January marked the arrival of good news — and some not-so-good news — from the U.S. Postal Service.
USPS is now more than three years into its 10-year plan, Delivering for America, which presents a focus on modernizing the system, increasing efficiency and bettering its financial outlook. USPS says the plan “has achieved significant and measurable successes” so far.
The ongoing nature of this plan means that 2025 brings new policy changes. While many of this year’s changes are meant to deliver higher satisfaction, you may have to shell out a few extra cents. Following is a look at some of the things you can expect to change this year at the post office.
1. Higher prices for shipping services
Shipping prices were hiked in 2023 and 2024, and 2025 can’t escape an increase either.
In January, the following changes officially took effect:
- USPS Ground Advantage: 3.9% increase
- Priority Mail service: 3.2% increase
- Priority Mail Express service: 3.2% increase
- Parcel Select: 9.2% increase
USPS’s latest Delivering for America report says that raising prices for package delivery improved service performance by 9.18%. Hopefully, we get an improved bang for our buck again this year.
2. Potentially higher prices for first-class mail
USPS announced that it would not raise first-class mail prices in January 2025. However, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy left the door open for a price increase in or after July, according to a press release. So, it’s a very real possibility that stamp prices will go up at some point in the latter half of 2025.
It wouldn’t be the first time first-class stamps got a price hike mid-year. USPS has done so for the past four years, as we detail in “Here’s the Cost of a Postage Stamp the Year You Were Born.”
And the Delivering for America report states that raising prices for first-class mail improved service performance by 11.13% in 2024. It makes sense — given the history of price hikes and their proven effectiveness — that another increase is coming this year.
3. New stamp designs
Not everything new has to be a price hike. USPS has something for nearly everyone in their new 2025 stamp collections. This year’s collections include, but aren’t limited to:
- Lunar New Year, Year of the Snake
- Freshwater Fishing Lures
- Spiral Galaxy
- Vibrant Leaves
- Betty White
- The Appalachian Trail
- Allen Toussaint
They’ll be released on a staggered schedule throughout the spring.
4. New delivery vehicles
USPS’s investment of $9.6 billion into “vehicle modernization” kickstarted in 2023. In late 2024, a USPS announcement highlighting new zero-emission electric delivery vehicles stated that the “strategic deployment of additional vehicles will continue during the next five years.” That means the vehicle that delivers your mail could look a little different in the year to come.
The agency’s efforts to improve transportation expenses have proven to be effective so far, with those costs being reduced by $1.3 billion last year.
5. Delivery in 2.7 days, on average
The average delivery time for mail and packages sent through USPS was 2.8 days as of early 2024. Now it’s 2.7 days. It may not be a huge change, but progress is always welcome.
Its goal as stated in 2024 is to deliver 95% of all types of mail on time. So, in a push to continue raising the rate of successful, on-time deliveries, USPS is opening new sorting and delivery centers. USPS has already opened several new sorting and delivery centers as part of its 10-year plan.
6. New anti-fraud rules for mail forwarding
USPS’ anti-fraud rules for mail forwarding were implemented in 2023, but unless you’ve recently moved, you may not know about it yet. The change adds some extra security to the change-of-address process to mitigate fraud.
While users previously only had to submit a form online or in person, they’ll now also have to present some unexpired form of ID.
This can still be done online or in person. If you do it online, you’ll have to pay a $1.10 credit card identity verification fee, and it’s possible USPS will request further verification. If so, the system will generate a barcode sent to you via email. You’ll have to go to a local post office to present the barcode and a valid photo ID.
You can skip the online part and fill out the form in person; just visit a local post office and bring a valid form of ID.
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