The Easiest Ways to Pay for USPS Shipping as a Recipient
Most USPS shipments are paid for upfront by the sender, but there are situations in which the recipient wants or needs to cover the shipping costs instead. Fortunately, there are several ways to handle the cost as a recipient, some easier than others.
The “official” way to cover USPS shipping costs as the recipient is the Collect on Delivery (COD) service, which allows senders to collect money from recipients for merchandise, postage, and fees. However, it is not the easiest way for recipients to pay for shipping because of how it works.
With COD, senders must still pay the postage and any applicable fees upfront when mailing a package. The USPS attempts delivery of the package but does not release it until the recipient pays the specified amount. Then, the collected funds are remitted to the sender. However, the service has a few important limitations that make it impractical for recipients to use to cover shipping costs.
COD is primarily intended for collecting payment for merchandise, not for simply having the recipient cover shipping costs. While it is theoretically possible to set the COD amount equal to the shipping costs, this option is more expensive due to the COD fee, which depends on the amount collected. As of 2026, the fee starts at $13.05 for amounts under $50.
For example, a sender is sending you a 3.5-pound Priority Mail package within Zone 2. As of 2026, the retail shipping cost would be $14.35. At the time of mailing, the sender would have to pay the shipping cost and the COD fee, which together amount to $27.40, and set the COD amount to $27.40. The USPS will collect this amount from you upon delivery and remit it to the sender, allowing them to recover their costs. The combined postage and COD fees make delivery almost twice as expensive, yet the sender still has to pay upfront.
In short, COD is an extremely cumbersome and expensive way to pay for shipping as a recipient. A much easier way is to have the sender purchase the shipping label and then reimburse them for the postage using whatever payment method is most convenient for both of you. However, if you don’t want the sender to pay anything for one reason or another, the best way to pay for shipping is to purchase a shipping label online through USPS or a third-party shipping service and email it to the sender.
Purchasing a prepaid shipping label online is a pretty straightforward process. Both USPS Click-N-Ship and third-party shipping services require you to fill out an online form with information about the package, including the sender’s and recipient’s names and addresses, the size and weight of the package, its declared value, and the shipping service.
Keep a couple of things in mind while filling out the form. First, remember to enter your address in the “Recipient’s Address” field. Second, ask the sender to provide the package’s exact measurements and weight beforehand, as these determine the postage. If the measurements and weight are incorrect on the shipping label, the package may be rejected upon acceptance, returned to the sender, or delivered with postage due.
You will be charged for the label when you generate it, and the payment method depends on where and how you purchase the label. For example, USPS Click-N-Ship accepts credit and debit cards, while some third-party shipping services, such as PostageMaker, require you to load money into your account first, which they then charge when you generate a shipping label.
Once you have purchased the label, save it as a PDF and email it to the sender. They will then print it out, affix it to the package, and ship it to you without being charged postage. Problem solved!