The postage rate for mailing a regular first-class letter in the United States starting May 11, 2009 is $0.44 for the first ounce and $0.17 for additional ounces up to 3.5 ounces. After that, you must use the rate for large envelopes, called flats, which start at $0.88 and also add $0.17 for additional ounces. Suppose that you only have 44-cent stamps. What should you do? You could affix one stamp for each ounce. However, two first-ounce stamps covers three ounces. The following table shows the cost for up to 13 ounces, the value when only first-ounce stamps are applied and how many ounces are covered by using only these stamps.
| Ounces | Cost | One-Ounce Stamps | Covers |
| 1 | 0.44 | 0.44 | 1 |
| 2 | 0.61 | 0.88 | 3 |
| 3 | 0.78 | 1.32 | 3.5 |
| 3.5 | 0.95 | ||
| 4 | 1.39 | 1.76 | 6 |
| 5 | 1.56 | 2.20 | 8 |
| 6 | 1.73 | 2.64 | 11 |
| 7 | 1.90 | 3.08 | 13 |
| 8 | 2.07 | ||
| 9 | 2.24 | ||
| 10 | 2.41 | ||
| 11 | 2.58 | ||
| 12 | 2.75 | ||
| 13 | 2.92 | ||
Following are the size requirements on letters. If any of the maximum dimension are exceeded, then the rates for large envelopes (flats) apply.
| Dimension | Minimum (inches) | Maximum (inches) |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 5 | 11.5 |
| Width | 3.5 | 6.125 |
| Thickness | 0.007 | 0.25 |
david dot wincelberg at gmail dot com
(In the above line, change "at" and "dot" to
their symbols and remove the spaces to produce my e-mail address.)
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Last updated: 20-Jan-2010
Page address: http://www.FileJockeySoftware.com/services/Stamps/Stamps.html