USPS Price Increases – January 2019

It’s that time again – January – and that means that USPS rates are going up. Experienced small business owners have come to expect this each year. Today, I’m going to summarize the changes.

USPS Rate Increases for 2019

• Shipping rates are going up in almost all categories.
  • Priority Mail Express rates are increasing 3.9%.
  • Priority Mail rates are increasing 5.9%
    • Rates for packages weighing between 11 pounds and 70 pounds have gone down slightly from 2018 to 2019.
    • Priority Mail packages over 1 cubic foot rates are changing although this change has been postponed until June.
    • If you use Commercial Base Plus rates currently – this class is being eliminated.
  • First Class Mail rates are increasing 11.9%.
    • Zone based pricing begins.
  • Parcel Select Ground rates are decreasing by 1.3%.
• Rate increases take effect on January 27, 2019.

To see full rate charts from the USPS click here.

First Class Mail Zone Based

The biggest change to the USPS pricing this year is First Class Mail becoming zone based. Let me explain this in easy to understand terms. The USPS divides the US into zones that are based on where the package is being mailed. The more zones that the package has to cross, the more it will cost. Now, where to find a picture of the zones? You can’t, because the zones will be different for each origin zip code. If you want to see a zone map based on your origin zip code, I found this interactive one from Endicia that works well.

FedEx and UPS Rate Increases

Both FedEx and UPS rates are also increasing for 2019. You can find rate increase information on their respective websites. In almost all cases, for packages under 70 pounds the USPS is more competitively priced.

Moral of today’s post? Take a few minutes to look over your current shipping rates. Make adjustments if you need to before January 27th.

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