{"id":15,"date":"2017-10-04T20:22:07","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T20:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-mailing-services\/chargesrates\/"},"modified":"2024-10-01T15:31:34","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T20:31:34","slug":"chargesrates","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mailing-services\/chargesrates\/","title":{"rendered":"Basic USPS Charges and Rates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Visit the <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/pe.usps.com\/text\/dmm300\/notice123.htm#_c037\">USPS Price List page<\/a> for current postage and shipping rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For additional information, visit the <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usps.com\/\">USPS website<\/a> or use the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/postcalc.usps.com\/\">USPS Postage Price Calculator<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Postcards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To qualify for mailing at the First-Class Mail postcard price, it must be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rectangular<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At least 3\u00bd inches high x 5 inches long x 0.007 inch thick<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>No more than 4\u00bc inches high x 6 inches long x 0.016 inches thick<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If your mail piece does not meet the dimensions above, then the Postal Service considers it a letter. Letter-size postage will be charged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Letters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To be eligible for mailing at the price for letters, a letter must be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rectangular<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At least 3\u00bd inches high x 5 inches long x 0.007 inch thick.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>No more than 6<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u215b<\/span> inches high x 11\u00bd inches long x&nbsp;\u00bc inch thick.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>First-Class Mail letters that have one or more non-machinable characteristics\u00a0will pay a non-machinable surcharge. Customers can be unpleasantly surprised that they must pay extra postage when, for example, they mail a square greeting card. The Postal Service charges extra postage because mail pieces that are rigid, square, or unusually shaped, often jam postal equipment and are difficult to process. For a list of non-machinable characteristics, download the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pe.usps.com\/Archive\/PDF\/DMMArchive20210405\/201.pdf\">non-machinable characteristics (PDF) document.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Examples of a non-machinable letter:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A letter that has an aspect ratio (length divided by height) of less than 1<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2153<\/span>&nbsp;or more than 2\u00bd (a square envelope has an aspect ratio of 1, making it non-machinable).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A letter that is more than 4\u00bc inches high or 6 inches long and is less than 0.009 inch thick.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A letter that has clasps, strings, buttons, or similar closure devices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A letter that is too rigid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A letter that has a delivery address parallel to the shorter side of the mail piece.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A letter that contains items such as pens, pencils, or keys that create an uneven thickness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Large Envelopes and Flats<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Postal Service uses the word &#8220;flats&#8221; to refer to large envelopes, newsletters, and magazines. The words large envelopes and flats are used interchangeably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Flats must:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Have one dimension that is greater than 6\u215b inches high OR 11\u00bd inches long OR \u00bc inch thick.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be no more than 12 inches high x 15 inches long x \u00be inch thick.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>* Large Envelopes exceed one or more of the letter size maximum dimensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The maximum size for a flat provides plenty of room to put lots of material in the envelope. But keep in mind that weight usually affects price\u2013 the higher the weight the higher the postage, especially for First-Class Mail.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Visit the USPS Price List page for current postage and shipping rates. For additional information, visit the USPS website or use the\u00a0USPS Postage Price Calculator. Postcards To qualify for mailing at the First-Class Mail postcard price, it must be: If your mail piece does not meet the dimensions above, then the Postal Service considers it [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":913,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mailing-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mailing-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mailing-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mailing-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/913"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mailing-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mailing-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":785,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mailing-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15\/revisions\/785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mailing-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}