Cost Of Mailing A Letter Goes Up

Monday, May 14th 2007, 6:15 am

By: News On 6

Big changes for those mailing letters beginning this week. Effective Monday, a first class stamp now costs you 41-cents, and the price to send a postcard has gone up as well. Starting Monday, the price to send a package or envelope will not only be determined by weight, but also by shape and size.

The U.S. Postal Service says the changes are a good thing and that while some prices are going up, you will save money elsewhere. Some people are not so sure. According to Beth Fisk with the U.S. Postal Service, the new rules mean larger packages and envelopes will automatically cost more even if it weighs the same as smaller mail. Fisk says that is because larger mail costs more to handle. "Large envelope and mailing a document, if you could fold that, this would be 97-cents in the large envelope. But if you could fold that to fit into the smaller envelope, then it would be 58-cents which would decrease your cost by 39-cents a piece."

Watch out though, there are also new rules on how thick envelopes can be, that may make it difficult for customers to use smaller packaging. As a rule, postal officials say you will spend less if you use the smallest and flattest packaging possible.

To learn more about the new postal price changes, go to www.usps.com.