USPS Rates for the 2026 peak holiday season are increasing for some domestic shipments
Priority Mail, Ground Advantage, and Priority Mail Express rates are increasing. The amount of the increase depends on the service you're using, your package's weight or Cubic tier, and the zone you're shipping to.
Packages traveling farther generally have larger increases. Shipments going to Zones 5-9 will generally see larger increases than shipments going to Zones 1-4.
USPS Priority Mail
Depending on which Priority Mail Flat Rate service you choose, rates will change by the following amounts:
Priority Mail Flat Rate:
Envelope, Legal Envelopes, Padded Envelopes, Small Boxes, Medium Boxes: +$0.85 increase
Large Flat Rate Box, APO/FPO/DPO Large Boxes: +$1.75 increase
Priority Mail Express Flat Rate:
Envelope, Legal Envelopes, Padded Envelopes: +$2.35 increase
Additional Priority Mail holiday increases apply to weight-based, Cubic, and Priority Mail Express. The breakdown below shows the temporary rate increase for each service:
Priority Mail Weight-based
Weight | Zones 1-4 | Zones 5-9 |
0-3 lb | $0.40 increase | $0.85 increase |
4-10 lb | $0.65 increase | $1.75 increase |
11-25 lb | $1.05 increase | $3.85 increase |
26-70 lb | $3.15 increase | $9.10 increase |
Priority Mail Cubic
Cubic Tier | Zones 1-4 | Zones 5-9 |
0.1 - 0.3 | $0.40 increase | $0.85 increase |
0.4 - 0.5 | $0.65 increase | $1.75 increase |
Priority Mail Express Weight-based
Weight | Zones 1-4 | Zones 5-9 |
0-3 lb | $1.40 increase | $2.35 increase |
4-10 lb | $2.10 increase | $5.55 increase |
11-25 lb | $4.90 increase | $10.50 increase |
26-70 lb | $12.55 increase | $18.20 increase |
USPS Ground Advantage
Ground Advantage holiday increases apply to both weight-based and Cubic shipments.
Ground Advantage Cubic
Cubic Tier | Zones 1-4 | Zones 5-9 |
0.1 - 0.3 | $0.40 increase | $0.55 increase |
0.4 - 0.9 | $0.65 increase | $1.05 increase |
1.0 | $1.05 increase | $1.75 increase |
Ground Advantage Weight-based
Weight | Zones 1-4 | Zones 5-9 |
0-3 lb | $0.40 increase | $0.55 increase |
4-10 lb | $0.65 increase | $1.05 increase |
11-25 lb | $1.05 increase | $1.75 increase |
26-70 lb | $3.15 increase | $7.70 increase |
International USPS services and Media Mail aren't affected
USPS's temporary holiday rate increase applies to select domestic shipping services. Other USPS products and services aren't affected by the temporary increase.
International USPS services such as First Class Package International, Priority Mail International, and Priority Mail Express International are not affected.
Our software automatically applies these temporary increases when you buy labels
No action needed on your part: You don't need to remember all the details of these increases! Our software applies these USPS surcharges automatically at checkout to qualifying packages, and will display them on the "Buy Label" page when you're ready to make your purchase.
You'll still get deep discounts on Pirate Ship with the holiday surcharge increases
These temporary USPS surcharges are not unique to Pirate Ship: Temporary surcharge increases for USPS shipments aren't just happening on Pirate Ship. USPS imposes them everywhere, but you're still getting some of the deepest discounts on the Seven Seas by shipping with us!
To see how much you'll save, plug your package's information into our Rates Calculator 💰