8/24/21 - Forever Stamps Going Up

Starting next week, we'll be paying more to purchase Forever First-Class stamps.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — You will soon be paying more to mail a letter.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is raising the cost of its Forever First-Class stamps at the end of August.

Starting Aug. 29, the cost of a Forever stamp, or mailing a 1-ounce letter, will increase from 55 cents to 58 cents. 

Additional ounces for letters will remain at 20 cents. Mailing a metered 1-ounce letter will increase from 51 cents to 53 cents. 

Sending a postcard will also increase from 36 cents to 40 cents, while the cost of a first-class single-piece flat mail will go from $1 to $1.16. Outbound internal letters will increase from $1.20 to $1.30.

The increase is part of USPS’s “Delivering for America,” plan, a 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence. It is raising overall product and service prices by approximately 6.9% due to declining mail volume.

“For the past 14 years, the Postal Service has had limited pricing authority to respond to changing market realities,” said Postmaster General and CEO Louis DeJoy. “As part of our 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence, the Postal Service and the Board of Governors are committed to judiciously implementing a rational pricing approach that helps enable us to remain viable and competitive and offer reliable postal services that are among the most affordable in the world.”

With full implementation, this 10-year plan is designed to reverse a projected $160 billion in operating losses over the next 10 years.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.