USPS Priority Mail: What You Need to Know

USPS Priority Mail is the Postal Service’s most widely-used shipping service. Shippers choose this service for its quick delivery timeframes, affordable rates, and built-in insurance. Here’s everything you need to know about USPS’ most popular mail class.

USPS Priority Mail Has Four Sub-Services

The first thing you need to know about USPS Priority Mail is that it has four sub-services, each with different pricing and shipping requirements. Those sub-services are: weight-based Priority Mail, Priority Mail Cubic, Priority Mail Flat Rate, and Priority Mail Regional Rate. This guide, however, is about the regular weight-based service.

Priority Mail Service: The Breakdown

• Delivery occurs between 1-3 business days anywhere in the United States
• Free door-to-door tracking included
• Maximum weight allowed is 70 pounds
• Maximum Length + Girth for packages is 108 inches
• $100 of built-in USPS insurance included (with Commercial Pricing rates)
  • $50 of insurance included when you buy postage the Post Office
• USPS offers free boxes for weight-based Priority Mail (but always make sure you pay for the service marked on USPS branded boxes)
  • You can also use generic boxes or your own custom-branded packaging

How Much Does this Service Cost?

USPS offers Priority Mail in two different pricing tiers: Retail and Commercial. Retail Pricing refers to the price you pay at the Post Office or through Click N’ Ship on the USPS website. Commercial Pricing refers to a special level of discounts that USPS reserves for huge commercial shippers, as well as customers who use shipping software to buy labels online. price points for different packages vary. No matter which pricing tier you gain access to, the cost of shipping your package goes up the bigger it is, the more it weighs, and the further it has to travel.

Under Retail Pricing, prices for weight-based Priority Mail service start at $8.70 and go up from there. Commercial Pricing rates, on the hand hand, start at just over $7.30.

If you’d like to see the full pricing chart for weight-based Priority Mail up to 70 pounds, visit the USPS website.