enough to finally get around to physically mailing out those thank you notes from your graduation party six months ago, those too are included in the 493.4 million mail pieces process each day!
Price Increases for First Class Mail
Here’s a recap of what First Class Mail gets you, at just the price of a stamp:
Best priced service for mail up to 13 oz
Delivery in 1 to 3 business days
Insurance for loss or damage up to $5,000 for merchandise only
Can combine with extra services to confirm delivery
Up to 3.5 ounces free with commercial priced letters and cards
Changes to Price of a Stamp for Letters and Postcards
With the 2.5 percent price increase for Mailing Services products, the most notable of the new rates is a five-cent increase to the price of a First-Class Mail stamp, from 50 cents to 55 cents. The 10 percent hike is the largest price increase in the history of the USPS. The second largest price hike was in 1991, when the price of a stamp increased from 25 cents to 29 cents.
Even though the basic 1-ounce price of a stamp went up, another part actually went down. The “additional ounce” price for letters will see a decrease of six cents, from 21 cents to 15 cents. Additional ounces cover anything that weighs more than 1-ounce which is typically a larger document or invitation. This means the 150 wedding invitations (typically a 2-ounce stamped letter) you need to send out may only cost 70 cents a piece, rather than 71 cents. And who doesn’t want to save $1.50?
Complete Pricing Breakdown
Letters (1 oz.) $0.55
Letters – Additional Ounces: $0.15
Non-Machinable Surcharge: $0.15 (see below!)
Letters (metered 1 oz.): $0.50 (metered mail is when a postage meter stamps directly onto the letter)
Outbound (Outgoing) International Letters (1 oz.): $1.15
Domestic Postcards: $0.35
Please note the base price of $0.55 is for a standard-sized, rectangular envelope. If your envelope is square, oversized, or unusually shaped, costs for stamps begin at $0.70. This factors in your non-machinable surcharge (see below).
In the same vein, stamps for standard-sized, rectangular postcards start at $0.35. Any oversized postcards require letter stamps, which as we’ve now learned, start at $0.55.
Complete Sizing Guide
Letters qualify under the following dimensions:
Length – minimum 5”, maximum 11 ½”
Height – minimum 3 ½”, maximum 6 ⅛”
Thickness – minimum .007”, maximum ¼”
Cards qualify under the following dimensions:
Length – minimum 5”, maximum 6”
Height – minimum 3 ½”, maximum 4 ¼”
Thickness – minimum .007”, maximum 0.016”
What is a “Non-Machinable” Surcharge?
If you have
unusually shaped mail pieces – like uneven, stiff, square, or vertical
envelopes – and the machine is unable to sort them into the correct pile, or if
your mail has extras – like buttons, clasps, or string – it must be
hand-cancelled (processed by a human being). These mail items are considered
“non-machinable,” and a fee of $0.15 may be applied, even if they weigh less
than the standard letter 1 oz.
What About Forever Stamps?
If you’re wondering about First-Class Mail Forever stamps – introduced in 2007 and designated for 1 oz letters that don’t expire even if stamp prices increase – they will still be available for purchase, but at the increased rate of $0.55. Forever stamps purchased before the increase on 1/27/19 will, of course, be honored.
Changes to Priority Mail Prices
First, here’s a quick recap of what the USPS Priority Mail service includes:
Delivery in 1 to 3 business days
Delivery available seven days a week in most locations
Prices starting at $7.35
Can combine with extra services to confirm delivery
Domestic Priority Mail Retail Flat Rate (Boxes and Envelopes)
In an attempt to simplify things, the USPS introduced the first flat rate envelope in 1991 and the first flat rate box in 2004. As their name indicates, there is a flat rate – a one-time fee – and no further weighing or calculating is needed. If they fit in the box, the price is locked and predictable. These ship in 1-3 business days.
