US First Class Stamps

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stormie

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Read this in the NY Times: US first class stamps are to go up three cents January 26, 2014, from 46 cents to 49 cents: "The (Postal Regulatory) Commission also ordered the Postal Service to provide quarterly reports on how much money was coming in from the rate increase and to provide a plan to phase out the increase in less than two years."

Well, we'll see how that goes.


I'm going to get my Forever holiday stamps for next year, now. And while I'm at it, another book or two of everyday Forever stamps.


Thankfully I can pay my bills online, and most editors now use online submit forms or email.
 

Susie

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thx for letting us know. Yeah, if the PO ever decided to decrease the amount of their stamps, I'll be 20 again! :D I'll buy some forever ones too. :Hug2:s Happy New Year!
 

Don

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Wish I had the extra cash to pick up more stamps. This is getting crazy!
I've still got a pretty good stash from 2007 when they were first introduced. They've now gone up from 39 cents to 49 cents in 6 years, beating the pants off the official CPI.

I figured they'd be a good investment; if I'd realized just how good I'd have bought a truckload. :D I shoulda known. Given the PO's history, they had nowhere to go but up.
 

Dommo

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I was joking around with my dad about the same thing a few days ago. I called them "Postal Bonds". Buy like $10,000 worth, and sit on them for a decade.
 

Don

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I was joking around with my dad about the same thing a few days ago. I called them "Postal Bonds". Buy like $10,000 worth, and sit on them for a decade.
Yeah, and after a decade they'd probably be worth $100,000.

Of course, that $100,000 a decade from now will probably buy about what the $10,000 would buy today given a typical inflation curve, but at least "forever" postage stamps hold their value a whole lot better than dollar bills.

Which is a pretty sad commentary on the Federal Reserve, if you think about it.
 

robeiae

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Yeah, and after a decade they'd probably be worth $100,000.

Of course, that $100,000 a decade from now will probably buy about what the $10,000 would buy today given a typical inflation curve, but at least "forever" postage stamps hold their value a whole lot better than dollar bills.
The problem is finding a market for them down the road. If you can't effectively unload them with minimal extra cost, they really aren't worth the "new" price...
 

clintl

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Really? People don't have anything better to do than complain about what is probably their lowest household expense? If you use a book a month, and I bet most people don't, that's 60 cents extra per month you're spending. You can't buy a candy bar for that.
 

Alessandra Kelley

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Really? People don't have anything better to do than complain about what is probably their lowest household expense? If you use a book a month, and I bet most people don't, that's 60 cents extra per month you're spending. You can't buy a candy bar for that.

Yeah, I was just wondering what else people could buy for 49 cents these days.

Three cents more for a first class letter. This is a catastrophe?

How fortunate that there are equally bargain-priced reliable alternatives to the Post Office such as UPS and FedEx, which will deliver letters anywhere on time for under a dollar and do not routinely "lose" expensive art objects with no recourse and have not been completely swamped by the holidays.

Oh wait, none of that is true.
 

MaryMumsy

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Pikers, ya'll are pikers. I remember when a first class stamp was 8 cents.

And uphill in the snow, both ways.

MM
 

stormie

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Yeah, I was just wondering what else people could buy for 49 cents these days.

Three cents more for a first class letter. This is a catastrophe?
Not a catastrophe. More an annoyance, since (a) price of a stamp is steadily going up and (b) there are people who still pay their bills by mail.
clintl said:
Really? People don't have anything better to do than complain about what is probably their lowest household expense?

ETA: This was originally in PC&E. Wrong forum.
Thanks, Mac, for moving this.
 
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robeiae

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Really? People don't have anything better to do than complain about what is probably their lowest household expense? If you use a book a month, and I bet most people don't, that's 60 cents extra per month you're spending. You can't buy a candy bar for that.
The increase is also effectively a regressive tax...


;)
 

robeiae

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It was more for those who use snail mail and are watching their money.
To that end, it is of course possible to get "nickel and dimed to death," figuratively speaking.

An increase in stamp prices by even just a few pennies means something in this context, I think.
 

Ken

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... that came w/o warning. Usually they give six months notice. Guess this raise was inevitable. Still an inconvenience. Thnx for the info.
 

Canton

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Pikers, ya'll are pikers. I remember when a first class stamp was 8 cents.

And uphill in the snow, both ways.

MM

I believe something around 22 cents is as far back as I can remember. I was just paying attention when the rollout to 25 cents came. And I was blown away when my mom said the price of a stamp had changed. I was like, no way!

Anyway Mary, yeah uphill both ways and all that. ;)
 

Jamesaritchie

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They should have raised the cost of first class stamps to fifty cents ten years ago. It's still remarkably cheap, and they might not be in the mess they're in.
 
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