It will cost sellers significantly more to mail a package during the holiday shopping season thanks to the USPS holiday surcharge, now an annual event. The new holiday rates for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage and Parcel Select will take effect on October 4, 2026. Seasonal rates typically run right up to New Year rate hike - in this case, the holiday surcharge will run through January 17, 2027.
According to the
Postal Regulatory Commission docket, both Retail and Commercial rates for Priority Mail, Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select will increase 6% on average. No price changes are being made to Special Services or International competitive products.
USPS said the price adjustment will "help cover extra handling costs to ensure a successful peak season." This is in effect the 4th rate increase for packages this year if you include the so-called
temporary surcharge of 8% on imposed on April 26, 2026, which runs through early 2027.
- Priority Mail Commercial prices increased 6.9% on average.
- Ground Advantage Commercial prices increased 9.6% on average.
- USPS eliminated ounce-based rate differentiation for published Commercial USPS Ground Advantage prices, resulting in an average price increase of 11.8% for USPS Ground Advantage Commercial. Marketplace sellers got a break - but not for packages sent to rural buyers in Alaska, Hawaii, and those located in many of the zip codes USPS designates as rural.
- USPS lowered the dimensional weight (DIM weight) divisor from 166 to 139 across all domestic competitive products, making bulky, lightweight items more expensive.
- USPS instituted Hazardous Materials surcharges: a $7.50 hazardous materials handling fee for qualifying shipments sent via Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express, and a $50 hazardous materials non-compliance fee for packages that are improperly declared, improperly labeled, or otherwise fail to meet USPS HazMat requirements.
UPS and FedEx rates are also rising, as Refund Retriever explained:
"These temporary changes will support the organization in achieving its public service mission - providing a nationwide, integrated network for the delivery of mail and packages at least six days a week - in a cost-effective and financially sustainable manner over the long term, as the U.S. Congress has intended."
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USPS Hikes Shipping 6 Percent for 2026 Holidays