A Friendly Reminder of the upcoming Shipping Rate Changes And How they Affect You!

[mam98031]

As we grow closer to the rate increases by USPS and other carriers as seller's we need to make sure we plan enough time to adjust our listings to accommodate the increased costs.

As buyer's we can just cry as the costs of items we need or desire are increasing.  

Today Ebay made an announcement to remind us all of these upcoming changes.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/2019-Shipping-Carrier-Rate-Changes/ba-p/29375727

There is also another change that we should all pay close attention to.  While it doesn't affect anything yet, it will.  Last November USPS asked the PRC to change  the classification of Inbound small packets and bulky letters, known as E format.  USPS asked permission to move it from being designated Market Dominant to a classification of  a Competitive product.  And a couple of days ago the PRC approved it.

What that COULD mean is that the ridiculously low rates that Asian sellers are paying for mailing via USPS may be increased by USPS without waiting on the UPU to approve increases.  At this point it is hard to say what USPS will do with this change, but we should all watch for information on this subject as they release it to see if it helps level the playing field that is so uneven and unfair now.

[nobody*s_perfect]

Oh Em Gee!  The Announcement actually includes a link to the USPS document that includes the new rate charts.  That's a milestone! The writeup  about the changes in dimensional weight calculations (scheduled to be implemented in June) is rough, but there's time to deal with that.

[atikovi]

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@mam98031 wrote:

As we grow closer to the rate increases by USPS and other carriers as seller's we need to make sure we plan enough time to adjust our listings to accommodate the increased costs.

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Adjust in what way? I for one am not going to go through my 100+ listing and raise the prices a few cents to compensate. 

[mam98031]

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@atikovi wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

As we grow closer to the rate increases by USPS and other carriers as seller's we need to make sure we plan enough time to adjust our listings to accommodate the increased costs.

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Adjust in what way? I for one am not going to go through my 100+ listing and raise the prices a few cents to compensate. 

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That is certainly your choice, but not all the changes aren't just a few cents.  Again, your choice to make as it is for all of us.

[disneyshopper]

I don't plan to do anything.

All of my first class packages and priority packages are already using Calculated shipping instead of a fixed rate pricing so no need to change anything.  I did that several years ago so I wouldn't have to do anything as prices increased.

[goldguy22k]

I'm confused.  Thought I read here that USPS was going to only 4 weight  ranges for FCPS while also implementing zone pricing?  Looking at those tables I thought I saw the same 1-15.999oz weights, but now by zones.  Am I mixing apples & oranges?

[cubano4u]

Same here disneyshopper, I use calculated shipping on pretty much all of my listings. The few priority listings I have that use the flat rate envelope, etc. I will adjust accordingly and absorb if I miss any of them. This doesn't affect me all that much for now. I'll have to wait and see if my sales go down eventually since I utilize first class so much.

[anthemshop247]

To all who are just setting up or changing their shipping policies to CALCULATED First-Class shipping (on Seller Hub or Business Policies), make sure you take time to check how it shows. A few days ago, I bulk changed my shipping policies and saw that my 4-oz items were charging only $1.68, instead of $3.50. Luckily, I caught it before anybody bought. 

Aside from changing your policies to CALCULATED First-Class, change also the package dimensions and weight on the Seller Hub. The system defaults to Letter. Choose Package (or thick envelope) and enter the correct weight (shipping weight, not item weight).

Hope this helps. Good luck to all. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@goldguy22k wrote:

I'm confused.  Thought I read here that USPS was going to only 4 weight  ranges for FCPS while also implementing zone pricing?  Looking at those tables I thought I saw the same 1-15.999oz weights, but now by zones.  Am I mixing apples & oranges?

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If you look at the tables closely, you'll see that even though they've entered each ounce individually, the prices are the same for any package weighing 1, 2, 3, or 4 ounces, and the same for 5, 6, 7, or 8 ounces, etc.  Just as we currently pay the same price for any weight up to 4 ounces, the new rate chart has the same price (for each zone) for each ounce-bsed entry under 1-4 ounces, 5-8 ounces, 9-12 ounces, and 13-15.999 ounces.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@anthemshop247 wrote: ... Aside from changing your policies to CALCULATED First-Class, change also the package dimensions and weight on the Seller Hub. The system defaults to Letter. Choose Package (or thick envelope) and enter the correct weight (shipping weight, not item weight).

You don't need to bother adjusting the dimensions. The shipping calculator goes entirely by whatever you choose in the "Package type" drop-down menu, so it is indeed necessary to make sure that's set to "Package/thick envelope" rather than to letter or Large envelope.

[anthemshop247]

You're correct.  I did not enter dimensions, only weight. What I meant to post was  choose "Package Dimensions and Weight" section. Dimensions can be left blank.  Good luck to all. 

[bamahooty1963]

I am sorry to butt in, but I am trying to find out from the Group threads why my recent buyer of an item I just sold on eBay can't see the Global Shipping as an option. All I see are choices for regular shipping carriers to whatever country I pick. I have GSP set up in my preferences and I just used it for an item sold last week (similar item but different country). Appreciate any help.

Hooty from North Alabama

[disneyshopper]

I looked at 2 of your sold listings, and selected UK as the country, and the shipping displays as using the GSP.

[dtexley3]

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@anthemshop247 wrote:

To all who are just setting up or changing their shipping policies to CALCULATED First-Class shipping (on Seller Hub or Business Policies), make sure you take time to check how it shows. A few days ago, I bulk changed my shipping policies and saw that my 4-oz items were charging only $1.68, instead of $3.50. Luckily, I caught it before anybody bought. 

Aside from changing your policies to CALCULATED First-Class, change also the package dimensions and weight on the Seller Hub. The system defaults to Letter. Choose Package (or thick envelope) and enter the correct weight (shipping weight, not item weight).

Hope this helps. Good luck to all. 

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I've reported this in the Technical Forum as well.  Changing the setting from Flat Rate to Calculated sporadically causes the type to switch from Package to Letter.  I've not yet had the weight change so it always throws an poorly worded error because the max weight for "Letter" type is 3 oz.  It will happen a few items in a row in the bulk relister and then stop happening.  Very frustrating.

brian@ebay  Apparently I'm not special... another report of this behavior.

[nobody*s_perfect]

Are you sure that the listing didn't always have "letter" chosen in the "package type" drop-down menu?  

If you set up a listing with flat rate shipping and choose "First Class package" from the services menu, then it doesn't matter what you had chosen in the menu for package type.  That error could have been there all along, but you just didn't notice it until you switched to calculated shipping.