The Cheapest Way to Ship a Package in 2025: Costs & Tips

Find the cheapest way to ship a package in 2025. Learn about shipping costs, money-saving tips, and effective shipping strategies for your business.

High shipping rates can stop consumers from purchasing your products. Data suggests almost half of all abandoned carts are left due to additional shipping fees and tax costs.

So how can small businesses develop effective shipping strategies that keep product prices down without moving the cost of shipping on to customers? And if you want to send a package from home, how do you find the cheapest rate?

To help, here are the latest prices for sending packages with popular shipping carriers. Rates are compared by package size and weight, delivery speed, and whether the destination is domestic or international.

Cheapest way to ship small packages: USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL comparison

For most purposes, the cheapest way to ship a small package (such as a box or mailer bag) is through USPS.

Each carrier has its own guidelines on what is considered a “small package.” The dimensions and weight of your shipment, its destination, and your chosen delivery speed will all affect the price of that shipment.

To help you compare small package shipping rates among the major carriers, here’s an example. The table below shows how much it costs to send a small box from New York to Chicago using a standard mailing class:

Provider	Service	Estimated delivery time	Rate
USPS	Ground Advantage	2–5 business days	$5.25
UPS	Ground	2 business days	$14.90
FedEx	Ground	2 business days	$19.10
DHL	Express Domestic	1 business day	$80.90

💡Tip: Shopify merchants in the US and Canada enjoy heavily discounted rates when shipping with USPS, UPS, DHL, Canada Post, and Sendle.

Cheapest way to ship large packages: rates and size limits

For personal and retail shipping, the cheapest way to send a package is usually through USPS.

What is considered a large package varies depending on the type of mailing service that you request from a courier, such as whether it needs to travel by ground shipping or air.

Below is the maximum regular package weight and dimensions for each of the major shipping companies:

• USPS maximum package weight and length: 70 lbs (32 kg) and 108 inches (274 cm). 
• UPS maximum package weight and length: 150 lbs (68 kg) and 108 inches (274 cm). 
• DHL maximum package weight and length: 154 lbs (70 kg) and 47 inches (120 cm).
• FedEx maximum package weight and length: 150 lbs (68 kg) and 108 inches (274cm).
• Sendle maximum package weight and length: 55 lbs (25 kg) and 70 inches (180 cm).

To ship even larger packages, choose a freight service.

Here is the estimated shipping cost of sending a large package from New York to Chicago using a standard mailing service:

Provider	Service	Estimated delivery time	Rate
USPS	Priority Mail	2–3 business days	$23.95
UPS	Ground	2 business days	$27.55
FedEx	Express Saver	3 business days	$29.50
DHL	Express Domestic	1 business day	$125.97

Cheapest way to ship internationally: costs and considerations

Many couriers calculate their international shipping costs according to global import regulations and distance. So, for US merchants, the cheapest international shipping rates usually apply to packages bound for Canada.

Duties and import taxes can vary widely depending on the value of your shipment and the destination country. It’s up to merchants to decide whether they’ll pass responsibility for these fees onto customers or offer a solution for international customers.

Here are the cheapest international shipping services for individual small packages (5 lbs) sent from the US to Canada:

Provider	Service	Estimated delivery time	Rate
USPS	Priority Mail International	6–10 business days	$30.90
UPS	UPS International	2–5 business days	$200.59
FedEx	FedEx International Connect Plus	2–5 business days	$171.48
DHL	DHL International Standard	4–8 business days	$262.72

Cheapest way to ship: comparing delivery speed options

Best rates for two- to three-day delivery

USPS Priority Mail is generally the cheapest shipping service for faster shipping. It offers two- to three-day shipping from $9.35, depending on the size of your package and its destination. USPS flat-rate boxes are a convenient, economical option here.

For larger packages, UPS and FedEx offer competitive rates for sub-three-day shipping.

Best rates for next-day delivery

Next-day delivery is your friend when you don’t have time on your side and need to ship your products as quickly and safely as possible.

All major couriers offer next-day delivery options, but USPS Priority Mail Express’s shipping service is the cheapest, with regular pricing starting at $31.40. UPS Air Saver and FedEx Standard Overnight are both guaranteed next-day services for US domestic packages. 

Prices depend on package size, destination, and delivery requirements. For example, scheduling a delivery at an exact time or requiring a signature upon delivery will both increase your total cost of delivery.

How to calculate shipping costs

It’s difficult to estimate how much you’ll spend on shipping when there are so many variables at play. 

