1st Class Vs Standard postage rates
First Class mail enjoys a much faster delivery time in most cases but is more expensive than Standard Class. Nationwide delivery times for First Class average one- to five-days and over 96 percent of First Class mail is delivered the next day. One other difference between First Class and Standard mail, with First Class, the undeliverable mail (wrong address, for example) is returned to the sender at no charge.
Standard A (Formerly called “Bulk Mail”) is a more economical method of mailing. We see nationwide average delivery times of one- to two-weeks and local averages of three- to ten-days. On rare occasions we also see next day delivery of Standard mail and about once a year it will take three weeks to get to its destination, these times are very unusual though. Think of Standard Mail as a low-cost alternative with a difficult-to-predict but longer delivery time. Standard postage may not be used for bills, invoices or other mailings which contain unique personal information.