SIOUX FALLS – Parents sending care packages to their young adult daughters and sons going off to school and college campuses nationwide can save big on shipping costs by thinking “it’s all in the box.” Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes offered by the U.S. Postal Service, that is.
Items for a student care package can fit into any one of four different size Priority Mail Flat-Rate boxes. Home-baked goods and snack foods, school supplies, gift cards, music CDs, photos, clothing items and travel tickets make for the perfect “Back to School in a Box” care package. Or college students themselves can use the Priority Mail Flat-Rate Boxes to do some advance low cost shipping of needed items to their destination.
Everything you fit in a Priority Mail Flat-Rate Box will ship for one flat price up to 70 lbs. to any U.S. destination. Priority Mail flat-rate packages are delivered by the Postal Service in an average 2-3 days. Saturday deliveries are included at no extra cost.
Priority Mail Flat-Rate Boxes are free and available at local Post Offices. Customers also may order them at usps.com; under “Order Supplies;” or by calling 1-800–610-8734. Mailing prices, sizes and measurements are listed below. Customers who do Priority Mail flat-rate shipping online at usps.com will receive a discount. There is also a special $2 discount for the Priority Mail Large Flat Rate Box when shipped to military overseas APO/FPO addresses.
| Priority Mail Flat Rate Box | Size (inches) | Retail Price | Online Price |
| Small Flat Rate Box | 8-5/8 x 5-3/8 x 1-5/8 | $ 4.95 | $ 4.85 |
| Medium Flat Rate Box | 11 x 8-1/2 x 5-1/2 | $ 10.70 | $ 10.20 |
| Medium Flat Rate Box | 13-5/8 x 11-7/8 x 3-3/8 | $ 10.70 | $ 10.20 |
| Large Flat-Rate Box |
12-1/4 x 12-1/4 x 6 | $ 14.50 $ 12.50 |
$ 13.95 $11.95 |
| Domestic APO/FPO |
For more information about shipping with the Postal Service, customers can visit their local Post Office™ or go online at usps.com.
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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no direct support from taxpayers. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th in the 2009 Fortune 500.
