USPS January 2026 Rate Increase - Parcel Select, Ground Advantage, Priority Mail & More
USPS has released details about planned rate increases for Competitive products like Ground Advantage, Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express, effective January 18, 2026.
WASHINGTON — The Postal Service today filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) for Shipping Services price changes to take effect Jan. 18, 2026. The proposed adjustments were approved by the governors of USPS this week.
The change would raise prices approximately 6.6 percent for Priority Mail service, 5.1 percent for Priority Mail Express service, 7.8 percent for USPS Ground Advantage and 6.0 percent for Parcel Select.
Although Mailing Services price increases are based on the consumer price index, Shipping Services prices are primarily adjusted according to market conditions. The governors believe these new rates will keep the Postal Service competitive while providing the organization with needed revenue. As the Postal Service previously announced, the organization will not raise prices in January for Mailing Services. This means the price of a First-Class Mail stamp will not change.
The last "regular" rate adjustment for these services was in July, but USPS also announced "temporary" holiday rates which are what is currently in effect now.
Liz Morton
Value Added Resource has compiled exclusive side by side excerpts comparing the current Holiday rates to the prices that will go into effect in January, using data provided by USPS for informational purposes - but as always check with your post office to confirm total shipping costs.
Ground Advantage Retail
Ground Advantage Commercial
Priority Mail Retail
Priority Mail Commercial
Full price files can be downloaded from USPS Postal Explorer:
The news comes as USPS also reported their year end financials, showing a ~$9 Billion loss for 2025 - and while that sounds bad, as First Amendment attorney and avid follower of the postal and healthcare industries Ross Marchand commented on Substack, somehow that's actually an improvement over last year.
Ross Marchand
And as previously reported, rates for Market Dominant products like First Class Mail, Marketing Mail, and Media Mail will not be going up in January.
Liz Morton
Postmaster David Steiner, who took on the role earlier this year, continues to face pressure to address the Postal Service's quarterly losses and calls to abandon his predecessor Louis DeJoy's Delivering For America plan.
Liz Morton
Non-profit advocacy group Keep Us Posted has been urging support for the “USPS Services Enhancement and Regulatory Viability Expansion and Sustainability for the U.S. Act” (or USPS SERVES US Act).
The bill, introduced by Congressman Sam Graves (R-Mo.), would give the Postal Regulatory Commission the power to stop onerous stamp hikes and mail delays, limit price increases to once per-year, and institute other reforms aimed at accountability, efficiency and success like creating an autonomous Office of Customer Advocate to hear Americans’ concerns and protect the public.
While that bill is still far from being enacted into law, the Postal Regulatory Commission is also considering a proposed rule, filed in June, which would limit USPS to only raising prices once per year.
Under this proposal, USPS would be limited to no more than one price adjustment of general applicability for market dominant products “per fiscal year from October 1, 2025, through October 1, 2030, unless such rate adjustment filings only include rate decreases or are de minimis [minimal] increases.”
However, it's important to note that if passed, it would only affect Market Dominant products but it would not apply to competitive products like Ground Advantage, Priority, or Priority Express services.
And as always, when shipping prices go up, it often means a de facto fee increase for sellers on marketplaces like Etsy and eBay which may assess commissions and advertising on total sales costs including shipping - and that will be an especially hard pill to swallow for eBay sellers who are facing massive changes to Promoted Listings ad attribution policies also coming in mid-January.
Liz Morton
Not only does eBay collect more in Final Value Fees and Promoted Listings ad fees when shipping rates go up, they also get an unearned bump in Gross Merchandise Volume for their quarterly financial reports.
How will the USPS January rate changes impact your ecommerce business? Let us know in the comments below!
