These days, you may find yourself encountering a new change at the post office every time you go. Over the past two years, this has been most noticeable in the form of repeated price hikes that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) instituted as part of its 10-year overhaul initiative, Delivering for America (DFA). With those adjustments and others being made under the DFA, customers will certainly feel the impacts as time goes on—but not all changes are unwelcome. Read on to discover what you should prepare for, starting next month.
RELATED: USPS Is Suspending Services in These States, Effective Immediately.
The USPS just increased its prices in July.
iStockThe Postal Service just enacted its latest price hike last month. On July 9, the agency introduced a three-cent increase for the cost of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp—raising the price per stamp from 63 cents to 66 cents. With this change, the agency increased the overall price of First-Class Mail by 5.4 percent in order to "offset the rise in inflation."
"As operating expenses fueled by inflation continue to rise and the effects of a previously defective pricing model are still being felt, these price adjustments are needed to provide the Postal Service with much needed revenue to achieve the financial stability sought by its Delivering for America 10-year plan," the USPS said in a press release. "The prices of the U.S. Postal Service remain among the most affordable in the world."
If you haven't already stocked up on stamps, however, you'll want to be aware of what's on the horizon.
RELATED: See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don't Touch It, USPS Says.
The agency is releasing two new stamps next month.
USPSThe USPS is planning to release two never-before-seen stamp designs next month. According to an Aug. 18 press release, the first will be an early introduction to the winter season with a snow globe stamp series. Launching Sept. 19, this collection will include four new stamps with Christmas snow globes on them.
"In each of the four stamps, artist Gregory Manchess used oil paint to reproduce the magic of the holidays held within four tiny, encapsulated landscapes," the USPS stated in its release. "The stamps include a snowman, Santa Claus poised on a chimney, a majestic deer and a Christmas tree."
In an Aug. 17 press release, the Postal Service also announced plans to drop a new design to commemorate NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Customers will be able to buy this stamp starting Sept. 22.
"The stamp artwork shows the capsule containing the sample parachuting to the Utah Test and Training Range, a U.S. Department of Defense facility in the desert," the agency shared.
RELATED: USPS Warns "Mail Service Could Be Halted"—Even If You're Following the Rules.
Another new design will be available in October.
USPSThe two new stamps coming in September aren't the only ones on the Postal Service's schedule. In an Aug. 24 press release, the USPS revealed that it would be unveiling a design to honor the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as well. This stamp is set to drop on Oct. 2, following a first-day-of-issue ceremony at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
"The Ruth Bader Ginsburg stamp features an oil painting of her in her black judicial robe and iconic white collar," the agency stated in its release, noting that it was designed by USPS art director Ethel Kessler, with a portrait from Michael J. Deas based on a photograph by Philip Bermingham.
"The stamp captures her enduring spirit and tireless dedication to upholding the principles of the Constitution," the USPS added.
The USPS is also planning to introduce new mail growth incentives next year.
iStockYou may have to pay more for the new stamps, but the Postal Service is also trying to make a change that offers discounts to certain customers in the new year.
In an Aug. 11 press release, the USPS announced that it had filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) for plans to establish two mail growth incentives: a First-Class Mail Growth Incentive and a Marketing Mail Growth Incentive.
The agency is looking to initiate these incentives in order to "promote volume growth," and if approved by the PRC, they will begin on Jan. 1, 2024 and run through Dec. 31. During this time, mail owners will have the opportunity to earn postage credits for helping grow First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail volumes beyond baselines, according to a separate Industry Alert from the Postal Service.
"These two incentives will drive mail owners to increase the volume of First-Class and Marketing mail entering the network while providing them lower overall postage costs on incremental growth—allowing mail owners to maximize total return on investment, by providing additional cost-savings and strengthening the value of mail," the USPS explained in its release.
