USPS Raises Stamp and Postcard Prices, Adds New Hazmat Fees for All Americans This Sunday, July 12, 2026

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service is rolling out a broad set of price increases and new fees beginning this Sunday, July 12, raising the cost of mailing letters and postcards while introducing new charges for hazardous material shipments as the agency continues working to shore up its finances.

The Postal Service filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission announcing that mailing services prices will rise an average of 4.8 percent starting July 12, covering First-Class Mail, USPS Marketing Mail, Periodicals, Package Services and select Special Services. The most visible change will be a 4-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp, rising from 78 cents to 82 cents, a jump of roughly 5.1 percent.

Postcard prices are also increasing as part of the update. The price of a domestic postcard stamp will rise from 61 cents to 65 cents, while the metered rate for First-Class letters will move from 74 cents to 78 cents. The additional-ounce price for single-piece letters will remain unchanged at 29 cents. Commercial Marketing Mail letters are expected to rise roughly 5 to 6 percent depending on presort tier, nonprofit Marketing Mail rates will increase by 4 to 5 percent, and Periodicals rates are set to climb by 5 to 7 percent.

Alongside the mailing price adjustments, the Postal Service is introducing new fees tied to the handling of hazardous materials shipped through its Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express services. Beginning July 12, packages containing hazardous materials will incur a new $7.50 handling fee. Separately, any package found to contain undeclared or improperly labeled hazardous materials will face a $50 noncompliance fee, a penalty that will apply across Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail and USPS Ground Advantage shipments. According to the Postal Service, hazardous materials are broadly defined as substances that could cause injury or damage if not handled properly, and the agency has published detailed guidance identifying common hazardous items on its shipping restrictions website, including products such as nail polish remover, hairspray, essential oils and lithium batteries.

The Postal Service has framed the broader round of price increases as a necessary step to preserve its ability to continue delivering mail nationwide amid what the agency has described as significant financial strain. In a statement announcing the changes, the Postal Service said, "In the midst of the severe financial crisis facing the Postal Service and continued rising operational costs, the Postal Service is using all available tools, including available regulatory pricing authority, to ensure we can continue to fulfill our universal service obligation and serve the American public."

The Postal Service generally receives no direct tax dollars to fund its day-to-day operations, relying instead on revenue generated from the sale of postage, products and shipping services to remain financially self-sustaining. The agency has said the current round of adjustments is part of its broader 10-year network modernization plan, an initiative intended to restore long-term financial stability while maintaining universal six-day mail delivery and expanding seven-day package delivery capabilities.

Beyond the headline stamp and hazmat changes, the July update also includes several more technical adjustments affecting commercial shippers. The Postal Service is changing how dimensional weight is calculated for packages, shifting the divisor used in that calculation from 166 to 139, a change intended to bring USPS more in line with dimensional weight standards used by other major carriers. That adjustment could increase billed weight, and therefore cost, for lightweight but bulky packages. A new $3 dimension noncompliance fee will also apply to any parcel shipped without accurate dimensions listed on its shipping label. Additionally, USPS Ground Advantage is eliminating ounce-based pricing tiers for published commercial rates in favor of pound-based pricing, a shift that could raise costs for some lightweight shipments that previously benefited from more granular ounce-level pricing breaks.

The Postal Service has also introduced a separate $0.25 fee applying to Marketing Mail parcels sent without a valid Intelligent Mail package barcode, while giving mailers new flexibility to combine Presorted Letters with Postcards in order to meet minimum volume thresholds for bulk mailing discounts, a change that previously required each mail class to independently reach the 500-piece minimum.

Tuesday's price update follows a separate, temporary shipping rate increase the Postal Service implemented earlier this year. Beginning April 26 and running through January 17, 2027, USPS applied an 8 percent temporary increase to Retail and Commercial domestic shipping rates covering Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, USPS Ground Advantage and Parcel Select, a move the agency described as a temporary adjustment intended to better align shipping rates with current transportation costs.

Despite the steady pace of increases in recent years, the Postal Service has maintained that its rates remain relatively affordable compared with mail services in other industrialized nations. Even so, the cumulative impact of recent price increases has been significant for consumers. The price of a First-Class Forever stamp stood at just 55 cents in 2020, meaning the cost of mailing a standard letter has increased by 27 cents, or roughly 49 percent, over the past six years.

Businesses and organizations that rely heavily on mail volume, including those sending invoices, billing statements, legal notices or marketing materials, are likely to feel the most direct impact from Sunday's changes, particularly given the compounding effect of the dimensional weight recalculation, the elimination of ounce-based Ground Advantage pricing, and the new hazmat-related fees layered on top of the standard rate increase. Individual consumers mailing letters, postcards or packages domestically will see more modest, incremental cost increases tied primarily to the stamp and postcard price adjustments.

The Postal Regulatory Commission is expected to complete its review of the filed rate changes ahead of the July 12 effective date, a step regulatory analysts note the commission has approved in each of its most recent rate filing reviews. With the changes set to take effect this weekend, both individual mailers and commercial shippers have a narrow window remaining to send high-priority mail or packages at current pricing before the new rates and fees take hold nationwide.