What it costs to ship your package
Cheapest for 2 lb, mid-distance (zone 4): USPS Ground Advantage, $8.91 (discounted label price).
- 1.USPS Ground Advantage (discounted label price)$8.91
- 2.USPS Priority Mail (discounted label price)$11.19
- 3.USPS Ground Advantage (post office counter price)$13.50
- 4.USPS Priority Mail (post office counter price)$14.85
- 5.FedEx Ground / FedEx Home Delivery (published list price)$26.19$15.33 + $10.86 surcharges (est.)
- 6.UPS Ground (published list price)$26.48$15.46 + $11.02 surcharges (est.)
If it fits a USPS Flat Rate envelope or box: one price to any US address
- Flat Rate Envelope (inside 12-1/2" x 9-1/2")$11.97 label, $13.90 counter
- Legal Flat Rate Envelope (inside 15" x 9-1/2")$12.51 label, $14.25 counter
- Padded Flat Rate Envelope (inside 12-1/2" x 9-1/2")$12.84 label, $15.00 counter
- Small Flat Rate Box (inside 8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8")$12.95 label, $14.65 counter
- Medium Flat Rate Box (inside 11" x 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" or 13-5/8" x 11-7/8" x 3-3/8")$22.02 label, $25.80 counter
- Large Flat Rate Box (inside 12" x 11-3/4" x 5-1/2")$32.75 label, $36.10 counter
USPS sends Flat Rate envelopes and boxes free, but they ship by Priority Mail only, and the item has to fit with the flaps closed.
Published prices before dimensional weight and extra-handling fees, which the sections below explain. Surcharge amounts are estimates from each carrier's published percentages and fees.
The short answer
- 5 lb and under: USPS Ground Advantage, bought as a discounted label online, was the cheapest option at every distance we compared.
- 10 lb and up, sent far: the gap closes. Cross-country, UPS Ground’s list price is about level with USPS’s discounted label before surcharges ($26.29 vs $26.39 at 10 lb, $43.33 vs $42.14 at 20 lb). UPS’s weekly fuel surcharge, plus its residential fee for a home, puts it back above USPS.
- Never pay the counter price if you ship regularly. Free platforms give you the discounted label price. See discounted shipping labels.
What “distance” means here
Carriers price by zone, which is how far the package travels: zone 1 or 2 is local, zone 4 is a few states away and zone 8 is across the country. Your shipping platform shows the zone when you enter both addresses.
Published prices, cross-country
| Weight | USPS Ground Advantagepost office counter | USPS Ground Advantagediscounted label | USPS Priority Mailpost office counter | USPS Priority Maildiscounted label | UPS Groundlist price | FedEx Ground / FedEx Home Deliverylist price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 oz | $10.20 | $8.95 | $17.95 | $16.07 | $15.03 | $15.01 |
| 8 oz | $10.20 | $8.95 | $17.95 | $16.07 | $15.03 | $15.01 |
| 12 oz | $13.65 | $8.95 | $17.95 | $16.07 | $15.03 | $15.01 |
| 1 lb | $13.65 | $11.22 | $17.95 | $16.07 | $15.03 | $15.01 |
| 2 lb | $19.80 | $13.42 | $22.55 | $17.22 | $17.40 | $17.37 |
| 5 lb | $27.45 | $20.24 | $39.00 | $30.93 | $21.72 | $21.69 |
| 10 lb | $40.85 | $26.39 | $63.40 | $43.03 | $26.29 | $26.38 |
| 20 lb | $72.15 | $42.14 | $113.70 | $71.91 | $43.33 | $43.52 |
Under 1 lb: UPS Ground and FedEx Ground / FedEx Home Delivery round up to a full pound, so 4 to 12 oz pay the 1 lb price ("Any fraction of a pound is rounded up to the next-higher pound.", FedEx's list; UPS's guide says the same). USPS Ground Advantage prices by the ounce.
Is it cheaper to ship your own box or a USPS box?
For light packages, your own box. A 4 oz package to zone 8 (cross-country) costs $8.95 as a USPS Ground Advantage discounted label in your own box. The cheapest USPS Flat Rate option, the Flat Rate Envelope, is $11.97 as a discounted label and $13.90 at the counter.
