Postage Rate Increase
Postage rates may soon increase as early as August 29, 2021. The U.S. Post Office recently filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission to raise postage rates on First-Class mail by 6.8%. A slow down in mailing first class mail is contributing to the rate increase.
The proposed rate for full first class mail will increase to $0.58 per piece (currently, the rate is $0.55). Metered first class rates will increase to $0.53 per piece (up from $0.51). First class flats (weighing 1oz or less) will increase to $1.16 per piece (up from $1.00) and U.S. bound postcards will see an increase to $0.40 per piece (up from $0.36).
For two decades, the volume of first class mail has been dropping. One can safely assume this is in large part due to technological advances. To help offset the volume changes and budgetary issues within the Post Office, the Post Office has been steadily increasing their rates for decades (there was a brief reduction in postage back in 2016). The current rate of $0.55 per piece has remained intact since January, 2019 so it should come as no surprise that a first class rate change is being planned.
How will this affect mail volume for direct mailers? Will more organizations switch to mailing bulk (3rd class) mail? Only time will tell….
For more information on the rate changes, please click: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2021/0528-usps-proceeds-with-request-for-postal-rate-change.htm
Please let me know your thoughts on a postage increase by commenting below.
