A Small Q4 Shipping Adjustment

If you notice shipping at TomiKing costing a little more during the final months of 2026, there is a fairly simple reason: the U.S. Postal Service has increased package rates for the holiday shipping season, as per their annual song and dance. (JK, love our postal workers.)

Beginning October 4, 2026, USPS introduced temporary peak-season pricing on USPS Ground Advantage, Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express and Parcel Select. The higher rates remain in effect through January 17, 2027. According to USPS, the adjustment is intended to help cover the additional handling and operating costs that come with the enormous increase in package traffic during the holidays.

For collectors, the good news is that many of the increases on smaller packages remain relatively modest.

On commercial USPS Ground Advantage shipments weighing 0-3 pounds, for example, the seasonal increase is $0.40 for Zones 1-4 and $0.55 for Zones 5-9. Heavier and longer-distance packages see progressively larger increases. Priority Mail is affected as well.

Those numbers may sound small individually, but anyone who has ever shipped hundreds of diecast cars knows how quickly forty or fifty cents per box starts multiplying.

Holiday shipping surcharges aren't particularly new

The modern USPS peak-season adjustment dates back to 2020, when the Postal Service temporarily increased commercial package prices during a period of extraordinary e-commerce demand. Remember that? I try not to. At the time, a commercial Priority Mail shipment received a temporary 40-cent increase. USPS continued seasonal pricing in subsequent years as holiday parcel volumes created additional sorting, transportation and handling costs.

The increases have gradually changed as the package network has changed.

During the 2025 holiday season, for example, a lightweight commercial Ground Advantage package traveling within Zones 1-4 received a 30-cent seasonal increase, while Zones 5-9 added 35 cents. For 2026, those figures have risen to 40 cents and 55 cents respectively.

In other words, the box hasn't changed. The tiny car inside certainly hasn't gained any weight. Getting that box across the country has simply become a little more expensive. We are pretty used to it at this point.

What this means at TomiKing

For Q4 2026, you may therefore notice a slight increase in TomiKing shipping charges as these USPS seasonal rates work their way into our actual postage costs.

We're still going to do everything reasonably possible to keep shipping affordable. That includes using appropriately sized packaging, choosing efficient services and avoiding unnecessary shipping costs whenever possible.

It's also one reason we encourage collectors to combine purchases when it makes sense. Shipping three cars together is usually far more efficient than shipping three cars separately, and building a larger order can help customers reach our free-shipping threshold - eliminating the shipping charge altogether.

We would much rather see that money go toward another model for your collection than disappear into postage.

The important part is transparency. This isn't an unexplained TomiKing price increase, nor is it an attempt to make additional money from shipping. It is a seasonal change in what it costs us to get an order from our shelves to your collection. You may notice several other stores posting similar announcements or increasing their free shipping thresholds too.

Thanks for working with us and for your business! Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any concerns.

Sources & Further Reading

1. USPS - Temporary Price Changes for the 2026 Holiday Shipping Season (August 25, 2026). The primary source confirming the Q4 increases, affected services, and expiration date.

2. USPS - Temporary Price Changes for the 2025 Holiday Shipping Season (August 8, 2025). Provides historical pricing figures for comparing last year's seasonal increases with 2026.

3. USPS - Temporary Price Increase (August 14, 2020). Documents the introduction of temporary commercial package increases during the pandemic and holiday shopping surge.