The Cost of a Stamp in 2020: Post Office Introduces New Rates
As we reported in one of our previous blog posts, the US Post Office plans on increasing its mail and shipping rates on a number of its services. According to USPS, implementing higher rates will help “keep the Postal Service competitive while providing the agency with needed revenue.” These new rates will go into effect beginning on Sunday, January 26, 2020.
With the addition of USPS, FedEx and UPS have also announced price increases for the new year. The rate increase for both FedEx and UPS have already gone into effect with prices increasing by 4.9% for both carriers. These prices went into effect on January 6th, 2020 and December 29th, 2019, respectively.
While FedEx and UPS have substantial rate increases to all of their services, not all postal rate types will be affected. However, the majority of rate types will be impacted by the increase, some seeing a higher increase than others, with specific rates reaching hikes of 9.9%.
Despite the rate increases for all three major mail carrier companies, there is some good news:
- First-Class Mail® Rates will not be affected by the rate change including the following: letters (1 oz.), domestic postcards, stamp cost for additional ounces, and metered mail
- Owners and future owners of an FP Mailing Solutions postage meter will continue to save 5 cents on every First-Class metered envelope they ship: that’s a saving of 9% over the cost of a stamp!
- FP Mailing Solutions users are easily able to update their meters; simply follow the online guide, or contact us and we’ll take care of it for you.
Here is a look at some examples of rate changes happening later this month for the most common USPS postal services:
Price Changes for Stamps, Letter Postage, Postcards, and International Mail
| Postage | Current Price | Price Beginning Jan. 26, 2020 |
| First-Class Mail Forever stamp | $0.55 | $0.55 |
| Each additional ounce | $0.15 | $0.15 |
| Letters (metered, 1 oz.) | $0.50 | $0.50 |
| Flats (1 oz.) | $1 | $1 |
| International Letters (1 oz.) | $1.15 | $1.20 |
| Postcard stamp | $0.35 | $0.35 |
Price Changes in Priority Mail Flat Rates
| Flat-Rate Product | Current Price | Price Beginning Jan. 26, 2020 |
| Small Flat-Rate Box | $7.90 | $8.30 |
| Medium Flat-Rate Box | $14.35 | $15.05 |
| Large Flat-Rate Box | $19.95 | $21.10 |
| APO/FPO Large Flat-Rate Box | $18.45 | $19.60 |
| Regular Flat-Rate Envelope | $7.35 | $7.75 |
| Legal Flat-Rate Envelope | $7.65 | $8.05 |
| Padded Flat-Rate Envelope | $8 | $8.40 |
An average of 5.37% increase in postage rates from 2019 to 2020 for this class.
In addition to these price changes, the following other mail and shipping services from USPS are increasing in 2020:
- Media Mail rates will increase by 1.8%
- Priority Mail per-pound package rates will increase by 2.8%
- Priority Mail Express per-pound packages will increase by an average of 2.2%
- First-Class Package International Service (FCPIS) prices will go up 9.9% (per-pound rates varying by country)
- International Priority Mail rates will increase by 6.0% percent (Canada, UK, and Australia)
- International Priority Mail Express per-pound packages will increase by 2.0% (Canada, UK, and Australia)
