Final call for 44-cent stamps is Saturday

(MCT) —Want to make a quick return on your money? Buy Forever stamps from the post office today or Saturday.

The cost to send a first-class letter will increase from 44 cents to 45 cents for the first ounce next week, but the Forever stamps will be honored.

Somerville resident Mike Gibson called the increase a “nuisance” as he picked up his mail from the downtown post office Thursday morning.

Gibson said his mother would have a stronger opinion, even though she might go through only one 100-count roll of first-class stamps a year, increasing her annual postage costs by $1.

“It still aggravates her to no end,” he said.

Postmaster General Patrick Donohoe said the increase is necessary, as the postal service operated at a $5.1 billion deficit last year.

The last first-class postage increase occurred May 11, 2009, when stamps went from 42 to 44 cents.

A book of 20 first-class stamps will cost $9 next week, and a roll of 100 can be bought for $45.
The cost for each additional ounce will remain 20 cents for first-class letters.

Decatur postmaster Lee Nall said the downtown office has received numerous calls this week from people asking if they must purchase additional postage to use Forever stamps.

“They absolutely do not, whether they bought them for 41, 42 or 44 cents,” Nall said.

He said the vast majority of first-class stamps now sold in post offices are the Forever kind, which helps alleviate some of the confusion.

In addition to the stamp increase, the cost to send a postcard will jump three cents to 32 cents.

Letters mailed to Canada or Mexico will now cost 85 cents to send, an increase of five cents.

Letters can be sent to other international destinations for $1.05, or seven cents more.
The average increase for shipping services overall is 4.6 percent. Priority mail rates will increase 3.1 percent, and express mail will go up 3.4 percent.
View all of the rate increases at usps.com/new-prices.