Postal Stamp Prices Are Going Up $0.05 on July 14, 2024 (Stock up Now)!

In May 2022, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said people should expect the price of stamps to increase at “an uncomfortable rate” to help the USPS get back on track financially. Specifically, he said to expect postage price hikes every January and July.

For those of you keeping track at home, the Forever Stamp cost just $0.50 back in 2019, and when the USPS did their last price hike on Jan. 21, 2024, each stamp went up to $0.68. That represents an increase of 36% over those five years.

Here we are with one price hike (on Jan. 21) already in the books for the year with the next price increase of $0.05 to take place on July 14.

For now, here are the current U.S. postage stamp costs. Here’s what you need to know:

A Forever Stamp increased from $0.66 to $0.68 on Jan. 21.

The Forever Stamp is what it sounds like — a single stamp that doesn’t expire. As long as your mail weighs under one ounce, then one Forever Stamp will be valid postage even if the price of the stamp increases. And it’s been increasing — at a clip of two price hikes a year.

The last stamp price increase was Jan. 21, 2024, when it rose from $0.66 to $0.68.

With less than two weeks left until the next price increase, now is the time to stock up on Forever Stamps. On Sunday, July 14, the forever stamp will jump another $0.05, making the new price $0.73. That's an increase of more than 7%! Overall, USPS price will go up more than 7.5% for the remaining services. Here's what you can expect:

U.S. Postal Service New Prices for July 2024.

Here are the prices you can expect to take place on July 14. Although the Forever stamp is going up $0.05, international postcards and letters will see the largest jump of $0.10.

Letter (1 oz.)

• Current Prices: $0.68

• Planned Prices: $0.73

Letters (metered 1 oz.)

• Current prices: $0.64

• Planned prices: $0.69

Domestic Postcards

• Current prices: $0.53

• Planned prices: $0.56

International Postcards

• Current price: $1.55

• Planned prine: $1.65

International Letter (1 oz.)

• Current price: $1.55

• Planned price: $1.65

Rate increases averaged around 3% in Jan. 2024.

On average, the latest price increases for postal products averaged 3%. Here’s the breakdown as of Jan. 21, 2024:

Letters (1 oz)

• Current Price: $0.68 (3% increase)

• July 2023 Price: $0.66

Letters (metered 1 oz)

• Current Price: $0.64 (2% increase)

• July 2023 Price: $0.63

Domestic Postcards

• Current Price: $0.53 (4% increase)

• July 2023 Price: $0.51

International Postcards

• Current Price: $1.55 (3% increase)

• July 2023 Price: $1.50

International Letter (1 oz)

• Current Price: $1.55 (3% increase)

• July 2023 Price: $1.50

The USPS says the average time it takes to deliver mail nationwide is 2.4 days.

Save on future postage when you buy Forever stamps before they go up in price.

Fair warning: The Better Business Bureau reports that fake sites lure stamp buyers with deep discounts (from 15% to 50%) on Forever stamps, which many times, turn out to be counterfeit stamps.

To help prevent you from running into trouble when buying discount Forever stamps, we suggest you visit the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website for any site you are purchasing stamps from to read reviews.

The only surefire way to save on future postage is to buy Forever stamps at the post office or grocery store before the next price increase on July 14.

Of course, you can avoid postal price increases altogether by using free email services like Yahoo and Google.

In the meantime, if you plan on sending 100 wedding invites or holiday cards out in the next 1-2 years, we suggest buying the stamps now at the price before the increase on July 14.