WASHINGTON
(AP) — For years, the U.S. Postal Service has wanted to offer volume discounts
on shipping and premium mail services. Now, it is about to begin doing so.
Beginning
May 12, shippers using Express Mail, Priority Mail and certain parcel services
will be able to get discounts for large and medium volume contracts, the agency
said Wednesday.
The
Postal Service had announced last month that the price for sending first-class
mail would go up a penny — to 42 cents — on that date. But it did not
announce new shipping rates at the time.
The
February announcement did prompt people to stock up on Forever Stamps, which
will sell for 41 cents until rates go up, but will remain valid for postage
after that date without any additional stamps. Sales of Forever stamps jumped
$95 million in February, compared to January.
Most of
the newly announced changes apply to businesses, but flat rate prices for
residential and other small customers will still be available, and they will be
eligible for a 3 percent discount for buying postage online.
Under the
new rates, the Express Mail flat-rate envelope will go up a quarter to $16.50.
The
Priority Mail regular flat-rate box increases to $9.80 from $8.95, and the price
for a Priority Mail flat-rate envelope increases to $4.80 from $4.60.
There
will be no price change for the new larger Priority Mail Flat-Rate Boxes that
went on sale March 3. The new boxes will continue to cost $12.95 to mail
domestically and $10.95 to mail to military APO/FPO addresses.
A new law
restructuring postal operations allows the agency to drop its one-price-fits-all
charges for shipping and to offer discounts for large volume shippers. The new
approach, largely applicable to business, will include commercial volume
pricing, minimum volume rebates, online price breaks and other pricing
incentives, the agency said.
It said
that its overnight Express Mail service will switch to a zone-based pricing
system, resulting in lower prices for closer destinations.
Customers
will be offered a 3 percent price reduction by purchasing Express Mail online or
through corporate accounts and an additional 7 percent price reduction will be
available for those who meet quarterly volume minimums.
Priority
Mail will be eligible for an average 3.5 percent savings to customers who use
electronic postage or meet other requirements.
Parcel
Select — in which a company brings the material to a local post office and the
Postal Service carries it the "last mile" to the customer — will
have volume incentives for large- and medium-sized shippers.
Parcel
Return Service, in which customers can return items to businesses, will move
entirely to a weight-based pricing system, resulting in price reductions for
lighter packages.
A
detailed rundown on the new prices is available at usps.com/prices.