How Many Stamps Are in a Book in 2024? (All You Need To Know)

If you suddenly need to mail something and find yourself lacking stamps, one of your first questions is likely: "How many stamps actually come in a standard book these days?"

With the United States Postal Service (USPS) periodically increasing rates, it can be tricky to keep track. This definitive guide breaks down everything you need to know about buying a book of stamps in 2024 and beyond.

Plummeting Mail Volumes Challenging USPS Revenue

In order to determine future stamp rates and availability, it’s helpful to understand the current situation with the US Postal Service. The agency has faced significant revenue shortfalls in recent years as more communication shifts to email and online billing. Credit Suisse analysts estimate total annual mail volume has fallen by more than 28 billion pieces – or over 15% – since 2007.

At the same time, the USPS still has to keep expensive infrastructure and staffing to deliver physical mail six days per week to over 160 million addresses in the United States. This combination of increased costs and plummeting revenues has led to major financial strain.

The situation has become urgent enough that the agency made two historically unprecedented stamp price increases within a single year – jumping from $0.55 to $0.58 in August 2021, and then up to $0.60 in July 2022. And most experts only see mail volumes declining further each year.

So what does this mean for stamps going forward?

Current Stamp Booklet Contains 20 Forever Stamps

Despite ongoing financial pressures, the Postal Service has so far kept the contents of a standard stamp booklet consistent at 20 Forever stamps.

These special stamps are designated as always retaining enough value to mail a standard 1 ounce letter within the US, regardless of any future rate hikes. So buying a book now means you‘ll have valid denominations for years to come – very convenient.

Dramatically Increasing Rates for Stamp Books

While the quantity of stamps per book remains unchanged for now, the overall cost of each book has risen dramatically:

As you can see in the table above, the sticker price has gone up $2 – or 20% – over the past four years. That‘s over four times the national rate of inflation!

And this pattern of much steeper than expected increases seems likely to continue.

USPS Approved Stamps Often Cheaper from Retailers

With skyrocketing rates directly from the Post Office, many customers are now turning to 3rd party stamp vendors instead. Major retailers like Walmart, Costco, and Staples all sell official USPS-approved Forever stamps in books and rolls at face value or even a slight discount.

The advantage of purchasing books and coils from 3rd party retailers is that the logistics infrastructure allows them to get deeply discounted wholesale rates. Especially when buying stamps in bulk rolls, big box stores can then pass most of those postal agency savings down to consumers.

So be sure to price compare when buying – you can likely save 10-20% purchasing stamps for an office setting from your local Costco instead of the Post Office counter.

Final Takeaways

While a book still contains 20 Forever Stamps as of 2023, the long term outlook for pricing and availability is uncertain. Ongoing declines in Postal Service revenue could force the agency to either issue even more frequent rate hikes or reduce available quantites in coming years.

My advice is purchase 2-3 discount books in advance from your preferred retailer before increases or shortages hit. Having your own moderate reserve of stamps on hand is a smart way to hedge against future policy changes.