How Much Does It Cost to Ship a Package?

8 min read

Ecommerce businesses are no strangers to shipping, but if you’re just getting started, there’s a lot to understand about this component of your business.

Whether you have a small customer base in the United States or you’re already operating internationally, understanding various shipping rates, services, and your options as a business owner is mission-critical.

This post breaks down vital information about how much it costs to ship a package and the carrier options you can use. It also provides other information that will benefit your shipping strategy and, ultimately, your profits.

Package Costs by Carrier

Shipping carriers offer different rates, delivery times, and service upgrades that can impact how much it costs to ship a package.

Let’s break down the three biggest shipping carriers’ pricing so you can understand them well.

How much does it cost to ship a package UPS?

UPS offers different shipping options that vary in cost. These include the following general options:

UPS Ground/Simple Rate: This is the cheapest shipping option via UPS. Fees for a small box start at $10.85 with a delivery estimate of 1 to 5 business days. Large box fees begin at $22.30 for the same delivery estimation.
UPS Next Day Air: This option is ideal for next-day deliveries within the United States. Prices begin at $35.00, with some costing as much as $1750.83, depending on the size and weight of what you’re sending.
UPS 3-Day Select: Faster than UPS Ground but not as costly as Next Day Air, the 3-Day Select option is ideal for many business owners. If your shipments require fast delivery, fees begin at $13.66 for small packages.

How much does it cost to ship a package USPS?

If you opt to use USPS for your business’s shipping services, you’ll have many great options and pricing flexibility.

Here are a few examples of what shipping fees look like with USPS.

Priority Mail Express: Next-day or 2-day delivery, pricing begins at $30.45.
Priority Mail: 1-3 business day delivery, flat rate box is $10.40, flat rate envelope $9.85.
USPS Ground Advantage: Expected delivery within 2 to 5 days, pricing begins at $5.00.
First Class Mail: For letters or large envelopes (under 13 ounces) with a 5-day delivery, pricing begins at $1.39 for large envelopes.

How much does it cost to ship a package FedEx?

FedEx offers flexible delivery times and affordable rates for business owners worldwide. Here are some of the popular shipping services you can utilize with FedEx.

FedEx One Rate: Small box rates begin at $12.40 for 3-day shipping.
FedEx Ground Economy: Delivered in 2 to 7 business days, starting at $10 depending on location.

How much does it cost to ship a small package?

Small packages can range from a few ounces to under 5 pounds.

How much does it cost to ship a 1lb package?

Standard shipping rates via USPS for a one-pound package start at $2.74. Through UPS, this will cost you around $8.44 and $10.22 via FedEx.

Delivery estimates vary through each shipping provider, but these packages generally arrive in 5 days or less.

How much does it cost to ship a 5lb package?

Here are a few average prices per carrier based on 5-day delivery estimations.

USPS Flat-Rate: $17
FedEx Ground: $25
UPS Ground: $14

How much does it cost to ship a large package?

Large and oversized packages understandably cost more to ship, but you can save money by selecting slower delivery times.

If a package weighs over 65 pounds, it will likely require freight shipping, costing hundreds of dollars.

How much does it cost to ship a 10lb package?

Prices jump significantly once a package weighs 10+ pounds. Here are a few price variations you can expect to see:

UPS Ground: $33.22
FedEx Ground: $31.92
USPS Ground: $31.45

Fortunately, there are a few ways you can cut your shipping costs and save money. If you ship USPS, you can use padded flat-rate envelopes to protect your products during shipping and enjoy ample cost savings.

Common Shipping FAQs

Get all your additional shipping questions answered here.

How much does it cost to ship a package internationally?

International shipping can be a stressful undertaking, but fortunately, there are a lot of service providers who offer affordable rates. If you’re thinking about shipping internationally because most of your customer base is abroad, here’s what you should know.

Shipping fees vary drastically based on the package’s destination, the weight and dimensions of the box, and how fast you want the product to arrive. Generally speaking, international shipping can range from $20 to $200, depending on the factors listed.

USPS is traditionally the cheapest (and slowest) shipping service, while UPS covers the broadest area of the world, and FedEx offers the fastest shipping times.

A business owner must determine what matters most with an international shipping strategy. Are your customers willing to pay more for shipping to get their items quicker? Or would they prefer to pay the minimum fee and wait longer for their package to arrive?

Offering shipping options is an easy way for the customer to absorb the cost. This sets the expectation so they know how long it may take to receive the item while ensuring they are comfortable with the price they’ll pay.

You may be surprised at how many international customers are willing to pay for shipping. As long as you are transparent about your location and the prices your shipping providers offer, you’ll find that most of your customers are willing and able to pay more for shipping to purchase your high-quality products.

How much does it cost to ship a package overnight?

Here are the standard prices for overnight shipping:

Priority Mail Express (USPS): Prices start at $26.95 for packages under 70 pounds
UPS Next Day Air: Prices begin at $35
FedEx Priority Overnight: Depends on the package weight and destination

Ease Your Shipping Woes with Ecwid

We know how stressful shipping products can be and are here to help make your life easier.

We created discounted shipping labels to streamline your operations, increase productivity, and even save you some coins along the way. Explore our self-service shipping options in your Ecwid Control Panel today!

Sell online

With Ecwid Ecommerce, you can easily sell anywhere, to anyone — across the internet and around the world.

Get started

Oct 26, 2023

About the author

Max has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last six years helping brands to establish and level-up content marketing and SEO. Despite that, he has experience with entrepreneurship. He is a fiction writer in his free time.