Only the USPS is authorized to place packages in mailboxes. carriers can only reach these addresses when the postal service delivers the last mile. address, including post office boxes and government addresses such as APO (Army/Air Force Post Office), FPO (Fleet Post Office, for Navy), and DPO (Diplomatic Post Office, for U.S. The USPS does not add fuel, residential, or Saturday delivery surcharges to any shipment - significant in an era of high fuel costs. Priority Mail packages also receive special handling and extra care in the USPS system. The USPS flat-rate boxes are Priority Mail, meaning a package usually arrives in two or three days. Flat-rate boxes have a known cost - no surprises. Although shipping calculators are accurate, there are times when the actual shipping cost for a package exceeds what the merchant expected. (Other carriers, I should add, also include free boxes with their flat-rate services.) Merchants will still need to purchase packing peanuts or similar cushioning material, but avoiding as much as $1 per box can be huge savings.

Merchants order them at no cost and start shipping. Here are seven reasons to consider USPS’s flat-rate and prepaid flat-rate boxes and envelopes. The USPS offers some of the most attractive options among the various carriers available to North America-based online merchants.

Even enterprise retailers such as Amazon and Walmart use the service. Today, USPS flat rate services address many ecommerce delivery problems and costs. More than a decade later, on November 20, 2004, the USPS released the Priority Mail flat-rate box. The postal service’s flat-rate offering began in February 1991 when it introduced the Priority Mail flat-rate envelope. Shoppers expect to place an order, obtain free shipping, and receive that order in about two days.įortunately for merchants, the USPS is a leader in flat-rate shipping services. Most online stores now offer free shipping - thank Amazon, L.L. Moreover, free and fast ecommerce delivery is ubiquitous. A business must pay shipping and carrier fees, buy packing materials, and hire labor to pick and pack each order. Shipping can be a significant challenge for ecommerce merchants. For more than 20 years, the United States Postal Service has offered flat-rate boxes and envelopes that have helped online stores reduce shipping costs while improving shoppers’ buying experience.

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