USPS Rate Increase - May 14 2007

[Guest]

[tialessa]

As of 14 May 2007 postal rates increase in the US...

http://pe.usps.com/RateCase2007/DMM300_HTML/RatesAndFees.htm

Looks like I'll be doing some serious looking at electronic postage (which means I have to get a new printer)

1st class letter - from 39c to 41c
a 60c bubble mailer to 75c
Priority Mail flat rate from $4.05 to $4.60
Delivery confirmation from 50c to 65c for Priority Mail & from 60c to 75c for First Class
Insurance - $0.01 to $50 - from 1.35 to $1.65
50.01 to 100 - from 2.30 to 2.05
100.01 to 200 - from 3.30 to 2.45

Registered Mail will depend on value declared -
$0.00 declaration - $9.50
0.01 to 100 declaration - 10.15
100.01 to 500 declaration - 11.25

[savage727]

Thanks for posting this info Tialessa!!      

[Scifi Cards]

Considering that UPS and FedEx can increase their rates any time they want with a "fuel surcharge" I really don't mind this too much.  I read somewhere that it costs the USPS millions every time the gas price goes up by a penny.

The electronic option does save some money on services like confirmation.

I wonder if there was a typo though...  Do you really think Insurance for both 50-100 and 100-200 went down?

Ed

[tialessa]

I wonder if there was a typo though...  Do you really think Insurance for both 50-100 and 100-200 went down?

I thought the same thing - everything else is being raised - makes no sense for them to be lowered...

And yes, FedEx, UPS, and courier service hits our company with TONS of fuel surcharges so it's not too much of an increase considering...

[kbmum]

On the USPS site, it says that the rate for 2-ounce first class mail (such as wedding invitations) will drop from 63 cents to 58 cents.  The flat rate Priority boxes are going up from $8.10 to $9.15.    Since the cost of delivery confirmation bought at a post office is going up, I wonder what will happen to the cost of that service when you ship through PayPal?  It's currently 14 cents.

[De Orc]

We recently had a mail hike from the Royal mail as well    they complain that less people use the mail so put prices up!! I wonder if they ever thought to attract customers by bringing prices down for once  LOL

De Orc 

[tialessa]

Since the cost of delivery confirmation bought at a post office is going up, I wonder what will happen to the cost of that service when you ship through PayPal?  It's currently 14 cents.

Electronic rates are in that link from the USPS - I didn't look at them...

[Kelly]

Looks like electronic delivery confirmation went up from .14 to .18 

[kbmum]

That stinks, but at least it's significantly cheaper than buying delivery confirmation at the post office.  I think USPS service has been terrible since Christmas.  Delivery is much slower than it used to be.  Almost all of the Priority Mail packages I've received in the past few months have taken 5 to 8 days for delivery, instead of 2 or 3, and first class and parcel post have been awful, too.  Will the new rates improve this?  I doubt it.

[kbmum]

There's an update in eBay Announcements about the rate changes.  One interesting change is this:

Discount for international USPS shipping labels printed with PayPal - Beginning on May 14, the following discounts will automatically be applied to USPS international labels printed with PayPal:

Priority Mail International -- 5%
Express Mail International -- 8%

Labels for the small, flat-rate Priority envelopes can't be printed through PayPal (too small for the customs documents that have to be printed), so the discount should apply to Priority variable weight and the large envelopes.

The rest of the info is here (scroll down a bit):

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200704.shtml#2007-04-19094009

[kbmum]

Here's a head's up -- As of May 14, USPS will no longer offer the Global Priority Mail small envelope that ships for $5.25.  There will be only one envelope, with a rate of $9 to Canada and Mexico, and $11 to the rest of the world.

This stinks!  

[De Orc]

That is bad news most of my cards come in the smaller envelope  might have to cut back on purchases.

De Orc 

[kbmum]

That's exactly what worries me.  The higher price will be too expensive, especially for the more common cards and sets I send out, but there is no way I will ever again send an auction item via Air Mail.  I've had too many items get misdirected or very delayed to trust it.