Flat Rate wins once the package gets heavier and goes far, if the item fits. At 2 lb to zone 8, your own box costs $13.42, while the Flat Rate Envelope is $11.97 whatever it weighs (up to 70 lb). Bigger items need the Medium Flat Rate Box ($22.02, inside 11" x 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" or 13-5/8" x 11-7/8" x 3-3/8"), which beats your own box from 10 lb cross-country, where your own box costs $26.39. Sent locally (zone 1), Flat Rate only wins from 10 lb, with the Flat Rate Envelope at $11.97.| Weight | Your own box, zone 1 | Your own box, zone 8 | Flat Rate options that cost less, zone 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 oz | $7.33 | $8.95 | None |
| 8 oz | $7.33 | $8.95 | None |
| 12 oz | $7.33 | $8.95 | None |
| 1 lb | $8.01 | $11.22 | None |
| 2 lb | $8.39 | $13.42 | Flat Rate Envelope $11.97, Legal Flat Rate Envelope $12.51, Padded Flat Rate Envelope $12.84, Small Flat Rate Box $12.95 |
| 5 lb | $10.35 | $20.24 | Flat Rate Envelope $11.97, Legal Flat Rate Envelope $12.51, Padded Flat Rate Envelope $12.84, Small Flat Rate Box $12.95 |
| 10 lb | $12.56 | $26.39 | Flat Rate Envelope $11.97, Legal Flat Rate Envelope $12.51, Padded Flat Rate Envelope $12.84, Small Flat Rate Box $12.95, Medium Flat Rate Box $22.02 |
| 20 lb | $17.51 | $42.14 | Flat Rate Envelope $11.97, Legal Flat Rate Envelope $12.51, Padded Flat Rate Envelope $12.84, Small Flat Rate Box $12.95, Medium Flat Rate Box $22.02, Large Flat Rate Box $32.75 |
Free USPS boxes and free pickup
- Free boxes, for Priority Mail only. USPS lists its Flat Rate envelopes and boxes as free supplies, and says they’re “delivered with your regular mail usually within 7 to 10 days” (USPS Priority Mail). Its rules add: "All USPS-produced packaging (including Flat-Rate packaging) must be used only for the applicable product (e.g., Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail)." (DMM 601.6.1). So a free box means paying Priority Mail prices: a 1 lb package to zone 4 is $10.80 by Priority Mail against $8.55 by Ground Advantage in your own box, both as discounted labels.
- Free pickup. "Your carrier can pick up your shipment for free during your regular mail delivery." (USPS Package Pickup). It covers Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, Returns and International. A pickup at a set time is USPS’s paid Pickup On Demand service.
- The discounted price without a platform. USPS’s own label tool gives you the commercial price too: "Ship online with Click-N-Ship® and get lower Commercial Rates." (USPS small business). Label platforms add other carriers and order imports.
The costs that change the answer
- Fuel surcharge (UPS and FedEx). A percentage added to the price that changes weekly: 29.25% at UPS and 28.75% at FedEx the week we checked. USPS doesn’t publish one.
- Residential fee (UPS and FedEx). Delivering to a home adds $6.50 at UPS and $6.45 at FedEx at list prices.
- Dimensional weight (all three). A big, light box is billed by size. Check yours in the dimensional weight calculator.
- Extra handling. USPS Ground Advantage adds $4.50 for parcels longer than 22 inches and $10 over 30 inches; UPS and FedEx charge more for heavy, long or awkwardly packed boxes.
Software to buy and print the labels: compare monthly costs in shipping software for small business, or the three most used side by side in ShipStation vs Shippo vs Pirate Ship. Shipping is only part of what a sale costs you; seller fees shows what each marketplace takes. For every fee on top of the label added up on one order, see what it really costs to ship one online order.
We may earn a fee if you sign up with some providers in this list. It never changes the prices we show or what we recommend.
Get told when these prices change
Providers change fees with little notice. Alerts start soon, and we'll send nothing else.
Common questions
What is the cheapest way to ship a package?
For the packages we compared, USPS Ground Advantage bought as a discounted label online was cheapest at most weights and distances. A 1 lb package costs $8.55 to a mid-distance zone as a discounted label, against $13.51 for UPS Ground and $13.26 for FedEx Ground at their published list prices, before UPS and FedEx add fuel and home-delivery surcharges.
What is the cheapest way to ship a heavy package?
It narrows as weight and distance go up. For a 20 lb package sent cross-country, USPS Ground Advantage's discounted label is $42.14 and UPS Ground's list price is $43.33, before UPS adds its weekly fuel surcharge and, for a home, its $6.50 residential fee. At 10 lb the two are about level ($26.39 vs $26.29). Platforms offer discounted UPS prices too, so check both.
Is it cheaper to ship at the post office or online?
Online, through a shipping platform. USPS sets a lower commercial price for labels bought online. A 2 lb Ground Advantage package to a mid-distance zone is $13.50 at the counter and $8.91 as a discounted label, from USPS's own price tables.
Why is my shipping cost higher than the table?
Three common reasons: the box is large for its weight, so it's billed by size (dimensional weight); UPS and FedEx add a weekly fuel surcharge, plus a residential fee for home deliveries; and long or oversized boxes carry extra-handling fees.
Does USPS charge by size or by weight?
By weight, until the box is bigger than one cubic foot (1,728 cubic inches). Above that, USPS bills the actual weight or the dimensional weight, whichever is greater: length x width x height divided by 139, rounded up. A 5 lb item in a 14 x 14 x 14 inch box bills as 20 lb, so cross-country by Ground Advantage it's $42.14 as a discounted label instead of $20.24.