Post offices see a big rush for new stamps One-cent rate increase to 34 cents on first-class stamps will take effect on Sunday: NORFOLK, Va. - When it comes to postage, a penny has a lot of pull. Just ask Miles Elliot, who's staffed the customer service counter at the Brambleton Post Office in Norfolk, Va., for 28 years.

"The phone's been ringing off the hook all day today with calls about the penny hike," Elliot said between customers on Tuesday. "And we've had long lines all day." The hike, a postal rate increase from 33 to 34 cents, takes effect Sunday. And while local offices have been armed with thousands of the three varieties of 34-cent stamps since Dec. 15, supplies at some offices have run out. (There are plenty of stamps in Corpus Christi, postal officials told the Caller-Times, but they are going fast. ("It's worse than Christmas right now," said Ben Grande, manager of customer services for the main post office in Corpus Christi. ("We've been busy all day long today," Grande said. "It started yesterday and we've been getting a lot of business since then. At the rate it's been going now, it might be this busy until Friday. ("Not only have we been selling a lot of the one-penny stamps, but the new ones too," Grande said. "A lot of people have been mailing stuff off," he said. "They want to beat the deadline by mailing off stuff ahead of time.") Other places are just running out. "The Acredale Station on Kempsville Road in Virginia Beach is out of the new stamps today, mainly because businesses kept coming in buying 50 and 100 books," postal service spokesman Hervey Trimyer said Tuesday. "Don't panic, though. They should have more tomorrow." Postal workers said that most customers and callers were confused about when the rate change takes effect, or they hadn't heard about it. "For some reason, people thought the change began on Jan. 1," said postal clerk Wayne Knight. That was the case with Bill Lucas, a Virginia Beach man who rushed into the Brambleton office on Tuesday thinking his 33-cent stamps were a penny shy. "I could have sworn I heard somewhere that stamps went up on the first," Lucas said before buying a book of 20 of the new stamps, just to be prepared. The 33-cent stamps will be good on letters postmarked through Saturday. Other customers, such as Yvette Fleming of Chesapeake, were irritated by the change. "Every time we get used to one price, it goes up," Fleming said while waiting in line for stamps. "It's ridiculous." But if you can't beat, 'em, buy 'em. Postal officials urge customers not to wait until the last minute to stock up on the 34-cent or 1-cent stamps. They expect a flood of last-minute customers after Sunday, when a 33-cent stamp won't fly solo. Another reminder: rate changes will affect the cost of all classes of mail, including Priority, first class and Express Mail. The cost to mail a postcard will remain 20 cents. The new stamps can be ordered by phone by calling 1 (800) STAMP24.