Cost to mail a letter rises 4 cents

The cost of mailing a letter, card or bill has up to to 82 cents, up 4 cents. Other rate increases that have gone into effect include: Postcards up 4 cents to 65 cents. International post cards and letters up a nickel to $1.75 Metered mail also up 4 cents to 75 cents. One rate won't rise: the additional ounce rate for heavier first-class mail (not packages) will remain at 29 cents. Taken as a whole, the increases average 4.8 percent. Other rate increases will affect mailing periodicals, USPS marketing mail, package services and some special services. U.S. Postal Service officials have said the rate increase will help offset rising costs even though the quasi-governmental agency continues to lose billions of dollars annually. The USPS lost $9 billion in fiscal year 2025, which ended Sept. 30. That's on top of the $9.5 billion lost in fiscal year 2024. The agency lost another $1.3 billion during the first quarter of fiscal year 2026. Addressing Congress in March, Postmaster General David Steiner said he thought the cost of mailing the first-class postage rate should rise to between 90 cents and 95 cents in order to help ease the financial pressures the agency faces. Even with the rate increases, the postal service maintains that Americans pay some of the lowest postage rates in the world. Basic domestic standard mail costs $2.72 in France, $2.50 in the United Kingdom and as much as $6.33 in Czech Republic. Barbie stamps debut In its ongoing effort to promote commercial ventures and portray items from popular culture, the USPS released a pane of 10 colorful stamps portraying the Barbie doll. Designed by USPS art director Ethel Kessler, the stamps portray Barbie in a variety of professional roles since the iconic doll was introduced in 1959 as "The Original Teenage Fashion Model." The stamps show how Barbie has evolved over the decades in various professions: registered nurse (1961), surgeon (1973), astronaut (1986), firefighter (1995), photographer (1996), sign language teacher (2000), robotics engineer (2018), judge (2019), soccer player (2022) and music star (2025). The selvage on the pane includes the Barbie logo in white against a bright pink background known as "Barbie pink." Accompanying text on the left side of the pane reads: "Since debuting in 1959, Barbie has empowered generations to believe you can be anything. From surgeon, to firefighter, judge to soccer player, Barbie has represented over 250 careers and counting. Today, Barbie continues to inspire the limitless potential of every girl." The stamps debuted Friday at the National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention in Austin, Texas. Barbie was introduced by Ruth Handler, a co-founder of Mattel, the toy manufacturer. Her full name, according to Mattel is Barbara Millicent Roberts and she debuted on March 9, 1959 the American International Toy Fair in New York. Handler explained she was inspired to create the doll after seeing her daughter, Barbara, refuse to play with traditional dolls in favor of paper dolls of adult women in various roles. Barbie has appeared on one other stamp, a single on a pane of 15 stamps showing key events of the 1960s as part of Celebrate the Century series in issued in the late 1990s. The stamp shows a 1960s rendition of the doll with short hair, pillbox hat and black choker. If your local post office isn't carrying the stamps, don't hesitate to ask a postal worker, postmaster or station manager to order them and make them available for customers. Sadowski can be reached at Sadowski.dennis@gmail.com.