{"id":34959,"date":"2019-11-12T09:05:04","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T09:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shippingeasy.com\/?p=34959"},"modified":"2023-01-20T12:25:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T18:25:15","slug":"2020-shipping-rates-what-the-changes-mean-for-e-commerce-merchants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shippingeasy.com\/blog\/2020-shipping-rates-what-the-changes-mean-for-e-commerce-merchants\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 Shipping Rates: What the Changes Mean for E-commerce Merchants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The shipping rates in this blog are the 2021 USPS, UPS, and FedEx shipping rates.<\/strong> For the current 2023 USPS rates, visit our USPS 2023 Shipping Rate Changes: Flat Rate, Priority, First Class, w\/Tables<\/a> blog!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States Postal Service released changes to shipping rates for 2021, which took effect on January 27, 2021. FedEx and UPS released theirs at the beginning of the year and end of 2020, respectively. If you\u2019re completely unfamiliar with what is changing, you can see our breakdown of the 2021 shipping rates for USPS <\/a>here.<\/p>\n\n\n

Get the industry’s most in-depth breakdown of the 2020 shipping rate changes for all three major carriers. Download the free guide now<\/a>!<\/h6>\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019re going to focus mainly on the USPS changes. We\u2019ll dive into the 2021 shipping rates for some of the most popular USPS services and show what exactly the increases will look like to your bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: As of October 19, 2022, ShippingEasy now offers the lowest USPS\u24c7 shipping rates in the industry, and the rates reflected in this blog are prior to this change and may not be accurate. For more information on these new rates, check out our blog!<\/a><\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

2021 Priority Mail shipping rates<\/h2>\n\n\n

We\u2019ll start with what is probably the most popular and most used shipping service USPS offers. Priority Mail offers many features, including various flat rate options. The standard Priority Mail shipping cost is calculated by weight and destination, called Zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Priority Mail shipping rates are increasing by an average of 2.5 percent, fairly in line with the changes that occurred in 2020. While that\u2019s good news, e-commerce merchants will still feel the increase a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the difference you\u2019d experience shipping a 4-pound package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
USPS
\nPriority Mail<\/th>		2020
\nCommercial Rates<\/th>		2021
\nCommercial Rates<\/th>		Price
\nIncrease<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Zones 1 & 2<\/td>$7.94<\/td>$8.10<\/td>$0.16<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zone 3<\/td>$8.45<\/td>$8.58<\/td>$0.13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zone 4<\/td>$9.07<\/td>$9.21<\/td>$0.14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zone 5<\/td>$10.33<\/td>$10.43<\/td>$0.10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zone 6<\/td>$14.16<\/td>$14.80<\/td>$0.64<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zone 7<\/td>$16.06<\/td>$16.78<\/td>$0.72<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zone 8<\/td>$18.14<\/td>$18.96<\/td>$0.82<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zone 9<\/td>$28.50<\/td>$35.63<\/td>$7.13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n

If you ship 500 packages per month, that\u2019s a minimum difference of $80 per month, cutting into your annual revenue by at least $960. A way to mitigate some of this effect is to consider Priority Mail Flat Rate and Regional Rate whenever possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same example, let\u2019s say you\u2019re sending a 4-pound package to Zone 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n