Package Shipping Cost Comparison

Shipping costs vary significantly between carriers and service levels. Choosing the right option can save 20–60% on the same package.

Carrier strengths:

• USPS: Cheapest for packages under 1 lb and flat-rate options. Free Saturday delivery. Best for small, lightweight packages.
• UPS: Competitive for heavier packages (over 2 lbs). Good tracking and reliability. Best for business shipping.
• FedEx: Similar to UPS pricing. Excellent overnight and express options. Best for time-sensitive shipments.

Key pricing factors:

• Weight: all carriers bill the greater of actual and dimensional weight, but not on the same terms. UPS and FedEx apply dimensional weight to every package. USPS applies it only above one cubic foot, and divides by 166 rather than 139, which is why USPS often wins on bulky but modest-sized parcels.
• Dimensions: oversized packages cost significantly more. Dimensional weight = (L × W × H) ÷ 139 for UPS and FedEx, ÷ 166 for USPS.
• Distance/zone: Further destinations cost more. The US is divided into 8 zones.
• Service speed: Ground (5–7 days) is cheapest. Express (1–3 days) costs 2–4x more.

Why you type the prices in

This page does not guess at carrier rates, and you should be suspicious of any page that does. Published rates change every January, vary across eight zones, and are discounted 30 to 60% for anyone with a business account or a reseller like Pirate Ship. A rate table hardcoded into a web page is wrong for most readers on the day it is written and wronger every year after.

Get three real quotes, which takes about two minutes on the carriers’ own sites, then paste them here. What this works out for you is the ranking, the cost per pound, what the cheapest option actually saves, and whether a flat rate box beats all of them.

USPS flat-rate boxes are the one case where weight stops mattering. Whatever the current price is, it covers up to 70 lbs and any domestic zone, and dimensional weight does not apply. That makes flat rate very hard to beat for anything small and heavy, and poor value for anything light. Look up today’s price for the box size you need and put it in the flat rate field.

Money-saving tips:

• Compare rates on pirateship.com or shippo.com, which resell commercial pricing at no charge
• Use free carrier-supplied boxes where available, since USPS Priority and UPS both provide them
• Print labels online rather than at the counter, which is usually worth 10 to 30%
• Schedule a free pickup instead of driving to a drop-off

Cost per pound is the number worth reading. Two quotes that look close often are not, once you notice one of them is billing dimensional weight. If a quote’s cost per pound looks wrong against the others, the carrier is probably charging for the size of your box rather than its weight. The package dimension calculator will show you which weight each carrier is using.