Amazon is reportedly ready to drop its USPS deal if negotiations fall through

After over 30 years, Amazon may be cutting ties with the United States Postal Service as it looks to expand its own delivery network, as reported by The Washington Post. The outlet, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, cites anonymous sources who said negotiations between Amazon and Trump-appointed USPS Postmaster General David Steiner have reportedly stagnated, pushing Amazon to consider concluding the partnership altogether.

Washington Post reporter Jacob Bogage noted in a post on Bluesky that “this was not Amazon’s preferred plan.” According to Bogage, Amazon wanted to extend its contract with the USPS, which is set to expire on October 1st, 2026, but the USPS planned to “auction off last-mile delivery contracts” instead.

In a statement provided to The Verge, Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly said, “We’ve continued to discuss ways to extend our partnership that would increase our spend with them, and we look forward to hearing more from them soon – with the goal of extending our relationship that started more than 30 years ago.”

Amazon’s plan to cut ties with the USPS isn’t final yet — it would reportedly only move forward with expanding its own delivery network if it can’t come to an agreement to extend its USPS contract. Amazon has called the USPS its “first and oldest business partner,” and contributed $6 billion in revenue to the USPS in 2025, making up about 7.5 percent of the Postal Service’s total revenue.

If it left USPS behind, Amazon’s own in-house delivery network would rival that of the Postal Service. According to Pitney Bowes, Amazon handled 6.3 billion parcels in 2024, second only to the USPS with 6.9 billion, and could overtake the USPS by 2028, shipping an estimated 8.4 billion packages compared to the USPS’s 8.3 billion.

Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly:

“The USPS is a longstanding and trusted partner and we remain committed to working together. We’ve continued to discuss ways to extend our partnership that would increase our spend with them, and we look forward to hearing more from them soon – with the goal of extending our relationship that started more than 30 years ago. We were surprised to hear they want to run an auction after nearly a year of negotiations, so we still have a lot to work through. Given the change of direction and the uncertainty it adds to our delivery network, we’re evaluating all of our options that would ensure we can continue to deliver for our customers.”