


The USPS had to come up with fractional stamps to make up those pricing gaps and had been hunting for a solution to solve this problem once and for all. When postage prices increased, however, those stamps became somewhat obsolete, requiring more postage stamps to be attached to make up the difference.

Up until that point, postal customers had to purchase postage stamps that had been clearly marked with their total value and denomination somewhere on the face. Some people like to streamline things even more so, though, and simply use Forever Stamps to cover all of their postage needs – even if it means that they sometimes “overpay” to get their letters sent to their intended recipients.īack in 2007, the United States Postal Service unveiled a new stamp program that they called the Forever Stamp program – changing the way that First Class postage was handled from that moment on. Using Forever Stamps to Cover First Class Postage If, though, your envelope came in at 3 ounces you’d have to pony up $0.40 in extra postage fees – and that means purchasing a different fractional stamp (a $0.40 stamp) to cover your bases. These “fractional postage” stamps are available at every US Post Office and make it really easy to cover any fees that you weren’t expecting. To keep things simple, you can use a single Forever Stamp and then an additional $0.20 stamp (purchased from the post office) to cover the extra ounce of weight. This can be done in a couple of different ways. As soon as that letter tips the scales at 1.1 ounce (all the way up to 2.0 ounces) you’re looking at an extra $0.20 and postage that you have to cover. This means that if you want to send a single ounce letter you’ll only have to attach one Forever Stamp and you are good to go. And your postage costs will be unique depending on its ultimate destination around the world, but when mailing a letter to anyone in the United States that single stamp will usually cover all of your bases.Īs soon as your letter starts to weigh more than a single ounce, though, you’re going to have to think about adding extra stamps to your envelope to avoid it being returned to sender for more postage.Īs of 2021, the cost of each additional ounce of postage has jumped up to $0.20 per ounce. Sure, you’ll need a little bit of extra postage to get that same envelope to addresses overseas. The weight of the contents of that envelopeĪs we highlighted a moment ago, a Forever Stamp or a current First Class stamp is going to cover the postage for a single 1 ounce envelope to travel anywhere in the United States.The size of the envelope that you are sending and.To kick things off, it’s important to understand that the number of stamps you are going to need to cover postage will depend on a variety of factors that include: Let’s break down (almost) everything you need to know about calculating postage on those larger than 1 ounce envelopes! One of these stamps will allow you to send a 1 ounce letter through the mail via First Class delivery.Īfter that, though, figuring out how many stamps per ounce are needed to cover your First Class mail costs becomes a little bit trickier. To send a standard letter via the United States Postal Service (through their First Class mail service) you’re going to need to attach either a Forever Stamp or a First Class mail stamp to that envelope.Ī single Forever Stamp will cover the cost of First Class postage no matter what the current pricing is set at, which is the huge advantage of using these kinds of stamps compared to the more traditional “postage posted” stamps with their value printed on the face. How Many Stamps Per Ounce are Needed for First Class Mail? If you want to be sure that you always have postage covered when you drop a letter in the mail come avoiding the dreaded “Returned to Sender” issue that some people have to contend with – delaying your letter at the same time – you’ll want to check out the inside info highlight below. The stamps became the “gold standard” for first-rate postage in 2011, and today it’s a whole lot harder to purchase stamps for envelopes that aren’t Forever Stamps! The USPS made the process of figuring out postage significantly easier back in 2007 when they introduced the Forever Stamps.
#Mail stamps how to#
While sending letters these days is a lot less common than sending an email (or a text message), it’s still important to know how to drop a letter in the post – as well as how to make sure that you have enough stamps attached to get it to its ultimate destination!
