If you’re starting an e-commerce business and trying to determine your shipping strategy, you may be wondering: are USPS boxes and envelopes free? Shipping costs, including the money spent on packaging materials, can have a big impact on your bottom line. In fact, 58 percent of businesses listed cost of shipping as their biggest operational challenge, according to our State of Shipping report.
To help business owners manage their shipping costs, the USPS provides free shipping boxes and envelopes for some of their popular service levels.
Here are a few tips to help you take advantage of U.S. Postal Service’s free boxes, envelopes, and shipping supplies.
You can order free boxes and envelopes online at the USPS store. The Postal Service will even deliver the supplies to your door for free. Most boxes will typically come in packs of 10 or 25, so keep that in mind as you complete your order. When you select your quantity, you’re choosing how many packs (of 10, 25, etc.) you want. You can also pick up free supplies at your local Post Office.
The USPS provides free shipping boxes and envelopes for Priority Mail and Global Express Guaranteed packages. Here’s a breakdown of the box and envelope dimensions. Keep in mind that USPS Regional Rate has been discontinued as of January 22, 2023. If you still have those boxes, you may use them to ship, but the Postal Service no longer distributes them to merchants.
The service level on the packaging must match the service level on the label. So, if you’re shipping the package via Priority Mail Express, you need to use a Priority Mail Express box. You cannot use these boxes for service levels like Media Mail or First-Class.
The service level on the packaging must match the service level on the label. So, if you’re shipping the package via Priority Mail Express, you need to use a Priority Mail Express box. You cannot use these boxes for service levels like Media Mail or First-Class.
Don’t delay—order your free USPS boxes today, so you can save on packaging costs!
You might also be interested in our Priority Mail Flat Rate guide, and if you’re going to start shipping soon, don’t forget to check out our domestic FedEx vs. UPS vs. USPS rate comparison. And check out our USPS postage calculator to see examples of some of our deeply discounted USPS rates.
Shippo is a multi-carrier API and web app that helps retailers, marketplaces and platforms connect to a global network of carriers. Businesses use Shippo to get real-time rates, print labels, automate international paperwork, track packages and facilitate returns. Shippo provides the tools to help businesses succeed through shipping.
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