The new year will come with a higher price rate for United State Postal Service customers.

The Postal Regulatory Commission has approved the United States Postal Service’s decision to increase the price of a First-Class Mail single-piece letter stamp from 46 cents to 49 cents. According to a United States Postal Service press release, the Board of Governors Chairman Mickey Barnett said the “precarious financial condition” of the Postal Service and the “uncertain path toward enactment of postal reform legislation” are the primary reasons for increasing the price of stamps.

The new price of 49 cent per First Class Mail single piece letter stamp will be effective Jan. 26.

“The prices of stamps are constantly going up, so I guess they are trying to recoup from people not using the post office like they used to,” Cynthia Harris, the owner of Poetry Originals, said. “I understand that being that being in a business, but it’s getting ridiculously high,”

Harris said she ships out about 25 pieces of mail everyday within her greeting card business, and she has been forced to rely on the online services more after the constant stamp prices increases.

Harris said she is going to still use the Postal Service, but plans to use other shipping companies and the Internet to avoid a financial burden.

“We do use the post office to ship out from time to time, but who’s to say there won’t be another stamp increase next year,” Harris said.

The inflation is nothing more than a normal occurrence, according to the mailing service.

“Stamp prices have stayed consistent with the average annual rate of inflation of 4.2 percent since the Postal Service was formed in 1971,” according to the Postal Service press release.

All forever stamps purchased prior to the increase would cover first-class postage, but those bought after the increase will be sold at the new price rate.

Butler Truax Jewelers storeowner Jim Truax said the customers would be the ones to receive absorb the extra cost of stamps.

“We ship a lot of stuff and the post office is the safest way to ship things,” Truax said. “We’ll just have to past the increase on to the customers.”