USPS Delays HAZMAT Fees For Return Shipments Until February 2027
USPS is giving merchants and shipping platforms more time to prepare for new hazardous materials fees on packages sent through its commercial return-label programs, delaying the fees for USPS Returns shipments until February 1, 2027.
The Postal Service introduced a HAZMAT handling fee and a much larger noncompliance fee for domestic packages on July 12, but said that USPS Returns packages are temporarily exempt.
USPS Returns refers to the Postal Service’s commercial return-label programs, where a retailer, marketplace or returns provider supplies the customer with a prepaid USPS label and is billed for the shipment.
It does not necessarily include every package being sent back to a seller, such as a regular Ground Advantage label purchased separately and used for a return.
For marketplaces and retailers providing prepaid return labels, any additional postage adjustments may be billed to the company purchasing the USPS Returns service.
The handling fee applies to domestic retail and commercial packages that are properly declared as containing hazardous materials. It is currently $7.50 for Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express, while the fee for USPS Ground Advantage and Parcel Select is set at $0.00.
The $50 noncompliance fee applies to commercial packages when USPS identifies missing or mismatched hazardous materials data or markings, including the Service Type Code, service icon, barcode banner text or required UN label.
USPS will assess the noncompliance fee through its Census and Automated Package Verification systems. A package that is both noncompliant and missing an applicable handling fee may be charged both fees.
Sellers reusing boxes also need to remove or completely cover any old hazardous materials labels or markings. USPS may treat those markings as describing the package’s current contents, even when it does not contain regulated material.
Common resale items that may require special preparation include perfume, nail polish, aerosol products and electronics containing lithium batteries.
Poshmark has already said it will absorb most of the $50 fee when qualifying outbound seller packages are flagged, charging sellers $5 beginning August 1 and covering the remaining $45. That policy does not apply to returns.
Liz Morton
Other marketplaces have not announced similar protections, leaving sellers uncertain whether the charge will be passed on when USPS identifies a noncompliant package.
The new fees were among several USPS shipping changes that took effect July 12. USPS lowered its dimensional weight divisor from 166 to 139 and began rounding package measurements up to the next whole inch, potentially increasing the billed weight of large, lightweight packages.
Liz Morton
USPS is also requiring more complete package dimensions in commercial shipping manifests, with broader automated dimension noncompliance enforcement tentatively planned for early 2027. USPS Returns packages are currently excluded from that dimension-reporting requirement.
Liz Morton
The new fees and compliance rules come as USPS faces mounting financial pressure and looks for more ways to recover its costs.
USPS reported a $2 billion net loss for its fiscal second quarter, bringing its loss for the first half of fiscal 2026 to about $3.3 billion. While the second-quarter result improved from the prior year, Postmaster General David Steiner said the organization remained in a “cash crisis” and was taking steps to conserve funds.
The Postal Regulatory Commission recently found USPS ended fiscal 2025 with a $2.7 billion net loss from operations and had not recorded a profitable year in the last decade.
USPS also imposed a temporary 8% increase on Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, Ground Advantage and Parcel Select base postage beginning in April to offset transportation costs. That surcharge is scheduled to continue through January 17, 2027, shortly before the HAZMAT fees begin applying to USPS Returns shipments.
