USPS® Shipping Rates Changing May 2023: What This Means For E-commerce Sellers

In what will come as a pleasant surprise to many shippers, specifically those who use Shippo, new USPS shipping rates are now in effect.

On May 1st, Shippo merchants will now see lower rates for select shipments using USPS Priority Mail® and USPS Parcel Select Ground®.

These changes come at a time when ground parcel delivery costs reached record high rates, and the need for more affordable shipping couldn’t be greater. These new rates signal that carriers are starting to react to the decreased demand by helping merchants save revenue.

We’ll explain how these new Shippo rates compare to retail rates, how they compare to the rates previously in effect from January, and what this means for your business moving forward.

New USPS Priority Mail® (Weight-Based) Rates

USPS Priority Mail® (weight-based) allows you to send packages that can weigh up to 70 lbs and measure 108 inches in total girth (length of the longest side plus distance around its thickest part). Packages are estimated to be delivered within 1-3 business days, making it one of the fastest options offered by USPS.

While packages can get pretty heavy with this service, the sweet spot and the area that is seeing rate changes within Shippo is for lightweight packages traveling relatively short distances.

For example, let’s look at how these May 2023 changes are compared to the previous rates set in January.

For packages weighing up to 6 pounds, you’ll see a noticeable decrease in price for many instances. These lower rates stretch to even heavier parcels and further distances in certain scenarios!

To highlight the overall value Shippo merchants are getting now, let’s compare these latest May rates to current retail rates.

With these new USPS shipping rates, merchants can now save up 46.96% on certain shipments when compared to retail. Savings for Priority Mail® can be found in almost every scenario, but these are where the changes affect your savings the most.

New USPS Priority Mail Cubic Rates

USPS Priority Mail Cubic is where savings for USPS reach their greatest limit. If your Priority Mail® package qualifies, you can find savings up to 89% off retail rates. To qualify, your package size has to meet certain measurements. From there, your package could be categorized as 0.1-0.5. To find out if your package qualifies, check out our Priority Mail Cubic guide.

With these new rates, those shipping Priority Mail Cubic packages can save up to $1.64 more than what they were currently saving. These savings may seem small, but will add up in a hurry and can help improve your business’s bottom line.

New USPS Parcel Select Ground® Rates

USPS Parcel Select Ground® can handle parcels weighing up to 70 lbs and measuring up to 130 inches in length and girth. Transit times for this service can be anywhere from 2-5 days in the continental U.S. and possibly longer when shipping to Hawaii or Alaska.

The sweet spot in terms of rates for this service level in the past has been for medium-to-large parcels. However, the latest rate changes make shipping smaller packages with this service level an even more attractive option.

Parcel Select Ground® was already a discounted option through Shippo and now these discounts have gotten bigger by as much as 16.18%!

New USPS Parcel Select Ground Cubic Rates

USPS Parcel Select Ground Cubic works similarly to how Priority Mail Cubic® works. You are able to get even better rates for certain parcels that qualify, however, there are 10 cubic tiers for PSG compared to just five for Priority Mail®.

Parcel Select Ground Cubic is a new service level available on Shippo so there aren’t any previous rates to compare. However, similar to Parcel Select Ground®, the shipments that will be most affected are the ones traveling between Zone 1 and Zone 4.

Other Notable Upcoming Changes To Shipping With USPS®

Along with these new rate changes, more changes will be coming to USPS in the near future.

On July 9th, USPS will be enacting new rules which will require that anyone printing a USPS label declare whether the product being shipped is a HAZMAT item. This is in an effort to protect employees, protect other products being shipped, and reduce the amount of incidents that occur from improper labeling.

On that same date, USPS will also be combining Parcel Select Ground® and First-Class Package Service® into one singular service level under the name “USPS Ground Advantage™”. This is in an effort to simplify the overall pricing structure of USPS service levels while also upholding the standards of the two service levels it’s combining.

And on the note of rates, new USPS shipping rates will also be going into effect this summer as well. While the lower rates introduced this May are temporary, they can certainly make a positive impact on your business’ Q2 bottom line.

Shippo customers do not need to worry much about these changes. Carrier compliance is one of our top priorities, so changes in our product will accommodate for HAZMAT requirements. USPS Ground Advantage™ will also be available in our product once it goes live and you’ll still be able to get the best rates and best experience possible shipping with USPS through Shippo.

Best Way to Get Lower USPS® Shipping Rates in 2023

The best way to lower your shipping costs with USPS will remain the same and that’s simply by using Shippo.

By simply signing up to Shippo, you’ll automatically qualify for discounts on some of the most popular USPS services. This includes Priority Mail® and Parcel Select Ground®, but also includes Priority Mail Express®, Priority Mail Flat Rate®, First-Class Package Service®, and even International Services.

Check out our USPS shipping calculator to get an estimated rate for your next shipment.

There are no volume requirements for accessing these lower shipping rates. You can sync your e-commerce orders to Shippo and print batch USPS labels to fulfill a large number of orders all at one time.

Best of all, you can also order complimentary shipping boxes from USPS and you can also schedule to have USPS rep pick up your orders from your place of business or fulfillment operations.

Signing up is free and only takes minutes to set up your account. Try it today!