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Home > Guides > Commercial vs retail shipping rates
Retail rates are what you pay at the post office or carrier counter; commercial rates are the discounted rates you get when you buy the label online through shipping software or a platform. Same trucks, same delivery speed, lower price: the discount comes from the carrier's business rate card, not from a lesser service.
| Retail rates | Commercial rates | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you buy | Post office or carrier counter, in person | Online: carrier website, shipping software, or a shipping platform |
| Price level | The highest published price for the service | Discounted off the retail price for the identical service |
| Who qualifies | Anyone who walks in | Anyone who buys online: no volume minimum, no contract |
| Label | Printed by the clerk | You print it yourself or show a code at drop-off |
| Delivery | Identical | Identical |
Carriers maintain two price lists because the two channels cost them different amounts to serve. A counter transaction needs a staffed location, a clerk's time, and a retail footprint. An online label needs none of that: you do the data entry, you print the label, and the carrier just picks up a ready-to-go parcel. The commercial discount is the carrier sharing those savings with you. It is also a competitive move: carriers would rather you buy from their website than walk into a competitor's store.
The important part is what does not change. The package rides the same trucks, gets the same handling, and arrives in the same time window as a retail-priced parcel. Commercial is not a slower or lesser tier; it is the same service bought through a cheaper channel. Anyone who has ever compared the counter price with the online price for the identical box has seen the gap: it exists because the channel is different, not the service.
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. There are really two kinds of discounted rates, and only one needs volume. The first is the standard commercial rate that carriers publish for online purchases: it is available to anyone who buys a label through the carrier's website or a shipping platform, even for a single parcel. No account, no contract, no minimum.
The second is negotiated pricing, which is where volume matters. Large shippers sign contracts with carriers for rates below the standard commercial level, and shipping consolidators pass a version of those savings to smaller shippers by pooling volume. If you ship a handful of parcels a month, the standard online commercial rate is your rate: meaningful savings with zero commitment. If you ship hundreds, it is worth comparing consolidator and negotiated options against it.
A few practical ones. You need a printer (or a carrier location that can print from a code), a scale or a good estimate of the weight, and the box dimensions: the commercial price is calculated from what you enter, and if the carrier reweighs the parcel and finds a difference, they adjust the charge after the fact. Enter the weight and dimensions honestly and you will not be surprised.
The other catch is the refund window. An unused label bought online can usually be refunded or voided within a set period, but a label bought at the counter is harder to unwind once postage is applied. For most shippers the online route wins on every axis: lower price, no trip to the counter, and an easier refund if plans change.
LetterAgent's shipping labels work on the commercial side of this divide: describe the parcel to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and you get a Canada Post Xpresspost label PDF. Canada-only, flat rate, up to 5 kg: the label you would otherwise buy online, handled through a conversation instead of a form.
Ready to ship it? Get a shipping label with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and get your label.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
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