Compared to the 2022 Holiday Rates currently in effect, USPS is actually decreasing lots of rates, so most USPS shipments will stay around the same price or get a little cheaper on average 🥳
Head to your Rates page in Pirate Ship to download the 2023 USPS Rates Forecast, and read on for a summary.
Summary of the 2023 USPS rate changes
Besides all the rate changes, there are 2 product changes this year:
Zone 1 & Zone 2 are splitting! There will now be different rates for the destinations closest to you (within ~50 miles) compared to the destinations a bit further away from you (around ~51 to 150 miles).
Priority Mail Regional Rate is being discontinued! But don't worry, this isn't bad because shipping a similarly-sized package with Priority Mail Cubic is cheaper anyways 😉 You can keep using any "Regional Rate" branded packaging you've still got, you'll just enter the dimensions and weight like any Priority Mail branded mailing box... but we always recommend cutting the box down to make it as small as possible so you save even more treasure!
Here's how each service is changing starting January 22nd:
First Class Package: Staying the same on average, with some shipments getting up to 4% cheaper and some getting up to 4% more expensive.
Priority Mail: Getting cheaper on average, with up to 11% decreases! Pirate Ship will also continue to give you access to secret rates USPS doesn't let us advertise that are BELOW the standard Commercial Pricing rates, saving you up to an extra $1.67 😱
Parcel Select Ground: Also seeing similar decreases as Priority Mail... but since it's slower and has less reliable delivery estimates than Priority Mail, we only recommend using it if your shipment isn't time-sensitive.
Media Mail: Rates are increasing 1 to 5%.
Priority Mail Express: Rates are increasing 3 to 6%.
Simple Export Rate: Rates are increasing an average of 6%. It will still be the cheapest international service available 😃 Learn about Simple Export Rate here.
First Class Package International: Most rates are increasing around 6%, though the 4 lb rate is becoming much cheaper... but Simple Export Rate will always be cheaper!
Priority Mail International: Large increases up to 37%.
Priority Mail Express International: Most rates are increasing 3%.
Signature Confirmation: Increasing 5%.
Nonstandard Fees: USPS is increasing the fee for packages bigger than 2 cubic feet shipped via Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express.
Always use our Rates Calculator to find the best rate for your shipments
Rates depend on how much your package weighs, the size of your package, and how far away it's traveling.
The best way to make sure you're getting the cheapest rates is to plug your package information into our Rates calculator, which will have the new 2023 USPS rates loaded into it on January 22nd.
USPS labels will also look a bit different
Starting on January 22nd, USPS labels will no longer say “PRIORITY 1 DAY," “PRIORITY 2 DAY,” or “PRIORITY 3 DAY” to signify how many days the package is expected to be in transit. Instead, they will say “USPS PRIORITY MAIL” with the expected delivery date below it in smaller text (like it already is). This change doesn't affect anything about the USPS service you pay for...just the way your label looks!
Any questions? We're always here for you! Just click the blue chat button 👋