Rural zip codes
Summary: inhawaii questions the USPS's designation of rural zip codes due to unexpectedly high shipping rates from Hawaii to various states. puremichigand notes that rural classifications aren't strictly distance-based. hartungcards shares that there isn't a specific surcharge for rural zip codes, while lacemaker3 explains that USPS doesn't offer discounted rates for these areas through third-party sellers. Others discuss how shipping rates from Hawaii are consistently high due to distance considerations, and ten_o_nine attempts to clarify the rules but is contradicted by inhawaii. Ultimately, it seems that shipping from Hawaii incurs unique challenges, regardless of official rural designations.
I keep hearing "The USPS has designated some zip codes as rural".
Are you sure it's not a distance thing ... and not "The USPS has designated some zip codes as rural".
Because for me, every single zip code outside of my state is rural.
It costs me $8.40 to send a small 3 oz. package Ground Advantage to:
Alaska
California
Texas
Florida
New York
So this whole "The USPS has designated some zip codes as rural" can't be true.
It has to be a distance thing, right?
fm2000
·Sep 13, 2026 at 1:03 AMYou are now forced to always pay the "rural rate" just because you are shipping from Hawaii. That sounds outrageous, but that is what the USPS is doing to the good folks of Hawaii. I sure hope the people of Hawaii are up in arms about this and writing Congress about their questionably-legal zip code price discrimination. And you will be further punished with their "holiday surcharge" next month. If I were in Hawaii I would be so angry my head would be about ready to burst.
toomuchstuffagain35
·1 month agoJames, it doesn't matter whether the zipcodes you're sending to are rural or NOT.
You get charged the 1 pound rate for anything under because you're in Hawaii.
Sucks I know.
roccotacodad54
·1 month agoThe whole rural vs non rural thing is confusing. I am definately rural. Well water only, septic only, no fire department (Volunteer though), no sidewalks or streetlights etc. I can shoot guns, burn things, raise cain all night long if I were to want to with no laws broken...rural...but no. I looked it up and I'm not considered rural.
Maybe because a few miles past here there's a one man PO in an unincorporated tiny town?..........................
simply-the-best-for-you
·Sep 12, 2026 at 9:09 PM · EditedLOL, it sure is. Meanwhile, I'm in a city of getting close to 1M people, 800 houses in my subdivision alone & in the part of the city that has grown the most in the last 30 years. I found out I am "rural" LOL. Furthermore I found out that HALF of the entire city is "rural", except it's not & hasn't been for close to 40 years. I learned from my PO that literally everything in one direction from downtown is "rural", when none of it actually is. When I inquired further, I learned that the reason is that re-designating is a big ol' can of worms that nobody wants to take on, so the most populous part of a city of approx 700K people is classified as "rural". It seems like the designations are meaningless.
Regardless, this was indeed a change the USPS recently made & I'd sure love to see a list b/c situations like mine & @roccotacodad54 seem to be the norm, in other words, a lot of it makes no sense at all!
ETA; didn't read far enough, looks like I can download a list, but that still won't make it make sense🤣
chapeau-noir
·1 month agoI shipped a 3 oz parcel to a town (not rural) in North Carolina - it cost $8.60. On the same day I shipped a 3 lb parcel to Texas - it cost $10.30.
And we're trying to make sense of this?
inhawaii
OP1 month agoThe point I'm trying to make is there CAN'T be rural and non-rural zip codes. It's impossible. Someone show me a list. How can a zip code I ship to be considered "rural" but the same zip code someone else ships to be considered non-rural?
thriftyfiftyfifty
·1 month ago · Edited@inhawaii I think based on your continuing input from your Original Post, you have established it is not applying to you when Shipping from Hawaii anyway. There is a list and eBay has provided it originally in 2024 and updated it this year. Click on the Blue "rural zip codes" Hyperlink in this announcement. It is there and affects us (not living in the Hawaii USPS Zone). https://community.ebay.com/forum/announcements-57928/topic/usps-rate-update-effective-august-22-2026-475514/
It's also linked in this one: https://community.ebay.com/forum/announcements-57928/topic/usps-rate-and-service-update-466150/
ten_o_nine
·1 month agoIt's impossible. Someone show me a list. How can a zip code I ship to be considered "rural" but the same zip code someone else ships to be considered non-rural?
