eBay needs to sue Amazon for driving up our shipping costs!

[mr_lincoln]

I shipped some packages this AM and the clerk said that starting tomorrow thru Jan 1 they will be working Sundays for "Amazon Sunday" ... plus 7 days a week thru the period.  This will be happening in many, many locations and Amazon should be footing the bill for all that Overtime Pay the Postal works are getting on Sundays opposed to any of that labor cost needing to be recooped from ALL shippers via higher rates ...

[tunicaslot]

Just tagging on - this link may provide some info that eases people's minds about Amazon and the USPS - Amazon is at least sharing the cost of Sunday deliveries - if not subsidizing it in full. We can only imagine the profit Amazon is making with Sunday deliveries that far outweighs the additional cost to them. I'm not saying overtime isn't incurred by regular postal workers - even without Sunday deliveries - the postal carriers always have overtime due to the volume of packages and letters that need to be delivered. Our postal costs go up every year - just like my taxes, utility bills and food. 

https://www.alternet.org/labor/real-cost-amazon-sunday

[inthepastcollectibles]

Yes, they have to pay OVER 5 pounds, but given that the bulk of items are way under five pounds (Poshmark deals in apparel), I personally have never paid for charges for items over 5 pounds and I would wager 95% of Poshers see it the same way. When Amazon was testing drone delivery, Amazon found that almost 90% of all things shipped were under 5 pounds. This is not to say there are some who sell things heavier than 5 pounds consistently, but those people are the "slim" minority comparatively. Furthermore, as a USPS clerk, I can confirm with experience that on any given day 80% to 90% of everything I receive as a clerk is under 5 pounds. So I don't EXACTLY understand your point? As far as paying over the 5 pounds for Poshmark, you can buy additional to cover the postage and it is my "understanding" this is discounted, but given I have never shipped anything over 5 pounds so I cannot confirm this via my own experience. Additionally, it does NOT ADDRESS the statement I made that eBay may be getting a far sweeter deal on postage that what it tells sellers and keeping the difference (without disclosing this to sellers) for itself and then additionally charging sellers 10% FVF on shipping. Guess I am totally missing the value of your post?

[inthepastcollectibles]

This is very true, but also the USPS is lost 3.8 BILLION this year and a significant portion of this loss is subsidies FORCED on the USPS via treaty by China.  Additionally, eBay (and others) loves this subsidy put on the USPS, because it allows them to mass inport cheap China goods far cheaper than these companies can purchase like items in the U.S.  I am not a big Trump fan (and no I don't want to get into politics), but I do support the pull out of this treaty which greatly supports China seller over US seller in the United States.  Please read this article to be informed.  

https://www.vox.com/2018/10/19/17996378/trump-china-universal-postal-union-treaty

That being said, it is said that it would take a year to pull out of this treaty, but when/if it happens, I see headwinds for many companies that have imported from China taking advantage of the subsidies provided by the USPS/U.S. Government, which has ultimately been placed on the back of U.S. Citizens (via postage) and USPS losses (made up by the government through tax payer dollars).  So, in many ways these companies have taken advantage of tax payers and any U.S. citizens going to the post office by constantly increasing rates of the USPS. Let's see how these companies or sellers fair, when there is an equal playing ground.  Of course this means that these companies will increase their Chinese product prices to compensate for "real" import expense and pass this expense down on the back of the consumer.

[inthepastcollectibles]

https://reason.com/blog/2018/11/15/the-postal-service-lost-4-billion-2018

[sugarnspice777]

Its not Amazon.  Its the HORRIFIC UPU/UN postal agreement that bush and obama put us in.

Then more rate slashes for china from USPS/ebay

President (the only one who would do it) Just took us OUT FINALLY after years of this agreement.  There is a years notice, so we have 10 months to go and we NO LONGER pay for CHINAS SHIPPING.

So if USPS doesn't LOWER our rates then, we need to fight that big time.

[mam98031]

The costs to have these extra shifts should me more than covered by the additional packages being processed.  To require additional shifts would mean the workload is up.

For example:   A manufacturing firm that creates a widget for a thingamajig.  Lets say their sales increased so the demand was much higher than normal.  Instead of losing the additional sales, they increased their production of the widgets.  So they had more labor and overhead to pay, but that was offset by the additional sales.  There was no need to increase pricing, just increase production.

