USPS shipping rates increased??

Question

I don't remember seeing anything about the USPS shipping rates going up. I went to print a label for a padded flat rate envelope and see it went from $8.30 to $8.54.. Was there any announcement about this?? Did I miss it?? TIA

valueaddedresource · Accepted Answer

Update - today the Priority Rates are back to what they were before.

@devon@ebay @kyle@ebay @elizabeth@ebay - will eBay be automatically refunding the difference for anyone who purchased labels at the higher rates over the weekend?

devon@ebay · Answer

@sunnydaze45 wrote:

I don't remember seeing anything about the USPS shipping rates going up. I went to print a label for a padded flat rate envelope and see it went from $8.30 to $8.54.. Was there any announcement about this?? Did I miss it?? TIA

Hey @sunnydaze45! The Shipping team reached out and wanted to share the following:

"The Shipping team is aware of the USPS rate fluctuations. A resolution is in place and rest assured, sellers who were negatively impacted will be credited."

valueaddedresource · Answer

We now have multiple other reports of sellers being charged incorrect shipping prices this week, including some where they apparently had elected to pass on the shipping discount to buyers, resulting in the buyers being charged *less* than sellers were charged for Ground Advantage labels.

Here are the posts I've seen so far:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/Flat-rate-envelope-increase-1-7/m-p/34212615

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/Ebay-charged-me-8-54-for-a-priority-padded-flat-rate-envelope/m-p/34216770

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/Ebay-shipping-calculator-screwing-up-big-time-today/m-p/34215995/highlight/true#M466747

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/Ebay-shipping-calculator-screwing-up-big-time-today/m-p/34216562/highlight/true#M466766

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/Shipping-rates-incorrect/m-p/34217297/highlight/true#M466790

@devon@ebay @kyle@ebay @elizabeth@ebay @brian_burke@ebay @shippingteam@ebay - when is eBay going to address this issue?

valueaddedresource · Answer

Oh my....now it's bugging out and loading old rates for some ship on days and the changed rates for other days.

For example, if I select ship on Wednesday 1/10, it's showing the changed rates.

But if I change the ship on date to Friday 1/12, it switches back to the old rates.

@devon@ebay @kyle@ebay @elizabeth@ebay @shippingteam@ebay - what is going on here?

The rates we are seeing would tend to indicate this is an intentional change but obviously the fact it is bugging out when switching between days I would assume is not "working as intended".

Is there a ticket for this? Is eBay bringing the rates in line with adjustments others made in November?

Getting out ahead of this with an explanation *before* the rate increase on January 21 would be a good idea as the confusion is only going to get worse if the rates change again at that time.

techvaluesatoz · Answer

I've not done an exhaustive search in this specific Community Messages area, under Buying & Selling, Shipping, but I have been hearing at my local POs and reading in multiple internet news sources of the USPS shipping cost increases coming this month, January 2024. These would almost necessarily affect the rates you'll pay through ebay Labels for USPS services. I would expect their competitors to consider the previously announced USPS increases to implement increases they may also want to make.

I also just received an email from Pirate Ship describing both increases and decreases in various USPS rates. With my quick read, it looks like it's going to be more expensive to offer free shipping (via USPS Ground Advantage) on lightweight, lower cost items, and also to ship print and recorded media via Media Mail; while Ground Advantage and Priority Mail will be more competitive on some Flat Rate and heavier shipments up to about 20 lb and travelling longer distances.

On some days I travel to USPS, UPS, and to FedEx shipping locations, depending on several factors, cost being only one consideration.

booji_girl · Answer

This happened to me yesterday but only in bulk shipping. I switched to doing the labels order by order and the old prices were still showing up.

valueaddedresource · Answer

I suspect we'll be seeing more posts about this later this evening and tomorrow once today's rates are no longer shown.

If anyone actually ends up purchasing a label at the increased rate, it would be helpful if you can look under Payments and confirm how much you actually get charged.

In the past when eBay has messed up with eBay Standard Envelope prices being increased in error before a USPS update, they said it was a "display issue" that only showed the wrong (higher) prices when purchasing the label, but sellers were actually charged the correct (lower) price on the billing side.

Comparing the displayed rates to what actually gets charged for labels with a "ship on" date of January 8th or later may help to determine what's really going on here too, since we may not get a definitive answer from eBay on the weekend.

valueaddedresource · Answer

@sunnydaze45 @wastingtime101 what ship on date are you using? I just did a test and it looks like eBay *is* sneaking in a stealth increase for Priority Mail rates effective January 8th! It's not just flat rate options either, I tested a few weight/size combinations and on all the ones I tried, it looks like Ground Advantage is staying the same, but Priority is going up for anything with a ship date on or after the 8th. On the padded envelope, the retail rate stays the same at the current price of $10.40, it just shows the discount between retail and the eBay rate has been reduced because the eBay rate went up. Between that and the fact that Ground Advantage hasn't been changed, I don't think this is just a case of eBay inadvertently pulling the trigger early on the USPS rate changes that are supposed to be going into effect January 21, but it's hard to say. I haven't been able to check Media Mail or eBay Standard Envelope but if anyone is seeing differences in those too, please post examples here! @devon@ebay what happened to " We continue to work with USPS on competitive rates, and when we do have rate changes we try to give our sellers at least two weeks' notice"? https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Got-an-e-mail-from-Pirate-Ship/m-p/34105706/highlight/true#M2308633 This is especially egregious given recent reports of eBay cold calling sellers to try to pressure them in to passing discounted shipping rates on to buyers. https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Ebay-called-me-yesterday/m-p/34192728/highlight/true#M2331103 Any seller who is currently passing those discounted rates on to buyers for Priority mail is going to lose money when they go to print labels for their weekend orders to ship on Monday and find the price has gone up.

sunnydaze45 · Answer

Thanks everyone.... will check it with my next package...

css2001 · Answer

Not yet, the USPS rate increase is scheduled to occur on 1/21/2024

wastingtime101 · Answer

The rate hasn't changed recently. Price changes are coming in a couple weeks. Can you post a screenshot? Are you sure you had padded flat rate selected @sunnydaze45 ? I still see $8.30.

stephenmorgan · Answer

I am still seeing $8.30. Maybe check you listing and see if there is a handling fee for 24Â¢.