Factors that influence shipping costs include:

• Shipping distance: The farther your package has to travel, the more your transportation costs increase. Smart order routing helps reduce these shipping costs. For example, instead of fulfilling orders to the West Coast from your New York warehouse, set them to be fulfilled from your San Francisco location. 
• Delivery speed: Same-day shipping is the most expensive option, but if your customers don’t mind waiting a few days to receive their order, you can opt for a slower—but cheaper—delivery service. 
• Parcel value: Shipping insurance protects your parcel if it’s damaged or lost in transit. The higher the value of your package is, the more expensive this premium is. 
• Package dimensions: Most carriers use a parcel’s weight and size to determine how much it will cost to ship. Larger items take up more space on delivery vehicles, hence the higher shipping costs.
• Additional services: White-label shipping services, signed-for delivery, pre-selected pickup times—most carriers charge hidden fees for these customizable add-ons. 
• Duties and taxes: If you’re shipping internationally, you can either pass the responsibility of paying duties and import taxes onto your customers or handle it yourself. The latter makes shipping more expensive. 

Wine glass company Glasvin turned on Managed Markets from Shopify after expanding its US operation into Canada, the UK, and Europe. With Managed Markets, Glasvin could display the exact shipping fees an overseas customer would pay at checkout, without any post-delivery surprises.

“The number one thing I wanted to do was see what DDP [Delivered Duty Paid] shipping cost was,” says founder David Kong. “I was very pleasantly surprised with how low the shipping costs were with Shopify. And the timing worked out really well.”

Shipping provider rate calculators

• USPS shipping calculator
• UPS shipping calculator
• FedEx shipping calculator
• DHL shipping calculator
• Canada Post shipping calculator
• Royal Mail shipping calculator
• Australia Post shipping calculator
• Sendle shipping calculator

Use UPS’s shipping calculator to get a custom price to ship a package.

Types of shipping methods

There are several types of shipping methods to consider depending on your location and how quickly you want to get a package to its destination:

• Free shipping: Businesses offer free shipping by incorporating the costs of shipping into their product pricing model. This can improve average order value if you set a minimum threshold that customers must meet to qualify for free shipping. Clothing brand W. Titley, for example, saw a 36% increase in conversion rate after implementing a minimum threshold for free shipping. 
• Flat-rate shipping: Flat-rate shipping prices are based on weight and size bands. Customers pay a single rate, wherever their package falls within a size or weight category. It’s a good option if you’re offering free shipping to your customers. Flat rate packages allow you to calculate exactly how much shipping fees will impact your profit margins. 
• Real-time carrier rates: Real-time shipping rates show the exact amount that a carrier will charge at checkout, taking package dimensions, weight, and distance into account. It’s a good option for businesses that sell packages that vary in weight—for example, furniture or home appliances.
• Local shipping: An item is delivered to the customer without using a shipping service. If you have a vehicle that you can use to make local deliveries, it’s a good option to deliver packages quickly. 
• Pick-up: The customer picks up their package from a selected location. Consider this option if you have a retail store or fulfillment center that’s easily accessible for local customers. 
• International shipments: Used to ship a package across a national border (also known as cross-border shipping). For example, if you’re based in the US and are delivering orders to Canadian customers, you’d use an international shipping service.
• Same-day delivery: An order arrives on the same business day that a customer makes a purchase. While this does come at an extra cost, it gives the Amazon Prime-style experience that some customers look for. You’ll need a speedy order fulfillment service and strict order cut-off times (e.g. 11 a.m.) to offer this shipping method. 
• Next-day delivery: An order arrives on the business day following a customer’s purchase. It caters to almost half of online shoppers who expect their orders to arrive within 24 hours. 
• Expedited shipping: Any method of delivery that is guaranteed to arrive at its destination faster than standard delivery methods.

There is no one-size-fits-all shipping strategy for businesses, and it’s often good practice to offer customers multiple shipping options at checkout.

Some types of shipping (like flat-rate and free shipping) help manage expectations and provide transparency, while premium shipping options get products into customers’ hands as quickly as possible.

How to choose a shipping provider

Each year, shipping providers update their costs, which can make choosing a carrier confusing. It’s important to stay on top of changing shipping rates to protect your bottom line and avoid expensive surprises.

Today’s shipping costs are based on multiple factors—distance, size, weight, and speed—that affect the price of each delivery.

Comparing shipping carriers

Since different carriers have their own unique pricing models and value propositions, finding the right shipping partner can be a tricky task. What works for a high-volume international shipper won’t be the best option for a local store with a predominantly domestic customer base. 

As a general guide:

• If cost is the most important factor and you don’t mind sacrificing shipping speed, choose a low-cost carrier like USPS. 
• If your customers prefer fast delivery over free shipping, consider partners that offer overnight delivery services, such as FedEx or UPS.
• If you ship a high volume of parcels internationally, opt for FedEx or DHL. 
• If it’s more important to choose a reliable carrier, choose a partner with an established logistics network. USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL are all great options here.

