# Remember, Stamps are 37 Cents Tomorrow! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2002, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733 "2002-06-30T19:54:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/1 "2002-06-30T19:54:53Z")
Just so everybody knows. Double-check your postage before sending those bills tomorrow! …blasted postmaster general… ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/2 "2002-06-30T20:10:59Z")
Isn’t this the 3rd or 4th raise in postage in as many years? Tripler Who are they using for accounting, Arthur Andersen? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/3 "2002-06-30T20:20:50Z")
Rats. I meant to get my Christmas cards out yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/4 "2002-06-30T20:40:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tripler \* > Who are they using for accounting, Arthur Andersen? It’s not exactly easy to plan for things like anthrax attacks and having to buy new equipment to sterilize mail, not to mention all the lost revenue associated with the Sept. 11 attack and the anthrax attacks. ---
**Author:** ![Ripple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@Ripple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ripple)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/5 "2002-06-30T20:43:20Z")
Maybe there could be 2 postage rates. 1 for residential mail, like letters & bills, and another for junk mail (Spam). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/6 "2002-06-30T20:50:54Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s not exactly easy to plan for things like anthrax attacks and having to buy new equipment to sterilize mail, not to mention all the lost revenue associated with the Sept. 11 attack and the anthrax attacks. Besides, the cost of ammunition keeps going up… d&r 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/7 "2002-06-30T21:31:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ripple \* > Maybe there could be 2 postage rates. 1 for residential mail, like letters & bills, and another for junk mail (Spam). There already is, and I believe that rate has increased as well. The amount of ‘junk mail’ that the USPS delivers helps keep first class rates down somewhat. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Johnny L.A._ > Besides, the cost of ammunition keeps going up… Yeah, please think of my husband’s needs when he has to supply himself for working on his letter-carrying route each day; their uniform allowance doesn’t cover it for some reason.😛 (Seriously, though, other things increase in price each year and yet it seems that the USPS gets a disproportionate amount of ire over something rather cheap in price.) ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/8 "2002-06-30T21:44:12Z")
And it when it all comes down to it, it still blows me away that I can have a birthday card for my brother and have somebody take it _directly to his house_ in Florida from my home in Chicago and it only costs me $0.37. I’ve had roommates who probably wouldn’t have taken out the damn garbage for that much money. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/9 "2002-06-30T21:49:29Z")
Goddamnit, I just bought stamps on Monday. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/10 "2002-06-30T22:07:25Z")
How does e-mail affect the cost of postage? I seem to remember hearing something along the lines of “E-mail has cut into postage profits, so we have to raise the rates to make up the difference.” If that is true, thenit seems to me that the use of e-mail will continue to increase and the Post Office will lose money in the long run. On the other hand, e-mail may be an incentive for the P.O. to keep prices as low as possible so as not to lose more customers. FWIW, I use e-mail almost exclusively to communicate. Bills and birthday/holiday cards still go by snail mail, and the USPS is my choice for mailing parcels. (Take _that_, UPS! 😛 ) But aside from cards, the only things I regularly send by mail are bills. If I took the trouble to look into it, I could probably set up electronic payments. ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/11 "2002-06-30T22:11:41Z")
**Johnny** , there was a whole Seinfeld episode about Kramer discovering the horrifying truth that there was no longer any need for the post office…the postmaster general had some choice words for him. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/12 "2002-06-30T22:55:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeniseV \* > \*\*It’s not exactly easy to plan for things like anthrax attacks and having to buy new equipment to sterilize mail, not to mention all the lost revenue associated with the Sept. 11 attack and the anthrax attacks. \*\* Duly noted. However, with the more recent raises in postage over the past few years (prior to 9/11, mind you), this seems to be less of an antiterrorism effort than one might think. Besides, IIRC, in one of my briefings I’m pretty sure I heard that FEMA and the DOJ were funding a lot of the interim AT/FP (Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection) measures. Tripler Unless I am mistaken . . . ---
**Author:** ![Ripple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@Ripple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ripple)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/13 "2002-07-01T00:06:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeniseV \* > \*\*There already is, and I believe that rate has increased as well. The amount of ‘junk mail’ that the USPS delivers helps keep first class rates down somewhat. \*\* Thanks for pointing that out, **Denise** , I didn’t know that was the case. I’m not bothered at all by the minimal cost of mailing a letter. As **interface2x** pointed out, .37 is a great deal for door to door delivery. It just seems that every 6 months there is a rate change. I wish they’d just bump it to 50 cents and be done with it for a few years. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/14 "2002-07-01T02:47:31Z")
Today’s the day! It now costs 37 cents to mail a letter. (For our Canadian friends: up where you are: it’s still 48 cents to mail a letter. That’s only 32 cents American!) ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/15 "2002-07-01T02:57:21Z")
Oh man am I glad you posted this - I’m sittin’ here doin’ the bills, \[sub]and I was unaware[/sub]\. ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/16 "2002-07-01T03:04:22Z")
:: note to self :: Buy lifetime supply of 1 cent stamps. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/17 "2002-07-01T09:50:47Z")
Didn’t they jusr bump it to 34 cents last autumn? ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/18 "2002-07-01T10:07:58Z")
Put me in the “raise it to 50 cents and have done with it for a few years” camp. Of course, I recently ran out of stamps, so I don’t have to buy any three cent stamps…it worked out well, this time. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/19 "2002-07-01T10:37:48Z")
I was almost out of stamps, so I said heck with it and got the new ones. They need some better designs, though, since I’m getting sick of flags. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733/20 "2002-07-01T13:15:37Z")
> [@](#): > > I was almost out of stamps, so I said heck with it and got the new ones. They need some better designs, though, since I’m getting sick of flags. I liked the old engraved designs they used to have. I’m not a stamp collector, but I did pick up some neato triangular stamps a few years ago. The design was engraved instead of just printed like a magazine. Much more interesting to look at. For mailing bills, I don’t really care what the design is and I like the non-lick stamps; but it would be nice to have pretty lick-to-stick stamps just for a change of pace. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-stamps-are-37-cents-tomorrow/116733.md?page=2)