By Rob Zaleski

Oct 11, 2018



The USPS 2019 shipping rate changes took effect January 27, 2019 across all shipping services. Overall, rates increased for most products, weights, and zones. We’ll go over changes to the most popular USPS shipping services including Priority Mail, First Class Package, Flat Rate, and Regional Rate.

P.S. Looking for the upcoming 2020 shipping rate changes? Head here for our full breakdown.

USPS 2019 Shipping Rate Changes Highlights:

Priority Mail rates will increase for most packages by an average of 6.2% and Priority Mail Express (as well as Priority Mail Express International) will increase by an average of 3.9%

A major change to note is that First Class Package service rates will now be calculated based on Zone (like Priority Mail). This service will also experience an 11.9% rate increase on average. First Class International rates will increase by an average of 3.9% (Read our deep dive on First Class here)

On June 23, the USPS extended dimensional weight (DIM weight) to Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, and non-lightweight Parcel Select for packages larger than one cubic foot, with the DIM weight divisor changing to 166 (Get a full breakdown of Dimensional Weight here)

Please note: The rates below are based on USPS Commercial Plus Pricing (CPP), which are deeply discounted rates from retail rates. You can get CPP rates by using ShippingEasy for your e-commerce shipping.

Flat Rate 2019 Rate Changes

USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes and envelopes are go-to shipping services for many online sellers for their simplicity, free packaging, and competitive rates, regardless of package weight or destination. Padded Flat Rate envelopes, previously one of the best values of all flat rate services, saw a 65-cent increase (nearly 10%), making it 5 cents more expensive than using a Small Flat Rate Box.

Flat Rate 2018 Commercial Plus 2019 Commercial Plus Price Increase Flat Rate Env $6.35 $6.95 $0.60 Padded Flat Rate Env $6.90 $7.55 $0.65 Small Flat Rate Box $6.85 $7.50 $0.65 Medium Flat Rate Box $12.45 $12.80 $0.35 Large Flat Rate Box $17.10 $17.90 $0.80

Priority Mail 2019 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.

As an example, we’ve taken a 4 lb. package and compared 2018 rates to the new 2019 rates going to various Zones:

Priority Mail 2018 Commercial Plus 2019 Commercial Plus Price Increase Zones 1 & 2 $7.09 $7.71 $0.62 Zone 3 $7.81 $8.20 $0.39 Zone 4 $8.43 $8.81 $0.38 Zone 5 $10.03 $10.03 $0.00 Zone 6 $13.75 $13.75 $0.00 Zone 7 $15.59 $15.59 $0.00 Zone 8 $17.61 $17.61 $0.00 Zone 9 $24.30 $24.78 $0.48

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To quickly glance over 2019 Priority Mail rates, here is a rate chart for 2019 Commercial Plus Priority Mail shipments up to 10 pounds:

Priority Mail 2019 Zones

1&2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 Zone 8 Zone 9 0.5 lbs $6.95 $7.28 $7.49 $7.65 $7.82 $7.99 $8.25 $9.91 1 lbs $6.95 $7.28 $7.49 $7.65 $7.82 $7.99 $8.25 $9.91 2 lbs $7.42 $7.61 $7.88 $8.50 $9.70 $10.23 $10.86 $15.17 3 lbs $7.61 $7.99 $8.34 $9.26 $11.80 $13.10 $15.28 $20.58 4 lbs $7.71 $8.20 $8.81 $10.03 $13.75 $15.59 $17.61 $24.78 5 lbs $7.81 $8.25 $9.12 $10.33 $15.67 $17.92 $20.40 $28.84 6 lbs $7.91 $8.29 $9.22 $13.77 $17.93 $20.83 $23.81 $33.05 7 lbs $8.15 $9.41 $9.46 $15.43 $19.86 $23.48 $26.75 $37.11 8 lbs $8.20 $9.87 $11.16 $16.84 $21.82 $25.85 $30.04 $41.66 9 lbs $9.01 $10.25 $11.62 $18.06 $23.74 $28.00 $33.40 $46.33 10 lbs $9.38 $10.67 $11.69 $19.51 $25.64 $30.79 $36.32 $50.38

First Class Package 2019 Rate Changes

First Class Package service has been the most popular and cheapest USPS service to ship packages under 1 lb. For 2019, this service will see major changes to the pricing structure. The changes will make it more complicated and expensive for the service often depended on by small- to medium-sized businesses.

First Class Package Service rates are now calculated based on Zones, just like Priority Mail. This means the distance a First Class package travels now dictates the shipping rate. The Zone 1&2 rates are the same as 2018’s overall rates and serve as a starting point for the new tiers, which are broken down below.

