USPS

Letter Mail

With shipping prices going up I am working on improving and recommending letter mail orders whenever possible. 

Key Details

  • NO TRACKING
  • I email you a photo of your envelope when mailed
  • Delivery is usually fast*
  • I will make sure you get your order but it may take time
  • Letter mail is considered unreasonably late or lost after:
              3 Weeks USA
              4 Weeks Europe
              8 Weeks Asia, Australia
  • Weakness: Not a good choice if timing is critical

* Usually fast letters - sometimes faster than packages. However, local USPS hubs routinely hold back letter mail when it's busy. This is unpredictable and can cause significant delays. Also miss-routed mail will create significant delays. USPS is slow to correct errors. If the mail goes smoothly then it will arrive quickly. If there is a hiccup for any reason they can add days or weeks to delivery. 

USPS 2026

There seems to have been some improvements at USPS but the prices have also gone up significantly. I am not seeing many lost packages like there was in 2025.  Any carrier can lose a package and none are 100% reliable. The only disadvantage of USPS vs UPS and Fedex now is that USPS is slightly more likely to deliver your package to the wrong address. 

POSTAGE INCREASE
For small orders (like ButtonWorx items), light items mailing to rural zip codes are now being charged 1lb rate for a 1oz package. This creates up to 100% increase in postage cost for small packages. This was added after several significant increases in postage cost this year. 

USPS Warning for 2025 

So far in 2025 I have seen many long delays for all package types through USPS! 

I'm guessing 5-10% of packages are being delayed, some up to a month! Mostly in the mid states but can happen anywhere.

USPS Offers zero guarantee for delivery time of Ground Advantage OR Priority Mail

When packages are late and possibly lost, I cannot open a claim until about a month after shipping and no later than 2 months, giving a 30 day window. Some claims are denied for mysterious reasons and appeals take weeks to months for a response. 

I've had one Priority Mail order sit in a sorting facility for 30 days. I opened a claim which was immediately denied, then a week later the package is delivered. This means USPS knows more about the package than tracking shows. They knew it wasn't lost and denied the claim days before tracking picked up again. 

USPS is a mess! I am not sure what to do about this. I cannot force everyone to use FedEx and UPS as the shipping costs are too high for small orders. I also cannot guarantee delivery times when USPS won't honor even Priority Mail after being delayed 30+ days. So far the long delays are under 10% but that is significant when I mail out hundreds of packages every week. 

This is a fair warning: USPS may delay your order and there is little I can do about it.  

At this time I would highly recommend Letter Mail for small orders. While letter mail can be delayed so can everything else at USPS. It seems like as long as the letter goes through sorting machines without an error the envelope arrives fairly quickly and possibly faster than packages. 

If you need the order ASAP then I suggest you consider UPS or FedEx 

Note: My store cannot auto-calculate UPS or FedEx so the prices are based on the high average. If you are a commercial delivery or at least not rural, you can request a quote at checkout and I can update the order with an accurate price.