On May 11, 2009, the U.S. Postal Service will be increasing thier rates again.  Fortunately for parcel shippers, prices for most services--particularly Priority & Express Mail-- were already increased in January and will not be increasing again this May.

However, other service levels including First Class Mail (domestic & international), Parcel Post and Media Mail as well as virtually all special services for both domestic and international shipments will be increasing (including certified mail, COD, Delivery Confirmation, Insurance, etc).

The increases apply to both Retail and Commercial rates. So, whether your operation uses an internet postage provider (such as Endicia or Stamps.com) or Postal Manifesting, your rates will increase.

If you are using third-party shipping software, be sure to update your system with these new rates. This is particularly important if you use automatic rate shopping between multiple carriers (such as UPS and/or FedEx) to choose the most cost effective shipping method.  Or, if you pass along the charges calculated by your shipping system to your customers.

Here is a short list of the service levels that will be increased:

• First Class (Domestic & International)
• Parcel Post
• Media
• Library Mail
• Bound Printed Matter
• Special Service Fees (Domestic & International)

For more information about the new rates, visit here.

For a PDF of all of the rates, visit here.