[penguins_dont_fly]

Not a reply to mam ... just tacking on the end here 🙂

Amazon gets a lower rate because they do most of the upfront logistics themselves, with the USPS only doing "last mile" delivery.

FBA items are transported to the nearest-to-buyer Amazon Distribution Center (if not already in stock) by Amazon vehicles (including their own Airplanes) or by Commercial Carrier paid for by Amazon.

They are delivered in bulk to the closest-to-buyer USPS Destination Sorting Center.

Yes, they have negotiated special rates and services (Sunday Delivery). They can do this because they are the 800lb gorrilla with the greatest shipping volume in the United States. 

They are the masters of logistics and getting better everyday. They have spent untold billions of dollars to create a (mostly) smooth running machine of moving packages. This is what they DO.

Now ... eBay is partnered with Pitney Bowes. They don't buy postage directly from the USPS. Pitney Bowes has a contracted rate, eBay contracts with Pitney Bowes at another rate and sellers pay Commercial rate.

Individual sellers use local Post Office facilities and personnel for the whole origin-to-destination trip.

There's no behemoth logistics organization easing the USPS burden for eBay sellers.

Apples and Oranges.

[mr_lincoln]

@sugarnspice777

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@sugarnspice777 wrote:

Its not Amazon.  Its the HORRIFIC UPU/UN postal agreement that bush and obama put us in.

Then more rate slashes for china from USPS/ebay

President (the only one who would do it) Just took us OUT FINALLY after years of this agreement.  There is a years notice, so we have 10 months to go and we NO LONGER pay for CHINAS SHIPPING.

So if USPS doesn't LOWER our rates then, we need to fight that big time.

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Agreed ... 110%

[mr_lincoln]

@b8uvs9e-0

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@b8uvs9e-0 wrote:

You DO realize who is going to end up paying for the legal costs...

Yes, win or lose.

Ebay and Amazon are just corporations, the win or loss of a lawsuit doesn't come out of some employee's pockets but it still has to be paid for... And it gets paid through their only form(s) of income, which comes directly from the consumer.

Same place where every other corporation that gets sued gets the money to pay for the legal fees from...

The consumer.

You, and I...

And every seller, buyer, and employees who won't get a raise this quarter and anyone who has anything to do with ebay and amazon at all... That is who will pay for this lawsuit.

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Very good point ...

[mr_lincoln]

@justagirl12

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@justagirl12 wrote:

Oy Vey 

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Si!  Always a lively discussion with many opinions and viewpoints ... all of which are welcome ...

[mr_lincoln]

@double2trouble

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@double2trouble wrote:

They can't charge under what it cost's them? Hold on, I'm having trouble typing, I can't stop laughing. In 2017, USPS lost 800 million dollars. The service is only cheaper for flat rate and first class. Any package over 5 pounds, USPS commercial price charges twice what the FedEx commercial price is. There are still E-Packet and Terminal Dues, shipping for under cost. It would have been out of business a long time ago if it was not for huge infusions of tax payer money. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/post-office-lose-money-amazon-contract-usps-fact-check-trump-tweets-aga...

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Nice to know there is some obvious validity to this thread ...

[luckythewinner]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

I shipped some packages this AM and the clerk said that starting tomorrow thru Jan 1 they will be working Sundays for "Amazon Sunday" ... plus 7 days a week thru the period.  This will be happening in many, many locations and Amazon should be footing the bill for all that Overtime Pay the Postal works are getting on Sundays opposed to any of that labor cost needing to be recooped from ALL shippers via higher rates ...

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Amazon did not force the USPS to open on Sundays. 

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

@mr_lincolnmight I suggest you actually read the article in that link and not just the title as the poster seemed to have done? Everything he said the article said was incorrect. If you read the article it is clear that the law against losing money is in place and NO money comes from the taxpayers.

[mr_lincoln]

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

@mr_lincolnmight I suggest you actually read the article in that link and not just the title as the poster seemed to have done? Everything he said the article said was incorrect. If you read the article it is clear that the law against losing money is in place and NO money comes from the taxpayers.

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I did read the article ... and regardless of what it said or where the truth lies the point is the whole Amazon - USPS shipping thing is under scrutiny and if USPS is losing $$ because of the deal, which would not surprise me, then I suspect some action will be taken.

[tinstarglassware]

One person can't make or break an economy overnight.  It would take 16 plus years of Leftist rule for that to happen.