New US Postal Rates & "Forever" Stamp

Probably because we'd scream louder about a $.06 increase than a $.02 increase. LOL.

Emeraldisle, you are so right...we do love to complain. I'd faint if it ever went down in price.

More then likely. Of course society likes to scream about everything that happens. If it went down they would probably be wondering ok why? When will it go up even higher then before?

My sister lives in Kansas City, MO about a half hour south of St. Joseph, MO. When my DIL and oldest granddaughter visited her some years ago, they took a tour of the Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph, and were quite impressed. Maybe I can fit a tour in while we're out there this September. Thanks so much for the great information.

Deebomb, can you tell us how much it cost by pony express? I've always wondered about that.

$5.00 per 1/2 ounce at the beginning. By the end of the Pony Express, the price had dropped to $1.00 per 1/2 ounce. The riders made $100 per month they rode 2000 miles the letters took any where from 10 to 16 for delivery. The rout was from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. Through the present day states of Kansas, Nebraska, northeast corner of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California The founder went bankrupt owing $200,000.

Gabs, it's a first class stamp for the US, not the UK.

I've never heard of a "forever" stamp before. I know the USPS had a "first class stamp" at one time, but it was only good until they printed up ones with the actual first class amount on them. Enlighten me, please.

I know that Canada started using unrated stamps a couple years ago just before a price hike around January, but I forget what year. That year they made Christmas stamps with no price on them. In the states, they have used unrated stamps for price transitions since 1978. See the full story at http://alphabetilately.com/G.html and a history of the first class stamp rates at http://www.prc.gov/rates/stamphistory.htm

From what I understand - and I have not done a lot of research on this - the "forever" stamp will cost $.41 now and you will ALWAYS be able to use it for first class mail - even when the rates increase. With the nondenominational, letter stamps, they were only for the price at that time. If you still had some when the increase went up, you had to pay the difference. I'm not totally sure, but I think they're 2 different things...

I pay everything I can online so that I don't need to buy stamps very often. However, there are still a few things I have to mail. I plan to stock up on some of those "forever stamps" while they're still 41 cents each...LOL.

We also use a lot at work, and my boss spent over $1,000 on the new stamps early this week. Ouch!

Elusive, get off here and go write those letters NOW. I'm glad that I already have my 2 cent stamps on hand.

Gifana, we still have stamps with lower values since the second (third, etc.) ounce of first class mail is less than the cost of the first ounce. Of course, many of us will have to buy 2 cent stamps to go with our 39 cent stamps until we use them up. I know we have several higher denomination stamps also, but I'm not sure what they are off the top of my head. I do know we have stamps for priority mail and probably express mail, and I'm not sure of that cost now. I love your yellow roses and posted you a comment on your profile page.

You're very welcome, SheilaLee. Is this going to make this job harder (having to tell people they don't have enough postage on their letters) or does he not have to worry about that?

You'll catch on to the "forever" stamp in no time. I know what you mean about prices increasing all the time on everything . I do pay most of my bills online through my checking account, and it's free. We have to cut back when and where we can.