USPS Will Raise Rates a Second Time in 2021

eCommerce shippers around the United States, get ready for something you probably don’t want to hear: USPS has proposed another rate increase. Should the Postal Regulatory Commission approve the proposal (which it likely will), this will mark the second time USPS will raise their rates in the year 2021. However, while the first rate increase in 2021 affected nearly every service that USPS offers, this second one only applies to a few select services.

The Second USPS Rate Increase Only Applies to a Few Services

If all goes as planned, this second rate increase will take effect on August 29th, 2021. Unlike other rate increases in the past where the price of nearly every single USPS service went up, this rate increase only affects a limited number of services. We’ve laid out those services below, as well as the increments by which they are increasing.

First-Class Mail Rates

• Letters, 1 ounce: $0.58 (up from $0.55)
• Postcards: $0.40 (up from $0.36)
• Flats/Large Envelopes, 1 ounce: $1.16 (up from $1.00)
• International Letters and Postcards, 1 ounce: $1.30 (up from $1.20)
• International Flats, 1 ounce: $2.60 (up from $2.40)

Domestic Mail Extra Services

• Certified Mail: $3.75 (up from $3.60)
• Registered Mail: $13.75 and up (up from $0.85)
• Signature Confirmation, mail: $3.45 (up from $3.20)
• Signature Confirmation, electronic: $2.90 (up from $2.70)

Media Mail Rates

Media Mail rates are broken down on a per-pound basis*, as seen below:

• 1 lb: $3.19 (up from $2.89)
• 2 lbs: $3.82 (up from $3.45)
• 3 lbs: $4.45 (up from $4.01)
• 4 lbs: $5.08 (up from $4.57)
• 5 lbs: $5.71 (up from $5.13)
• 6 lbs: $6.34 (up from $5.69)
• 7 lbs: $6.97 (up from $6.25)
• 8 lbs: $7.60 (up from $6.81)
• 9 lbs: $8.23 (up from $7.37)
• 10 lbs: $8.86 (up from $7.93)

*For every subsequent pound, the new Media Mail rate can be calculated by adding 7 cents to the previous price increase at the pound below, and adding that number to the current price. For example, we’ll calculate the 11 lb rate. The 10-pound rate increase is $0.93 cents, since $8.86-$7.93=$0.93. If you add $0.07 to $0.93, you get a $1.00 increase for the 11 pound rate. Since the original 2021 Media Mail rate for 11 lbs is $8.49, the new price for the 11 lb Media Mail rate after the second rate increase will be $9.49.