Ok, I'm totally shocked! I didn't check out the new increase chart figuring prices would go up sort of on the same scale as the first class envelope postage. Wellllllll....I did some online postage through paypal today and boy was I shocked!!
First class for under an ounce, shipped in a very small #000 bubble mailer has gone up from .49 to $1.13!!!!!! What?!!! Over double the price? With the delivery confirmation it adds up to $1.31 for what used to cost me around .61. I just can't believe it.
It wasn't anything I sold through ebay, but I guess In order to sell any cards through ebay now, I'll have to charge $3-$4 to cover shipping, Paypal and ebay fees for just one card! Terrible.
Be prepared for some possible more shocks. You might start seeing your small bubble mailers returned to you for "improper use of Delivery Confirmation."
Here's the scoop, based on research into just what's written into the revised USPS Domestic Mail Manual. I did this because previously, under the old rules, the USPS was returning auction-win parcels to the sellers improperly, and I had to (politely) read them the riot act and prove to them exactly what the rules were supposed to be. Even PayPal Shipping told me that Kelly's example wasn't remotely allowed under the old rules, and they were wrong too.
The scoop on Delivery Confirmation (DC) domestically in the USA. Previously you were allowed to use it with First Class Mail parcels if they were "machinable" with "no minimum weight" as long as the item was at least 1/4-inch thick and was rigid enough to be compatible with the mail-sorting equipment. Now, they have gone into greater length in defining what they mean by machinable and removed the no-minimum-weight words from the DC section.
This *might* affect a lot of auction sellers who like to add DC but keep the postage costs and hassles down.
With the new rules, DC can be used with machinable parcels, but to qualify for that description the package has to be at least 1/4-inch thick (if the weight is 6 ounces or more), at least 3/4-inch thick (if the weight is 5 to <6 ounces), or at least 1-1/2-inch thick (if the weight is 3.5 to <5 ounces).
Any other parcels are non-machinable, thus "irregular". Under the published rules, the item would have to be at least 3/4-inch thick. If they enforce this, say bye-bye to the regular bubble mailer option for lightweight packages.
I spent a couple of months before I won my arguments with the local USPS on the old rules, when they had been sending back packages for "improper use of DC", at considerable inconvenience and expense to me. So I took this research seriously. Maybe the rewritten Manual wasn't what they intended, but as it's written, the conclusions above are all I can do with it. Maybe they'll issue another revision or a Postal Bulletin.
Most of the time, even "illegal" DC packages will be delivered. But sometimes non-qualifying mail will be returned, or held for postage due for the difference between the First Class Parcel rate and Priority Mail.
I wouldn't stop using bubble mailers with lightweight packages yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see an occasional piece of mail returned. Possibly they knew what they were doing and specifically wrote the new rules to close a loophole that they didn't like. You can't convince me that the usual "stuffed" bubble mailer is incompatible with their sorting machines, but their definitions say it isn't unless it weighs 6 ounces or more and "becomes rigid after the contents are enclosed and the container is secured." You can petition them to change their minds if you send them 100 samples to be tested, at least 6 weeks before you want to send anything.
I hope we see a clarification or a Postal Bulletin. For the most part I expect them to let things go through if they went through previously, but you might be at their mercy.
