Parcel price index
What a parcel actually cost in July 2026
Carriers publish rate changes as percentages against a list price almost nobody pays. This page does the other thing: six cartons we picked once and will not change, priced to five cities from one Newark address, on one day. Thirty quotes in all, captured 2026-07-28. Next month the same six boxes go down the same five lanes, and the difference is the story.
Read the prices for what they are. The headline figure in each cell is a checkout price on our own site, and our fee is inside it, averaging $3.90 per parcel across this basket and ranging from $2.49 to $7.86. Underneath each one we print the carrier cost the fee sits on top of, so anybody can separate the two. Where the carrier publishes its own counter price, that appears too. We would rather hand over all three numbers than have somebody discover the middle one was ours.
The basket, July 2026
| Carton | Atlanta, GA | Chicago, IL | Miami, FL | Los Angeles, CA | Seattle, WA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book box 8 x 5 x 1.5 in, 1 lb | $9.91 USPS Ground Advantage carrier cost $7.42 | $9.91 USPS Ground Advantage carrier cost $7.42 | $10.09 USPS Ground Advantage carrier cost $7.60 | $11.12 USPS Ground Advantage carrier cost $8.13 | $11.12 USPS Ground Advantage carrier cost $8.13 |
| Shoebox 13 x 9 x 5 in, 3 lb | $8.48 USPS Ground Advantage carrier cost $5.99 | $8.48 USPS Ground Advantage carrier cost $5.99 | $8.56 USPS Ground Advantage carrier cost $6.07 | $11.04 USPS Ground Advantage carrier cost $8.05 | $11.04 USPS Ground Advantage carrier cost $8.05 |
| Clothing box 16 x 12 x 8 in, 5 lb | $13.65 UPS Ground Saver carrier cost $10.66 | $14.15 UPS Ground Saver carrier cost $11.16 | $15.62 UPS Ground Saver carrier cost $12.63 | $19.25 UPS Ground Saver carrier cost $15.26 | $19.25 UPS Ground Saver carrier cost $15.26 |
| Appliance box 18 x 14 x 12 in, 10 lb | $22.62 UPS Ground Saver carrier cost $18.63 | $22.62 UPS Ground Saver carrier cost $18.63 | $25.87 UPS Ground Saver carrier cost $21.88 | $34.16 UPS Ground Saver carrier cost $30.17 | $34.16 UPS Ground Saver carrier cost $30.17 |
| Tool carton 16 x 16 x 16 in, 20 lb | $28.77 FedEx Ground Economy carrier cost $24.78 | $29.52 UPS Ground carrier cost $25.53 | $34.39 FedEx Ground Economy carrier cost $30.40 | $47.56 FedEx Ground Economy carrier cost $42.46 | $47.56 FedEx Ground Economy carrier cost $42.46 |
| Oversized light carton 24 x 18 x 18 in, 12 lb | $43.77 UPS Ground carrier cost $39.08 | $43.77 UPS Ground carrier cost $39.08 | $54.95 UPS Ground carrier cost $49.06 | $73.30 UPS Ground carrier cost $65.44 | $73.30 UPS Ground carrier cost $65.44 |
Basket average across all thirty quotes: $26.60 at checkout, on $22.70 of carrier cost. Both are worth watching month to month. Our fee follows a published formula that does not change between issues, so movement in the top figure is movement in what carriers charge. If we ever change that formula, the issue that changes it will say so on this page rather than quietly shifting the line.
Three things July showed
UPS won the basket
Cheapest on 16 of thirty quotes, against 10 for USPS and 4 for FedEx. USPS took the two lightest cartons on every lane and nothing above them.
Three pounds beat one
The 3 lb shoebox to Atlanta came in at $8.48, under the 1 lb book box at $9.91. Shape decided it, not weight.
Air costs more than steel
To Los Angeles the 12 lb oversized carton cost $73.30 against $47.56 for the 20 lb tool box. Eight pounds of empty space was the more expensive freight.
Behind one cell: the 5 lb clothing box to Los Angeles
The table above shows the cheapest service. Here is everything that came back for one carton, so the spread is visible rather than implied. The same box to Atlanta was $13.65, which is what a zone looks like in dollars.
| Carrier | Service | Checkout price | Carrier cost | Counter price | Transit window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UPS | Ground Saver | $19.25 | $15.26 | not published | window not quoted |
| UPS | Ground | $19.30 | $15.31 | not published | 6-7 business days |
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $20.50 | $16.51 | $22.85 | 7-8 business days |
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $21.11 | $17.12 | $28.35 | 5-6 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $27.17 | $23.18 | not published | 5-6 business days |
The counter is the expensive door
Two of the three carriers return their own retail counter price alongside the online one, which lets us measure a gap nobody else publishes. Across the 59 rates in this basket that carried a counter price, buying the same label online came in 22.0% below walking into the retail location, and on one carton the gap reached 56.7%. That is the same carrier, the same box, the same day, and it is the single most useful thing here for anyone who still queues at a counter.
How the number is made
One origin, 07102 in Newark, New Jersey. Six cartons chosen to cover the shapes people actually post: a book, a shoebox, a clothing box, an appliance box, a dense tool carton and a large light one. Five destinations chosen to spread across the zone ladder. Every quote is a live request to the same system that prices a real order. Each rate carries three separate figures and this page keeps them apart: the carrier cost we are charged, our fee, and the checkout total a customer pays. None of them is a published tariff. Nothing is averaged across carriers, nothing is modelled, and no rate is carried over from a previous month. When a carton or a lane has to change, the change will be stated on the page rather than folded into the average.
Anyone is free to quote these figures. A link back is appreciated and lets your reader check the date, which matters more here than usual.
Newer issue
The same basket was quoted again on 2026-08-11. Twenty-five of the thirty prices came back identical to the figures on this page, and the five that moved were all one carton. Read the August 2026 issue.
Questions
What does the parcel price index measure?
Thirty quotes: six fixed cartons priced to five fixed destinations from one fixed origin in Newark, New Jersey, on the same day. The figure in each cell is the cheapest of the five services returned for that carton on that lane. Because the boxes and the lanes never change, the month-to-month movement is a price change and nothing else.
Which carrier came out cheapest most often in July 2026?
UPS, on 16 of the 30 quotes. USPS took 10 and FedEx took 4. USPS won the two lightest cartons on every lane and lost every heavier one, which is close to the opposite of the advice small sellers usually get.
Why does a 3 lb shoebox cost less than a 1 lb book box?
It did on the Atlanta lane in July: $8.48 against $9.91. Weight is not the only input. A small dense carton can fall into a cheaper band than a lighter one with a different shape, so rounding a box down in size sometimes saves more than shaving a pound off it.
Why is the 12 lb carton dearer than the 20 lb one?
The 24 x 18 x 18 in carton is charged on its size rather than its weight. To Los Angeles that gap was $73.30 against $47.56 in July, so eight pounds of air cost more than eight pounds of steel.
Is your own fee inside these prices?
Yes, and the page prints it. The headline in each cell is a checkout total on our site; the carrier cost beneath it is what the carrier charges us. Our fee averaged $3.90 a parcel across this basket, from $2.49 on the lightest carton to $7.86 on the heaviest. Subtract it if you want the carrier line on its own.
How much cheaper is online than the Post Office counter?
On the 59 rates here that came with a counter price, online was 22.0% cheaper on average and 56.7% cheaper at the extreme, for the same carrier and the same box on the same day.
Can I reuse these figures?
Yes. The numbers are facts we measured, and we would rather they were quoted with a link back than paraphrased. Cite the month, because they will move.