USPS Postage Price Hike!

PSA... The price hike took place yesterday. I also see that USPS postage prices for first class packages (1-5 oz) increased its base price from $2.66 to $2.77. But that's only if you are shipping relatively close to you. First class packages now ship via zone pricing. So, if you want to ship to say, Hawaii, it'll be $3.09 through eBay / PayPal. Yikes! It's not that much but for you sellers out there, these costs must add up. Of course, many other services increased across the board.

https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2018/pr18_086.htm

 

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Was a big hike this year. If they're going to keep trying to gouge like this I'm going to start investing in forever postage.

 

You know it's probably a stupid question but what is the difference between a postage stamp and a "forever" stamp???

 

A forever stamps value increases with the hike. So last year a letter was 50 cents and if you had a forever stamp from last year you could mail a letter with it. Now a letter is 55 cents, but the forever stamp from last year would still be able to mail a letter with no additional fee despite the price increase

 

So if I buy a stamp for 50 cents in December and now wish to use it in January or any time after the price hike... Unless it's a forever stamp, I'd have to use a 5 cent stamp to make it 55 cent total?

 

Yes. If it's just metered postage like that you will have to pay extra for the price hike unless it's a forever one

 

Yes, basically if you bought a forever stamp in 2007 when they first became available and use it 10 years from now no matter what the postage is in the future that requires one stamp for a 1 ounce letter ... you don't need to buy any additional postage as that stamp is worth it's "single stamp" amount Forever ....

I googled it .. apparently in 2011 most stamps became "forever" stamps (except in coils of 500, 3000 & 10000). If it doesn't show a postage then it's a forever stamp.
==> https://about.usps.com/news/fact-sheets/forever-stamp-facts.htm

 

Zone-based pricing? I thought in the US the goal was to have the same shipping fees throughout the entire country?

 

That’s part of the reason the Postal Service is in financial straits. They should have gone to zone pricing eons ago.

 

The HUGE discounts companies like Amazon get are a far bigger issue. So is the fact that it's cheaper to ship something from China to Indiana than it is NY to PA due to the postal treaty.

Zone pricing makes sense if it was actually real zone pricing. With how they did it it's basically just marketing to say they're charging more. If it was real zone pricing shipping down the street or within your state would be MUCH cheaper

 

All stamps are forever stamps now.

 

Most certainly are but you can actually still buy 1C, 2C, 3C, 5C, 10C just to name a few. Plus electronic postage from the machines at the post office and a few others.

 

I thought they used to have zone based pricing eons ago but stopped.

 

Thats Crazy! Especially how flat rate packages is moving to zone based pricing.

 

There was zone based priority flat rates where some were a little cheaper, but now it's gone the other way with being a cost increase.

 

That's why last year when I had the chance I bought five rolls of forever stamps from a "local" dealer, for $43 a roll. Every time I have to mail something now I'm saving almost 22% on postage.

61 posts to go

 

The USPS should have never gotten into the collectibles "business" either.

I see what you're doing there , Condor.
Only 61 more to go....

 

Ooh i see. Countdown to 20k

 

Is there a cheap way to ship books?

 

Forever stamps were developed to stop from printing enormous amounts of lower priced stamps to cover the postage increase.

If you have a first class postage stamp that has the word forever on it then you do not need to add the additional postage when rates go up. They are always good at the going rate.