Explaining the Global Priority Flat Rate Box

Hi. This page is for non-USA residents.

There seems to be a little confusion about the US Postal Service's (USPS)  Flat Rate Global Priority box system, so I'm going to try to help explain it.

The USPS offers several sizes of Flat Rate boxes.

The largest box is about the size of a shoebox.  (Oh dear, I hope people outside the USA use shoeboxes!)

The sender can put as much in the box as possible. If the box weighs one ounce, the price is the same as if it weighs 20 pounds.  Twenty pounds is the maximum. (Twenty pounds is approximately 9 kilos.)

But you must use the USPS' specially marked box.   A sender can not take a plain brown box and still receive Flat Rate pricing.

A Flat Rate box is excellent for small, flat items like books, magazines, and large lots of postcards or phone cards, etc.

It is not a good value for things that are in the original mint package. Here's why:

Only one action figure will fit in a Flat Rate box. In many cases, it is not a good fit, and the figure or other large item will get damaged.

It is a much better value to receive these items via First Class International mail.

I hope this helps to explain the Flat Rate postage system better, but please feel free to email me if any question.

I sincerely regret that the USPS no longer offers the Economy Mail or Surface Mail option.  They discontinued this postal service at about the same time Deustcheposte and Royal Mail did.