I went to the post office yesterday, and the regular, one-ounce stamps are indeed 63 cents. The extra ounce is still 24 cents. Non-machinable is now 40 cents, which is up one cent.
I prefer going to the post office because it's only two blocks or so from my office. I also sometimes work out of a second office, and what do you know, there's a post office about two blocks away from there, too. At one of the post offices in particular, the clerks are wonderful to work with. They're always careful and helpful, and in fact, the two times I've marked a zip code incorrectly, they've caught it, and we got it fixed. They also make sure the non-machinable letters get put in the proper boxes and aren't thrown into the same pile that the regular, machinable letters occupy. On a large box of cards to a Canadian trader, they coached me on what amount I should declare so the receiver of my cards didn't have to pay to pick up the package. I try to be polite and friendly, and the clerks are always the same.
So, I'm not anti-post office. I'm trying not to begrudge them their rate hike. But when I first started trading in January 2021, the first-class stamp was 55 cents, the extra ounce was 20 cents and non-machinable was 20 cents. That means a non-machinable PWE between one and two ounces (which is about 80 percent of my trade packages) has gone from 95 cents to $1.27. That's an increase of about 25 cents.
Yesterday, I got a trade offer from someone who just wanted one card and offered non-descript one in return. It was a perfectly fine offer, but I balked because the thought of paying so much just to get one modern, common card out of the deal was too much. I hate being that way. I want to say yes to every proposal because I not only want to get cards I want, but I want to be helpful to fellow collectors. It gives me pleasure to make trades that really help both of us. It's fun to sneak once in a while an extra card in a package I send out. Plenty of others here have been just as helpful (actually, even more helpful) to me.
I realize that complaining about this is about as useful as complaining about the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, but if nothing else, it's good to get it off my chest. By the way, if you really need just one low-value card that I happen to have, please continue to contact me, and I'll do my best to get over myself and be helpful.
I love to trade! Check the top couple of paragraphs of my profile to see my general trading desires. If you're uncertain if I’ll take a certain trade, message me and we can figure out something.
