On September 4, 2020, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) approved a temporary price increase for USPS commercial parcels. This price change will be in effect from October 18, 2020, until December 27, 2020 on commercial domestic competitive parcels, including:
- Priority Mail Express
- Priority Mail
- First-Class Package Service
- Parcel Select
- Parcel Return Service
These price increases are in response to more people using the Postal Service due to the COVID-19 pandemic and an extraordinary volume of mail expected in the following months. These temporary price increases do not reflect nor impact retail, metered mail (envelopes and parcels shipped using a postage meter like the FP PostBase econ), or international rates. To learn how to save money on metered mail, click here.
Temporary Price Changes For USPS Products
| Product | Current Starting Price | Starting Price Beginning Oct. 18, 2020 |
| Parcel Select Destination Delivery Unity (DDU) | $3.19 | $3.33 |
| Parcel Return Service | $3.05 | $3.29 |
| Parcel Select Lightweight | $1.81 | $2.05 |
| FCPS Commercial | $2.74 | $2.99 |
| Priority Mail Commercial | $7.02 | $7.42 |
| Parcel Select Ground | $6.92 | $7.32 |
| Parcel Select DSCF | $4.37 | $4.77 |
| Parcel Select DNDC | $5.98 | $6.38 |
| Priority Mail Express Commercial | $22.75 | $24.25 |
Some rate cells in Parcel Select Ground will be charged less than $0.40 so as to not exceed USPS Retail Ground retail prices. The full list of USPS commercial pricing can be found on the site’s Postal Service’s Postal Explorer page.
USPS Prices Going Forward
Despite the changes in commercial pricing, the United States Postal Service still offers competitive pricing and some of the lowest mail postage rates available in the United States. According to the USPS press release, these increased prices are a temporary change that will end on December 27, 2020 after which the original prices will resume.
This temporary holiday price increase from USPS follows the earlier price increase the agency made at the beginning of the year. These price increases are necessary, as explained by the USPS, as they receive “no tax dollars for operating expenses and rely on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund their operations.”