--
Do you have exampels?
inhawaii
OP1 month agoYes. Someone mentioned downtown LA or NYC.
How can those zip codes be rural for me but not rural for someone else? Someone show me a list or a chart from the USPS that says this zip code: 90012 is either rural or not rural, or this zip code: 11201 rural or not rural?
eastlaneave
·Sep 13, 2026 at 1:16 AM@inhawaii
Here's the rural zip code list
https://ir.ebaystatic.com/cr/v/c01/help/sell/02.23.26%20Rural%20ZIP%20Code%20List.xlsx
rural zip codes are rural for everyone
I am not sure why everything is $8.40 for you, but it's probably part of this same update.
I'm in Ohio, I've had packages going to rural Ohio or Michigan cost more than across the country to Los Angeles
Here's eBay's announcement
https://community.ebay.com/forum/announcements-57928/topic/usps-rate-and-service-update-466150/
svcheck
·1 month ago · EditedIt is all clear to me - cost is the cost. Nothing you can do about it short of increase the prices
I am curious about another issue
I bought here and on amazon quite a few items like 2.99 and even les. How that worklls?
20 years on ebay 4M volume per year and can't figure it out
I am not referring to the cost of the items. lets say it is free. But sh cost, ebay/amazon fees and fulfillment cost - printing the label, packing and etc??
fm2000
·Sep 13, 2026 at 12:58 AM · EditedHuge companies with sweetheart negotiated service rates with carriers, sellers who haven't updated their shipping in 10 years, fake "charities" who resell and really make money from the government in the guise of "job training" (and pay a "charity" eBay fee rate which is a tiny fraction we have to pay), or the sellers who just don't have any clue as to what they are doing (this sounds ridiculous but is shockingly common, eBay is full of items going out as a net loss.)
They also used to be able to ship things from China for a small fraction of domestic shipping and exploiting the de minimis loophole could still make money doing it (de minimis is gone, and the less-than-domestic "developing nation" mailing rate loophole has been greatly tightened though not entirely resolved.)
chapeau-noir
·1 month agoYou are the state right west of me...but it takes 6 hours flying to get there. I think that's the trouble.
ten_o_nine
·1 month agoAi response. @inhawaii
It is actually a mix of both!
Because you are shipping from Hawaii, you are automatically hitting the maximum distance (Zone 9).
However, the reason your tiny 3 oz package costs a whopping $8.40 instead of the normal $6.36 is entirely due to that USPS rural zip code policy.
Here is how it breaks down:
The Distance (Zone 9): Shipping from Hawaii to the mainland means you always pay the maximum distance rate.
The Rural Rule: Under the new USPS rules, if a package weighs less than a pound but is going to a designated "rural" zip code, USPS automatically charges you the maximum 15.99 oz rate.
Those buyers in CA, TX, FL, and NY just happened to live in zip codes that USPS classifies as rural. If you shipped that exact same 3 oz package to downtown Los Angeles or NYC, it would drop down to $6.36.
Because USPS labeled over 17,000 zip codes as rural, many sellers are ditching flat-rate shipping and switching to calculated shipping
so the buyer automatically pays the exact rate for their specific zip code!
thriftyfiftyfifty
·1 month agoOf course Ai is wrong again…
inhawaii
OP1 month ago"If you shipped that exact same 3 oz package to downtown Los Angeles or NYC, it would drop down to $6.36."
Not true. Every address, every zip code is $8.40.
The entire country (except Hawaii) is $8.40.
christworks
·1 month ago · EditedHere is the link to @valueaddedresource 's page that talks about rural zip codes. Scroll down the page about halfway for the links to download the list as either a spreadsheet or PDF.
@inhawaii Unfortunately for you it is a distance thing. I know for mainland sellers who ship to HI or AK are charged the 1lb rate regardless of the size of the package. I do not know if the reverse applies to you, shipping from HI. Either way the distance alone is enough to get it to $7-$8, but rurals could be more.
nyr134
·1 month ago@inhawaii : are you using eBay to buy your labels?
