What happened to Ground Advantage shipping rates???
Summary: knittydebby expressed frustration over a sudden increase in USPS shipping costs for Ground Advantage. They reported a price change from $5 to $7.30 for a small item delivery, suspecting it might be a glitch or a rate hike. shire123 informed them that USPS rates changed in July, while mordecai8614 clarified that the rate increase was due to the destination being a rural zip code. Several participants discussed the impact of rising shipping costs on their businesses, mentioning that rural surcharges and fluctuating rates are common. Others debated strategies for managing costs, like adjusting shipping weights, while acknowledging the overall challenges small sellers face due to increasing shipping expenses.
I just sold a small item that would ship for about $5 a day ago. 3 oz from zip code 24523 to Maryland 21829 Ground Advantage. This morning it cost $7.30!!! I couldn't believe it. I apply my discount to the customer just to help with the shipping costs but this is insane. This is going to kill selling small items. Was this a glitch or did USPS really increase the shipping rates that much? I wouldn't have seen any news about this since I don't watch it anymore...too upsetting when you are on a fixed income trying to make ends meet by selling on eBay.
lb23cavaliersmvp
·3 weeks agoI feel your pain but if $2.30 is the difference between making a reasonable profit and struggling to make a go of it isn't there a more fundamental problem with your business model? This board seems full of buyers who are working on such tight margins that any increase in costs is a disaster.
shado-x
·3 weeks agoBut, but, but, look at the USPS rates for 15oz, 1 lb even, and 1 lb 1oz. USPS needs to be investigated.
adamcartwright
·3 weeks agoI suspect OP's business model is fine. I think you've assumed OP does free shipping; however, OP is charging eBay's discounted calculated shipping rates.
Even at the eBay discounted rates, a 50% increase in shipping charges is no bueno for any seller. I'd like to be able to sell the occasional $8-10 item -- even just to offload household items -- and this discourages that if the price of shipping exceeds the sales price.
cyclebitz
·3 weeks ago@lb23cavaliersmvp Did you recently parachute in from a distant planet?
The vast majority of sellers on any marketplace platform are working at unsustainable tight margins.
lb23cavaliersmvp
·3 weeks agoThen they need to find another way to make a living. For the most part we are talking about people trying to re-sell items at a profit not cure cancer, protect the environment or end hunger. They aren't farmers being squeezed by the greed and stupidity of politicians. If sellers on ebay, etsy or at the local flea market can't make a living because they have a flawed business model due to not buying items for resale cheaper, thinking that they can compete with Wal Mart or not realizing that there are a thousand people like them with the same merchandise for sale then that's on them not the platform or the USPS. Last, your decision to start any business isn't a guarantee of success or a right to expect anything other than the possibility to try and make it work for your benefit.
burky79
·3 weeks agoWhen I commented to my regular postal clerk about the rates going, up he seemed baffled as well and commented something along the lines of "I guess the higher ups want to push people to UPS and FedEx".
blisscomponents
·3 weeks agoI thought it was a glitch too when I saw the shipping prices. Places I used to ship to for around $4 are now nearly $8 for Ground Advantage. This is absolutely insane and not sustainable at all
brandliquidators
·3 weeks agoDon't know who is at fault. EBAYor USPS. Extra insurance is automatically added, regardless of sellers decision, Ebay has canceled the option . As a result I purchase label from Pirate Ship then manually have to add the tracking numbers to the orders. EBAY always make it more difficult.
jasonsspot
·3 weeks agoThis is my entire online store greeting cards and smaller ornaments so now I have customers accusing me of ripping them off when i charge 4.99 and the shipping is over $5.50... with fees and shipping on a $10 item i make under $3.... what is going on with ebay>>>
shire123
·3 weeks ago@jasonsspot First off it is NOT ebay. It's the USPS shipping charges. You are finding out what many small item sellers are finding out. USPS rates are making it next to impossible to sell those small items the way you used to.
One of your options might be to group things into small related lots so that shipping will be a smaller percentage of the overall price.
jcs_star
·3 weeks agoShocker another USPS rate increase announced today. It seems like they're just eliminating the discount for everyone, but Amazon at this point.
treasurefanatic
·1 month agoI agree! I shipped a 1 ounce package yesterday and it cost me 8.50 to ship from Western Nebraska to far western Iowa. And it could have gone first class regular envelope, but that category was not allowed. It is totally frustrating!
foster9
·1 month agoI use e-bay for supplemental income. Not doing so well with sales since having to raise my S/H costs due to the state of world affairs and greed.
santasstockingstuffinghelper
·1 month agoI recently updated my shipping template, so the customer pays actual shipping plus 75 cents. The good news for my customers is that if they buy more, they save on shipping costs. Most of my items are light weight and are usually in the 8-ounce package category. I feel bad for the rural customers, but I cannot afford to absorb the price increase. Unfortunately, that must be paid for by the customer.
mam98031
·1 month agoHere is the last announcement from August.
