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Shipping fees varying greatly.
Summary: 7booms is experiencing significant fluctuations in USPS discount rates through eBay, which affect their ability to set consistent shipping prices. They notice discounts vary from 10% to 43%, causing issues with maintaining competitive pricing for their products. jacbarcollectibles suggests that recent USPS rate changes, including charges for shipping to rural areas, might be contributing to this inconsistency. However, 7booms remains unsure about the unpredictable nature of the discounts and expresses concern over losing revenue due to these irregular shipping costs.
Some days my orders only give 10% off USPS rates, some days 34%, some days 43%. How can I post a price when it varies by $2-$4? I have sold for 17 years & this has not happened before. I shipped items from Michigan to Tennessee & it came to $7.80. with only 10% off. I only charge $6.95 & eBay takes 13% of that. Today I shipped same item all the way to California & it was $5.73 because it got the usual 34% off. Are some days now cheaper? I spent hours racing my shipping prices on over 1,200 items because of the high price to a neighboring state with only the 10% off, then dropped them back down when it went back to 34% off, last week it went back to only 10% off so I raised them again. Then yesterday it went back to 34% off. My sales drop precipitously when I have to raise the prices from $5.95 to $8.95.
Anyone know why this is happening? I cannot continue losing several dollars on shipping every other week.
disneyshopper
Mentor2 weeks agohttps://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2026/0511-usps-recommends-competitive-price-changes-for-july-2026.htm
jacbarcollectibles
Mentor2 weeks agoIt appears you are using Flat Rate shipping on your listings. When you do this you are not accounting for distance along with the weight and dimensions of the packaged item. Over a month ago the USPS adjusted their rates and made some significant and strange in the pricing for Ground Advantage shipping. One of the changes are extra charges for shipping to "Rural" areas as defined by zip codes.
7booms
OP2 weeks agoThanks for your post, I do understand that prices are higher for zones that are some distance away. What is new & different is that eBay gives the 10% off on some days & 34% TO 43% on other days or items. I cannot figure it out. I used to be a mail carrier & we own the local Post Office building that the USPS rents from us. It may be the "Rural" area Zip Code twist, but $2-$4 difference seems high for a 4 oz package. It is so unpredictable now.
comics-scifi-collectibles
Mentor2 weeks ago@7booms Shipments under 1lb to rural zip codes including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are now charged the 1lb rate.
USPS raised rates on July 12th 2026
https://community.ebay.com/forum/announcements-57928/topic/usps-rate-and-service-update-466150/
This is why I only use Calculated Shipping> buyer pays>
I recommend subscribing to the announcements page. Click on Join on the right hand side.
https://community.ebay.com/forum/announcements-57928/
I recommend subscribing to the announcements page as there have been several price changes. Click JOIN on the upper right of this page> https://community.ebay.com/forum/announcements-57928/
Plus the holiday surcharge starts on Oct 4th to Jan 17th