Used items containing Lithium batteries shipped USPS
Summary: electrola_man inquired about a $7.50 shipping charge for packages containing hazardous materials, such as lithium batteries, and whether it applies to USPS Ground Advantage. tobaccocardyahoo initially confirmed that it does but was corrected by clearancecorner, who stated that the fee applies to Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express, not Ground Advantage, where the HAZMAT fee is $0. clearancecorner provided a source link for verification. The discussion included concern about the impact on selling items online and confusion about how it affects small devices, like watches.
I've seen that there is now an extra charge of $7.50 for shipping a package containing "hazardous materials," which includes Lithium batteries in electronic devices. I've seen some conflicting info; some saying this applies only to Priority Mail, which I thought was not allowed in any case. Does the $7.50 apply to USPS Ground Advantage? If so, it will greatly affect the ability to sell some items. It seems the only ways to deal with this are to add the extra fee, which will discourage buyers, or sell without the batteries, which could upset customers at having to purchase those separately elsewhere. How are people dealing with this?
clearancecorner
·Jul 20, 2026 at 10:30 AM · EditedThe $7.50 USPS HAZMAT fee applies to Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express, not Ground Advantage. Properly declared used electronics with lithium batteries generally must ship by Ground Advantage, where the HAZMAT fee is currently $0. They still need the required declaration, labeling, and packaging, because USPS can charge a $50 noncompliance fee.
Source: https://www.usps.com/ship/ground-advantage.htm (Under "Additional Package Fees", see "HAZMAT Handling Fee" $0.00.)
tobaccocardyahoo
·Jul 20, 2026 at 3:17 AMIndeed it applies to Ground Advantage.
You cannot ship LiOn batteries by air, so it cannot apply to priority mail.
Every day, more items become impractical to sell online. The reasons vary but the items which are next to be affected are usually predictable by astute sellers.
clearancecorner
·Jul 20, 2026 at 10:32 AMIt doesn't apply to Ground Advantage. Please provide a usps.com link that says it does.
Source: https://www.usps.com/ship/ground-advantage.htm (Under "Additional Package Fees", see "HAZMAT Handling Fee" $0.00.)
electrola_man
OPJul 20, 2026 at 12:29 PMThat's what I thought, but some info out there says it only applies to Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express. That's the reason for my question.
jdbelt1960
·Jul 20, 2026 at 2:32 PMI can see how this complicates things. Does a watch or other small gadget that uses the coin batteries have to be declared hazmat?
electrola_man
OPJul 20, 2026 at 3:40 PMI've had people at the Post Office tell me they need to classify watches that way, too. I don't know if that is officially true, but I've had some complications with watches that way.
annadryl
·Jul 20, 2026 at 2:37 AM · EditedThe gist of it is that they can't fly. If you need one of those services there is an upcharge. Ground (at least for now) is fine but they still must be labeled.