Grand Rapids, MI — Effective January 27, it will only cost a penny more to mail a single-piece, 1-ounce First-Class letter to any location in the United States. This is only the second price change for First-Class Mail stamps since 2009. Forever stamps are always good for mailing a one-ounce letter anytime in the future regardless of changes. Highlights of the new single-piece First-Class Mail pricing include:
- Letters (1 oz.) – 1-cent increase to 46 cents
- Letters additional ounces – unchanged at 20 cents
- Postcards – 1-cent increase to 33 cents
- Letters to international destinations (1 oz.) – $1.10
New this year will be the First-Class Mail Global Forever stamp, a new international rate stamp. The Global Forever stamp offers a single price for any First-Class Mail International 1-ounce letter to any country in the world. “We’re excited to introduce the new First-Class Mail Global Stamp,” said Greater Michigan District Marketing Manager, Terri Hagen. “The new stamp will allow customers to mail letters anywhere in the world for one set price of $1.10, and will ease the transition during price changes.”
Prices for Shipping Services increased by 2.6 percent, with Priority Mail prices increasing an average of 6.3 percent. Delivery confirmation will be free on Priority Mail and Standard Post (formerly named Parcel Post). New domestic retail pricing for Priority Mail Flat-Rate products includes:
- Regular envelope — $5.60
- Legal-size envelope — $5.75
- Padded envelope — $5.95
- Small box — $5.80
- Medium box — $12.35
- Large box — $16.85
- Large APO/FPO/DPO box — $14.85
“The success of our Priority Mail Flat Rate envelopes and boxes has helped make the Postal Service one of the best values in the shipping business,” adds Hagen. More information on new pricing for Mailing and Shipping Services is available at www.usps.com.
Express Mail prices increased on average by 5.8 percent. The Sunday/holiday premium remains at $12.50 for the fourth year in a row. No other charges apply. Express Mail Flat-Rate Boxes were introduced last year and remain unchanged at $39.95. Express Mail retail prices begin at $14.10. Express Mail Flat-Rate Envelope retail prices increase to $19.95.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
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