USPS Price Cut Is 1st in 100 Years

Starting Sunday, snail mail will cost you a little less: The price of a first-class stamp dropped two cents to 47 cents in the United States Postal Service's first rate drop in a century, reports USA Today. Postcard stamps likewise take a one-cent drop, to 34 cents, and international stamps drop to $1.15. But while consumers might cheer, the USPS itself is less than thrilled with the cut, which isn't so much a cut as it is the expiration of a 2014 temporary rate increase designed to bail the ailing institution out of the red, notes ABC News.

USPS had sought to make the rate hike permanent, but was turned down by the Postal Regulatory Commission. "Given our precarious financial condition and ongoing business needs, the price reduction required by the PRC exacerbates our losses," says Postmaster General Megan Brennan, who had earlier called the move "irrational." The move is expected to cost the postal service $2 billion a year, notes ABC News. (More USPS stories.)