Sometimes you may need to mail an envelope that requires time-sensitive delivery. Unfortunately, USPS doesn’t offer overnight delivery service for First Class Mail pieces such as letters or documents. However, customers can still opt for shipping their letters and documents in a Priority Mail Express envelope.
Priority Mail Express is the Only Overnight Delivery Service USPS Offers
The only overnight delivery service that USPS offers is Priority Mail Express, which isn’t a mailing service, but a shipping service. Priority Mail Express is the Postal Service’s fastest shipping service, with overnight delivery to most urban destinations (depending on the time of day you drop off your package or envelope at the Post Office).
However, since it is the fastest USPS service, it’s also the most expensive…and it will cost much more than First Class Mail. Shipping a letter or document for overnight delivery in the Priority Mail Express Flat Rate Envelope costs $30.45 at the Post Office…and that’s the cheapest Priority Mail Express service available. On the other hand, First Class Mail only costs $0.68 for a single Forever stamp and features a delivery time of up to 3 business days.
Learn more about the difference between mailing and shipping.
Use Shipping Software to Save Money on the Priority Mail Express Flat Rate Envelope
If you have to send something overnight via Priority Mail Express, you can save money on your shipping costs by using shipping software to buy discounted postage online. When you use shipping software, you get access to Commercial Pricing, which designates a special tier of discounted rates that USPS typically only offers huge commercial shippers who send over 50,000 packages per year. With Commercial Pricing rates, the Priority Mail Express Flat Rate Envelope costs $26.35, which is $4.10 less than you’d pay to ship the same envelope at the Post Office.
Pro Tip: When purchasing your shipping labels at home through shipping software, you can also order Priority Mail Express envelopes for free on the USPS website. USPS will deliver them directly to your home address, and it won’t cost you a thing! Using these envelopes is another way to keep your shipping costs as low as possible because you won’t have to pay for any packaging material. You’ll only need to pay for the cost of the Priority Mail Express label itself.
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