Your box is welcome here
Unlike the FedEx flat scheme, Simple Rate accepts any packaging within the size and weight caps. That removes the trip to collect branded boxes and keeps reused cartons in play.
Flat-price UPS
UPS Simple Rate, sized up against live prices
Simple Rate is the UPS flat-pricing scheme with one genuinely distinctive feature: your own box qualifies. Size decides the tier, measured in cubic inches up to 1728, with weight capped at 50 lb. The tier prices below are from ups.com, checked 2026-07-27, and further down we hold them against what our checkout actually charged for boxes in those size classes.
Five tiers, cited and datedOwn-box rule explainedLive prices for contrast
Measure, multiply, look up
Length times width times height sorts your box into one of five tiers. The lookup takes seconds; knowing whether to use it takes this page.
Simple Rate tiers, per ups.com, checked 2026-07-27
Five sizes, defined purely by volume. The scheme ships to all 50 states, offers four speeds from next-day down to a five-day option, and the prices shown are the starting figures for each tier.
| Tier | Volume range | Starting at |
|---|---|---|
| Extra small | 1-100 cubic inches | $12.20 |
| Small | 101-250 cubic inches | $15.80 |
| Medium | 251-650 cubic inches | $18.95 |
| Large | 651-1050 cubic inches | $24.85 |
| Extra large | 1051-1728 cubic inches | $30.95 |
The volume math is unforgiving at the boundaries. A box measuring one extra inch can jump a full tier, so anyone flirting with a threshold should measure the outside dimensions honestly and multiply before assuming the friendlier price.
The same size class through our checkout
Flat pricing is a bet against the rate table, so here is the rate table's side of the wager, from our 2026-07-27 production capture. A 1 lb box of roughly medium-tier volume cost $10.31 on UPS Ground from Newark to Atlanta. A 5 lb box sitting in large-tier territory went for $14.05 on the same lane, well under the $24.85 large-tier floor. Even from Los Angeles to New York, the toughest lane we measured, that 5 lb box cost $19.30 on Ground, still beneath the flat figure.
Where Simple Rate claws back ground: speed and distance certainty. Its price holds whether the box crosses a state or the continent, and the faster tiers replace the express surcharges that make live air quotes jumpy. Light box, long lane, tight deadline is the profile where the flat number starts winning; the eastbound 2nd Day Air row at $16.58 in our capture shows live pricing competing hard even there.
Zone-blindness is the selling point
Live ground prices roughly doubled between our short lane and the cross-country one at heavier weights. A flat tier price shrugs at geography, which is precisely when it earns its premium.
Do the cubic-inch arithmetic first
Tier assignment runs on volume alone, so a lightweight but bulky box pays extra-large money. Compressing packaging one tier down is the cheapest optimization the scheme allows.
Simple Rate, cross-examined
What is UPS Simple Rate?
Flat-price shipping in your own packaging, per ups.com, checked 2026-07-27: boxes or mailers up to 1728 cubic inches and 50 lb, delivered to all 50 states, with four speed choices from next-day down to a five-day option. Volume alone sets the tier.
How much does UPS Simple Rate cost?
Starting prices per ups.com, checked 2026-07-27: extra small $12.20, small $15.80, medium $18.95, large $24.85, extra large $30.95. Faster service selections raise each figure from there.
Is Simple Rate cheaper than regular UPS rates?
Not in our measurements for ordinary ground shipping: a large-tier 5 lb box cost $14.05 live against the $24.85 flat floor on the eastbound lane, and $19.30 even from coast to coast. Flat pricing pays off mainly on long, fast shipments where live air rates climb.
How is Simple Rate different from FedEx One Rate?
The core split is packaging: Simple Rate accepts your own box, One Rate requires FedEx packaging. Both cap weight at 50 lb for boxes, both price by size class and speed rather than pounds, and both reward dense contents over bulky ones.