An Honest Update From Keys® CEO:
Why Our Shipping Costs and Free Shipping Minimums Are Changing
March 31, 2026
Dear Customers,
We owe you a straightforward conversation. Over the coming weeks, you’ll see changes to our shipping rates and our free shipping minimum. We know that’s not what anyone wants to hear, and honestly, it’s not a message we ever wanted to write.
But we believe you deserve to understand why this is happening, and we want you to hear it directly from us—not from a quiet price change buried in a shopping cart.
What’s Happening and Why
On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran. In the weeks since, Iran has moved to effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz—the narrow waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply travels every day. Tanker traffic through the strait has ground to a near halt, oil prices have surged past $100 a barrel, and the ripple effects are now reaching every corner of the economy.
You’ve almost certainly felt it already at the gas pump. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has climbed from $2.98 before the war to over $4.00 today. Diesel—the fuel that powers nearly every delivery truck in America—has spiked to $5.45 per gallon. Those aren’t abstract numbers for a business like ours. Every package we ship to your door rides on a truck that runs on diesel, through a carrier system that prices its services based on what fuel costs that week.
Every Carrier Has Raised Prices—There Is No Cheaper Alternative
This is the part that has been especially frustrating for us. When costs rise with one carrier, we normally shop around for a better rate. This time, there is nowhere to turn. Every major shipping carrier in the country has raised prices in response to the same fuel crisis:
UPS and FedEx have both escalated their fuel surcharges to between 25% and 28% on ground and air deliveries. These surcharges are recalculated every week based on diesel and jet fuel prices, which means they’ve been climbing steadily since the war began. On top of that, both carriers already implemented a 5.9% general rate increase at the start of 2026 and have added per-pound surge fees on international shipments. For many shippers, the combined year-over-year cost increase is running between 12% and 16%.
USPS, which had been the more affordable option for years because it never charged fuel surcharges, has now announced its first-ever fuel-driven price increase: a temporary 8% surcharge on Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, and USPS Ground Advantage packages, expected to take effect April 26. That comes on top of a 7.8% rate increase USPS already implemented in January. Even with these hikes, USPS notes its rates are still well below what UPS and FedEx charge—but the gap is narrowing.
DHL enacted a 5.9% general price increase for U.S. Express shipments at the start of the year, with its own monthly fuel surcharge adjustments on top.
The bottom line is simple and painful: there is no carrier we can switch to that avoids these increases. The fuel crisis created by the war in Iran has raised the cost of moving packages across the board, for every business, through every shipping provider.
This Isn’t Just an Online Shopping Problem
We want to be clear about something: these fuel-driven cost increases are not limited to online retailers like us. They are hitting every avenue where goods move from point A to point B.
Brick-and-mortar stores are facing the same diesel price increases to stock their shelves. The trucks that deliver inventory to your local shops run on the same fuel as the trucks that bring packages to your door. Grocery stores, department stores, specialty shops—every retailer that receives shipments is absorbing these costs, and many are already passing them on through higher shelf prices.
Other online retailers—from the largest marketplaces to independent shops—are in the same position we are. Many have already raised their free shipping thresholds, added shipping fees, or increased product prices to compensate. Analysts expect that free shipping minimums across the e-commerce industry will climb from $50 to $75 or even $100 in the months ahead.
In other words, this is not a Keyspure.com problem. It’s a global fuel problem that is being felt in every store, every warehouse, and every checkout page in the country. We are all navigating the same storm.
What’s Changing at Keyspure.com
We’ve spent the last several weeks trying to find ways to absorb as much of these cost increases as we can without compromising the quality and service you expect from us. We’ve renegotiated where possible, optimized our packaging, and explored every option available to us. But the reality is that fuel costs now represent such a large portion of our shipping expenses that we cannot absorb the full increase without it threatening the health of our business.
Here is what you’ll see:
Shipping rates: Our shipping costs will increase modestly to reflect the carrier surcharges we’re now paying. We are passing through only a portion of the actual increase—we’re shouldering the rest ourselves.
Free shipping minimum: We will be raising our free shipping threshold. We know free shipping has been one of the things our customers value most, and we fought hard to keep it where it was. But with shipping costs up 12% to 16% year-over-year, maintaining the current minimum would mean either raising product prices across the board or cutting corners elsewhere—neither of which felt right.
These are temporary, fuel-driven adjustments. If and when fuel prices stabilize and carrier surcharges come back down, we will revisit these changes. That’s a commitment.
We’re Frustrated Too
We want to say this plainly: we are sad and frustrated about this situation. We got into this business because we love serving our customers, and nothing about raising prices feels good. We understand the squeeze you’re feeling because we’re feeling it too—as a business watching our operating costs climb, and as individuals filling up our own gas tanks and buying our own groceries in an economy under pressure.
The war in Iran and its effects on global fuel markets are completely outside our control. We didn’t choose this, and neither did you. What we can control is how we respond: with honesty, transparency, and a genuine effort to minimize the impact on the people who make our business possible—you.
We are not using this crisis as an opportunity to pad margins. We are not sneaking in price increases and hoping nobody notices. We are telling you what’s happening, why it’s happening, and promising to reverse course as soon as conditions allow.
Looking Ahead
The honest truth is that nobody knows how long this crisis will last. Oil analysts and military strategists are debating whether the Strait of Hormuz will reopen in weeks or months. The International Energy Agency has released 400 million barrels from emergency reserves to try to calm markets, but that’s a temporary measure—not a solution. As long as the strait remains closed and fuel prices stay elevated, shipping costs across the entire industry will remain high.
We’re watching the situation closely and will continue to update you as things change. In the meantime, we’re doing everything we can to keep our products affordable, our service excellent, and our relationship with you built on trust.
Thank you for being a Keyspure.com customer. Thank you for your patience. And thank you for understanding that some things are simply beyond our control—but how we treat you through difficult times is not.
With gratitude,
Wendy Steele
Keys® CEO
