• Postage Hq
• Everything you need to know about postage
• The Facts About Us Postage
• Postage Stamp Art - Beautiful And Historical
• The Current Rates For Postage
• The Facts About Postage Stamps
• Benefits Of Internet Postage
• Rates For Us Postage
• Using Postal Meters
• Can You Get A Postage Discount?
• The Postage Meter: Saving Money And Time
• Postage Stamp Supplies
• Benefits Of Buying Rebuilt Mailing Equipment
• A Stamp For Every Holiday
• History And How-tos Of A Postage Stamp Collection
• The Philatelist And His Stamps
• Everything you need to know about postage
• The Increase In Postage Price
• The Facts About Postage Stamps
• Us Postage Stamps, A Necessary Part Of Our Society
• Why Stamp Collecting Is Perfect For Kids
• Finding The Best Postage Scales
• The Benefits Of Using Mailing Equipment
• The Facts About Postage Meters
• Valuable Postage Stamps
• The Fun Of Personalized Postage Stamps

The Increase In Postage Price

As you probably already know, there was a recent increase in the cost of postage. Stamps have risen in price from 37 cents a piece to 39 cents a piece.

Originally, it was proposed that stamps would increase from 37 cents a piece to 41 cents a piece. However, the rise in stamp price leveled out at the increase of 2 cents only. And yet , it is only January of the year 2006, and we have already seen a postage increase, will there be another one on the horizon?

The postage increase may only continue over time, as the use of the regular mail system continues to decline. Due to innovations in the world of the electronic transfer, it is virtually almost unnecessary to have to send regular correspondence by hard copy. E-mail replaced the sending of letters, on-line banking has replaced the need to mail monthly bills and even the business of e-cards has reduced the number of people who send birthday, anniversary or even Christmas cards through the mail.

Of course, increasing the price of stamps makes sense from this standpoint. It is the one area where the postal service is seeing the greatest decline, so they must make up for the lost volume with increased prices. Since the electronic world has not figured out how to scan a package (at least not yet), the use of the postal service for shipment of large items and documents that require original signatures is still productive.

The other inherent cost with a postage increase is that businesses with older versions of postage meters may have to buy expensive chips that will upgrade their meters to the current postage price. Newer versions of the postage meter can automatically download the new postage price from the internet and no additional cost applies.

The postal service won't be able to continue to increase the cost of stamps and hope to continue generating revenue. As the use of electronic modes of document transportation increase, the postal service will have to adjust in other areas to deal with the decline in hard copy mail.

Unfortunately, this would probably mean that an increase in the price for services that ship those items that are incapable of being transmitted electronically is inevitable. And, as this is already a costly endeavor, which can range from 3-20 dollars and up, increases in these areas would hit a lot harder than the postage increase in 2 cents per stamp.