USPS stamp prices are about to go up

by Alix Martichoux, Nexstar Media Wire - 07/03/22 10:38 AM ET

FILE – A USPS employee works outside post office in Wheeling, Ill., Dec. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

(NEXSTAR) – Stock up on Forever stamps now, or forever hold your peace.

The United States Postal Service’s plan to raise stamp prices is taking effect on July 10. The price of a Forever stamp will rise from 58 cents to 60 cents.

A Forever stamp, as its name suggests, can be used to mail a letter regardless of when it was purchased. That means if you bought a book of Forever stamps 10 years ago, when the price was 45 cents each, you can still use them to mail letters now, even though prices have climbed.

Forever stamps aren’t the only thing getting a little pricier. The following USPS price hikes are also set to kick in on July 10:

USPS Product	Current cost	Cost after July 10
Letters (1 oz.)	58 cents	60 cents
Letters (metered 1 oz.)	53 cents	57 cents
Letters (additional ounces)	20 cents	24 cents
Domestic postcards	40 cents	44 cents
International letters (1 oz.)	$1.30	$1.40

The price hike, which raises the cost of First-Class Mail by 6.5%, is still lower than high inflation rates, the Postal Service said. The cost of all goods is up 8.6% over the past year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The price of Forever stamps just went up less than a year ago, from 55 to 58 cents, and it could go up even further soon. Americans should get used to “uncomfortable” postage rate increases in coming years as the U.S. Postal Service seeks to become self-sufficient, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in May.

“I believe we have been severely damaged by at least 10 years of a defective pricing model which cannot be satisfied by one or two annual price increases, especially in this inflationary environment,” he added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tags Louis DeJoy