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Postage rate hike
I've found that both eBay labels and stamps.com labels effective January 20th still includes the holiday surcharge, at least for USPS Ground Advantage. It was to end January 18th.
8 comments
wooden_flower
Mentor8 months ago@billyfitz13
The new postage rates were effective 1/18, so you’re seeing the new rates, not the holiday surcharge. The average increase for ground advantage is close to 8%.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/2026-Shipping-Carrier-Rate-Changes/ba-p/35414142
billyfitz13
OP8 months agoI’ve calculated what should be the new rate. The surcharge is added on top of that.
wooden_flower
Mentor8 months ago@billyfitz13
The rates are not a flat % increase. You could try checking the usps price chart -
https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm?_gl=1*cgthsf*_ga*MzIyMzAxNTguMTc2MjU1MTIxNg..*_ga_QM3XHZ2B95*czE3Njg4NTkyMDMkbzE5JGcxJHQxNzY4ODU5MjE2JGo0NyRsMCRoMA..#_c451
Have you asked the folks at stamps.com about the rates? Since postage is their specialty, they should have a more intimate knowledge of the change.
billyfitz13
OP8 months agoI'm going to give an example.
The rate for a 4 ounce package sent USPS Ground Advantage to zone 8 was $4.80. With the holiday surcharge it was $5.15.
The new rates, effective 1/20/2026, increase by 7.8%. The holiday surcharge expired 1/18/2026.
The new rate for that package should be $5.17. But eBay labels and stamps.com has it at $5.52, 35 cents more.
lisa5768
Mentor8 months ago@billyfitz13
USPS Ground advantage prices were raise an AVERAGE of 7.8% not an across the board 7.8%
They did not raise them equally, some weights + zones were raised more than others for an average increase.
Also there are some additional charges based on the delivery location, rural areas cost more than cities.
wooden_flower
Mentor8 months ago@billyfitz13
If you look at the usps rate chart I linked below, 4OZ to zone 8 is now $5.89 at the general commercial rate. So it seems eBay and stamps at $5.52 have negotiate a slightly better rate.
As noted several times, the 7.8% is the average increase, not a flat rate. Some rates actually went down - generally in the over 10LB and up tiers, so there are many that went up more than the average.
billyfitz13
OP8 months agoeBay and Stamps offer the "Commercial Plus" rate scale.
wooden_flower
Mentor8 months ago@billyfitz13
I thought they merged commercial plus into regular commercial pricing back in 2023. At least that is what I had read.
I believe now they are now called merchant rates.
No matter what you call them, they are a bit below the published commercial rates. The few I tested, including your example, were all in the 6% range. Your $5.52 is about 6.3% less than the published commercial rate of $5.89.