Another USPS stamp price increase takes effect soon
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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Postal Service will raise the price of first-class mail stamps soon, after previously warning the company could run out of cash soon.
The Postal Regulatory Commission, the federal agency that oversees the USPS, approved the rate hike in May.
USPS will raise stamp prices again
By the numbers:
The postal service will raise overall mailing service prices by 4.8% from 78 cents to 82 cents.
In this photo illustration, U.S. Postal Service (USPS) forever stamps are seen on envelopes on April 11, 2023 in San Anselmo, California. (Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The increase will start on Sunday, July 12.
USPS proposes to raise prices
The backstory:
In April, the USPS said it wants to raise the price of first-class mail stamps. At the time, the agency also won approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission for a temporary 8% price hike for priority mail and package deliveries to deal with rising transportation and fuel costs.
Earlier this year, the USPS also warned lawmakers that it was heading toward a major financial shortfall and could run out of money within a year if Congress did not approve significant changes.
If it doesn't, the Postal Service might not be able to pay its employees or vendors by February 2027, with potentially dire consequences for mail delivery, Postmaster General David Steiner told The Associated Press.
Last July, stamp prices increased to 78 cents from 73 cents.
What they're saying:
"In order to ensure our survival beyond next year, we need to increase our borrowing capacity so that we don't run out of cash," Steiner's written testimony reportedly said. "The failure to do this could lead to the end of the Postal Service as we know it now."
Steiner, a former CEO of the nation’s largest waste management company and a former member of the FedEx board of directors, took over the struggling Postal Service last year. He said raising the borrowing limit was the easiest thing lawmakers could do immediately to help the agency.
"That will buy us the time to make the fixes we need to make, and we can sail on down the road," he said.
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USPS’s net losses for the 2025 fiscal year totaled $9 billion, even though total operating revenue increased by $916 million or 1.2%, due largely to its Ground Advantage shipping service. Net losses in fiscal year 2024 were $9.5 billion.
Ultimately, other changes are needed, as well, Steiner said, including giving the Postal Service authority to raise postage prices high enough to cover losses. He said increasing the price of a first-class stamp to 95 cents, from today's 78 cents, would be enough to "fix" the Postal Service's fiscal woes.
A decade ago, a first-class stamp was 47 cents, although postal officials note it's still the lowest price in the industrialized world and covers a delivery range that's ten times farther than in other countries.
"As changes in the mailing and shipping marketplace continue, these price adjustments are needed to achieve the financial stability sought by the organization’s Delivering for America 10-year plan," USPS said in an April news release. "USPS prices remain among the most affordable in the world."
The Source: This story was reported from Los Angeles. The Associated Press, Reuters contributed.