The new 34 cent stamp, left, and the 1 cent supplemental stamp. Starting today, new postage rates for several categories of mail will change, but the first class letter rate usually gets the most public attention. It doesn't matter. I'd be a little more concerned. A few blocks away it seemed the holiday season had come again at one Manhattan post office.
Lines wound around the crowded office to the door.
In addition, some 7.6 billion 34-cent stamps went on sale Dec. 15th, but don't show the new price since they were printed in advance of the official increase. Officials say there's no formal grace period for letters with 33-cent stamps currently in the system, but those letters will be handled somehow. But letters sent as early as Monday without enough postage may be returned to the sender. There are several reasons that we're raising rates. In fact, the post office had wanted bigger rate hikes, but was turned down on Nov. 13 by the independent Postal Rate Commission.