The Price of a Stamp Just Took a Big Jump

It no longer costs 50 cents to mail a letter. On Sunday, the USPS raised the price of Forever stamps to 55 cents. That 10% increase is the biggest hike the USPS has made when it comes to the cost of mailing a first-class letter since 1991, when the price rose 16%, from 25 cents to 29 cents. The Mercury News reports the bump comes in response to continually flagging revenues, with the Postal Service seeing a net loss of $1.5 billion in Q3 of 2018. The price of a stamp was last raised in January 2017, when it increased by a penny.

NBC News reports Forever stamps work regardless of what price they were purchased at; the first were sold in 2007 and cost 41 cents. Stamps.com reports the cost for each additional ounce for a first-class letter has dropped from 21 cents to 15 cents. That means a 2-ounce letter (which wedding invitations tend to be) will actually cost slightly less to mail, at 70 cents instead of 71 cents. (More Forever stamp stories.)