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April 6, 2022

U.S. Postal Service Announces New Prices for 2022
Two Cents Increase for Forever Stamp

WASHINGTON, DC — Today the United States Postal Service filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) of price changes to take effect July 10, 2022. The new prices, if favorably reviewed, include a two-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 58 cents to 60 cents.

The proposed prices, approved by the Governors of the U.S. Postal Service, would raise First-Class Mail prices approximately 6.5 percent which is lower than the Bureau of Labor Statistics annual inflation rate of 7.9 percent as of the end of February. The price changes reflect a judicious implementation of the Postal Service’s pricing authority provided by the Postal Regulatory Commission.

If favorably reviewed by the PRC, the single-piece letter additional ounce price would increase to 24 cents, the metered mail 1-ounce price would increase to 57 cents and the price of a postcard stamp would increase to 44 cents. A one-ounce letter mailed to other countries would increase to $1.40 cents. The Postal Service is also seeking price adjustments for Special Services products including Certified Mail, Post Office Box rental fees, Money Order fees and the cost to purchase insurance when mailing an item.

The proposed Mailing Services price changes include:

Product

Current Prices

Planned Prices

Letters (1 oz.)

58 cents

60 cents

Letters (metered 1 oz.)

53 cents

57 cents

Letters additional ounce(s)

20 cents

24 cents

Domestic Postcards

40 cents

44 cents

International Letter (1 oz.)

$1.30 cents

$1.40 cents

As inflation and increased operating expenses continue, these price adjustments will help with the implementation of the Delivering for America plan, including a $40 billion investment in core Postal Service infrastructure over the next ten years. With the new prices, the Postal Service will continue to provide the lowest letter-mail postage rates in the industrialized world and offer a great value in shipping.

The PRC will review the prices before they are scheduled to take effect. The complete Postal Service price filing with prices for all products can be found on the PRC site under the Daily Listings section at prc.gov/dockets/daily. The Mailing Services filing is Docket No. R2022-1. The price change tables are also available on the Postal Service’s Postal Explorer website at pe.usps.com/PriceChange/Index.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations.

Comments

  • 11 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Time to buy a bunch of Scooby Doo forevers I guess.
  • Remember when people bought a whole pad of Elvis stamps and put them in a safe deposit box?
    Wouldn't it be wunnerful if they were forever stamps.

    Gotta go and decide if I really have to raise my shipping. Sigh....
  • “ The PRC will review the prices before they are scheduled to take effect.”

    So, now they need China’s approval, before raising rates? :wink:
  • You know, I'm burning through my old face value stamps for postage at light speed now.... The greatest producers of ugly stickers,,the USPS ...a shadow of it's former self. Kind of reminds you of the octogenarian shuffling down the hallway in old pajamas with toilet paper stuck to the bottom of their slippers.
  • Ya know, the best thing about a postal rate increase is that all my mint sheets of first class stamps finally go up in value.....
  • I still have forever stamps that I paid .37 each a few years ago.
  • Rene, stop spying on me
  • The BO Box rental fee rise is the only part that upsets me. PO Box rental fees have been going up like crazy.

    Please note that the following charges are for a particular size of PO Box. There are smaller sizes that cost less and larger sizes that cost more. I am assuming that their increases in rental fees are about the same on a percentage basis.

    In October of 2019 and October of 2020, a full year PO Box rental cost $92.00.

    In October of 2021, the cost for a full year rental rose to $188.00. At that time, I only paid for a six month extension of my rental ($94.00).

    I have to renew my PO Box rental by the end of this month, and fee for a full year is now $212.00. Guess I should have paid for a full year last October, but I didn't expect the fee to rise again that quickly.

    And now that statement that the PO Box rental fee is to be increased again has me questioning whether I should just have my mail delivered to my home address free of charge.

    The reasons I have retained my PO Box over the years is because I don't have to worry about theft or damage (weather or vandalism) of mail in my mailbox and because the Post Office will retain all of your mail at the PO Box address (Post Office) until you come to pick it up for as long as the PO Box rental is maintained. The Postal Service will only hold your mail for four weeks if you temporarily stop delivery to your mailbox. I have repeatedly been absent for longer periods when traveling and did not want to have to burden a fried to continually pick up my mail and hold it until I returned. The PO Box rental fee has been slowly rising over the years, but what has been happening the last two years is crazy.
  • I would just get the smallest box possible. I know the fees have been going up and they seem to be accelerating.
    My old PO box that I am still using used to be 30 years ago $25.00 a year. I got my renewal notice this week at $100.00. Needless to say I will not be renewing it since I have a box in my new town.
  • Wayne C, LOL!
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