(Almost) Nothing Stops the U.S. Mail
How are your profits coming? It’s likely they’re in far better shape than those of a legendary shipping icon. The United States Post Office, long warning of financial woes, appears not to be exaggerating this time.
USPS has struggled for decades, and finally an alarm has been sounded: if their revenues don’t go up, they may cease mail delivery altogether as soon as 2027. This may or may not have an impact on internet sellers.
This sounds hyperbolic, but think of these numbers. A decade ago USPS experienced a $5.6 billion shortfall. Its net loss after fiscal year 2025 was $9 billion, and given spikes in energy costs and other factors, we may see a significantly scaled back menu of services from our friendly mail carriers. Suggestions have included delivering on fewer days each week, to raising prices yet again, or stopping home delivery of letters altogether. The latter is unthinkable but perhaps necessary.
USPS is an independent government agency, self-funded through retail sales of supplies and stamps. The quasi-public angle of the Post Office means it is tightly controlled through Congress, culminating in an ever-growing political quagmire.
For ecommerce, it’s another whammy after Amazon has made noise about a huge reduction in contracted services. Their current agreement expires in September 2026, meaning it’s around the corner, and time for vendors of all stripes to reconfigure plans for delivering product.
The Big One
Amazon claims it had hoped to increase volume with USPS but instead may have to pivot and look elsewhere, to private shippers including FedEx and UPS. Needless to say, this could cripple the iconic postal service, which is the only shipper committed to reaching every household.
If your online store ships relatively lightweight merchandise, USPS is currently the lowest-cost service provider. Even if that changes with a giant rate hike, at least your customers will receive their shipment if they live in remote areas.
The “last mile” provision of shipping has USPS picking up overflow from private shippers who don’t service those outlying regions. Even that could be compromised, but no information is yet available.
If you’ve had good luck with the postal service, and your volume is mid-range or lower, you may not experience a major upheaval.
But concern is not unwarranted, and it may be time to shop around for more reliable shipping services. If worse comes to worst, you’ll be prepared.
And don’t forget to explore some non-mainstream shipping services, including DHL, Auctane, ShipStation, or the all-in-one ecommerce platform packages like Easyship.
Photo by Josh Withers on Unsplash