Box Type
Dimensions
Price
Small Flat Rate Box
8 11⁄16″ x 5 7⁄16″ x 1 3⁄4″
$7.90
Medium Flat Rate Box (top loading)
11 1⁄4″ x 8 3⁄4″ x 6
$14.36
Medium Flat Rate Box (side loading)
14″ x 12″ x 3 1⁄2″
$14.36
Large Flat Rate Box
12 1⁄4″ x 12 1⁄4″ x 6″
$19.95
APO/FPO Large Flat Rate Box*
12 1⁄4″ x 12 1⁄4″ x 6″
$18.45
Regular Flat Rate Envelope
12 1⁄2″ x 9 1⁄2″
$7.35
Legal Flat Rate Envelope
9 1⁄2″ x 15″
$7.65
Padded Flat Rate Envelope
12 1⁄2″ x 9 1⁄2″
$8.00
*The USPS offers a discount of $1.50 per Priority Mail Flat Rate Box to those who want to send loved ones serving in the military a special delivery. Just look for the abbreviation APO – which stands for Air or Army Post Office – or FPO – which stands for Fleet Post Office (Navy).
A Note On First-Class Package Service and Zone-Based Pricing
First-Class Package Service, the light, fast service primarily used by businesses for fulfillment purposes will move to zone-based pricing. These zones are predetermined and factor the distance from where shipping begins to the package’s destination. According to USPS, this is to better align with the cost of service and is intended to improve value based on distance.
Concluding Thoughts on Stamp Price Increase
According to the New York Times, within the last ten years, the number of first-class mail pieces sent through the United States Postal Service has fallen by more than 50 percent. If you don’t include invitations and holiday cards, the average American household receives only 10 pieces of personal mail each year. Although the statistics presented earlier certainly seem staggering (5,711 mail pieces are processed every second?!), the fact of the matter is Americans just aren’t communicating the way they used to. And yet, a postal worker visits every mailbox several days a week, regardless of the volume.
One needs only to briefly visit the USPS website before discovering that, though the information is certainly helpful, it isn’t the most navigable or consumer-friendly. Perhaps if data was arranged in a one-stop, confusion-free way, folks would be able to move past the terms “non-machineable” and “automation,” and quickly reference whether or not their letter or package fits in a particular category, and how much that category costs. Yeah, someone should probably make that quick-reference…
So, here it is! Our Ultimate Guide to the 2019 Price of a Stamp.
It doesn’t matter your mail volume! Every business needs, at minimum, a digital scale to be effective and efficient in handling daily mailing needs. This article dives into the 4 most prominent reasons. We’ll cover one really striking situation where you could be paying double for postage if you don’t invest in a digital scale. That hurts.
If you use a service like Stamps.com, you can easily opt in to add a scale that syncs with their online mail portal.
Save Time and Money by Sending Mail from the Office
The most important reason to own a digital scale is to save time and money by avoiding the post office. While it’s great to work with a USPS postage pro who can answer questions and help you decide on the right mailing services for you… you’ve heard the truth a hundred times here on Price of a Stamp: going to the post office is unfortunately a waste of time and money.
The reason you’re wasting money is simple: by shipping from home, the USPS offers you some deep discounts. For instance, a 15-ounce letter shipped Priority Mail within Los Angeles would cost $5.60 if you brought it to the post office. It would only cost $5.05 if you weighed it, labelled it online and shipped it from home. That’s the difference of a price ofa stamp right there! (Imagine how the price difference would add up over hundreds of shipments!)
The digital scale I use every day in my business.
And the reason you’re wasting time is by travelling to the post office and waiting in line. The USPS offers pick-up options for nearly any situation. Small items can be left in your mailbox for the postal worker to collect during his or her regular drop-offs.
Avoid Overpaying for Postage
Many small businesses only carry a few items — maybe even just one item. So they spec out approximately how much these items will weigh based on historical postage prices at the Post Office or product specifications and then use these numbers on a daily basis. Or, they use a bathroom scale (since they’re easy to obtain) and use that to weigh a few items, then round up to account for a bathroom scale’s margin of error (which could be as bad as +/- 10%). Some businesses print out the same weight’s worth of postage for every shipment or load on postage stamps until the price of the stamps exceeds the required postage.