USPS® rate update effective August 22, 2026
Summary: A participant informs about upcoming USPS rate changes effective August 22, 2026, which will lower shipping costs for certain Ground Advantage and Priority Mail shipments. These adjustments do not apply to rural ZIP Codes. The eBay shipping calculator will automatically update with the new rates, and sellers will be kept informed of any future changes.
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We want to keep you informed about upcoming USPS® rate changes. Effective August 22, 2026, USPS is making rate adjustments that will mean lower shipping costs for select Ground Advantage and Priority Mail shipments. These changes do not apply to rural ZIP Codes.
Ground Advantage: Rates will decrease for 2lb packages across Zones 1–8
Priority Mail: Rates will decrease for packages weighing up to 10lbs shipping to Zone 8
There’s nothing you need to do, the eBay shipping calculator will automatically update with the new rates when they take effect on August 22, 2026.
We’ll continue to keep you updated as shipping rates change so you have the latest information as quickly as possible.
As always, thank you for selling on eBay.
mam98031
·1 month ago@knittydebby It is critical that ALL sellers stay current on Carrier increases. In the case of USPS, they do rate increases of one form or another every January, July and October for about the last decade or so. This year there was also an increase in August in regards just to GA to Rural areas. That was on its own about a $2 increase.
I encourage sellers to subscribe to the Announcement Board here in the Community. Ebay releases announcements when a carrier raises rates. In the pic below it shows you where you can JOIN the board so you can stay updated. You won't be overwhelmed with Announcements. Ebay is pretty select in what and when they send stuff out.
magicjohnsonsvariety
·1 month ago · EditedTrue. The pricing structure is unlike anything I've ever seen.
Shipped a 13 ounce item...cost $8...yet a 10 pound VCR costs only $10...?
Waaaay high on the light items and much lower on the heavy items...
caldreamer
·1 month agoUSPS shipping rates are very high and if you customer lives in a rural area, USPS charges customer additional $1.50.
knittydebby
OP1 month agoIt really stinks!
redlinear
·1 month agoDiesel is $6.00 / $7.00 / $8.00 a gallon depending on where ya are.
That's what happened to all shipping rates
grann-4629
·1 month agoSaw something on the news last night ... diesel was $9.99. The newscaster was joking about it wondering how they were going to add an extra digit to their electronic sign if the price went up by 1 cent!
inhawaii
·1 month agoQ: What happened to Ground Advantage shipping rates???
A: They went up.
christworks
·1 month ago@knittydebby You definitely could not have sent that exact package to that exact zip code for $5 a day ago. You couldn't have done that a year ago.
That zip code is defined as rural by USPS, so there is a surcharge for delivery to that zip code. In fact, all three major carriers charge extra for delivery to a rural zip code. On July 12, USPS eliminted the commerical tier pricing weight classes that are less than a pound for packages going to rural zip codes. The rural zip code rate did not increase with this change, but the cost to ship items less than 1lb to those zip codes went up since the minimum weight charge to a rural zip code is now one pound. This same adjustment was made to any zip code in Hawaii and Alaska.
You either have not been paying attention to how much you've been paying for certain labels or you've not run into a rural zip code order since the change. If the latter, it shouldn't heavily impact your business.
knittydebby
OP1 month agoI didn't say I sent to that zipcode for $5 but I have had small packages going to various zips for about $5. What I didn't realize but have had pointed out to me today is that rural zips have a higher rate.
mordecai8614
·1 month agoThat zip code is on the list for rural surcharges
knittydebby
OP1 month agoI didn't know that about rural zipcodes.
zakstreasuretrove
·1 month ago$7.49 for a 9x6x1 padded envelope at the 4oz rate from North Carolina to Iowa. Until recently that would have been in the $5 range at most and usually in the high $4 range. I ship 2-3 lb 6x6x48 golf club boxes in the $6-9 range and it is, most of the time, under $7.49. This is through FedEx that gets transferred to the USPS for final delivery.