[Nienna]

Any news on how much the flat rate boxes will cost that they're introducing?
I agree 100% - the small GP mailers were ideal for most of the chase cards (provided they were packaged well inside the cardboard mailer) and their price definitely was affordable, not sure the new options will be as popular given they're twice as dear! 

[kbmum]

Oh yes, there's news, and you won't like it.  Flat rate boxes to Canada and Mexico (limit of 20 pounds or whatever will fit in the box) are $23; to the rest of the world, they're $37.

Here's more info about the international rates: 

http://www.usps.com/ratecase/ratecase_faqs.htm?ov=001QI#H8

This is truly going to have a major impact on eBay.

[Nienna]

Oh yes, there's news, and you won't like it.  Flat rate boxes to Canada and Mexico (limit of 20 pounds or whatever will fit in the box) are $23; to the rest of the world, they're $37.

Here's more info about the international rates: 

http://www.usps.com/ratecase/ratecase_faqs.htm?ov=001QI#H8

This is truly going to have a major impact on eBay.

Oh rats ... that's not good news ...
What about those small white mailing boxes that one of our other Forum members always uses when he sends out his cards?
Do you know the ones I mean Cindy? I've often thought how good they are for card sets and single cards (provided they're well packaged inside the box of course), but he's the only seller I know who uses them routinely for all his cards.
I wondered if USPS were getting rid of those too? Or if they aren't, I wonder what tariff they'd be covered by as I couldn't find any specific mention of them.
I see they've put the price up for GP Express mail by $2.00 too ... 
Please correct me if I'm wrong Cindy, but reading through all that stuff, it sounds like ALL the international mail will have in-built tracking and insurance (to some degree) as part of the cost .. am I right?

Still, these increases are going to have a HUGE impact on ebay sellers and buyers alike as you say and if anything, people will only consider purchasing domestically rather than looking further afield ... bang goes the advantage the US sellers have enjoyed had over the rest of us when getting the latest card releases ... no more UK buyers looking Stateside for cheaper cards, which means you might not get the same level of bidding and the prices will be lower.
I hate to say this, but I think it's going to put the smaller dealers out of business - they just won't be able to stand the costs and losing your potential international customers because the postal prices are too high will be what tips them over the edge.
I know we've moaned about the postal prices here in the UK over the past couple of years, but ours haven't been hiked-up as far as this in one go!

[kbmum]

There are small white Priority Mail boxes, but they're supposed to be used only for shipping within the U.S.  Or do you mean the little white boxes that have no printing on the outside?  If so, those don't come from the post office.

It does appear that at least some insurance will be built into the Global Priority price.  I haven't been able to get a straight answer about it, though.  When I called my post office this morning, I was told that they just went through training last week and that it'll be a learning curve for everyone.

What upsets me is that USPS made it seem like this was only a rate increase, but in fact they've made some major changes to the entire postal system.  When I sell on eBay in May, I'm going to use the calculated shipping option for my listings, instead of the flat rates I usually use.  There have been changes in First Class mail, too, including any bubble mailer or package that weighs 3.5 ounces or more has to be shipped using a First Class parcel mailing rate (at a higher rate) rather than the First Class letter rate we use now.

I think a lot of sellers are going to make some big shipping rate mistakes in May and June until they become better acquainted with the changes.  I'd expect that to lead to some seller-buyer problems when the actual cost of shipping is much higher than the price listed in the auction.

[Bitsy]

These increases are ridiculous!   

[Galea]

This is going to be one huge mess. I really liked the small global priority envelope, it was probably the best option to send cards and small items to the UK/Australia. I went to the PO today and was I surprised to find that as of May 14 I won't be able to ship a 1lb bubble mailer by letter post anymore. The guy there told me I'll have to pay $14 for Airmail PARCEL Post to Canada, when i used to pay around $5 .

[Kelly]

This is bad.  I won't be selling overseas anymore.  The risk of sending something regular airmail is too great.  But I'll still send to shakers of course!