July 2026 USPS changes Rates
Effective: July 15th, 2026, USPS has unified ounce-based Ground Advantage pricing for under 1 pound packages shipped to rural ZIP Codes. This is the same change they recently made for under 1 pound shipments to non-contiguous destinations.
👇 What’s changing
All packages under 1 pound shipped to rural ZIP Codes will be charged the 15.99 oz rate. Packages shipped from those rural ZIP Codes remain unaffected (unless shipping to another rural destination).
For example: When shipping to a rural destination, shipping a 2 oz package now costs the same as a 15.99 oz package.
Ground Advantage pricing changes for lightweight shipments
USPS is eliminating ounce-based pricing for Ground Advantage at Commercial Pricing rates.
Effective: July 12th, 2026, all Ground Advantage shipments under 1 pound will cost the same within a given zone, regardless of their exact weight in ounces.
Due to the changes to Commercial Pricing for Ground Advantage, customers shipping packages to or from the following non-continental destinations will see higher rates: Extra Shipping Costs may be required before the order can be shipped to:
Alaska
Hawaii
Puerto Rico
APO/FPO/DPO military addresses
Shipping: We usually ship within 2-3 business days, if you have a party or event that you are ordering for make sure that you allow at least a week for delivery. We are currently shipping about 85% of the orders the within 2 days. Large and or Heavy orders are shipped Fed Ex Ground, USPS Ground or UPS Ground and may take longer to arrive, plan accordingly. (We Usually will NOT ship these orders to HI, AK, GU, VI or PR.) Orders will be shipped within 7 days. Some items may be back-ordered to get the order shipped earlier.
WE DO NOT OFFER A DELIVERY GUARANTEE BY a Certain Date, all orders are subject to postal or carrier delays. We recommend allowing at least a week from when the order is shipped to when it would arrive, (usually it is faster).
Minimum Shipping Cost: Some items require a minimum shipping to be shipped. ie: $11.95 see items for complete info. See Terms of Service for complete policy.
PLEASE put in the special instruction section at check out the date you would like your order by, and we will ship ASAP, but can’t guarantee it will arrive by then. We Do Not offer overnight shipping. Orders placed after 12 noon Friday may not get into the system until Monday morning, if we are out of stock on the items ordered. Some items require extra shipping cost to HI and AK, most do not. We don’t offer combining of orders, for a single order or shipping.
Rush Shipping: We do not offer overnight shipping. WE DO NOT OFFER A DELIVERY GUARANTEE BY a Certain Date, all orders are subject to postal or carrier delays.
If you list a ship to address on our website in checkout and a different ship to address during the Paypal part of checkout, we will ship to the Paypal shipping address.
Tracking Number: The tracking number is automatically emailed to you when the order is shipped.
Order Shipping to PR or VI? To avoid delays and returns due to address, please read addressing PDF from Post Office.
Export – We don’t direct export…. We do have a number of customers using: MyUS and UCS Net Shopper or Borderlink.
Or have a friend or family member buy it online and forward it to you. We require a US Shipping Address and US Credit Card Billing address on all orders. Our shopping cart is only able to calculate shipping cost within the US. These types of orders can only be done online through Paypal Check-out, no phone orders. If you list a ship to address on our website in checkout and a different ship to address during the Paypal part of checkout, we will ship to the Paypal shipping address.
Shipper Returned Orders: If your shipping address is wrong and the package is returned, undeliverable, refused or is returned to us, we will not credit back the shipping charge of the purchase. Returns are subject to a 20% Restocking Fee.
Is “Free Shipping” Really Free?
Do the math:
Example for buying only 1 item…
Item: 40″ Music Note Double – Foil Mylar Balloon
Balloon Warehouse: Item: $4.98 + “Reasonable Shipping” $5.98 = $10.96
Site e: Item: $10.04 + “Free Shipping” $0.00 = $10.04
Example for buying only 3 items…
Item: 40″ Music Note Double – Foil Mylar Balloon
Balloon Warehouse: Item: $4.98 (3x) $14.94 + “Reasonable Shipping” $7.98 = $22.96
Site e: Item: $10.04 (3x) $30.12 + “Free Shipping” $0.00 = $30.12
You get the picture, “Free Shipping” is not really FREE, and a lot of time it costs you even more!
Our Will Call Warehouse address:
Balloon Warehouse
993 W. Valley Blvd. Ste. 112
Bloomington, CA 92316
909.874.5898