How To Use The USPS Postage Calculator (2024)

FAQs

How To Use The USPS Postage Calculator? ›

Step 2: Enter Information into the Calculator

Head over to the USPS Postage Price Calculator and input your package details. Select the destination: Choose whether you're shipping domestically or internationally. Enter package dimensions and weight: Fill in the length, width, height, and weight fields.

Step 2: Enter Information into the Calculator

Head over to the USPS Postage Price Calculator and input your package details. Select the destination: Choose whether you're shipping domestically or internationally. Enter package dimensions and weight: Fill in the length, width, height, and weight fields.

When calculating the postage price for your package, USPS rounds up the weight (to the next pound for most heavier packages or to the next available ounce-rate for some lightweight packages). This applies to all mail classes—domestic and international.

If your letter is a standard-sized envelope and weighs 3.5 ounces or less, you will need one stamp. Large envelopes. This includes 9x12, legal, and manila envelopes, Two stamps are needed for the first ounce, and postage will be an additional $0.20 cents after.

It's essential to check the current rates either online or at your local post office. The current price of a standard First-Class Mail stamp in the U.S. is 55 cents, but this could have changed. To calculate how many stamps you need, take the total postage cost and divide it by the cost of a single stamp.

Make sure the weight is accurate: Use a kitchen scale or postal scale (not a bathroom scale), or have your package weighed at the Post Office. Include the weight of everything, including packing materials. Round up on weights: Some USPS products round up to the ounce, while others round up to the pound.

Divide the postage price by the price of a Forever stamp.

The number you get is how many stamps you'll need. If your postage cost comes to $2.64, for example, you would divide 2.64 by 0.66 to get 4. Therefore, you would need 4 stamps.

Does USPS charge based on size or weight? ›

In general, the heavier the mailpiece, the more it costs to mail. For Priority Mail Express, the weight and distance the piece travels determines the price, except for items mailed in USPS-provided Priority Mail Express Flat Rate packaging.

Multiply the package length (longest side of the package) by the width by the height. The result is the cubic size in inches. Divide the cubic size in inches by the divisor to calculate the dimensional weight in pounds. Increase any fraction to the next whole pound.

View tracking information in the Transactional Details window. This window displays the shipping and status information, along with the delivery and destination addresses, weight, mail class, and postage cost for the selected package.

Customers must affix additional postage when mailing letters weighing in excess of 1 ounce and/or letters subject to the nonmachinable surcharge or mailpieces subject to another rate of postage (e.g., large envelopes or packages).

Shape, weight, and size affect the price for large packages. If you have a large, lightweight package, instead of paying the normal postage price, you may be charged the balloon price, oversized price, or dimensional weight price depending on the class of mail and additional factors.

For rectangular parcels, record the exterior dimensions for length, width, and height in inches -- using sewing or measuring tape. Multiply each of these dimensions together to find the volume of your package in cubic inches. (Shows an example package's measurements: 16" long x 6" wide x 12" high = 1,152 cubic inches.)

Most shipping carriers use a pricing method known as dimensional weight to calculate the rates they offer. This is calculated by multiplying the length, height, and the width of the package. A standard divisor is then used for dividing the figure above.

For First-Class Mail, shape and weight will determine the price. For Priority Mail, the price is a combination of weight, size, and how far the mailpiece is traveling. Priority Mail pieces that exceed one cubic foot, are subject to "dimensional weight pricing".

Multiply the package length (longest side of the package) by the width by the height. The result is the cubic size in inches. Divide the cubic size in inches by the divisor to calculate the dimensional weight in pounds. Increase any fraction to the next whole pound.