If you weigh your packaging and products this way or pay for postage like this, you could be vastly overpaying for postage. Generally, the reason is obvious: by rounding up, you’re naturally adding weight to your shipments and then buying extra postage or stamps to compensate for it. Another factor that contributes to your rounding error is packaging. Day-to-day, the amount and type of packaging you and your employees use will fluctuate.
Using a scale will give you exact weight measurement for each shipment and avoid rounding up and over-paying.
Testing and Refinement of Postage Pricing
If you use a digital scale on a daily basis in your business, over time, you and your employees will discover cheaper, lighter packaging solutions. By simple virtue of the fact that you and your team will be measuring your postage pricing and weights every day, attention will be brought to how much money is wasted and where.
“What gets measured gets managed.” – Peter Drucker
Given this advantage, push it to its limit by experimenting with different packaging (paper, bubble wrap, peanuts) and different containers (envelopes, cardboard, paper stocks). Over time, you’ll learn how these things impact the cost of mailing.
Underpaying for Mail Damages Your Business — How to Avoid It
Under-paying for postage can wreak havoc on your business in many ways. It’s one way you can guarantee to pay more than 200% the regular postage rate. Here’s why: sometimes, if you put too few stamps on a package or pay for less postage than a package needs, the item will be returned to your doorstep. You aren’t reimbursed for the first round of postage and its value will be “cancelled” (stamped with a logo, rendering it useless). When you mail the package to the customer again, you’ll have to pay for more postage — effectively doubling the cost of mailing that item.
Another way that underpaying for mail can impact your business is when the package actually arrives at your customer’s door… because sometimes, the USPS will deliver the item with “postage due.” This means the postman will ask your customer to pay for the additional missing postage. This involves a somewhat convoluted process that could cause your customer some trouble. It’s bad customer service and it’s generally very unprofessional to leave your fans and prospects with such a headache.
Now What?
Don’t wait another minute — invest in a digital scale so you can start saving your business’s valuable resources. You’ll avoid over and underpaying for postage, empower your biz to test packaging solutions and get discounted rates from the USPS.
First-class postage is a type of mail which indicates the level of service a package or letter is supposed to receive from a postal service. Most folks in the US think that all mail is sent first-class and that the label is a kind of misnomer. That’s because most consumer-facing mail is sent this way. (In the UK, there’s an actual distinction between classes of postage for consumers, so it’s different.) You’re about to find out what first-class mail really is.
First-Class Postage and Other Classes of Mail
First-class mail gets higher priority in terms of delivery time over other classes of mail. While the USPS doesn’t explicitly break other types of mail into classes, there’s a rough hierarchy which can be broken down in to four main classes of mail:
First-class mail — Letters, postcards or packages up to 13 ounces qualify as first-class mail. Put a postage stamp on a standard letter and you can send it anywhere in the United States for the price of a stamp.
Second-class mail — Officially known as the “Periodical” class of mail. The USPS reserves second-class mail for newspapers magazines and any other periodical that is published more than four times a year at regular times. Special categories of periodical mail (eduction, nonprofits) get lower postage prices.
Third-class mail — The USPS calls third-class mail “Standard Mail.” Its bulk pricing is designed for catalogs, newsletters, flyers and advertising.
Fourth-class mail — Also known as “Media Mail,” fourth-class mail is an inexpensive way to ship educational materials. Books, film, audio recordings and even loose notes are eligible but delivery times can span up to 8 days because of the low priority.
It’s obvious, but most consumers wouldn’t encounter anything but first-class postage since the other classes of mail are primarily for businesses or special needs.
First Class Postage Rates
Pricing for first-class mail varies quite a bit but you can calculate all sorts of mail prices with this handy postage calculator. Basically, the price of a stamp is standard (keep track of that here on the homepage!) and that covers most first-class mail — all letters under one ounce in weight. The only exception is a postcard which you can mail for 32 cents. Other letters range in price based on weight up to about $1.
