Getting Your

Two-Cents Worth

By Nancy K. Crevier

Americans have a love affair with e-mail, but nonetheless, the United States Postal Service (USPS) delivered more than 207 billion pieces of mail in 2000, of which 50 percent was first-class mail. The cost of handling tons of letters is not free, though, and as of Monday, May 14, the one-ounce letter rate for first-class mail will go up two cents, from 39 cents to 41 cents. Special purchase stamps, such as the Breast Cancer Research stamp, will increase May 14 to 55 cents and the cost of mailing a first-class mail postcard will jump to 26 cents.

Less than one and a half years since the January 8, 2006, rate increase, mandated to meet an escrow payment, the May 14 increase reflects the escalating costs of doing business. Fuel costs, utility bills, the price of employee benefits, and the costs of transporting mail across the nation and around the world have impacted the USPS. In order to provide a service that is efficient and responsive to the needs of the nations, according to the USPS website, the realignment of classifications and the two-cent increase are necessary.

This hike in stamp prices could be the last time that people need to purchase one- and two-cent stamps to supplement those leftover, lower-rate stamps floating around, though. Beginning April 14, USPS customers were able to purchase the Forever Stamp at postal outlets. The Forever Stamp is sold in booklets of 20 for $8.20, at the new 41-cent price per stamp. What puts the “forever” in the Forever Stamp is the fact that the value of that stamp is always the rate of one-ounce first class mail for whatever day it is mailed. The stamp is not affected by future price increases, meaning that a Forever Stamp purchased today can mail a letter whether the cost is 41 cents or $41 dollars in some far distant future. Forever Stamps will be available for purchase at whatever the current First-Class Mail one-ounce letter rate is at the time.

The Forever Stamp depicts a computer-generated picture of the Liberty Bell by artist Tom Engeman of Brunswick, Md. In a USPS news release issued March 26, Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer John E. Potter said the Liberty Bell was chosen “because it resonates as one of the nation’s most prominent and recognizable symbols associated with American independence.” Mr Engeman has created stamp art for several other USPS projects.

 Beginning Monday, May 14, the Forever Stamp will also be available from Automated Postal Centers and later in May, at select ATM machines around the country.

USPS customers still need to purchase one- and two-cent stamps to supplement any First Class stamps purchased prior to the rate increase, but with the advent of the Forever Stamp, maybe those “make-up” stamps are on their way to joining the dodo bird.