{"id":247740,"date":"2014-09-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/?p=247740"},"modified":"2024-11-07T20:21:40","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T20:21:40","slug":"usps-13-ounce-mail-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/article\/usps-13-ounce-mail-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the USPS 13 Ounce Mail Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"_mcePaste\" style=\"position: absolute; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; width: 1px; height: 1px; top: 0px; left: -10000px;\">Let&#8217;s say I want to mail a 14-ounce bottle of cough syrup to my sick mom. Do I really have to wait in line at the Post Office to send it? Well, according to the USPS 13-Ounce Mail Rule, I do. However, Stamps.com customers have a way out!<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"_mcePaste\" style=\"position: absolute; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; width: 1px; height: 1px; top: 0px; left: -10000px;\">What exactly is the USPS 13-Ounce mail rule?<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"_mcePaste\" style=\"position: absolute; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; width: 1px; height: 1px; top: 0px; left: -10000px;\">Glad you asked. The 13-Ounce Mail Rule requires that any mail piece weighing over 13 ounces that is mailed with postage stamps has to be presented in person to a USPS employee at the Post Office. Since postage stamps are untrackable, presenting the mail piece to a postal employee serves as a security measure to keep the public, customers, employees and the U.S. mail safe. It\u2019s a good rule. But it still means an extra trip to the Post Office. Luckily, Stamps.com offers a way around it.<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"_mcePaste\" style=\"position: absolute; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; width: 1px; height: 1px; top: 0px; left: -10000px;\">Stamps.com shipping labels to the rescue<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"_mcePaste\" style=\"position: absolute; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; width: 1px; height: 1px; top: 0px; left: -10000px;\">There\u2019s an exception to the rule: If you use online shipping labels instead of postage stamps, you can send mail pieces weighing over 13 ounces WITHOUT a trip to the Post Office. Why? Online shipping labels (like those printed with Stamps.com) provide the USPS with sender information that regular postage stamps do not.<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"_mcePaste\" style=\"position: absolute; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; width: 1px; height: 1px; top: 0px; left: -10000px;\">Moral of the story<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"_mcePaste\" style=\"position: absolute; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; width: 1px; height: 1px; top: 0px; left: -10000px;\">Forget the 13-Ounce Mail Rule and just use Stamps.com to print your shipping labels. It will save you from those gas-guzzling, time-sucking trips to the Post Office. Let\u2019s hear it for Stamps.com shipping labels! Mom, your package is on its way!<\/div>\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s say I want to mail a 14-ounce bottle of shampoo to my&nbsp;mom. Do I really have to wait in line at the Post Office to send it? Well, according to the USPS 13-Ounce Mail Rule, I do. However, Stamps.com customers have a way out!<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/13-OUNCE-RULEa-300x233.jpg\" alt=\"13 OUNCE-RULEa\" class=\"wp-image-1373\" title=\"13 OUNCE-RULEa\"\/><\/figure>\n\n<p><strong>What exactly is the USPS 13-Ounce mail rule?<\/strong><br>Glad you asked. The 13-Ounce Mail Rule requires that any mail piece weighing over 13 ounces that is mailed with postage stamps has to be presented in person to a USPS employee at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/postage-online\/post-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Post Office<\/a>. Since postage stamps are untrackable, presenting the mail piece to a postal employee serves as a security measure to keep the public, customers, employees and the U.S. mail safe. It\u2019s a good rule. But it still means an extra trip to the Post Office. Luckily, Stamps.com offers a way around it.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Stamps.com shipping labels to the rescue<\/strong><br>There\u2019s an exception to the rule: If you use online shipping labels instead of postage stamps, you can send mail pieces weighing over 13 ounces WITHOUT a trip to the Post Office. Why? Printing shipping labels with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/postage-online\/features\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">internet postage<\/a> (like those printed with Stamps.com) provide the USPS with sender information that regular postage stamps do not.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Moral of the story<\/strong><br>Forget the 13-Ounce Mail Rule and just use Stamps.com to print your shipping labels. It will save you from those gas-guzzling, time-sucking trips to the Post Office. Let\u2019s hear it for Stamps.com shipping labels! Mom, your package is on its way!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let&#8217;s say I want to mail a 14-ounce bottle of cough syrup to my sick mom. Do I really have to wait in line at the Post Office to send it? Well, according to the USPS 13-Ounce Mail Rule, I do. However, Stamps.com customers have a way out! What exactly is the USPS 13-Ounce mail [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":247742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[47],"class_list":["post-247740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carriers-usps","tag-usps-services"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.1 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Understanding the USPS 13 Ounce Mail Rule - Stamps.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Understanding the USPS 13 Ounce Mail Rule Let&#039;s say I want to mail a 14-ounce bottle of cough syrup to my sick mom. Do I really have to wait in line at the Post Office to send it? 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