*Please sit down and brace yourself before reading the rest of this blog.*
We're in year five of the United States Postal Service (USPS) 10-Year Plan (halfway through!), and the USPS is raising postage for Market Dominated products on Sunday, July 13, 2025. The Marketing Mail increase averages 10.4%. Yes, you read that correctly, 10.4% for basic postage. First Class mail basic postage is increase by an average of 8.1%.
The Postal Regulatory Commission approved the July 2025 changes and the complete pricing tables can be found in the PostalPro website.
The USPS has not stated if we will see another rate increase in January 2026. A new Postmaster General is scheduled to start in July, and it is unknown what his plans are going forward. USPS rate adjustments are based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). If the CPI rises by 2% or more, we will highly likely see another rate hike in the new year.
Here are some of the highlights of the new proposed rates. First Class forever stamps are increasing from 73 cents to 78 cents for mail weighing under 1 ounce. First Class Flats weighing under 1 ounce is going up $1.63. The additional ounce rate for letters and flats is increasing to 29 cents per ounce. The Nonmachinable Surcharge for letters is going to increase to 49 cents. Domestic First-Class Postcards are going up to 61 cents, an increase of 5 cents per card. International outbound 1-ounce letters are going from $1.65 to $1.70. Below is a table with some new pricing percentages.
Fiona Machado of the USPS did a complete webinar on the price changes.
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. Mailing 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 working from home? Are you targeting your mailing list to get the most ROI or doing saturation mail?
The second way to reduce postage costs is to take advantage of USPS Promotions that run throughout the year. Here is a link to the current USPS Promotions. A new promotion is starting in 2025 and runs into 2026. It is called Catalog Insight Promotion. The promotion provides a 10% on postage for mail pieces that qualify as a catalog. I will be writing another blog article on this promotion soon. Another bit of good news in that the 2026 promotions are already approved in this rate case and all promotions will have a 5% discount! (This year's discounts range between 3% and 5%.)
Increasing your response rate is a way to get more value from the postage you are already paying. You can boost the ROI on your direct mail campaigns by expanding your marketing reach though coordinated digital features. A Connected Mail program includes Informed Delivery, Mail Tracking, Social Match, Social Media Follow-Up, Online Follow-Up, LeadMatch, and Call Tracking.
We've created a handy Postal Rates Quick Guide you can print and keep at your desk as a reference to the new postage rates. Download your copy now.
Happy Mailing,
Rob Hanks
