Posted by Starting January 18, 2026, USPS will be increasing shipping rates by 5.1% to 7.8%. Ground Advantage increases by 7.8% and Priority Mail by 6.6%. The price of a First-Class Mail stamp, currently costs $0.78, will not change in January. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be a price increase later in the year. The last time there was a price increase for a First-Class stamp was July 14, 2024. I don’t have a money saving tip to pass along, just a warning that if you routinely ship using USPS, you will most likely be impacted by this. For a typical refurbished Xbox controller that I sell on Ebay, the shipping price could increase from $6.50 to $7.00. Normally I list controllers with free shipping, but I may have switch to buyer pays shipping in 2026.
Amazon is considering abandoning USPS shipping when its existing agreement with USPS expires in October 2026. Amazon pays the USPS billions of dollars annually to distribute packages, accounting for roughly 7.5% of the agency’s projected 2025 revenue. The result would be more shipping price increases as the USPS tries to remain financially viable. Amazon could easily expand its delivery service to take control of USPS. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to imagine Amazon delivering our mail with our Amazon packages. I’m sure they would try to make a subscription service out of it. Subscribe and have mail delivered daily to your home, or once a week if you opt for the free service.
We receive multiple deliveries from Amazon each week. In 2025 most of the packages were delivered by a USPS driver. I have to admit they have been doing a decent job. I think the USPS may have a tighter job application process. Some of Amazon’s contract delivery drivers have not been as professional. One thing is for sure, the mail and package delivery services in the US will continue to change. We have Amazon prime and take full advantage of the free shipping. A Prime membership costs $139 as of December 2025. We only use prime for the free shipping and the video service, which has become less of a video service and more of an ad delivery service for Amazon in the past year. Speaking of Amazon changes, have you heard the new Alexa+ voice? My first impression is that the new high pitched female AI voice is too chatty, sarcastic, and annoying. When it asked if I wanted to switch to the new Alexa Plus, it was a hard NO from me.