Postal Guidance is a free, independent resource for everyday senders and small online sellers. We explain how USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL actually work: what a tracking status means, how much postage a letter needs, which service is cheapest, and what to do when a package goes missing.
Every guide answers one real question as directly as we can. The answer comes first, and the detail follows for anyone who needs it.
Who runs Postal Guidance
Postal Guidance is edited by Joseph Ashburn, who is responsible for what we publish. His focus is the practical side of mail and shipping: delivery times, tracking scans, postage, extra services like Certified Mail, and the rules that decide what you can send and how.
If you spot something wrong in a guide, you can reach him directly through our contact page.
Where our information comes from
We build each guide from primary sources, not from other shipping blogs. For USPS that means the Domestic Mail Manual, the current price list known as Notice 123, the Postal Bulletin and official USPS help pages. For UPS, FedEx and DHL it means their own service guides, rate guides and support pages, and for customs it means CBP.
We also read the questions real people ask, in our own comments and in public shipping and seller communities. Those questions shape what we cover, but they are never treated as proof of a rule. When an official source and real world experience disagree, we say so and explain both.
How we keep it accurate
Prices are the facts most likely to go stale, so every rate on the site traces back to one dated price table. Our guides and our free calculators currently reflect the USPS prices that took effect on July 12, 2026. When the carriers change their prices, we update the table and the guides that quote it.
Before a guide goes live, its numbers, dates and service names are checked against the official source. When we revisit a guide, we check it again. The updated date on a guide changes only when its content actually changes.
Where a figure is an estimate rather than a published rate, we label it as one. Being right matters more to us than sounding certain.
Corrections
Mistakes happen, and rules change faster than anyone would like. If you find an error, tell us through the contact page with the link and what looks wrong.
We check every report against the official source. If we got it wrong, we fix the guide and its updated date reflects the change.
What we cover
Our guides fall into nine areas: tracking and delivery status, carriers and postal services, sending mail, stamps and postage, shipping costs and rates, what you can and cannot mail, packing and supplies, international shipping and customs, and problems and solutions.
Alongside the guides we build free tools, including a stamp calculator, a postage price calculator, a shipping cost comparison, a delivery time estimator and a postal holiday checker. A good place to start is our guide to current stamp prices.
What we are not
Postal Guidance is not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting on behalf of USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL or any other carrier. We cannot track, redirect, refund or claim a package for you.
We will never ask you for account details, payment information or personal documents. Anyone claiming to contact you on our behalf about a shipment is not us.
How the site is funded
Postal Guidance is free to read and is supported by display advertising. Some pages may also include affiliate links to shipping supplies, which pay us a small commission at no cost to you.
Advertisers and affiliate partners have no say in what we write or recommend. If a cheaper or better option exists, we tell you about it.
Get in touch
Have a postal question we have not answered yet, or a correction to report? Send us a message and we will read it.