{"id":758,"date":"2013-02-06T15:29:57","date_gmt":"2013-02-06T15:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/riverbankfinance.com\/blog\/?p=758"},"modified":"2013-02-06T15:37:01","modified_gmt":"2013-02-06T15:37:01","slug":"changes-to-the-postal-service-stamp-prices-rising-no-saturday-mail-delivery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riverbankfinance.com\/blog\/changes-to-the-postal-service-stamp-prices-rising-no-saturday-mail-delivery\/","title":{"rendered":"Changes to the Postal Service | Stamp Prices Rising | No Saturday Mail Delivery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/a>The United State Postal Service has been making some major changes to help reduce their exorbitant losses they have been suffering. \u00a0Last year alone the USPS reported losses of 15.9 billion dollars for the fiscal year end on Sept 30th<\/sup>. That amounts to losses of $43,561,643.84 each day of the year!\u00a0 These losses clearly cannot continue so the agency has taken actions to reverse the trend by increasing stamp prices and stopping mail delivery on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Effective 1\/27\/2013, The United State Postal Service has raised stamp prices to 46 cents<\/strong> ($0.46) for a standard first class letter, up from the 45 cents ($0.45) that they raised prices to last January, 2012. Although there is a rise in prices, mail delivery is still a bargain in the US with comparable prices in the UK at 60 pence which equals about 94 cents ($0.94). \u00a0The rise in prices will barely make a dent in the dent however actions must be taken as the agency has tapped out their lines of credit with the US Treasury and are unable to sustain their own losses.<\/p>\n

In addition to rising stamp prices, the agency just announced today, 2\/6\/2013, that they will be no longer be delivering mail on Saturdays<\/strong> for first class mail including, letters, bills, cards and catalogs.\u00a0 Other deliveries such as mail-ordered prescriptions, packages, and express mail will continue to be delivered on Saturdays.\u00a0 This reduction in deliveries has been in talks for years to help reduce costs however it alone is only expected to save $2.7 billion annually.<\/p>\n

The postal service is not like other government agencies as it is self-sustaining meaning that the tax payers do not pay taxes for its services.\u00a0 The price of stamps and postage fund the agency and pay for its employees and overhead however year over year income has been declining.\u00a0 With the ever growing popularity of emails, e-cards and online payments, the US postal service has seeing large declines in deliveries.\u00a0 Declines have been as much as 25% reduction in volume since 2008. Industry experts believe only congressional change can help make the USPS a viable business in the future.\u00a0 This means that consumer should expect further rises in prices to help reduce the losses.<\/p>\n

2013 Stamp Prices and Current Postage Rates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
New Rate (effective January 27, 2013)<\/th>\nPostage Rates<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
First Class Mail Letter (1 oz.)<\/td>\n$0.46<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First Class Mail Letter – each additional ounce<\/td>\n$0.20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Postcard<\/td>\n$0.33<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First Class Mail flat (1 oz.)<\/td>\n$0.92<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First Class Mail flat – each additional ounce<\/td>\n$0.20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First Class Mail International Letter<\/td>\n$1.10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Express Mail (0.5 lb., zones 1&2)<\/td>\n$13.09* (and up)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Priority Mail (1 lb., zones 1&2)<\/td>\n$5.05* (and up)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First Class Package Service (1-3 oz.)<\/td>\n$1.69* (and up)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Parcel Select (1 lb., zones 1&2)<\/td>\n$5.42* (and up)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Standard Post (1 lb., zones 1&2)<\/td>\n$5.60* (and up)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Media Mail (1 lb., zones 1&2)<\/td>\n$2.53 (and up)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Express Mail International (0.5 lb., zone 1)<\/td>\n$32.59* (and up)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Priority Mail International (1 lb., zone 1)<\/td>\n$27.40* (and up)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First Class Package International Service (1-2 oz., zone 1)<\/td>\n$6.16* (and up)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

*Current postage rates<\/strong> and stamp price chart<\/strong>, rates from Stamps.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United State Postal Service has been making some major changes to help reduce their exorbitant losses they have been suffering. \u00a0Last year alone the USPS reported losses of 15.9 billion dollars for the fiscal year end on Sept 30th. That amounts to losses of $43,561,643.84 each day of the year!\u00a0 These losses clearly cannot… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,308],"tags":[344,343,345,342,346],"class_list":["post-758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-michigan","category-mortgage-tips","tag-2013-stamp-prices","tag-current-postage-rates","tag-increasing-stamp-prices","tag-stamp-price-chart","tag-stopping-mail-delivery-on-saturday"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t