Saturday, January 18, 2014

USA Stamp Price Increase + The Mistaken Postcard


I got someone else's postcard!  I didn't realize it at first, surprised that I got two Russian postcards at the same time, but when I went to register the RU I.D. on postcrossing.com, the postcard pictured above wouldn't register!  It took me a few failed tries until I finally looked at the address.  

The postcard was supposed to go to a gal in Bayside California, a fellow postcrossing junkie.  How did it end up in my mail slot?  I think our postcards got stuck together, coming out of Russia, with the top of her postcard showing my address.  I quickly put her postcard in an envelope, so hopefully she's got it now.  But boy, how trustworthy is the USPS?

On another note, USPS is increasing stamp prices starting January 26, 2014 . . . again.

Regular US letters will go from $0.46 to $0.49 a stamp . . . making a book of 20 $9.80.

Postcard stamps are going from $0.33 to $0.34, a whole penny

And International stamps are going from $1.10 to $1.15 a stamp.

You can view the complete price chart here.

When sending a postcrossing postcard I always put two regular Forever stamps with a George Washington $0.20 stamp, making my International postage $1.12.  Two cents more, but those I send the postcards to love the fun commemorative stamps.  Now the same combo will cost me $1.18, up 6 cents, and 3 cents above the new International forever price.  A few pennies seem small, but when you send a lot of postcards Internationally, it sure adds up fast.

Get those Forever stamps at the cheaper rate while you still can!! 

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