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Stamp Price to Hit 42 Cents on Monday

First hike under a new law makes USPS more 'business-like'

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted May 10, 2008 2:17 PM CDT

(Newser) – There’s a run on the post office today as Americans snap up first class stamps before they cost a penny more on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reports. If the 42-cent price seems insignificant, just think of Netflix, which sends and receives nearly 2 million parcels a day, and pays both ways.

Small businesses and Christmas card senders are also stocking up, but regular folks should take notice: The price hike is the first under a new law that allows the USPS to raise prices on “competitive products” like Express mail as it sees fit. “The idea of the new law was that we would be a more business-like operation," one official said.

Parcels are automatically sorted at the United States Postal Service Leslie N. Shaw Sr. Processing and Distribution Center in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

A woman uses a dolly to carry packages she needs to mail into the main Post Office in Providence. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)

The Forever stamp. In the run-up to the rate increase, Americans have been buying 30 million Forever stamps a day. (AP Photo/USPS)

A man holds a roll of a 100 USA First-Class stamps. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Stamp Price to Hit 42 Cents on Monday

First hike under a new law makes USPS more 'business-like'

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USPS Has Dismal Holiday, Loses $3.3B in Quarter

Decline in regular mail more than offsets gift shipping bump

Post Office to Slow Mail, Kill Next-Day Letter Delivery

Half of USPS mail processing centers to shut down this spring

Stamps Going Up a Penny

It will cost 45 cents to mail a first-class letter in January

Capitol Hill Buried in Avalanche of Angry Mail

One office seeing 1,422% more mail than in 2002

USPS Teeters on Brink of Default

Huge labor costs, declining usage have deficit at $9.2 billion this year

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Stamp Price to Hit 42 Cents on Monday

First hike under a new law makes USPS more 'business-like'

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

mail • price increases • USPS • free markets • stamps • forever stamp

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

USPS Has Dismal Holiday, Loses $3.3B in Quarter

Decline in regular mail more than offsets gift shipping bump

Post Office to Slow Mail, Kill Next-Day Letter Delivery

Half of USPS mail processing centers to shut down this spring

Stamps Going Up a Penny

It will cost 45 cents to mail a first-class letter in January

Capitol Hill Buried in Avalanche of Angry Mail

One office seeing 1,422% more mail than in 2002

USPS Teeters on Brink of Default

Huge labor costs, declining usage have deficit at $9.2 billion this year

About Us

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Newser By Users

Community

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More News

What is Newser?