• 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 Current Rates For Postage

Postage rates, for postage stamps, just recently increased from 37 cents, per stamp, to 39 cents, per stamp. Originally, it was proposed that the increase in price would be to 41 cents, per stamp, but the increase leveled out at 2 cents total.

The most popular theory for this increase in postage rates is that the volume of mail being sent has decreased over time. Now that many people are becoming accustomed to electronically transmitting material between sender and recipient, the use of hard-copy mail has suffered.

E-mail has replaced the need to send a letter through the regular mail. On-line banking, while not as widely understood or accepted as e-mail (at least not yet) has cut down on the number of bills that are forwarded through the regular mail. The introduction of e-cards has decreased the number of cards being sent through the regular mail for birthdays, holidays and even the "just saying hello" type of cards.

All of the pieces of correspondence would have required at least a single postage stamp to be purchased. Now, these transactions are free.

The postage rates for sending those materials that are unable to be sent electronically have not yet appeared to be increased, at least by a significant amount. The 2-3 days sending of larger mail or packages is still running about 3 to 10 dollars and overnight sending of most packages is about 20 dollars or so.

The fact that the postal service is losing its hold on general correspondence lends to the assumption that they will need to make up for loss of volume by increasing prices to send items that are unable to be sent electronically. The increase in stamp price is in response to this decline in volume and it probably won't stop with stamps, the overall postage rates should eventually spike, if the loss is not covered by the increase in stamp prices.

Postage rates are a hot topic of conversation right now. It would be a benefit to the US postal service to provide some update to the general public if there is any plan to increase postage rates further, at least in this coming year, and if there is any evidence of increase to package shipment rates. Of course, the postage rates will have to remain competitive with other privately owned shipping companies; otherwise there would be no incentive to continue to use the post office.