Harry Truman once famously asked his wife, Bess, “Why is it that only sons of bitches know how to lick a stamp?” For companies in the accounts receivable management industry, the cost to lick and put stamps on letters is about to go up again, at the same time that the United States Postal Service is adjusting its service standards to give itself more time to deliver the mail.
Starting October 3, the USPS is instituting the following increases for postage:
- Retail stamps and Forever® stamps are increasing $0.03 to $0.58.
- Metered Mail letters increase $0.02 to $0.53, improving the metered letter savings to $0.05 per letter when compared to stamps.
- Flats increase $0.16 to $1.16 for 1 oz.
- Postcards increase $0.04 to $0.40.
The changes will remain in effect until at least December 26. The increase marks at least the second time this year that the Postal Service has upped the cost of sending letters.
A group of mail users are suing the Postal Service seeking to block the increase, but the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has denied the request to block the increase while the lawsuit is pending.
At the same time, the USPS is adjusting its service standards for certain First-Class Mail items, extending the delivery window to five days. The USPS says that 70% of First-Class Mail will have a delivery standard of between one and three days. The changes are part of a plan to improve service reliability and predictability and “enhance the efficiency of the Postal Service Network,” the USPS said in a statement
