Real-time USPS shipping rates in VirtueMart, on the new USPS REST APIThe old USPS Web Tools XML API was retired in January 2026. That change broke a lot of older USPS shipping plugins, and many stores suddenly stopped showing live postage at checkout.
VP USPS Shipping is built on the new USPS REST API, the official replacement that uses OAuth 2.0 and JSON. Your store keeps quoting accurate USPS rates, fetched live at checkout from the real cart weight, the package dimensions and the customer's destination.
You can use retail or commercial base rates, and commercial rates do not need a USPS account number. Built-in rate caching keeps you within the USPS limit of 60 requests per hour, and you can point the plugin at the production or the staging environment while you test.
Domestic services- Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express
- USPS Ground Advantage
- First-Class Package Service
- Media Mail and Library Mail
- Small, Medium and Large Flat Rate Boxes
- Flat Rate, Legal and Padded Envelopes, for Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express
International services- Priority Mail International and Priority Mail Express International
- First-Class Package International Service
- Global Express Guaranteed
- International flat rate boxes and envelopes
A FEW THINGS THAT SET IT APART- Smart Flat Rate. A 3D box-packing algorithm checks that the products physically fit inside a flat rate container before that container is offered, so you never quote a box the order cannot go in.
- Multi-box shipping for heavy orders, with configurable outer box dimensions per method, a cart weight padding option and a machinable toggle.
- Show Cheapest Option Only. Collapse the results to the single lowest-priced method that qualifies when you want a simpler checkout.
- Handling fees as a flat amount, a percentage of the shipping cost, or a percentage of the cart total. Per-method tax rules and logos are supported too.
- Restrictions by destination country, ZIP or postal range, order amount, product category and a blocking category. On VirtueMart 4.6 and later it uses the VirtueMart core restrictions, which also add blocking countries, and it falls back to its own restrictions on older versions.
One thing to be clear about. Rates come back in US Dollars with no currency conversion, and the plugin is built for stores that ship from a US address, since USPS only collects packages inside the US.
No hacks, no manual file edits. Install the plugin with the normal Joomla Extensions Installer, enter your USPS Client ID and Secret, enable it, and you are ready to go.
System Requirement: VirtueMart 3.8+, 4.0, 4.2, 4.4 or 4.6 | Joomla 3, 4 or 5 | PHP 7.1+ (PHP 8.1+ recommended for Joomla 5) | cURL extension enabled
Product Details: https://www.virtueplanet.com/extensions/usps-shipping (https://www.virtueplanet.com/extensions/usps-shipping)
Documentation: User Guide (https://www.virtueplanet.com/documentation/joomla-extensions/usps-shipping-for-virtuemart-user-guide)
Support: https://www.virtueplanet.com/forum/vp-usps-shipping-plugin (https://www.virtueplanet.com/forum/vp-usps-shipping-plugin)
Pre-sale Queries: https://www.virtueplanet.com/contact-us (https://www.virtueplanet.com/contact-us)
VirtuePlanet - https://www.virtueplanet.com (https://www.virtueplanet.com)