U.S. Stamp Costs to Increase on May 12

Sorry to rain on your parade, but have you heard the news?

The United States Postal Service announced that the cost of a first class stamp will increase to .42 on May 12. No, it's not deja vu. You are correct in your remembering that postage rates were just increased in May of 2007. Inside sources tell us that we can expect to see postage rate increases every year.

The increase includes not just first class stamps, but postcards and packages as well.

This affects your e-commerce and marketing in a big way:

• Now is the time to re-think your own information product pricing and delivery structure. Ebooks and downloadable audio files might be the way to go to reduce your costs. Yes, there are always security and theft concerns with selling e-products, but you have to weight those concerns against the rising cost of producing and shipping physical products.


• E-commerce shoppers love "free shipping." But what will that cost you in the future? Will you have to raise the price of your products to offset the new shipping costs?


• It may also be time to re-think your physical mailing campaigns versus email campaigns.

For those who think, "I'll just use FedEx or UPS," remember that those costs will continue to rise as well.