OT: Get Ready for USPS 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?

[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.

[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.