We priced nine boxes from Berkeley Heights, NJ to Columbus, OH through our own checkout on 2026-08-09 and let the two cheapest ground services fight it out. Ground Advantage took five of the seven weights where both showed up, and UPS Ground Saver declined to quote the two lightest boxes at all. Every price below is the full checkout amount.
Two networks sell the slow-and-cheap slot, and neither wins it at every weight. One quote shows both rows at once.
Same lane, same morning, weights from half a pound to twenty. Where a cell reads “no rate returned,” the carrier sent nothing back for that box — a fact worth as much as a price.
| Box and weight | Ground Advantage | Ground Saver | Cheaper here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 x 6 x 2 in, 0.5 lb | $8.74 | no rate returned | Ground Advantage, unopposed |
| 10 x 7 x 3 in, 1 lb | $9.47 | no rate returned | Ground Advantage, unopposed |
| 12 x 9 x 5 in, 2 lb | $8.42 | $9.67 | Ground Advantage |
| 12 x 9 x 5 in, 3 lb | $8.42 | $10.29 | Ground Advantage |
| 12 x 10 x 6 in, 5 lb | $12.03 | $11.09 | Ground Saver |
| 14 x 11 x 8 in, 8 lb | $13.07 | $13.01 | Ground Saver, barely |
| 14 x 12 x 8 in, 10 lb | $13.07 | $13.68 | Ground Advantage |
| 16 x 12 x 10 in, 15 lb | $16.06 | $17.23 | Ground Advantage |
| 16 x 14 x 10 in, 20 lb | $17.91 | $20.17 | Ground Advantage |
The margins tell the story better than the winner column. Ground Saver's two victories were slender ones — $11.09 against $12.03 at 5 lb, and a near tie at 8 lb — while Ground Advantage won its rows with room to spare toward the top of the ladder, and had the sub-2 lb territory entirely to itself. Notice also that the postal price held flat at $8.42 across 2 and 3 lb, and again at $13.07 across 8 and 10 lb: postal weight tiers are steps, not a slope, and landing at the top of a step is where the bargains sit.
Price is where these two differ least. The published transit claims, both read 2026-08-09, are not symmetrical: usps.com sells Ground Advantage with “Packages in 2–5 Days,” while ups.com describes Ground Saver transit as “comparable to UPS Ground, plus approximately one to two additional business days.”
Every Ground Advantage row came back carrying a 2-3 business day window on this lane. Every Ground Saver row arrived with a bare day count and no window, so anyone printing a Saver range next to a price is guessing on the carrier's behalf.
Ground Advantage is postal end to end. Ground Saver's own page says packages are delivered by UPS and the USPS, with delivery photo confirmation only where UPS itself makes the stop — so the last-mile experience varies by address.
USPS includes cover for loss or damage up to one hundred dollars on Ground Advantage, outbound and returns alike. The Ground Saver overview page lists no counterpart, which matters once the contents outvalue the postage.
Coverage maps differ too. The UPS page scopes Ground Saver to residential addresses — plus PO Boxes and APO, FPO and DPO destinations via the postal leg — so a storefront or office delivery pushes you to UPS Ground or the postal network. Ground Advantage takes commercial addresses without ceremony, caps weight at 70 lb, and cuts off at 130 inches of combined length and girth (usps.com, read 2026-08-09).
On this lane the postal service was the safer blind pick: both of its losses were narrow, it won most weights outright, and it owned everything under 2 lb. But one lane proves one lane — zone geometry flips rankings, which is why both rows arrive in a single request here.
A parcel that lands just past a postal weight break pays the next tier, so an ounce of packing tape can cost real money. When your packed weight sits near a whole pound, weigh it honestly and let the quote screen catch the step.
FedEx Ground Economy priced these boxes too, landing between the two headliners at most weights — $16.93 against Ground Advantage's $16.06 at 15 lb, for instance. Three-way comparison is the whole point of quoting once across carriers.
On our Berkeley Heights, NJ to Columbus, OH captures from 2026-08-09, Ground Advantage was cheaper at five of the seven weights where both quoted. Ground Saver won only at 5 lb ($11.09 against $12.03) and 8 lb ($13.01 against $13.07, a near tie). Quote both every time - the ranking moves with the box.
USPS publishes Ground Advantage at 2-5 days, and every Ground Advantage row in our capture carried a 2-3 business day window. UPS publishes Ground Saver as comparable to UPS Ground plus approximately one to two additional business days, and our Ground Saver rows returned a day count with no window attached. Both statements read 2026-08-09.
Yes. Ground Advantage is a postal product, and the UPS Ground Saver page scopes its coverage to residential addresses plus U.S. Post Office Boxes and APO, FPO and DPO destinations, read 2026-08-09. Ground Saver reaches PO Boxes precisely because USPS can carry its final leg.
Our half-pound and 1 lb requests on this lane came back with no Ground Saver row at all on 2026-08-09, while Ground Advantage priced every weight. When a service does not appear in a quote, treat that as the answer for that box on that day rather than assuming a rate exists somewhere.
USPS includes cover for loss or damage up to one hundred dollars with Ground Advantage, on both outbound and return shipments, per usps.com read 2026-08-09. The UPS Ground Saver overview page we read the same day lists no equivalent included cover.
Every dollar figure on this page comes from our own capture of 2026-08-09 on the one lane named in the table caption. Carriers reprice continuously; treat the table as a dated snapshot and run your own box before deciding.