The band Creed has a song which asks: "Can You Take Me Higher." Well this year the USPS is saying, "We can take you higher, much higher!"
Postage rates are increasing for the second time in 2024 and it is a huge increase. Please sit down and brace yourself before reading the rest of this blog.
This is year four of the United States Postal Service (USPS) 10-Year Plan, and the USPS is raising postage for Market Dominated products on July 14, 2024. The increase averages 7.8% across First Class, Marketing Mail, Periodicals, Package Services and Special Services. Yes, you read that correctly, 7.8%. Flat rate mail, Periodicals and Packages will have a higher average rate due to the fact they are not meeting the cost associated with delivery. The USPS call these products "under water". The USPS has the authority to add an additional 2% increase above the 7.8% average rate increase until these products are covering delivery costs. You can view the entire USPS 10-year plan here.
The USPS has not stated if we will see another rate increase in January 2025, but from what I have heard we will have another increase, but it will be in the 2% - 2.5% range. USPS rate adjustments are based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). If the CPI raises by 2% or more, we will highly likely see another rate hike.
The Postal Regulatory Commission has reviewed and approved the changes with an effective date of July 14th. The complete Postal Service price filing with changes to all products can be found on Postal Explorer https://pe.usps.com/pricechange/index. Fiona Machado of the USPS also did a complete online seminar on these proposed price changes.
Here are some of the highlights of the new proposed rates. First Class forever stamps are increasing from 68 cents to 73 cents for mail weighing under 1 ounce. First Class flats weighing under 1 ounce is going up $1.50. The additional ounce rate for letters and flats is increasing by 28 cents per ounce. The nonmachinable surcharge for letters is going to increase to 46 cents. Domestic First-Class postcards are going up to 56 cents, an increase of 3 cents per card. International outbound 1-ounce letters are going from $1.55 to $1.65. Below is a table with some of the new pricing:
I have mentioned in the past that that the best way to soften the blow of these price increases is easier than you might think. The first way is to be sure your mailing list is up to date. List hygiene is crucial now more than ever. If you mail to consumers, have you checked to see if people have moved. Business mailers, are you sure the contacts on your mailing list are still with the company? Are they working in the office or from home? Are you targeting your mailing list to get the most ROI or doing saturation mail?
The second way is to take advantage of USPS Promotions that run throughout the year. I will be writing a blog regarding the 2025 USPS Promotions very soon, as they are part of this filing. There will be some substantial changes to the promotions for 2025. Theresa Aide from Suttle-Straus recently did an online seminar on this year's 2024 USPS Promotions, and you can review it here: https://www.suttle-straus.com/on-demand-webinar-signed-sealed-delivered
One of the best ways to increase response rates is to use an omnichannel strategy, like our Connected Mail program. You can boost the ROI on your direct mail campaigns by expanding your marketing reach though coordinated digital features. This includes Informed Delivery (a 2024 USPS Promotion), Mail Tracking, Social Follow-Up, Social Match, Direct Mail Retargeting, Online Follow-Up, and Call Tracking. Contact me for more details or to schedule a demo.
Happy Mailing,
Rob Hanks