Glamlite, for example, previously relied on USPS to ship internationally—a strategy that founder Gisselle Hernandez said put the brand at disadvantage. “The high shipping costs and long delivery times were making it very difficult for us to compete with brands based in those markets who could ship at rates less than a tenth of our own,” she says. 

Glamlite turned on Managed Markets inside Shopify to unlock cheaper international shipping. It then ran a marketing campaign to announce its products were available internationally—and that overseas customers could get their orders within two or three days. 

“We had customers in the UK placing their orders on Friday and receiving deliveries on Tuesday,” says Gisselle. “That was almost unheard of in the past, and it made a huge difference.”

Regional carriers

Regional carriers are smaller services that help online businesses deliver parcels to customers within a smaller area. For example, if you have a large customer base in New York, you could opt for a carrier that covers the East Coast instead of a national provider like USPS. 

Regional shipping carriers are a cost-effective alternative to national providers. They have lower operating costs due to smaller logistics networks, hence why brands can save up to 40% when compared to national carriers.

This localized logistics network also allows regional shipping providers to offer same- or next-day delivery services. And because they’re much smaller, it’s often easier to negotiate additional services—be that signed delivery, customized pickup times, or white-label delivery—for a lower cost. 

Advanced shipping strategies to save money

Negotiate shipping rates

If you’re a high-volume shipper that uses a particular carrier to deliver thousands of packages each month, leverage this to negotiate discounted shipping rates. Many carriers will be open to a cheaper price to ship each parcel if you’re using them for the majority of your orders.

To do this effectively:

• Prepare your shipping data. Calculate how many orders you plan to ship with the carrier, accounting for any seasonal fluctuations or upcoming promotions. Make sure this figure is realistic—the last thing you want is to have to renegotiate terms if you’re shipping fewer packages than you originally estimated.
• Strengthen relationships. Give feedback to shipping couriers (both positive and negative) to establish open lines of communication. This is easier if you have an account manager on either side to maintain the relationship.
• Ask for specific discounts. If a carrier isn’t willing to budge on direct shipping costs, negotiate the cost of other services such as packaging materials, pickup fees, or fuel surcharges.

💡Tip: Merchants using Shopify Shipping can benefit from pre-negotiated discounts with leading carriers including USPS, UPS, and DHL. Save up to 88% and get up to $200 of embedded insurance on each package. 

Get discounted shipping labels from Shopify Shipping.

Shipping software and automation

Shipping automation takes repetitive tasks off your plate—a move that not only improves efficiency, but can reduce human error.

McKinsey found that auto-generating shipping documents, for example, helps correct mistakes and reduce lead times by up to 60%. It’s no wonder 70% of supply chain professionals plan to invest around $100 million in automation over the next five years. 

Example tasks you can automate with shipping software include: 

• Generating packing slips
• Routing orders to the customer’s nearest warehouse
• Comparing rates from different carriers
• Bulk printing shipping labels
• Tracking shipments 
• Generating shipping reports

“Myself and our first team member spent all night packing up boxes in the space we were working out of through the accelerator program,” says Tara Bosch, founder of Smart Sweets, in a recent Shopify Masters interview.

“Canada Post came and picked them up in the morning. We had no sort of fulfillment or anything sorted out at that time. It was just all super manual. But it’s kind of one of those magical moments on your entrepreneurial journey of like, ‘Wow, is this real life?’”

Hybrid shipping

The cheapest shipping option for your business depends on multiple factors: the carrier’s rates, the parcel’s weight, and whether you need signed delivery, to name a few. 

Hybrid shipping diversifies your strategy by using alternative couriers and shipping methods for different orders. It’s designed to optimize costs and improve delivery speeds for customers. 

For example, in a hybrid shipping strategy, you might use:

• USPS for last-mile delivery
• UPS for long haul parcels 
• Local delivery for orders within a 10-mile radius of your store

A hybrid shipping strategy also helps with seasonal shipping. If one carrier is overwhelmed with orders during the holiday season and can’t commit to their low costs, you can route them through another carrier or delivery method instead.

Consolidated shipping

Consolidated shipping combines multiple orders within one. It leans into economies of scale: the idea that efficiency increases as your business grows.

For example, instead of sending 10 individual palettes from your warehouse to a local distribution center, consolidate the order to send one larger package. Your carrier might charge $200 for the bulk order instead of 10 charges of $25 (saving $50). 

Consolidated shipments also use fewer packaging materials. Plus, fewer trips means lower fuel surcharges, residential delivery fees, and minimum shipment charges that can quickly add up. 

4 tips to keep shipping costs down

Negotiating rates and researching couriers will help you create a successful shipping strategy. Beyond that, there are a few tips and tricks small businesses can use to help keep shipping rates low.