2019

First Class 1 & 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 Zone 8 Zone 9 1 oz $2.66 $2.68 $2.70 $2.76 $2.84 $2.96 $3.09 $3.09 2 oz $2.66 $2.68 $2.70 $2.76 $2.84 $2.96 $3.09 $3.09 3 oz $2.66 $2.68 $2.70 $2.76 $2.84 $2.96 $3.09 $3.09 4 oz $2.66 $2.68 $2.70 $2.76 $2.84 $2.96 $3.09 $3.09 5 oz $3.18 $3.20 $3.22 $3.28 $3.36 $3.49 $3.63 $3.63 6 oz $3.18 $3.20 $3.22 $3.28 $3.36 $3.49 $3.63 $3.63 7 oz $3.18 $3.20 $3.22 $3.28 $3.36 $3.49 $3.63 $3.63 8 oz $3.18 $3.20 $3.22 $3.28 $3.36 $3.49 $3.63 $3.63 9 oz $3.82 $3.85 $3.88 $3.96 $4.06 $4.19 $4.33 $4.33 10 oz $3.82 $3.85 $3.88 $3.96 $4.06 $4.19 $4.33 $4.33 11 oz $3.82 $3.85 $3.88 $3.96 $4.06 $4.19 $4.33 $4.33 12 oz $3.82 $3.85 $3.88 $3.96 $4.06 $4.19 $4.33 $4.33 13 oz $4.94 $4.98 $5.02 $5.12 $5.24 $5.38 $5.53 $5.53 14 oz $4.94 $4.98 $5.02 $5.12 $5.24 $5.38 $5.53 $5.53 15 oz $4.94 $4.98 $5.02 $5.12 $5.24 $5.38 $5.53 $5.53 15.999 oz $4.94 $4.98 $5.02 $5.12 $5.24 $5.38 $5.53 $5.53

Regional Rate Shipping 2019 Rate Changes

Regional Rate service is a less-used but useful shipping service. You ship using preset boxes you can order online, and the rate is cheaper when shipping short distances. Regional Rate Box A rates saw increases across all zones. Regional Rate Box B rates increased substantially for Zones 1, 2, and 9, but minimally or not at all for other zones. With Regional Rate shipments mainly designed to be shipped to Zones 1-4, some of the below rate increases may have a noticeable impact on shippers using this service locally.

Regional Rate Box A 2018 Commercial Plus 2019 Commercial Plus Price Increase Zones 1 & 2 $7.10 $7.65 $0.55 Zone 3 $7.25 $7.85 $0.60 Zone 4 $7.40 $8.12 $0.72 Zone 5 $8.15 $8.76 $0.61 Zone 6 $9.47 $10.00 $0.53 Zone 7 $10.39 $10.55 $0.16 Zone 8 $10.80 $11.20 $0.40 Zone 9 $15.33 $15.64 $0.31

Regional Rate Box B 2018 Commercial Plus 2019 Commercial Plus Price Increase Zones 1 & 2 $7.41 $8.05 $0.64 Zone 3 $8.42 $8.50 $0.08 Zone 4 $9.37 $9.40 $0.03 Zone 5 $10.65 $10.65 $0.00 Zone 6 $16.15 $16.15 $0.00 Zone 7 $18.47 $18.47 $0.00 Zone 8 $21.03 $21.03 $0.00 Zone 9 $29.15 $29.73 $0.58

Parcel Select 2019 Changes

We’re adding this to our roundup this year to show that some shipping options did in fact decrease. Overall, Parcel Select Ground will have a 1.3% decrease in rates. We’ve used an example of a 5-pound package to show the changes across zones for Parcel Select shipping rates.

Parcel Select 2018 Commercial Plus 2019 Commercial Plus Price Increase Zones 1 & 2 $7.41 $7.71 $0.30 Zone 3 $8.42 $8.15 -$0.27 Zone 4 $9.37 $9.02 -$0.35 Zone 5 $10.65 $10.13 -$0.52 Zone 6 $16.14 $15.42 -$0.72 Zone 7 $18.46 $17.62 -$0.84 Zone 8 $21.02 $20.05 -$0.97 Zone 9 $21.02 $20.05 -$0.97

International shipments will also be seeing rate increases this year, across the board. First Class Package International will still be a very competitive service, though.

Are you overspending? Find out with our postage savings calculator!

Conclusion

While the USPS 2019 shipping rate changes will affect just about every e-commerce shipper, the increased rates still often beat UPS and FedEx services for most package sizes and destinations. Commercial Plus Pricing, as seen above, will be available from shipping platforms like ShippingEasy to give sellers substantial discounts off retail rates for packages.

Now that you’ve learned how much it costs to ship, learn to ship better. Check some shipping best practices by clicking below!

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