Many reasons. The post office has expenses just like any other business and these expenses are always on the rise. Some examples are the rising cost of labor, benefits, fuel, vehicles, building materials, etc. Most people don't stop and realize that the USPS is a business just like UPS or Fedex, not a tax.

There may have been an increase in taxes or the workers may have just wanted to be paid more. They may need extra money for something or something like that.

There is a market for postage stamps, just like there's a market for any good. The US Postal Service (USPS) sets its price to maximize the "profit" it will earn. I put "profit" in quotations because it doesn't necessarily mean to make money. You could maximize profit by cutting a $200 per year loss into a $50 per year loss. By doing this, you would reduce the amount that taxpayers would have to pay. With a higher price, they will sell fewer stamps, but will make more per stamp. With a lower price, they will sell more stamps, but make less per stamp. The USPS will do sensitivity analysis to find out how many fewer stamps they will sell if they raise the price. Clearly, each time they have decided that raising the price of stamps will increase their profits. This makes sense, since postage stamps are pretty essential. Not many people will stop sending mail because of a price increase. This is why the price of pens never go up. If the price did go up, I could easily switch to pencils. That's not the case with stamps. Some possible reasons for this: Increased cost of transporting mail (labor and fuel) Slight monopoly (They might be able to charge a higher price without losing too many customers) Competitors raising their prices (UPS and Fedex are competititors. If those 2 raise their prices, then USPS can raise their price without losing many customers) The last factor is inflation. Over time, the price of everything goes up. Generally, if the price of something stays the same, then the price is considered to have gone down in "real" terms. "Real" means adjusted for inflation.

The price of the stamp reflects the rise of the rest of inflation.

Same reason everything goes up in price.

The cost to ship things. As long as the gasoline goes up so will everything else.

Royal Mail/Post Office is owned by the government so stamps go up like other things in the Budget

But this isn't true. The second-ounce rate and some other rates have declined in recent years, and even the first 1/2 ounce or ounce rate went down years ago. Chevalier Daniel C. Boyer

The cost of inflation. Gas prices are driving EVERYTHING up (milk, eggs, airline tickets, etc.). I think that since a lot of people don't use the Post Office that often anymore may have something to do with it. E-mail has really hurt the Post Office as a source of tax revenue for the U.S.