I believe these current GA rates are in place to milk the cow because "what are you going to do about it?". It's the American way.
authentic*vintage
·1 month agoWhat were you able to ship for $4? I haven't seen a ground advantage shipping cost with a 4 in front in a long long time....
knittydebby
OP1 month agoIt may be my zipcode but I have had that in the last month.
christworks
·1 month ago@zakstreasuretrove Your Golf Club box is going via an Economy service, which is slower. This is why it is cheaper. Nothing wrong with that, but FedEx Eco and GA are not apples to apples comparisions.
knittydebby
OP1 month agofrom another post...the answer to my shipping issue today was that the item was going to a rural zipcode.
grann-4629
·1 month agoI had to turn down an offer for a $17 item ... the seller wanted over $80 US to mail a dvd from NJ to MB. Think that's a bit more than just a USPS increase.
I have been told that sellers don't see their own shipping costs on their own listings. Maybe eBay should change this ... a little shock therapy for greedy sellers would be a good thing.
zakstreasuretrove
·Sep 15, 2026 at 10:43 AMFor calculated shipping we don't see shipping cost exactly, but see a range that the shipping could cost. If you live further away from the seller you will pay more.
The calculation assumes the seller puts in the correct weight and dimensions. $80 for a DVD shipment is extreme. Perhaps the seller just made a typo: For instance 96x6x1 instead of 9x6x1 for a DVD shipment. If it's not a typo it's malicious, and if it's not malicious it's the absurd shipping rates which are not the fault of the seller. $80 for a DVD has to be a typo. Maybe contact the seller and if that's what they say shipping costs then just block/never buy from them.
adamcartwright
·3 weeks agoLast year I wanted a $25 item that should ship for maybe $18-19 max.
The seller was charging $99 shipping.
I messaged to ask why shipping was so high and got crickets.
Just checked again. It's still listed, but shipping is now $121. 😂
adamcartwright
·3 weeks agoDid you point out that the shipping cost was excessive? It could be a mistake.
Sellers can definitely see shipping displayed front and center on their listings.
I just caught a mistake I made entering box dimensions, when a listing of mine was displaying shipping of $75 rather than $7.50.
glenvonnie
·1 month agoShipping has become my biggest cost, I have no choice but to pass that on to buyers, it's what every business does.
Try playing with the weight on the shipping label page, sometimes 2 or more pounds are cheaper.
knittydebby
OP1 month agofrom another post...the answer to my shipping issue today was that the item was going to a rural zipcode. I will try that tip with playing with the weight!
toomuchstuffagain35
·1 month agoBe careful with that.
For a short time it was true that it cost less to ship a 3-5lb parcel than a less than 2lb one by GA to certain zip codes but they changed that very recently.
They were also back charging sellers who entered their weight as higher than it actually was to get the cheaper rates.
glenvonnie
·1 month agoYou should not enter an incorrect weight, you should make the item weigh more.
I see those rates all over the place and at least half the time I can get a lower rate by changing box sizes or actual weights.
Making a package weigh 2 pounds rather than 1 sometimes saves me 1.75.
Hey, they want to compete with UPS and Fedex on those packages by offering lower prices, I'm helping them out.
UPS and Fedex will rob you with after charges anyway.
christworks
·1 month ago@toomuchstuffagain35 Over 100 packages sent with an overstated weight. No additional charges. The people who got charged, got charged for other reasons, including adjusting charges for rural zip codes which should not have ever had the deeper 3lb (now 2lb) to 5lb discounted rates.
funfactorychannel
·1 month agoits a chance i did same about 100 and got ding three times. :D
christworks
·1 month ago@glenvonnie @knittydebby Discounted rates for 2lb-5lb packages do not apply to rural zip codes. Playing with the weight will make it more expensive, not less.
If you want to save money shipping to rural zip codes, offering Economy Shipping is the way to go. You can then upgrade non-rural zip codes to the often cheaper Ground Advantage.
fern*wood
·1 month agohttps://community.ebay.com/forum/announcements-57928/topic/usps-rate-and-service-update-466150/
knittydebby
OP1 month agofrom another post...the answer to my shipping issue today was that the item was going to a rural zipcode.
shire123
·1 month agoWhere have you been? USPS rates changed back in July.
knittydebby
OP1 month agofrom another post...the answer to my shipping issue today was that the item was going to a rural zipcode.
shado-x
·1 month agoThe USPS blokes who calculate the price increases needs to be raided by The Feds. There are shenanigans going on.