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So, you’re an online seller on eBay or Depop looking to save money on shipping clothes. Or, maybe you’re relocating and are figuring out ways to get your clothes and garments sent to your new space. Whatever the reason, shipping clothes isn’t as easy as folding up a hoodie and slapping a label on it…and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll probably pay way more to ship than you initially anticipated. Lucky for you, Shipping School has got you covered. This guide is all about the cheapest way to ship clothes so that when it’s time for you to send them, you don’t lose your shirt when you—well, lose your shirt. Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
- USPS is the Cheapest Carrier for Shipping Clothes
- USPS Ground Advantage is the Cheapest Way to Ship Clothes
- Use Poly Mailers Instead of Boxes to Save the Most Money on Postage Costs
- Get the Deepest Discounts on USPS Labels with Online Shipping Software
- Frequently Asked Questions: Shipping Clothes
USPS is the Cheapest Carrier for Shipping Clothes
Far away, the cheapest shipping carrier for sending clothes is the US Postal Service. USPS offers the best rates for smaller, lightweight packages, which is exactly the category that most clothing shipments fall into. Generally speaking, clothing shipments are anywhere from under 1 pound (lb), to a few pounds if you’re sending a lot of garments at once. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, USPS will always offer the cheapest rates, and a wide variety of services that meet your needs for smaller, lightweight shipments. UPS, on the other hand, offers the best rates for larger, heavier packages, while FedEx specializes in business deliveries and niche shipments.
Why USPS and not UPS?
You may try plugging in your shipment info in some UPS rate calculators, and it might appear cheaper than USPS at first glance. However, before you buy any labels, be aware that UPS imposes all kinds of surcharges on top of your postage cost a lot of times. UPS charges weird surcharges for all sorts of reasons, such as for delivering to a residential address, or if you hand them your package on a Saturday. USPS, on the other hand, doesn’t charge you anything at all on top of your postage costs (unless you pay for inaccurate postage or use the incorrect box; in that case, you’ll get hit with charges from the USPS Automated Package Verification System).
USPS Ground Advantage is the Cheapest Way to Ship Clothes
Of all the services USPS offers, USPS Ground Advantage Service offers the cheapest rates for clothing shipments. This is the cheapest shipping service that USPS offers, with rates starting at just under $4 per package depending on where you buy your postage online. Delivery timeframes are anywhere between 2-5 business days, depending on where you’re shipping, and you also get $100 of built-in USPS insurance.
You’ll need to provide your own packaging for Ground Advantage shipments since USPS doesn’t provide free packaging options for this service as they do for Priority Mail shipments. We’ll get to the packaging part in a bit, though!
If Your Shipment is Over 1 Pound, Use Priority Mail or Parcel Select Ground
Sometimes clothing shipments will end up weighing more than 1 pound, like if you’re sending multiple clothing items in one package. When this is the case, the next-best option after Ground Advantage is weight-based Priority Mail. If your clothing is tiny enough, you also may be able to fit it into the Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope, which only runs $7.75, no matter where you’re shipping to in the United States.
If shipping speed doesn’t matter so much to you, you can save way more money on some clothing shipments with Ground Advantage postage than you would if you shipped with Priority Mail.
Use Poly Mailers Instead of Boxes to Save the Most Money on Postage Costs
If you’re shipping with USPS Ground Advantage, every ounce goes towards getting the cheapest possible rate for your shipment. Since that’s the case, we always suggest using poly mailers to ship your clothes instead of a rigid cardboard box. Poly mailers are lightweight alternatives to corrugated cardboard packaging options, and in some cases, those couple of ounces that you can keep off can be the difference between more than a dollar in savings. When you’re shipping a ton of packages, every little bit of savings adds up!
Clothing also isn’t fragile by any means and doesn’t require protection like some other items do inside rigid cardboard boxes with additional packing material. That’s just another reason to stuff your clothes inside poly mailers when it’s time to ship! If you’re on the hunt for poly mailers, you can pick some up on the ULINE website, or on Amazon.
Get the Deepest Discounts on USPS Labels with Online Shipping Software
As is the case with shipping literally anything else, you should never go to the Post Office to ship your packages! Instead, use shipping software to buy discounted postage online.
When you buy labels with online shipping software, you don’t just give yourself the option to purchase labels at home or in your office; you also get access to special levels of discounts that can save you tons of money. Shipping carriers like USPS (and others) typically reserve these discounts for huge commercial shippers sending more than 50,000 packages per year. However, the best shipping software companies hook their customers up with these discounts for free.
For USPS shippers, this pricing tier is called Commercial Pricing, which features much more deeply-discounted rates than the Retail Pricing tier which you’d pay at the Post Office. In some cases, Commercial Pricing discounts can save you up to 86% off of what you’d pay to ship clothes with USPS Ground Advantage at your local Post Office!
Pro Tip: There are a ton of different shipping software companies out there. Depending on what you’re looking for and what your business needs, some options may be better than others. If you’re looking for a place to start, a great way to do research is by checking out our Reviews page.
Frequently Asked Questions: Shipping Clothes and How to Save Money on Clothing Shipments
Below are three of the questions we hear most frequently about shipping clothes, and how to save the most money doing it.
How Much Does it Cost to Ship Clothes?
The cost of shipping clothes depends on a variety of factors. The three factors that affect shipping costs are: how big your package is, how much it weighs, and how far it needs to travel. Generally speaking, the smaller and lighter your package is, the less it will cost to ship it. For Ground Advantage Service, rates start at under $4 per package; for weight-based Priority Mail, rates start a little over $7 per package, give or take. Since costs can vary so wildly, the best way to get an accurate quote for your particular shipment is to plug all of your information into this real-time Rates calculator and see what USPS services pop up for you.
What is the Best Service for Sending Clothes?
For packages under 1 lb, the best service for sending clothes is USPS Ground Advantage. This is the cheapest shipping service that USPS offers. Rates start at just under $4 per package, and delivery takes 2-5 business days to anywhere in the United States. For packages over 1 pound, Priority Mail is the next-best option. Rates start at a couple of extra dollars more than Ground Advantage, and you also get built-in USPS insurance. Delivery for Priority Mail packages also takes 1-3 business days. That said, if you’re okay with longer delivery times, you can often save more money now by shipping your clothes via Ground Advantage service.
Can I Save Money on Shipping Clothes?
You can save money on shipping clothes by buying discounted postage through online shipping software. On top of allowing you to print your own postage at home, shipping software companies allow you to access special levels of discounts that USPS and other carriers typically only reserve for huge commercial shippers. For USPS, this level of discounts is known as Commercial Pricing and can end up saving you up to 86% off of what you’d pay to ship the same package at the Post Office with USPS Ground Advantage.
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