July USPS Postage Rates Changing

On April 10, the USPS filed for Market Dominant Price Changes with the PRC (Postal Regulatory Commission) that will go into effect on Sunday, July 9, 2023. These rates are proposed until deemed final, though they will most likely go into effect as much prework was done to pre-validate these changes.

Here are some of the key changes to keep in mind:

• Single Piece Forever Stamps will go from $.63 to $.66 – that’s a 4.8% increase or an extra $.03 per stamp.
• First Class Presorted Automation Letter Rates will go up by an average of 6% or $.029 per piece.
• First Class Presorted Automation Flat Rates are increasing by varying amounts, with the highest increase at the lowest weight break (an average of 16.7% or $.148 per piece at 1 oz and less), to the lowest increase at the 12.1-13 oz weight bracket (3.9% or $.148 per piece).
• Nonprofit Marketing Mail Auto Letters will see an average increase of 10% or $.011 per piece, although this does not represent the actual impact on Commingle Rates.
• Nonprofit Marketing Mail Flats (4 oz or less) are going up on average by 9% or $.049 per piece.
• The pricing structure on Nonprofit Automation Marketing Mail Flats (greater than 4 oz) is changing, and we’ll now see per-piece rates that will be consistent for pieces both less than and greater than 4 oz.

Pieces over 4 oz will still have a pound rate charge that will apply to the weight above 4 oz. Remember, these are just average increases, and the actual increase will depend on various factors like the piece weight, sortation levels and destination entry. We strongly recommend that you review postage analysis for each scenario to get a better idea of how these changes will affect you. To give you an idea of how these changes might impact you, let’s take a look at a few examples:

• A 3-Digit Nonprofit Marketing Mail Flat at 9 oz that is entered local entry now costs a mailer $.805 per piece and the new rate would be $.782 (a decrease of $.024 or 2.9%)
• A 5-Digit Nonprofit Marketing Mail Flat at 5 oz that is entered at the DNDC Discount now costs a mailer $.330 per piece and the new rate would be $.357 (an increase of $.027 or 8.3%)
• A 5-Digit Nonprofit Marketing Mail Flat at 7 oz that is entered at the DSCF Discount now costs a mailer $0.377 per piece and the new rate would be $.425 (an increase of $.049 or 12.9%).

Please note that all of the new rates are preliminary until approved. You can expect the release of our updated PS Postage Rate Chart very soon, so keep an eye out!