USPS Priority Small Box Flat Rate Also Affected by Rural ZIP?
Summary: arnen123 expressed confusion over a significant price increase for USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Small Box, attributing it to rural ZIP code changes. kensgiftshop and stainlessenginecovers noted similar experiences with pricing increases in USPS services. bonanza125 pointed out that USPS rates have risen, contrary to expectations. thriftyfiftyfifty clarified that rural ZIP codes do affect Priority pricing and provided links for more information. The discussion indicates ongoing changes in USPS pricing, particularly influenced by location and fuel surcharges.
So I got my first rural ZIP code buyer since the new USPS changes. I usually use Ground Advantage. Just for comparison purposes I looked at Priority Mail Flat Rate Small Box which I only occasionally use. Back in April I notice that Priority Mail Flat Rate Small Box was $9.80. Today I see it's $12...I knew there was an 8% fuel surcharge on priority mail recently, but $12 is a whole lot more than 8% increase....Is this an EBAY bug resulting from the rural zip code changes? I thought Priority Mail was not supposed to be affected by rural zip codes. Thank you.
thriftyfiftyfifty
·2 weeks agoPriority pricing hasn't changed since the April Transportation Rate Increase. But, yes the Rural Zipcodes does affect Priority pricing as well.
arnen123
OP2 weeks agoThis is the information I haven't been able to find anywhere. Do you happen to have any links related to new Priority Mail pricing? All the docs and notifications I've founds say it's Ground Advantage only. Thank you.
thriftyfiftyfifty
·2 weeks ago@arnen123 arnen123 You can always find the USPS Pricing here: https://pe.usps.com/PriceChange/ The criteria of what is affected (e.g., Ground Adv, Priority, Cubic, etc) can be found in eBay's Original Announcement from 2024 (or you can test online with Rural vs. Non-Rural Zipcodes). I would have to look for that again, it is posted in these Forums somewhere though.
thriftyfiftyfifty
·2 weeks ago@arnen123 ...And the announcement...sorry Attachments get delayed quite a bit sometimes. https://community.ebay.com/forum/announcements-57928/topic/usps-rate-changes-effective-september-16-2024-6997/
thriftyfiftyfifty
·2 weeks agoP.S. Priority Mail Pricing didn't change this go around...last time it changed was 26 April 2026 (the Transportation/Fuel Rate Increase) vs. January 2026.
bonanza125
·3 weeks agoUSPS rates have gone up. What you thought was suppose to happen is not the case.
stainlessenginecovers
·3 weeks agoPriority did go up and quite a bit.
Be it the 'gas' thing as well as the 'increase' thing.
I ship everything Priority (on Amazon) and what cost me $9 for flat padded envelope went to $10, then $11- all in 6 months.
8oz in a box priority is $12 to $14 depending on location. 8 oz??
It was about $8 just 1 year ago,
Insane.
But, is what it is.
kensgiftshop
·3 weeks agoI don't know about the flat rate boxes, but the flat rate padded envelopes have been like that for awhile now.
Don't remember the difference, but think it was a couple dollars.