Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


0

Stamp Price to Hit 42 Cents on Monday

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

Share

(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.
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.
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.
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.
A man holds a roll of a 100 USA First-Class stamps.   (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.24.09
Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
0 comments
VIEWING:
 
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

9 Stories

(Newser) - The Government Accountability Office has put the struggling US Postal Service on its list of “high-risk” federal programs, the Hill reports. The federal watchdog says the USPS will lose $7 billion this year, and that even the end of the recession will not return business that has migrated to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • mail • deficit • Government Accountability Office • USPS • Federal government • US Postal Service

 Stamps Go Up 2 Cents in May 


Feb 10, 09 5:05 PM CST
(AP) - The price of a first-class stamp will rise 2 cents to 44 cents on May 11, the Postal Service said today. That leaves plenty of time to stock up on Forever Stamps, which will continue to sell at the current 42-cent rate until the increase occurs. They will remain valid... More »

MORE ABOUT:
mail • price increases • USPS • stamps • post office

 Postmaster Wants to Drop
 Delivery 1 Day a Week 

Deficits, declining volume could lead to drastic cut

Jan 28, 09 2:34 PM CST
(AP) - Massive deficits could force the postal service to cut out 1 day of mail delivery per week, the postmaster general told Congress today. John Potter asked lawmakers to lift the requirement that the agency deliver mail 6 days a week. "It is possible that the cost of 6-day delivery... More »

MORE ABOUT:
mail • USPS • budget deficit • financial crisis • John Potter • postmaster general

9 Stories


Rate hike history
New York Times

A personal tale of stamp troubles
St. Louis Post-Dispatch


Business 
TwitterFollow @NewserBusiness on Twitter

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

from our news partners