Priority Mail rate change Sept. 7, pending commission approval

Shipping rates for Priority Mail are slated to increase Sept. 7 by approximately 1.7 percent. The United States Postal Service filed a proposed rate schedule with the Postal Regulatory Commission July 1.

Business customers who use commercial-plus pricing to send parcels in larger numbers will see an average decrease of 0.9 percent, the filing said.

The new rates only apply to Priority Mail and are separate from the shipping prices for standard mail and Priority Mail Express. They are also separate from first-class mail rates and international rates.

The Priority Mail flat rate envelope cost will increase 15¢, to $5.75 under the new proposal.

The Postal Service expects to issue a new stamp to fulfill that new flat rate.

“The $5.60 Verrazano-Narrows Bridge stamp will eventually be replaced by a new-design stamp to reflect the price change for the basic flat-rate envelope from $5.60 to $5.75,” USPS spokesman Roy Betts told Linn’s, “but no decisions have been made yet regarding the new design, or how soon it might be announced or issued.”

The prices for the Postal Service’s small flat-rate boxes will increase to $5.95, from $5.80; the medium box will change to $12.65, from $12.35; and the large box will go up to $17.90, from its current price of $17.45.

The legal-size flat-rate envelope increases to $5.90, from $5.75, and the padded envelope changes to $6.10, from $5.95.

“The Postal Service is a vital business partner for small and large businesses and lowering shipping prices will save them money and improve their bottom line,” said Nagisa Manabe, USPS chief marketing and sales officer in a press release. “With our affordable shipping options, we hope to attract new business customers and become their preferred delivery service.”

She added that the USPS will not implement new dimensional-weight charges, “unlike others in the shipping industry.”