A couple of months ago, USPS eliminated the four under-a-pound tiers and was going to charge the highest rate for all of them - but eBay kept those four pricing tiers, meaning that 3oz would be cheaper if using eBay-produced labels. Sounds like you are paying the one pound rate for your light shipments.
inhawaii
OP1 month agoYes, I am using ebay labels.
There are no pricing tiers.
Everything under 1 lb. costs me $8.40 to send to ANY zip code.
nyr134
·1 month ago · EditedSo here is the answer, @inhawaii : The pricing tiers for under a pound do not apply to Hawaii. You pay the same rate for three ounces as you do for a pound…
Edit: I may have this wrong; the attached says “ to…Hawaii…,” not from Hawaii. [where is Wastingtime 101 when we can use him?]
dhbookds
·1 month ago"costs me"..........do you mean your buyer?......aren't you getting a lower price when you buy the label?
inhawaii
OP1 month agoNope. $8.40. Same that it would cost me on usps.com.
thriftyfiftyfifty
·1 month agoMy thought is because the New Ground Advantage Rates Tier Discounts are in place "Except for Hawaii" as well it is working both ways. Primarily because all the lower 48 States are in USPS Zone 8 from you, and you are always Zone 8 from us you will pay the highest. For those discounts that come out every now and then for Priority and Ground Advantage and include Zone 8 (but don't specifically exclude Hawaii like the Ounce Tiers Discount does), you are seeing those discounts right?
nyr134
·1 month agoAll the other 49 states are considered zone 8 for mail originating in Hawaii. So, yes, for you, it is a distance thing. The destinations are not all rural, just all far.
1786davycrockett
·1 month ago@inhawaii
Only thing to do is to turn on with Canned Heat, an' play "Goin' Up The Country."
puremichigand
·1 month agoNah, definitely not distance. I get some rural zip codes in nearby states, non-rural in far-off places.
Here is my take: the majority of people that would love to go to Hawaii but can't afford the expense or the time are in rural zip codes, so they buy something from you to get a taste of Hawaii. Or, maybe they could afford it once, but don't want the time/expense of a return trip. Me, if I really miss Hawaii I'll just go back and that's the way that most in my circle would look at it.
inhawaii
OP1 month agoSo for me, how can every single zip code in 49 states be designated a "rural" zip code?
hartungcards
·1 month agoMy postmaster told me that, "there's no such thing as a rural zip code surcharge."
thriftyfiftyfifty
·1 month agoOf course they tell you that...it has no effect on Retail Rates which is what they Sell at the Post Office primarily.
lacemaker3
·1 month ago · Edited@hartungcards , that is technically correct. Technically, there is no "surcharge", but effectively, there definitely is.
For many rural zip codes, the USPS does not allow discounted pricing for third-party postage sellers. That includes eBay, Etsy, and I think Pirateship as well.
So the USPS is not charging a "surcharge" exactly, for rural zip codes. But they are not allowing a discount for rural zip codes when the postage is purchased through a third-party postage seller.
https://www.savethepostoffice.com/postal-service-puts-zip-code-to-use-with-rural-surcharge/
puremichigand
·1 month ago · EditedThe gov't is transparent - at least those parts that can be. Someone has posted a link to a file that contains all of the rural zip codes. I think my supposition is right - small town people dream about going to Hawaii and want a piece of it. Buying from you is that taste of Hawaii that they want.
deltilogical
·1 month agoYou seem to have no idea who is living in small towns anymore and enjoy generalizing. we already live in paradise, no need to go to a place where we're hated. What is it that people are buying from you?
It is interesting USPS used to have all kinds of different rates for different areas, 1st class, 2nd class, airmail, etc etc but they seemed to lean to making everything the same rate e.g., Overnight and Priority, the same rate anywhere. Now they seem to be going in the other way, and the whole point of Rural Route was to make it rural people connected to industrial america. Now the Elites want to disconnect rural america, unless its under a surveillance leash e.g., internet.