With the 2019 USPS rate changes released in January, First Class Package Service rates experienced some significant changes. In addition to price increases, the structure of how rates are calculated changed as follows:
- Zone-based pricing was added to First Class Package Service, i.e. the distance a package travels affects the rate.
- Pricing tiers were introduced, i.e. specific weight ranges will have the same cost for a given zone.
For example, a 3 oz. package going to Zone 4, will have a retail cost of $3.74 at the Post Office. This is the same price for packages that weigh 4 ounces and under. The new pricing tiers are broken down as follows:
- 0.1 to 4 ounces
- 4.1 to 8 ounces
- 8.1 to 12 ounces
- 12.1 to 15.9 ounces
From 16 ounces and up, packages are considered Priority Mail, not First Class.
With the introduction of these pricing tiers, Ship.com eliminated the extra step of having to enter weight in our First Class option when buying a shipping label. Instead, you can now see the cost of mailing a First Class package for each pricing tier based upon the customer's shipping address. This will save time and make the USPS pricing "breakpoints" more transparent when using Ship.com.
Weight will still need to be entered when shipping a package 16 ounces or greater within the Priority - Custom Package section. You can find those weight inputs here:
