Flat rate shipping is the most popular shipping strategy in the e-commerce business. It is an efficient and straightforward method that charges one price even though some items may weigh more. Many courier companies have flat-rate solutions but we will mainly focus on the USPS.
Different USPS Zones
The USPS has different zones and it is very educational to understand and know how these different zones work. The flat rates for USPS domestic services are usually calculated by the weight of your package and its destination.
It also has a zone chart that specifically calculates the distance from the origin to the destination. They have an average of nine zones with eight of them covering US territories. Zone one’s zip codes are usually granted to the areas near the original zip.
The zones are dynamic meaning they will be different based on your specific location. You can never get a location that has the same code as the other and by determining this, you can enter the origin and destination zip codes to get full information.
Comparison of USPS flat rates
Below is a retail postage rate table for priority Mail in Comparison to small flat rate boxes.
Weight zone 1&2 zone 3 zone 4 zone 5 zone 6 zone 7 zone 8
$7. 35 $7. 70 $7. 85 $ 8. 00 $8. 20 $8. 60 $9. 30 $12. 20
$7. 85 $8. 30 $9. 45 $10. 40 $11. 20 $13. 00 $14. 20 $ 19. 40
$8. 30 $9. 25 $ 10. 40 $11. 85 $12. 55 $16. 15 $19. 0 $25. 45
$8. 75 $10. 15 $11. 10 $13. 40 $133. 45 $19. 80 $22. 05 $30. 05
$9. 80 $10. 85 $11. 60 $13. 70 $18. 20 $22. 70 $22. 45 $34. 80
From the chart above we may therefore conclude that: if your parcel weighs 1 pound then it will approximately cost $ 7.35 for specifically zone one and two. However, if it costs over one pound then expect the price to be a little higher. It is usually advisable to use the small flat rate box, especially for any packages weighing less than 2lbs.
USPS Priority mail in comparison to USPS Medium flat rate
If we look at the pricing chart, we tend to see that if your shipment weighs under 2 pounds, using the USPS Priority Mail will be a little bit cheaper than when using a medium flat rate box.
Comparison between Medium flat rates pricing box to Easy ship
Let’s take the example of sending a 21 shipment package within zone one and take the origin of new York and choose Long Island as its destination. Assuming this particular one fits in the medium flat rate box then you will learn that the flat rate option would be more economical.
Large flat rate box pricing vs. Easy ship pricing
It is usually advised to have a large flat rate box to ship any package or luggage that is over 18 lbs. This will depend on the zone area for instance; a piece of luggage that weighs 7 lbs. in zone 5 will be cheaper when priority mail is used.
Importance of having USPS flat rates
They have a shorter billing period. It is predictable. It has great profits.
Cons of having/ using USPS flat rates
Non- Flexibility
Due to the nature of fixed pricing, then things could always get complicated especially during tough times. This problem can however be sorted out by adding more services to the priced book. You could end up losing money as well especially if you did not charge hourly.
Frequent updates
The price might not be the same all through. This will always be hectic simply because you will have to keep on updating everything. You may end up spending more, especially if you will have to print new copies for the flat rate books.
In summary, driving everything from the rate tables, it is easy to figure out that weight and distance is the key factor that can be used to determine the amount of cash to be used in making sure that your luggage and mail reaches their desired area.
This will enable you to save on so many things such as cost and scale everything to its maximum use. One can as well automate the task and let the working team sync all orders hence letting the algorithm do the weight lifting.
They also provide complete visibility by including and providing other shipping solutions. This in exchange makes a lot of price comparison easier and eliminates any guesswork of whether the flat rates will save you any coin.
The USPS also offers a range of flat rates at commercial-based pricing which actually means that you will have immediate access to much lower rates without having any negotiations with any USPS team member.
