USPS Standard shipping Cost

The USPS is open to everyone. You don’t have to set up an account to use its services to ship your eBay merchandise. To get a basic idea of what you’ll pay to send a package, you can access a rate calculator on the USPS website.

Convenient and fast

The post office has worked hard to keep up with the competition in the parcel business by offering many online features and custom pickup. They also offer many classes of service, with a weight maximum of 70 pounds. Note that the USPS delivers packages seven days a week, the other major carriers count only five business days.

Service Time to Cross the Country (Days) What You Can Ship First Class 3–5 First Class mail can be used to mail anything, as long as it weighs 13 ounces or less. You can send a letter, a large envelope, or a small package. Priority Mail 2–3 Priority Mail is just First Class mail on steroids (for heavier items). Standard Post or Parcel Select 2-8 Standard Post is cheaper (and slower) than Priority Mail. Media Mail 2-8 Media Mail is the least expensive way to mail heavy items. The only caveat is that you can use Media Mail to ship only books, film, manuscripts, printed music, printed test materials, sound recordings, scripts, and computer-recorded media such as CD-ROMs and diskettes.

Read on for details on the most popular forms of mail used by eBay sellers.

First Class

Good old regular mail — in particular, First Class — is the way everyone send bills and letters. It works also as an economical alternative for eBay items weighing up to 13 ounces.

Sending items in bubble-wrap envelopes will often get the shipping weight under the 13-ounce maximum for First Class mail.

Too many sellers make the jump to Priority Mail because they don’t take the time to think about the weight of their items. It doesn’t have to ship in an envelope to go via First Class mail.

Priority Mail

The two- to three-day Priority Mail service is the most popular form of shipping for eBay packages. There are three price options: Flat Rate. Regional Rate, and weight/distance. You can get free cartons from the post office. You can also print postage online through Endicia or Stamps.com.

The Priority Mail rates are perfect for 1-pound packages (starting at $4.90 flat-rate cross-country when printed online) and 2-pound packages (from $5.80, based on distance). They also have a flat-rate Priority envelope in which you can jam in as much as possible (regardless of the package’s final weight) for $4.90.