1. Use the right packaging

Shipping empty air is uneconomical and environmentally unfriendly. Aim to reduce the size and weight of your shipments by selecting sustainable packaging that fits your items and is eco-friendly. 

Examples of sustainable packaging include:

• Recycled cardboard 
• Water soluble packing pillows
• Reusable bags 

Not only can sustainable packaging be cheaper to buy in bulk, it also appeals to climate-conscious customers. McKinsey found consumers think a product’s recyclability is the most important factor when evaluating how sustainable a product’s packaging is. Cardboard and paper is easy for them to recycle at home. 

2. Consider package material

Cardboard is heavy—and the more your package weighs, the more a carrier will charge to ship it. Replace heavy materials with lightweight alternatives, such as poly mailers, air pillows, packing paper, bubble wrap, foam inserts, and wadding rolls to keep shipping costs down. 

“In beauty, packaging is such a big part of the product,” says Nancy Twine, founder of Briogeo, in a Shopify Masters interview. “It really does take more of a concerted effort within the industry to make an impact in terms of how we can reduce waste and just be more sustainable over the long term.”

3. Use flat-rate shipping

Flat-rate shipping often offers the best value for money, particularly for domestic shipping. You’ll know exactly what you’re paying to ship a product depending on the parcel box it fits within. 

Flat-rate shipping also means that you can predict prices more accurately. No matter what kind of parcel you have, the price will always be the same. This is especially useful if you’re offering free shipping to customers. You can use flat rates to calculate how much you’re absorbing, and your profit margins after paying for delivery, for those orders. 

"In this day and age in the consumer psyche, you are battling against Amazon and how they’ve shifted consumers to think you should have a product at your door in two days,” says Marcus Milione, founder of Minted New York, on a Shopify Masters episode. 

“But the consumer,” Marcus adds, “when they purchase a product on my website—regardless of how small I am—they think a product should be delivered, at the latest, [in] seven days, generally in two days.”

4. Offer local delivery and pick-up

By far, the cheapest delivery option is local delivery or pick-up. It skips the need to rely on carriers to deliver parcels for you. Instead, the customer can visit your retail store, or store associates can use their own vehicle to drop off the package.

For small businesses, a local delivery service is a great way to connect with nearby customers, drive sales, and provide a personal customer experience. It’s also more convenient: If an item is in stock, customers can place online orders and collect them in-store within minutes, instead of waiting for their orders to arrive in the mail. 

How Shopify Shipping helps reduce costs

Shopify Shipping makes it easier and cheaper to fulfill shipments. Save up to 88% on delivery costs in the US, thanks to pre-negotiated shipping discounts with USPS, UPS, and DHL. 

But it’s not just cost savings that Shopify Shipping supports—the time you spend on admin can be dramatically cut, too. Benefit from built-in label printing, customs automation for international orders, and centralized tracking to manage your shipments, all from your Shopify dashboard. 

Cheapest way to ship a package FAQ

What is the least expensive way to ship a package?

The cheapest way to ship a package will depend on factors such as package size and weight, as well as distance and delivery speed. Generally, USPS Ground and Priority Mail are the most affordable shipping options.

How much does it cost to ship a package?

The cost to ship a package depends on its size, weight, destination, and shipping method. The most cost-effective shipping option is usually via the United States Postal Service (USPS). The exact cost will depend on the package’s size and weight, the destination, and the type of service used.

Is it cheaper to ship at UPS or USPS?

Costs to ship packages with USPS and UPS depend on the package size, weight, and delivery. Generally speaking, USPS is the cheapest option for smaller, lighter packages that are traveling short distances, while UPS tends to be cheaper for larger packages traveling longer distances.

What is the process of shipping a package?

• Prepare the package: Gather the necessary supplies, such as boxes, packing materials, labels, and tape. Gather the items you are shipping and make sure they are properly packaged.
• Calculate shipping costs: Determine the size and weight of your package and look up the cost to ship the package.
• Address the package: Write the recipient’s full information on the package, including name, street address, city, state, and ZIP code.
• Select a shipping service: Decide which shipping service you would like to use, such as USPS, FedEx, or UPS.
• Ship the package: Take the package to the chosen shipping service location and pay for the shipping. The shipper will provide you with a tracking number you can use to track your package.
• Track the package: Use the tracking number to track the package online or via the shipping service’s app.

Is it cheaper to ship your own box or USPS box?

It’s generally cheaper to ship a parcel in a USPS flat rate box than your own package. However, this depends on the parcel’s size, weight, and dimension.

What is the cheapest way to ship a 5 lb package?

USPS Ground Advantage is typically the cheapest way to ship a 5 lb package. Rates start at $5.25 when you drop the parcel off at a Post Office location.