The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) announced price changes for Mailing & Shipping Services. These new rates are effective January 22, 2017.
Though postal rates have increased but USPS has chosen not to increase rates for international services. We’ll go over changes to USPS’ most popular shipping services including Priority Mail, First Class Package, Flat Rate, and Regional Rate.
Here are a few change postal rate calculator:
- First Class 1-8 oz packages now have two price points: $2.61 for 4oz and under, and $2.77 for 5-8oz. Good for simplifying package rates on shipments less than 4oz, but a 17-cent increase for sellers that ship out 5-8oz packages
- Priority Mail rates for packages under 8lbs are up 3.9% on average, but some rates are down as much as 47-cents
- There will be no changes to Priority Mail International, Priority Mail Express International, or First-Class Mail International Package Service rates
Flat Rate 2017 Rate Changes
One of the biggest rate changes people look for are to USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes and envelopes. This shipping service is a go-to for many online sellers for its simplicity, free packaging, and competitive rate no matter how heavy or far the package is traveling. Padded flat rate envelopes, arguably the best value of all flat rate services, will see a 40-cent increase, making it 5 cents more expensive than using a Small Flat Rate Box.
Priority Mail 2017 Rate Changes
Priority Mail is the core parcel shipping service for USPS. It’s a versatile shipping service that is used to ship millions of packages each day.
First Class Package 2017 Rate Changes
First Class Package service, USPS’ most popular and cheapest service to ship packages under 1 lb., will see an increase across all weight categories with an average increase of 21 cents. The lightest packages, from 1 oz. to 4 oz., will only see a 1 cent rate increase. While all other rate increases are over 10 cents, 9 oz. packages will only see a 2-cent increase, which looks like a sweet spot to hit for shippers.
Regional Rate Shipping 2017 Rate Changes
Regional Rate service, a less used but useful shipping service that comes in preset boxes you order online and is cheaper when shipping short distances, will see a small rate increase for both Regional Rate Box A and Regional Rate Box B. One outlier is a 49-cent rate reduction for Box A shipments going to Zone 8, but Regional Rate shipments are designed to be shipped to Zones 1-4.
Priority Mail International and First Class Package International 2017 Rate Changes
A nice move for USPS, international shipments won’t be seeing any rate increases this year, which many eCommerce sellers will be thankful for. First Class Package International will still be a very competitive service, especially since it is going another full year without a rate hike.
Source: Shipping Easy