USPS What a difference a few years makes. Check it out.

Both can be shipped at the Small Flat Rate price - depending on where it is going.

The larger (Large Video) box is still available, and ships internationally only at the same price as does the SFRB for international. This has been the case for many years (though the Post Office doesn't generally let people know that you can use the Large Video box as flat rate (since it doesn't say "Flat Rate"), and even some post office folks seem unaware that Large Video is flat rate for international - had to insist that a counterperson insisting otherwise look it up before he'd give me the Flat Rate price.

I try to keep some Large Video boxes on hand for international shipments - certainly allows me to add a few xtra rocks that I hope help make up for the outrageous prices people have to pay for shipping to destinations outside the US.

Yes. Not all the shipping sites (e.g., Paypal, ebay, etc.) give the "Large Video Flat Rate Box" as an option. You can print postage for this when calculating international postage at the usps.com site, however (where you can also order the free boxes). Holds more, yet is priced the same as the Small Flat Rate Box.

Been using them for the last 15 years or so, and have been relieved that they haven't yet been dropped, as they are the only smaller box that can hold a standard-sized paperback book and ship at the same price as the Small Flat Rater.

GO to the USPS web site and you can order various boxes in different incruments , I order med flat rates in bundles of 25 and usually small and large in groups of 10 . I think there are assorted size bundles you can order also

Yes, get them delivered to your door free of charge at the USPS Supplies Store (go down the menu on the left side and choose "Priority Mail" for the selection of free boxes). The Small Flat Rate Boxes work for both domestic and international destinations. The roomier Large Video Flat Rate Box only goes flat rate for international shipments (for domestic destinations, it goes by weight, not flat rate).

While you are at usps.com, you might consider getting a few Regional Rate boxes for shipping within the US. The Regional Rate A box is a bit smaller than the Medium Flat Rate box, but can ship bulky items at much less cost than Medium Flat Rate (I can ship a bulky item up to 15lbs within my local region/zone for less than the price of the Small Flat Rate - and to the other side of the country for $2.85 less than the slightly bigger Medium Flat Rate box). They don't work for international shipments, though. Still, I use the Regional Rate boxes far more than the Medium Flat Rate and Large Flat Rate boxes, just because the ship for less $.


It's now 4lbs. A bigger reason I use the Large Video Flat Rate box for international is that the additional 3/8" of height over the Small Flat Rate often lets me fit in bulkier/thicker pieces (or more padding for delicate pieces) without having to go to the Medium Flat Rate box at double (or more) the cost internationally.

The larger box pictured is (and always has been) the Large Video Flat Rate Box, not the Small Flat Rate Box.

The Large Video Flat Rate Box only ships as Flat Rate for international destinations. It can also be used for domestic mail, but does not ship flat rate for destinations within the USA. Within the US, it gets charged by weight instead (just as for other Priority packages that are not flat rate).

The Large Video box has been around longer than the Small Flat Rate boxes, but wasn't itself flat rate until later. As for the Small Flat Rate box, it was introduced in January 2009, and was the same dimensions as today. At first, they did use a slightly heavier weight corrugated cardboard, and though I don't think that affected the exterior dimensions, it was sturdier. It also only cost $4.95 for domestic addresses!

The Large Video box was later allowed to be used for Flat Rate only to international destinations around the time that the post office dropped many of the other (cheaper) international shipping options.

Ah, you may be thinking of the "shirt" or "Regular Flat Rate" box that preceded the introduction of the Small Flat Rate box in 2009. That became the Medium Flat Rate-2 shirt box after the Small Flat Rater was introduced a year or more after the post office introduced Flat Rate pricing (competing with FedEx's flat new flat rate boxes at that time). The "medium" shirt box was also the smallest size Flat Rate that some post offices around here offered for quite a while.

The shirt box style Regional Rate A2 Box was also introduced (measures 12-13/16" L x 10-5/16" W x 2-3/8" D) a bit later, and only ships domestically at Regional flat rates - very handy, but only for US destinations and particularly economical for nearby destinations. It is one of the 2 configurations for the Regional Rate A boxes (along with the Regional Rate A1 size box). The slightly larger Medium Flat Rate 2 box measured/measures 13-5/8" L x 11-7/8" W x 3-3/8" D (works for international destinations).

Yes, that can get you in trouble. However, the Priority Large Video Box is a Priority Mail service and not restricted to media (as are packages that are shipped using Media Mail rates). There are no free boxes for items to be sent by Media Mail.

"Large Video" is just a confusing title they give the box (as they do to some of their other Priority boxes). I've sent many, many of the "Large Video" boxes internationally with correct declaration of contents (minerals and rocks) on the customs docs with no problem whatsoever. As I said, these boxes ship for the same postage price as for the standard (smaller) Small Flat Rate box.

The video box fits nicely inside the padded flat rate envelope and it costs 5 cents more to ship than a small flat rate box.

Tony