Agentis analysis of UPS's and FedEx's own published 2025-2026 peak-season surcharge schedules shows a standard residential Ground package's demand surcharge nearly doubles during the highest-volume week: from $0.40 to $0.60 at UPS, and from $0.50 to $0.80 at FedEx. USPS publishes no equivalent add-on surcharge.
Ground Residential/Home Delivery packages only.
UPS demand surcharge, peak week
$300.00
Extra cost vs. shoulder-period rate (UPS)
$100.00
FedEx demand surcharge, peak week
$400.00
Extra cost vs. shoulder-period rate (FedEx)
$150.00
| Surcharge Type | Standard Rate | Peak Week Rate (Nov 23–Dec 27) |
|---|---|---|
| Additional Handling | $8.25 | $10.80 |
| Large Package | $90.50 | $107.00 |
| Over Maximum Limits | $485.00 | $540.00 |
| Demand: Ground Residential & Ground Saver | $0.40 | $0.60 |
| Demand: Next Day Air / other Air | $1.10 | $2.05 |
Source: UPS. August 28, 2025 Update: UPS Demand Surcharges (retrieved August 7, 2026). Covers UPS's 2025 season (Sept 28, 2025–Jan 17, 2026), the most recently published schedule as of this page's data refresh. UPS had not yet published a 2026-2027 schedule.
| Surcharge Type | Standard Rate | Peak Week Rate (Nov 23–Dec 27) |
|---|---|---|
| Additional Handling | $8.80 | $11.85 |
| Oversize | $95.75 | $117.25 |
| Ground Unauthorized Package | $535.00 | $595.00 |
| Demand: Ground Residential/Home Delivery | $0.50 | $0.80 |
| Demand: Ground Economy | $2.55 | $4.05 |
| Demand: Overnight | $1.30 | $2.55 |
| Demand: 2Day | $1.20 | $2.35 |
Source: FedEx: Demand Surcharges (retrieved August 7, 2026). Covers FedEx's 2026 season (Sept 28, 2026–Jan 17, 2027), announced July 22, 2026. That's already the upcoming season, one calendar year ahead of UPS's most recently published schedule above, so the two tables aren't directly comparable year-over-year.
| Packages in Peak Week | Extra Cost (UPS) | Extra Cost (FedEx) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | $20.00 | $30.00 |
| 500 | $100.00 | $150.00 |
| 1,000 | $200.00 | $300.00 |
| 5,000 | $1,000.00 | $1,500.00 |
| 10,000 | $2,000.00 | $3,000.00 |
Sources: UPS. August 28, 2025 Update: UPS Demand Surcharges (retrieved August 7, 2026); FedEx: Demand Surcharges (retrieved August 7, 2026). Agentis synthesis: the published standard-vs-peak-week rate delta ($0.20/pkg UPS, $0.30/pkg FedEx) multiplied across common weekly BFCM shipping volumes.
How we calculate this
Surcharge figures come directly from UPS's and FedEx's own published peak-season rate documents. UPS's most recently published schedule covers the 2025 season. FedEx has already published its 2026 season. The two schedules are from different calendar years, and we note that rather than blend them together as if comparable. Read our full methodology →
Expert Insight
Everyone braces for BFCM order volume. Fewer merchants model the demand surcharge that shows up on every Ground Residential package during the highest-volume week, regardless of order value. It's the same $0.60 whether the order is $20 or $200. On its own that looks trivial. Multiplied across a real BFCM week's package count, it's a five- or six-figure line item that most margin models never isolate, because it's buried inside a blended 'shipping cost' bucket instead of being tracked as its own seasonal cost driver.
Udi Razmovich, CTO & Co-Founder →No. USPS folds its holiday-season price adjustment directly into the published rate table for the affected period instead of adding a separate surcharge line item. There's no add-on fee to isolate the way there is with UPS's or FedEx's demand surcharges. That difference matters when you model BFCM shipping cost. UPS and FedEx publish a demand surcharge per package that rises during the peak week of November 23 to December 27: from $0.40 to $0.60 on UPS Ground Residential and from $0.50 to $0.80 on FedEx Ground Residential and Home Delivery. At 5,000 peak-week packages, the extra cost versus the shoulder-period rate is $1,000 on UPS and $1,500 on FedEx. With USPS, the seasonal increase is already inside the rate you pay, so you compare the holiday rate table against your normal rate rather than adding a line. For your own store, budget the UPS or FedEx surcharge as its own seasonal cost driver instead of leaving it inside a blended shipping bucket.
Agentis analysis of Shopify Payments' and Stripe's published 2026 fee schedules shows every chargeback carries a fixed $15 dispute fee. Lose the dispute, and the full order value gets reversed on top of it. Industry-reported win rates put the odds of getting that money back at under 44%, per Chargebacks911's 2026 data.
Agentis analysis of Shopify's own discount-combination documentation confirms an order-level discount code combines with a free-shipping discount by default, no special setup required. On an $80 order with 40% gross margin, a 20% discount code cuts gross profit from $32 to $16, and stacking an $8 shipping cost on top drops it to $8, a 75% cut in what the order was expected to earn.
Agentis analysis of USPS's own published Ground Advantage pricing confirms rates start at $7.90 at a Post Office location. A merchant charging a flat $4.99 shipping fee absorbs at least $2.91 of that cost per order before any packaging or handling, an amount that comes straight out of gross margin on every single sale, not just the unprofitable ones.
Agentis finds margin leaks automatically.
Data last updated August 7, 2026. Browse all Shipping & Fulfillment pages →