Three pounds is where the budget tiers crowd each other: to Chicago the middle of the field ran $12.07 to $12.47. A 13 x 10 x 5 in box went out for pricing on 2026-08-10 on a mid-distance lane and a cross-country one, and every figure below is the checkout total, carrier and our charge together.
Sneakers with their tissue paper, three hardcovers, a countertop gadget — real packaging grows parcels into this weight fast.
| Service | Price | Estimate returned |
|---|---|---|
| USPS Ground Advantage | $9.48 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS Ground Saver | $12.07 | 4 business days |
| FedEx Ground Economy | $12.42 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS Ground | $12.47 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS 3 Day Select | $17.61 | 3-4 business days |
| Service | Price | Estimate returned |
|---|---|---|
| USPS Ground Advantage | $13.04 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS Ground Saver | $15.53 | 7 business days |
| UPS Ground | $15.93 | 7-8 business days |
| UPS 3 Day Select | $21.95 | 3-4 business days |
| USPS Priority Mail | $22.34 | 3-4 business days |
The Seattle table holds the surprise: the cheapest row was also among the fastest. USPS Ground Advantage posted 3-4 business days at $13.04 while UPS Ground wanted $15.93 for a 7-8 day window, and paying up for UPS 3 Day Select only matched the estimate the postal service was already quoting at the bottom of the price column. The two ground networks simply disagree about what cross-country means from New Jersey, and at 3 lb the disagreement is worth checking on every western lane.
The capture behind this page also recorded what USPS publishes as its own counter price for this box: $14.95 on the Chicago lane and $22.40 on the Seattle lane for Ground Advantage, against the $9.48 and $13.04 label prices in the tables. Same service, same trucks, same delivery window — the difference is the sales channel the label came through. Walking a 3 lb box to a retail counter without pricing it online first is the single most expensive habit in this weight class.
At 13 x 10 x 5 this carton is 650 cubic inches, comfortably under the 1,728 cubic inch line where Ground Advantage begins billing dimensional weight (usps.com, read 2026-08-10). Ship the same contents in a roomy cube and the divide-by-139 math can outbill the actual weight by a wide margin.
The two hybrid tiers priced between the postal floor and full UPS Ground to Chicago, which is their natural slot. To Seattle the surviving hybrid quoted above the postal service and days behind it — cheap-tier logic does not hold on every lane.
Put the item and your two ZIP codes into the calculator and read the date column as carefully as the price column. At 3 lb the spread between rows is small enough that speed is often the free upgrade.
$9.48 to $17.61 to Chicago and $13.04 to $22.34 to Seattle for a 13 x 10 x 5 in box on 2026-08-10, quoted as checkout totals across five services on each lane. Distance moved every row; the ranking mostly held.
USPS Ground Advantage took both captured lanes at $9.48 and $13.04, and to Seattle it also posted a faster window than either UPS ground tier, which made the choice unusually one-sided on that lane.
Lane by lane. To Chicago it quoted $12.07 against UPS Ground's $12.47 while estimating a day or two longer. To Seattle it quoted a 7 business day window that the cheaper postal row beat by days, which is the pattern to check before taking any hybrid tier.
Carriers publish separate price tables by sales channel. The capture behind this page recorded USPS counter prices of $14.95 and $22.40 for the same box our labels priced at $9.48 and $13.04 — identical service, different channel.
Sneakers in their retail box, three hardcovers, a small countertop appliance, a winter jacket with room to spare. Real packaging pushes items into this bracket quickly, so a listing weight of 2 lb often ships at 3.
Every figure above has a date on it for a reason: carrier tables moved earlier this year and will move again. Quote the lane fresh before buying anything.