With the United States Postal Service, you can ship anywhere in the world with one address and feel fairly confident that it will reach its destination.
us territories are not officially states, and many of them are several thousand miles apart, over large bodies of water; just look at guam and american samoa.
so you may be wondering: does usps ship to puerto rico? it is a small but significant us. territory, right in the caribbean. here is the answer to your query just below.
Does USPS ship to Puerto Rico in 2022?
The United States Postal Service ships to Puerto Rico starting in 2022. Since Puerto Rico is a US territory, it is included in the domestic shipment, so no customs form is needed. USPS customers in the 48 contiguous states can pay to ship items to PR as if they were shipping them to anyone else in the US. uu.
To learn more about how to ship to Puerto Rico, how much it costs, the cheapest method to ship to PR, and if you can ship flat rate to the territory, read on for everything you need to know!
how do you ship to puerto rico?
Shipping to Puerto Rico from 50 u.s. It costs the same as shipping from, say, Florida to Texas, but requires extra care when it comes to labeling.
As the volusion.com site says, people in Puerto Rico live in “urbanizations”, what we consider neighborhoods or areas of a city (see: squirrel hill/shadyside/south side in pittsburgh).
so when you ship to pr, you’ll need to label the envelope or package to reflect that.
This is how it will read:
- name
- urbanization
- house number, street name, apt. number
- city, state, zip code +4
volusion.com kindly points out that not everyone has a street name; instead, direct correspondence to a house number and a neighborhood.
While you don’t need anything extra to ship to Puerto Rico, such as a customs form, you may want to make sure the contents of any package are stabilized or secured inside.
the item will travel much farther (pr is still 1,000 miles from the southern tip of florida) than it would within the states.
how much does it cost to ship to puerto rico with usps?
because puerto rico is subject to domestic shipping rates with usps, so it costs the same to ship there as anywhere else in the united states.
That means you can send a simple letter with just one stamp, at the regular postage rate (currently 58 cents for a forever stamp).
but let’s say you want to send something a bit bigger, like an envelope or a package.
Your best bet will be to take advantage of USPS flat rate boxes and envelopes.
This type of packaging is included in the priority mail service, which is sent for a price, regardless of its weight and has delivery speeds of two to three days.
These are some popular flat rate options and their prices:
- priority mail flat rate envelope: $7.95
- priority mail flat rate box, small: $8.45
- priority mail flat rate box, medium, top load: usd 15.50
- priority mail flat rate box, large: 21 ,90usd
For the full list of options and prices, you can refer to the chart on this page.
However, let’s say you’re in a bit of a hurry and want to ensure that the item you’re shipping gets to pr as quickly as possible.
You can then ship via Priority Mail Express Flat Rate, similar to Priority Mail, but faster.
At this time, the only pieces of mail sent to pr priority express are envelopes, legal envelopes, and padded envelopes.
priority mail express guarantees shipping in 1 day to pr before 6 p.m. m., six days a week.
That outlier is Sunday, which is an extra $12.50 if you ship on a Saturday and want the envelope to arrive the next day.
plus, express priority mail service starts at $26.35 depending on your location and destination.
does usps ship flat rate to puerto rico?
usps offers two flat rate shipping options to puerto rico.
The first option, less economical and slower, is the priority mail flat rate service, which includes both envelopes and boxes.
The second, more expensive and faster option is Express Priority Mail, which unfortunately only sends envelopes to pr.
For a more detailed price breakdown and box/envelope selection, see the section above.
what is the cheapest way to ship to puerto rico usps?
If you have a message for someone in Puerto Rico, you can send a postcard by first class mail for just 40 cents.
If you have something a little more substantial to ship, Priority Mail’s flat rate shipping options are your best bet.
Not only do the flat rates apply to anything up to 70 pounds, but the flat rate includes three-day shipping, tracking at no additional charge, as well as Saturday delivery at no additional charge.
And you can add Sunday delivery for an additional fee if you’d rather not have to wait until USPS resumes normal business hours.
priority mail flat rate starts at $7.95 for envelopes, up to $21.90 for a large flat rate box ($15.50 medium and $8.45 small).
This is compared to the cheapest (but fastest) option for Priority Expedited Envelopes, which start at $26.35.
Let’s also compare USPS prices with its rivals, FedEx and UPS. Both treat Puerto Rico as international, and the prices will bring tears to your eyes.
for example, I ship from pennsylvania to san juan via fedex international economic, for a weight of 10 lbs. package, it will cost you $109.52.
the cheapest option for a similar shipping service from ups is $87.42.
When you can ship a large box, up to 70lbs, at pr for just $21.90, there really is no comparison. usps is your cheapest option.
are you shipping usps to puerto rico internationally?
usps shipping to puerto rico is not considered international; the United States. the postal service treats mail to and from pr as domestic and charges domestic rates.
however, this is not the case for all carriers. fedex and ups basically treat shipping to puerto rico as international.
therefore, for many people in the us. uu. shipping to pr via good traditional postal service is still the best and cheapest method.
does shipping to puerto rico require customs forms with usps?
You don’t need customs forms to ship anything to Puerto Rico through USPS.
this is because, since pr is a us. territory, the usa the postal service treats incoming and outgoing mail as domestic.
For more information, you can also view our posts on whether or not USPS ships to Canada, whether USPS updates tracking, and whether USPS updates tracking.
conclusion
despite being located 2000 miles from the nearest us coast. uu. landmass, Puerto Rico is considered a national territory by the USPS.
domestic rates to and from pr apply to pr, including flat rate mail and even overnight services, making correspondence with the Caribbean island feel much more immediate and connected.
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