(Image credit: Getty Images)The U.S. Postal Service has raised rates on shipping packages, making sending Priority Mail more expensive. However, the cost of Mailing Services is unchanged, meaning the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp will remain $0.73, for now.The rate increases will support ongoing $40 billion investments in the Postal Service’s network. These investments are part of the USPS’s 10-year plan, Delivering for America, that is meant to put the service on solid financial footing. Services impacted by the rate increases, categorized as Shipping Services, include Ground Advantage, Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express.Mailing Services price increases, including First-Class stamps, are based on the consumer price index (CPI), but prices for Shipping Services are primarily adjusted according to market conditions.Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal FinanceBe a smarter, better informed investor.
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Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-NewslettersProfit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more – straight to your e-mail.Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice – straight to your e-mail.1. Shipping packages will be more expensiveShipping costs went up on January 19. These hikes were approved by the USPS Board of Governors in November of 2024.Priority Mail rates are up 3.2%. With rates stating at $10.10 for Flat Rate Envelopes, $10.65, for USPS Flat Rate Mailing Box, and $9.35 when using your own box by weight/zonePriority Mail Express up 3.2%, basic fee is $31.40USPS Ground Advantage up 3.9% with rates starting at $5.25The USPS will aim to deliver 87% of first-class two-day mail and 80% of three-to-five-day mail on time in 2025, down from its 2024 goals of 93% and 90%, respectively.This slow down in delivery times is a result of implementing changes that are part of the 10-year Delivering for America plan. In response to questions regarding concerns about delays in delivery times, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress some hiccups along the way were expected, noting “the first rockets that went to the moon blew up,” as reported by Government Executive.com.A pilot program of USPS’ Regional Transportation Optimization plan requires mail to sit overnight at post offices instead of being collected each evening for transportation to a processing center. The program began in 2021 and is being expanded to include facilities more than 50 miles from the Postal Service’s new Regional Processing and Distribution Centers.Swipe to scroll horizontallyNew designRelease date: Row 0 – Cell 2 Keith Haring, artistFirst Day of Issue January 17 A new addition to the Love stamp series features Haring’s untitled 1985 illustration featuring a large red heart with radiating large black lines. Allen Toussaint, musician First Day of Issue: January 30 Part of the Black Heritage series, this stamp honors the six-decade career of a multi-talented m
