Magazine Shipping Prices

[bookmommie]

I am updating the shipping on most of my listings. When I deleted First Class to Ground Advantage my magazine shipping is over $12. WHAT??  It weighs over a pound!! Is there another shipping category that I am not seeing that would greatly lower this price? Who would buy it with that exorbitant shipping price? Most of my other postage corrections to Ground have also gone up. What kind of an Advantage is that?

Thanks for your help.

[ebooksdiva]

Make sure you’re weighing and measuring correctly. Ground Advantage or Priority is the only way you can ship magazines with USPS. 
When USPS combined FCP, USPS Retail Ground and Parcel Select to Ground Advantage, they also bumped up their prices. 

[monica-sells]

simply put...you are doing something wrong....

I sell a LOT of magazines....Ground Advantage is the same price structure as First Class...

Make sure your weight is correct....it looks like many of your 'books' (sheet music, etc...) can go media mail...but GA should only be MAXIMUM $6.78 (minimum $5.85) for under 1 pound [domestic Zone 9]

For magazines use 12 X 9 X 1 to get all the options (priority flat rate, etc.....)

For other GA, 2 lbs maximum charge is $9.88

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@bookmommie wrote:

I am updating the shipping on most of my listings. When I deleted First Class to Ground Advantage my magazine shipping is over $12. WHAT??  It weighs over a pound!...

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If it was over a pound, it was never eligible for First Class shipping.  Online postage price for 2 pounds via Ground Advantage ranges from $6.83 - $9.88. Before July 9, the range for online Parcel Select postage for 2 pounds was $7.13 - $10.85.

OTOH, if that's a typo and you meant to write, under a pound, then the postage cost would not be above $8.55, depending on weight and distance (Zone).

[wastingtime101]

Something's amiss in what you're doing, or what you did before @bookmommie, because the Ground Advantage rates for anything under a pound have not changed from the former First Class Package rates.

Ground Advantage over a pound saw a mix of increases and decreases compared to the old Parcel Select.

Ground Advantage is generally lower than Priority unless, perhaps, your magazine can fit into a flat rate envelope.

Anything over a pound could never ship First Class so I don't know what service you offered previously.

Magazines do not qualify for Media Mail, so that's not an option.

Did you check your listing for accurate measurements? If you have an erroneous high measurement in there it can be triggering nonstandard rates for packages over a certain length.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@ebooksdiva wrote: ... When USPS combined FCP, USPS Retail Ground and Parcel Select to Ground Advantage, they also bumped up their prices. 

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No, they did not.  Online postage prices for up to 1 pound are the same as they were for First Class packages.  As noted in my other post, the postage cost for 2 pounds has dropped from a range of  $7.13 - $10.85 to a range of  $6.83 - $9.88.  Depending on the weight'Zone combination, some prices went up a little and others decreased.

[bookmommie]

 I did not use First class.  I think it was Standard but now I've deleted I don't remember. I use the USPS

Retail price calculator. Guessing that is why I get the higher shipping. Does eBay have a shipping calculator that I do not know about? From comments it seems I am not using the correct shipping calculator which seems I am doing wrong.

Although I've never had this issue before now. 

Thanks.

[nobody*s_perfect]

Here's the eBay shipping calculator. Note that you can choose to show either retail ("In store") or eBay prices.  The eBay prices for Priority Mail are often lower than the USPS published Commercial rates.  Sometimes eBay's discounted Priority price is lower than the price for Ground Advantage.

http://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator

[wastingtime101]

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@bookmommie wrote:

 I did not use First class.  I think it was Standard but now I've deleted I don't remember.

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This listing 175560208223 is charging a flat rate of $4.50 for first class shipping to all zip codes.

This listing 175424136112 is offering media mail even though those magazines are not eligible for media mail.

This listing 174460164552 - does that one magazine weigh more than a pound? What are the dimensions? The listing is charging buyers the 2# rate to zone 7 for GA but if it's either under a pound or over a pound but small enough to fit in a flat rate priority envelope then you may have some options. Also, that listing is charging a flat $12.90 no matter what zip code I put in so you should change it from flat rate to calculated if it's over a pound so buyers in zones 1-6 won't be over-charged and buyers in zones 8-9 won't be under-charged @bookmommie .

The other magazine listings look fine/accurate.

[wastingtime101]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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The other magazine listings look fine/accurate.

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Strike that.

Your other magazine listings appear to be charging flat rates. Like this listing 175706114449 charging $6.55 which is the zone 7 rate for a package weighing 9-12 oz. But Ground Advantage rates are not flat, they vary by zone.  So a 9-12 oz package will cost between $6.15-$6.65 retail (less purchased online).

Why are you using flat rates to zone 7? Why not just enter package weight and use calculated shipping instead of flat shipping?

[ebooksdiva]

I stand corrected, I assumed USPS raised prices across the board. Media Mail increased on July 9th from $3.65 to $3.92.

[bookmommie]

I will look at those listings. I have known for years that magazines cannot go media mail so just a mistake or maybe a Sell now listing had that and I did not catch it.

Yes, listing 174460164552 weighs 1 lb 4 oz.  Pretty sure I can get it in a flat rate priority envelope. I will change to calculated as soon as I get the envelope.  And I see nobody's perfect sent the link for the eBay calculator.

Thank you so much!

[bookmommie]

When I first started calculated shipping was not enough and I lost money. Must be different now. I will change all of them to calculated. Thank you.  I have learned so much.

[bryo_3145]

"When are shipping prices going to go down? "

[pjcdn2005]

Calculated shipping is accurate as long as the correct information is entered.

A common problem on the last system is that people would check off large envelope as the 'Type' which meant that the calculator would charge for a 'Flat' 1st class envelope (not a package) which does not have tracking.  If an old listing originally had a large envelope as type than it may still have that problem and be charging for a large 1st class envelope rather than a package.