If you have not bought a book of stamps in a while, prepare yourself for another round of sticker shock. The price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp increased by 4 cents Sunday, rising from 78 cents to 82 cents. Other U.S. Postal Service products also increased by about 5%, with metered letters and domestic postcards rising by 4 cents each and international postcards and letters increasing by 5 cents.

The last price increase came in July 2025, and the price of a Forever stamp has more than doubled since the concept was introduced in 2007, according to Yahoo News.

The USPS announced the pricing changes in April, and the increases could have been steeper. In March, Postmaster General David Steiner proposed raising the price of a First-Class Mail stamp from 78 cents to between 90 and 95 cents.

According to CBS News, Steiner said the increase could help address the agency's financial challenges, as it is currently operating with a roughly $9 billion deficit. The Postal Regulatory Commission reports that mail volume has declined by more than 100 billion pieces since 2006 while operating costs have continued to rise. Steiner told a congressional panel the USPS could run out of cash within 12 months if it cannot sell more products, reduce additional costs and raise prices.

Even with the increase, U.S. stamp prices remain lower than those in countries such as Canada, Brazil, Italy and the United Kingdom.