Flats and boxes range in postage price from about $1 to up to about $4, depending on how many ounces the item weighs, as long as it’s less than 13 ounces overall. This is why it’s best to just use a calculator.
How Long Does It Take?
According to the USPS, first-class mail takes two to three days to arrive with its recipient. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee around this — so you won’t get your money back if it doesn’t get there in time. But some first-class mail arrives in only one day.
The postal service only factors their transportation into their estimate so other variables like when your mail gets picked up aren’t a part of the equation. To eliminate that issue, it’s best to drop mail directly at the post office. Official mail boxes or your own mailbox can have sporadic pick-up times so it’s harder to get a reliable timeframe using those methods of drop-off.
Another variable that can impact first-class postage delivery times are days that the postal service doesn’t operate. Sundays aren’t a working day for the post office. The USPS also observes the long list of federal holidays, which can add to delivery time. Exceptions like severe weather and high-volume seasons like Christmas can also cause delays.
In the UK, first-class mail is an actual delivery time upgrade over second-class and it’s priced likewise. The Royal Mail delivers mail with first-class postage the day after it’s sent — though, like in the US, this isn’t guaranteed.
Overall, you can get a lot more detailed information about prices, regulations and dimensions on first-class mail from the USPS here and here.
Generations before us, folks paid pennies to send a letter across the country. But times have changed and over the decades, the price of a stamp has ballooned from only a few cents to almost half a dollar. The table below charts the precise stamp price increases and the dates of their introductions. Using the table, you can get an idea of how the price of a stamp has changed over a timeline of over 100 years in the United States.
Before you see the table, you might like to understand the changes it demonstrates. Although it seems like the price of a stamp has risen at an alarming rate, this mostly has to do with inflation. Let’s find out why. The graph below depicts the price of a first class stamp in two different ways: the dark blue section shows the actual price of a stamp as it’s listed in this table against the year the price was in effect; the second shaded section in light blue shows the inflation adjusted price of a stamp using the value of US cents in 2008.
The price of a stamp over time compared to its inflation-adjusted price.
This inflation-adjusted graph proves that the price of a stamp has remained surprisingly stable over more than a century. This is because even though the cost of postage was increasing steadily, the value of the US dollar was inflating. That inflation means that the purchasing power of the cent was going down. With the purchasing power falling and the prices going up simultaneously, the net result is a stable stamp price.
Some of the sudden jumps up and down in the graph can just be explained by some of the the earliest stamp price changes. If you look at the table below you can see that since the stamp price was so low, an increase of just a cent means a relative increase of 50% or more. Were it reasonable to change the price of a stamp in increments of partial cents, there would be a less perceptible change in those areas of the graph. So, these changes had less to do with irrational inflation or pricing and more to do with relative changes in price.
Date of Price Change
Price of a Stamp in Dollars
03/03/63
.06 (.03 per half ounce)
03/03/83
.04 (.02 per half ounce)
07/01/85
0.02
11/03/17
0.03
07/01/19
0.02
07/01/28
0.02
07/06/32
0.03
01/01/52
0.03
08/01/58
0.04
01/07/63
0.05
01/07/68
0.06
05/16/71
0.08
03/02/74
0.10
09/14/75
0.10
12/31/75
0.13
05/29/78
0.15
03/22/81
0.18
11/01/81
0.20
02/17/85
0.22
04/03/88
0.25
02/03/91
0.29
01/01/95
0.32
01/10/99
0.33
01/07/01
0.34
07/01/01
0.34
06/30/02
0.37
01/08/06
0.39
05/14/07
0.41
05/12/08
0.42
05/11/09
0.44
04/17/11
0.44
01/22/12
0.45
01/27/13
0.46
Here’s just one of many excellent resources on the stamp price’s history and its changes relative to inflation.
(
), and can offer savings in many magnitudes — usually around $1 per package. It’s easy to see the ROI on that solution.
