Western suburbs -

The price of a first-class stamp bumps up a cent on Monday, sparking booming sales of the everlasting Forever stamp.

Since the stamp was released nationally in April 2007, it’s been a big seller locally — especially now that a price increase approaches, said Michelle Zyvert, a customer relations coordinator at an area post office.

Some local companies like pack-and-ship stores have been stocking up on Forever stamps, Zyvert said. Even individuals are doing it.

“I’ve already started,” said Judy Bouma as she stood in line at the post office. “I’m going to get two more books. Every little bit helps.”

Select prices 42¢ First-class letter (1 oz.) 59¢ First-class letter (2 oz.) 27¢ First-class postcard $1 First-class large envelope (2 oz.) $2.70 Certified mail 72¢ First-class international to Canada and Mexico (1 oz.) 94¢ First-class international to all other countries (1 oz.) Give me more For a full list of the new domestic prices, go to pe.usps.com/2008_RateCase/DMM_HTML/ratesandfees.htm. Links for international prices are given, too.

As the postage rate increase looms, the Forever stamp has been selling at a rate of 64 million a day, according to the U.S. Postal Service. The agency opted to offer the eternally redeemable stamps so customers didn’t have to buy 1-cent stamps to add to their letters when rates increase. The cost of printing up one of the incremental stamps is greater than the 1 cent charged, according to the postal service.

For years, the volume of first-class mail use has been declining, a fact that is “definitely having an impact on our first-quarter financial results,” said Joe Moeller, manager of pricing at the U.S. Postal Service. Rising fuel prices also contributed to the agency’s $707 million loss in the period that ended March 31.

Competition from electronic sources and private shipping companies has been stiff, but the post office is trying to carve out a niche with online products, Moeller said.

“We don’t like to term it as us against the Internet because we’re being helped by the Internet with services like click and ship,” Moeller said. “Take catalogs for instance. People still like a hard copy in the mail, then they go online to make a purchase. Then the merchandise gets to the house in the mail.”

Nate Legue can be reached at  nlegue@rrstar.com.