USPS Package Intercept: Stop or Redirect Packages in Transit

You shipped a package and immediately realized you sent it to the wrong address. Or your customer cancelled the order five minutes after you dropped the box at the post office. Maybe you put the wrong item in the package, or the recipient moved and you just found out. Whatever the reason, USPS Package Intercept is the tool that lets you attempt to catch a package that is already in the mail stream and redirect it, return it, or hold it before it reaches the original destination.

The key word is attempt. Package Intercept is not guaranteed to work, and understanding its limitations is just as important as knowing how to use it.

What Package Intercept Does

When you submit an intercept request, USPS tries to locate your package within their sorting and delivery network and apply one of three actions: return it to you as the sender, redirect it to a different address, or hold it at the destination post office for pickup.

The service costs 17 dollars per request in 2026. If the intercept involves redirecting to a new address, you may also owe additional postage if the new destination requires higher postage than the original label. The 17-dollar fee is charged regardless of whether the intercept succeeds — if USPS cannot locate the package in time or if it has already been delivered, you still pay.

When Intercept Works and When It Does Not

Package Intercept works best when the package is still in transit between sorting facilities — the middle portion of its journey where it sits in bins and on trucks but has not yet been loaded onto a carrier's vehicle for final delivery. This is typically the window between one and three days after shipping for most domestic packages.

Once a package is loaded onto the delivery vehicle for its final route, the intercept is very unlikely to succeed. The carrier is already out driving, and there is no practical way to pull one package off a truck that is making 200 stops. Similarly, if the package has already been delivered, the intercept is moot — USPS cannot retrieve a package from someone's porch.

The intercept success rate varies, but realistically, you should expect it to work roughly 60 to 70 percent of the time if submitted within the first 24 hours of shipping. After 48 hours, the success rate drops as the package gets closer to its destination. After the package shows as out for delivery in the tracking system, it is almost certainly too late.

Eligible Mail Types

Package Intercept requires the mailpiece to have a tracking number or extra service barcode. This includes Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Ground Advantage, Parcel Select, Certified Mail, Registered Mail, and Insured Mail. Regular First-Class letters without tracking cannot be intercepted because there is no barcode for the system to locate.

International mail is not eligible for Package Intercept. Once a package enters the international mail stream, it is outside USPS's domestic intercept capabilities.

How to Submit a Request

Go to USPS.com and navigate to the Package Intercept page (or search for Package Intercept in the site's search bar). You need the original tracking number, a USPS.com account, and a payment method for the 17-dollar fee.

Enter the tracking number, select the intercept action (return to sender, redirect, or hold at post office), and confirm the request. USPS processes the request and attempts to locate the package within their system. You receive a confirmation email, and the tracking page updates to show that an intercept has been requested.

If the intercept succeeds, the tracking page shows the package being diverted and you receive a notification. If it fails — usually because the package was already delivered or was in the final stages of delivery — the tracking page reflects this and you still owe the 17-dollar fee.

You can also submit intercept requests by phone (1-800-ASK-USPS) or in person at a post office, though the online submission is fastest because it goes directly into the electronic system that flags the package for interception.

What Happens to the Fee if It Fails

This is the most common complaint about Package Intercept: USPS charges the 17-dollar fee whether or not the interception succeeds. The fee covers the administrative cost of processing the request and searching for the package, not the guaranteed outcome. USPS is transparent about this on the service page, but many senders are still surprised when they pay 17 dollars and the package gets delivered anyway.

There is no refund process for failed intercepts. If you need guaranteed package recovery, the only reliable approach is to act within the first few hours of shipping — the sooner you submit, the higher the probability of success.

For E-commerce Sellers

Package Intercept is a useful tool for handling order cancellations, address corrections, and wrong-item situations, but at 17 dollars per request, it should be a last resort rather than a routine part of your operations.

The better approach for cancellations is to add a processing delay to your fulfillment workflow. If orders sit in a queue for 30 to 60 minutes before labels are printed and packages are dispatched, customers who change their minds can cancel before the package enters the mail stream. This is cheaper and more reliable than intercepting packages after the fact.

For address corrections, validate addresses before shipping using USPS address verification APIs. Most shipping platforms, including atoship, validate addresses automatically during label creation and flag potential problems before you print the label. Catching an address error before shipping costs nothing. Catching it after costs 17 dollars and might not work.

For wrong-item situations, some sellers find it cheaper to ship the correct item immediately and ask the customer to return the wrong item (or tell them to keep it if the value is low), rather than paying for an intercept and then shipping the correct item afterward. The math depends on the product value and shipping cost, but for items under 30 dollars, the intercept fee plus delayed delivery almost never makes financial sense.