OT: Get Ready for USPS Rate Increase

[Buythatcard]

I just heard that the USPS is raising their postage rates once again.

Sellers get ready to update your S/H rates.

Check out the link for the updated rates.

https://www.stamps.com/usps/postage-rate-increase/

[savedfrommyspokes]

The "gotcha" with this year's USPS rate increases is that 1st Class Packages are changing over to a zone based pricing structure. With 9 mailing zones, the further away you mail something to, the greater the cost. For example, under the new pricing, if I live in NY and mail a 4 oz piece to NJ the price will be the same as now $2.66. But if a 4 oz mailing is sent to CA from NY with the new rates, the price jumps to $3.09. East coast and west coast shippers will experience the greatest increases in prices. In addition, all 5-8 oz packages will cost $3.05 instead of increasing at each OZ increment.

https://postcalc.usps.com/DomesticZoneChart

https://blog.stamps.com/tag/2019-usps-prices/


I have not seen how ebay will handle this, but it will appear that ebay sellers would consider a switch from a flat rate to a calculated s/h cost so that they do not over/under charge their customers. Or pick a price point in the middle.

The new pricing norm for mailing a card(s) via 1st class package may become $4.

For those that ship a lot using this service, thoughts?

[Promethius88]

So it's actually cheaper to mail a first class letter in 2019 that is over one ounce... if I'm reading the table correctly? It's cheaper for each additional ounce after the one ounce.
I guess with the zone shipping charges I might be glad I live in the midwest!

[Buythatcard]

International customers will get hit once again. It already cost a fortune to ship first class to Canada. It appears that the rates are increasing 3.9%.

[Smanzari]

Originally Posted by Promethius88

So it's actually cheaper to mail a first class letter in 2019 that is over one ounce... if I'm reading the table correctly? It's cheaper for each additional ounce after the one ounce.
I guess with the zone shipping charges I might be glad I live in the midwest!

Yes - so first class stamps are going up to $0.55 but extra ounces are now $0.15; so a 2 oz Letter or a 1 oz Non-Machinable is now $0.70, instead of $0.71

[buymycards]

UPS raised their prices by 4.9% on Dec 28th, and Fed Ex prices are going up by 4.9% on Jan 7. The Postal Service's overall increase across the board averages around 2.5%, which is roughly equal to the 2018 rate of inflation. The Postal Service is limited, by law, to limit rate increases to the inflation rate.

Another thing to remember about the Postal Service is - each year, because of population growth, the Postal Service adds 1.1 million new delivery points. This means 1000's of new clerks and carriers need to be hired, new machinery is purchased, and additional vehicles are needed.

[pclpads]

The linkys say nothing re: the increases ALSO mean more competence, efficiency and minimizing delivery errors. Guess that was an oversight?

[savedfrommyspokes]

Since 2015 the rate to mail a 1st class package has increased nearly 50% with the 2019 rate change, I decided to look at my selling trends in comparison to the s/h increases over the past few years.

Most of the cards I sell are lower priced 50-60s commons. My transaction count (total payments) for 2018 was 28% below 2015's count, but I sold 13% more items in 2018 than I did in 2015. From 2015 to 2018 my items/transaction has increased by 41%. This means my buyers are buying more at one time than they were 3 years ago, likely to save on the increased s/h costs which I (as most every other seller) has passed onto their customer. While I am not selling fewer items , based on my transaction counts I am shipping fewer packages....however, my year end USPS shipping costs have remained the same over the past few years.

With the above in mind, I suspect many other businesses have experienced similar results over the past few years. If my experiences are indeed similar to the majority of other businesses that rely on the USPS to deliver their product, this ultimately means that the USPS in not increasing their revenue by raising their rates, they are simply reducing their volume.

[Exhibitman]

Actually, a zone-based rate makes sense. I mean, it takes more of everything to ship a card across country than across town.

Flat rate shipping prices will go up on eBay.

[Leon]

Everything is going up. USPS is following suit.

[Mr. Zipper]

Granted, email killed the postcard and letter, but package mailing is higher than ever given online selling. You'd think the post office would be doing well... especially given the low fuel costs over the past few years.

[chalupacollects]

Feel lucky we are not in the eurozone where a one ounce letter typically cost around $3 usd to mail...we still have it good here...

[Fred]

Originally Posted by Leon

Everything is going up. USPS is following suit.

Let's hope the price of card board does not go up!

[Yastrzemski Sports]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

Granted, email killed the postcard and letter, but package mailing is higher than ever given online selling. You'd think the post office would be doing well... especially given the low fuel costs over the past few years.

You can do a google search for total revenue for usps to find the numbers. They did a total $70 billion in revenue last year. Each year they average between $65 - $74 billion. So, what happens with a government agency or any large corporation is when revenue goes up they find a way to spend it and they budget a little more for next year. So when revenue goes from $74b to $65b - and they budgeted $76b - they fall short. I’m sure we all wish we had those problems. But the postal service does have a lot of payroll, a lot of pensions and a lot of fuel to pay every day. The average postmaster salary is $74k and almost every town in the US has one.
That being said, when I started mailing cards on eBay in 1998-99 it would cost 49 cents to mail a card in a bubble mailer. Now it’s close to $3. About 4 years ago I could ship a framed photo from NY to CA for under $15. Today it’s $70. So the package cost has risen at an insane rate and their revenue has stayed mainly even so they must be losing a lot on stamped mail.
As it stands, they are still the best deal out there. For small packages under a pound no one else can compete. And unless you are a big seller and negotiate a better price on volume with ups or fedex they are still the best on packages over a pound also.
Buyers have to understand that it costs money to ship things and those costs are going up and they are going to have to pay a little more. And it sucks for all of us as both buyers and sellers.

[Buythatcard]

Originally Posted by Yastrzemski Sports

You can do a google search for total revenue for usps to find the numbers. They did a total $70 billion in revenue last year. Each year they average between $65 - $74 billion. So, what happens with a government agency or any large corporation is when revenue goes up they find a way to spend it and they budget a little more for next year. So when revenue goes from $74b to $65b - and they budgeted $76b - they fall short. I’m sure we all wish we had those problems. But the postal service does have a lot of payroll, a lot of pensions and a lot of fuel to pay every day. The average postmaster salary is $74k and almost every town in the US has one.
That being said, when I started mailing cards on eBay in 1998-99 it would cost 49 cents to mail a card in a bubble mailer. Now it’s close to $3. About 4 years ago I could ship a framed photo from NY to CA for under $15. Today it’s $70. So the package cost has risen at an insane rate and their revenue has stayed mainly even so they must be losing a lot on stamped mail.
As it stands, they are still the best deal out there. For small packages under a pound no one else can compete. And unless you are a big seller and negotiate a better price on volume with ups or fedex they are still the best on packages over a pound also.
Buyers have to understand that it costs money to ship things and those costs are going up and they are going to have to pay a little more. And it sucks for all of us as both buyers and sellers.

Well said!