Business addresses miss more often
Reception desks close, loading bays lock and nobody signs. If a parcel keeps failing at a commercial address, redirect the redelivery to pickup rather than betting on a third attempt landing during opening hours.
After a missed attempt
USPS Redelivery
Redelivery is the free request that sends a missed parcel back out, and you can file it online with either the tracking number or the barcode printed on the back of the PS Form 3849 notice left at the door. Get the request in by 2 AM Central, Monday through Saturday, or USPS schedules it for the following day instead (per tools.usps.com, checked 2026-07-28).
Cutoff time citedFour options explained15-day clock from DMM 508
A door tag is not a dead end
Most missed attempts resolve themselves in one request. The clock only becomes a problem when nobody files anything at all.
Filing the request
The form asks for ordinary contact details and one identifier that ties you to the parcel. USPS lists first name, last name, street address, city, state, ZIP Code, phone number and email address, plus either the tracking number or the barcode number shown on the back of your PS Form 3849.
That second identifier is the useful one. A PS Form 3849 barcode works even when you never had a tracking number to begin with, which covers every parcel a friend or a shop sent you without telling you the number. Photograph the tag before it goes missing under a doormat.
Timing decides which day the truck comes back. For same-day redelivery the request has to be submitted by 2 AM Central, Monday through Saturday, and anything later gets scheduled for the next day. Nobody is awake at that hour by choice, so treat the practical deadline as the night you find the notice.
| Item | What USPS states |
|---|---|
| Cost | No fee is listed for a redelivery request |
| Identifier accepted | Tracking number or the PS Form 3849 barcode |
| Same-day cutoff | 2 AM Central, Monday through Saturday |
| Later requests | Scheduled for the next day |
| Choices offered | Smart Parcel Locker, carrier redelivery, pickup at the Post Office, return to sender |
The four ways it can end
USPS presents more than one outcome on the redelivery flow, and picking the right one saves a second missed attempt.
- USPS Smart Parcel Locker. Where the location supports it, the parcel goes into a locker you open with a one-time pickup code, on your own schedule rather than the route's.
- Carrier redelivery. The regular option: the carrier brings it back and follows whatever instructions you left on the request.
- Customer pickup. Collect it yourself from the Post Office holding it, which is the fastest route when you work nearby.
- Return to sender. Available on the same flow, and the honest choice when you no longer want the item.
One thing redelivery will not do is move the parcel to a different street. Changing where a piece lands is a separate mechanism with separate rules, covered on our address change page, and for the sender it is a paid intercept rather than a free reschedule.
How long you have before it goes back
The retention rule is written into the Domestic Mail Manual rather than left to a local desk. Section 508 1.1.7(g) states that a notice is provided to the addressee for a mailpiece that cannot be delivered, and if the piece is not called for or redelivery is not requested, the piece is returned to the sender after 15 days, with 5 days for Priority Mail Express and 10 days for COD (per pe.usps.com, checked 2026-07-28).
Fifteen days sounds generous and disappears fast across a holiday or a work trip. If the item is an express piece, five days is the entire runway, and a Friday notice with a weekend behind it leaves very little of it.
Once the parcel goes back, the sender pays the consequences rather than you. Ground Advantage, Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express and First-Class pieces that cannot be delivered or forwarded return at no additional charge under DMM 507 1.8.3, but the sender still has to buy a whole second label to try again. Prices for that second attempt sit on our returned to sender guide.
For a sense of what the sender is re-buying, here is a live quote set for a 1 lb book carton measuring 8 x 5 x 1.5 in on a Newark to Atlanta run.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Transit window returned |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $9.91 | 8-9 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $10.31 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $15.13 | 5-6 business days |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air | $15.38 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air A.M. | $20.44 | 2-3 business days |
Leave instructions the carrier can act on
Side gate, porch bench, the neighbour at number 14: specific beats polite. Vague notes get treated as no instruction at all and the parcel comes back to the office again.
Senders cannot file this for you
Redelivery belongs to whoever receives the mail. A seller watching a failed attempt on tracking can nudge the buyer, and beyond that the only sender-side lever is a paid intercept.
Redelivery, answered
How do I schedule a USPS Redelivery?
File it online using either the tracking number or the barcode on the back of the PS Form 3849 notice, along with your name, street address, city, state, ZIP Code, phone and email. USPS accepts the request through its redelivery tool and lists no fee for it.
What is the cutoff for same-day redelivery?
Requests need to be in by 2 AM Central, Monday through Saturday. Anything submitted after that is scheduled for the next day instead, per tools.usps.com checked 2026-07-28.
How long will the Post Office hold my package?
Fifteen days for most mail, five days for Priority Mail Express and ten days for COD, after which the piece is returned to the sender. That clock comes from the Domestic Mail Manual section 508 1.1.7(g), checked 2026-07-28.
Can I have the package sent somewhere else instead?
Not through redelivery. The flow offers a locker, another carrier attempt, pickup at the Post Office or return to sender, and moving a parcel to a different address runs through Delivery Instructions or a sender-paid intercept.