USPS Services

Beginning May 15th, shipping services for hazardous materials (HAZMAT) will be temporarily restricted to only Ground Advantage™. As a result, we’ll continue to support HAZMAT shipping through this ground service.  Shipping hazardous materials correctly is important to Stamps.com and USPS. In fact, hazardous materials cause damage if shipped incorrectly. That’s why many dangerous goods are […]

USPS is upgrading all postage meters to use a new system called Intelligent Mail Indicia (IMI). This will replace the older system, Information Based Indicia (IBI), after 20+ years of use. IMI has more updated technology and has been slowly rolled out over the past 10 years.  What does this mean, and how do these […]

It’s commonplace to think about a destination in miles. You usually have an idea of how far you’re traveling, even if it’s only by the number of cities and states you’ll pass through. Shipping a package follows the same principle. You are aware of the distance between you and your customer, but you might not […]

A smooth shipping process not only helps streamline your operations as an e-commerce seller, but also ensures your products reach your customers without undue delays.  Moreover, you can focus your efforts on growing your business instead of dealing with customer complaints and questions around package delivery status or postage due at the time of delivery. What […]

Shipments can sometimes be lost during transit, including orders to your customers. How do you help customers who are reaching out for assistance? USPS provides resources to try to locate missing mail and packages, and the USPS Mail Recovery Center serves as the hub for lost items. We also have tips to prevent packages from […]

Wishing you could give yourself the gift of more time this busy holiday season? If you’re working long hours and trying to figure out when you’ll have a moment to pop over to the Post Office to ship all those holiday packages, don’t stress. Most cities have a Post Office that stays open beyond the […]

Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York City, is known for being the home of LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport, Citi Field (home of the New York Mets), the Unisphere, and its ethnically diverse community. Did you know that Queens Borough also used to have its own unique mailing standards? […]

A brand-new housing development is going up. Houses have sprung up in once-vacant lots. A line of trees has been planted along unused avenues. Parks and playgrounds have been created. Water, phone, gas, and electric services have been installed. You’re almost ready to move in. Wondering how you will get your mail? Even before construction […]

Sometimes your boxes and shipments will soar 39,000 feet in the air. From the time the USPS first experimented with mail flight in 1911 to the present day, letters and parcels have been carried through the air to ensure speedy delivery for your recipients. What constitutes “air mail”? What scenarios cause the USPS to send […]

If your package gets flagged for postage due by the new USPS Automated Package Verification (APV) system, what can you do? While this new machinery is state of the art and catches both underpaid and overpaid packages, there are situations where the scanning tool can have a false positive—a package will be flagged for being shortpaid […]

One day you may come home from work and see a barcode affixed to your curbside mailbox. You take a closer look and above the barcode it says “Managed Service Point.” Below the barcode it will show your mailing address.  You also spot the United States Postal Service logo with the familiar eagle. What does […]

Summer’s coming, and you’re checking off a long list of tasks that need to be performed before you can relax on the beach. You’ve booked your tickets, compiled your summer reading list, and made sure you have all of the supplies and clothes you need. What’s left? Don’t let your mail accumulate while you’re away! […]

Update: This article has been edited to reflect the new launch date of August 15 for the Automated Package Verification program. The USPS is implementing a new system that will change how shortpaid or overpaid mail is charged and handled. Previously, shortpaid pieces used to go through a cumbersome process by which they’d be returned to […]

In May 2018, there were 23 million packages shipped by the USPS that had issues with address quality on the shipping label. Sometimes this inaccurate info is very minor, such as a missing apartment number and the package can still be delivered on time.  Other times the incorrect address info can be a major problem, […]

Are you planning to ship gifts internationally this holiday season? You should know that USPS weight limits vary by mail class and destination country. To ensure that your holiday packages are mailable check out the table below— you can determine how much your international package or letter can weigh by mail class and destination:

Compliance with USPS rules and regulations is an important aspect of being a successful seller and shipper. One rule to definitely keep in mind is that Priority Mail Flat Rate® Boxes must be used with Priority Mail Flat Rate postage. For example, if you have a Medium Flat Rate Box handy, remember that only a […]

What if you could receive a digital image of a letter before it even arrives at your doorstep? Informed Delivery, a pilot program offered by the USPS, makes that possible! Just imagine: if you’re on the road, at work or in the middle of a vacation, you can see black-and-white images of the exterior and […]

You may have noticed the extra appendage of numbers added to a ZIP code called the plus-four, ZIP + 4, or add-on code. What is it for? The USPS considers the five-digit ZIP plus those additional four digits to be the most complete kind of delivery code. Introduced in 1983, the plus-four is a helpful […]

Do you need to send something important, and need a way to know when it safely arrives at its destination? Using USPS Certified Mail provides both proof of mailing and proof of receipt to help ensure your important mailpieces, including confidential documents, arrive at their intended destinations. Certified Mail comes in handy when you need […]

Uh oh!  You’ve shipped out your merchandise to a customer, but you’ve received notice that it went to an incorrect address. The good news is that you might be able to redirect or intercept the package if it has entered the mailstream but hasn’t been delivered yet thanks to the USPS® Package Intercept process. Package […]