Raise Your Voice: Help Keep USPS Shipping Rates Low

[seller_news_team]

The Postal Regulatory Commission—the agency that oversees USPS shipping rate changes—is currently reviewing a proposal that could result in a significant increase to current rates in order to help cover institutional costs not related to package delivery.

We firmly believe this proposal would not only have a detrimental effect on eBay sellers, but all ecommerce sellers. And we invite you to join us in calling on the Postal Regulatory Commission to eliminate requirements that could force USPS to increase its prices for package delivery.

Sign our online petition before March 1 to make sure your name is included—and your voice is heard—when it’s presented to the Postal Regulatory Commission. To learn more, tune in to a special eBay Radio segment this Thursday, February 23, at 11:15am PT, as eBay government relations and shipping team members discuss the proposal in more detail.

We want you to know we’ll continue to advocate on your behalf on this and other issues that directly affect our community. As always, thanks for selling on eBay.

[stuffcyclestore]

It is extremely demoralizing to hear yet another hike in fees.  Ebay needs to stop charging fees on shipping and set up some kind of automatic form where the shipping is standard based on weight plus a couple of cents to acknowledge cost of supplies. Customer can then select what shipping they want and pay for it.  The seller than simply would fulfill the order. This additional fee on shipping is detrimental to the small business, as we need to compete for customers.  Customers want the lowest/fair shipping they can get, so hiking postal fees is not good business.  Plus store subscriptions have gone up as well, and in addition all the regular ebay fees and paypal fees.  On top of that we have to factor cost of goods, so basically we are not really making much.  As a small seller,  I am struggling with fees charged.  Postal hikes on top of that might put me out.  Please Ebay be sensible and be considerate towards the small sellers on here.  Please advocate for reduced postal fees and find a method to eliminate the ebay shipping fee.  Thank you

[ilvvintage]

I hope ebay sellers & buyers  signing the petition to help get our voices heard on keeping the postal costs down. Before March 1.

[blanchemusthaves]

Shipping just went up, why raise the shipping cost again ?

I really think the shipping cost is ridiculous high.  

[joshtaz13]

stop changeing the rates i cant keep up with all this when it drives prices up people dont buy dam leave it the way it was no more rate highets i cant keep doing that to custmors i want to make more money not less 

stop being stupid USPS

[*heather_lee*]

As a buyer I will not be signing this. My reason for this is the fact that the USPS is trying to maintain policies that cater to international sellers while US consumers (buyers & sellers both) continue to "foot the bill/costs" on such things. From what I've read, the USPS is "fighting" alongside eBay to prevent this from being implemented. If it were to be implemented, both eBay (who helped fight for "epacks") and the USPS may be forced to reconsider their stances on such issues as they would both stand to loose profit. In this way, they may be more inclined to do away with such things as "epacks" for international sellers in order to stop the "bleeding" of their funds (at US consumer's expense). In other words, I'm not interested in providing them "relief" by signing the petition only to see things continue as they have. As a buyer, I will accept the higher shipping rates in my hope that this will be the catalyst to enact a change in the disparity between how US/international sellers are treated. 

[*heather_lee*]

In short, if this were to be implemented, the USPS would no longer be able to afford to "treat" international sellers to the deep discounts they do now. They will simply not survive continuing to do so. This will, in turn, "level the playing field" for US sellers and allow US consumers (buyers/sellers both) to stop "footing the bill" for such international seller perks.

[witchbalde]

Since I'm Canadian, it's true that the shipping cost raise have cooled me off on buying from US sellers (and don't forget the exchange rate... ouch) (But the Ebay global shipping is way much worse: it's definitly the first reason I choose not to buy from a seller because of the add. fees they ask )

But if I have to choose, I still prefer the increase of USPS price then to have to go with UPS or worse; Fedex. The last package I received from USA, using Fedex, it cost me 45$ in customs for a package value of 60$!!!!!! The usual customs charge would have cost me between 10-15$, but Fedex charge me a additionnal 30$ for clearing custom cost charge for me  + any add. mysterious fees they have. This is ridiculous... (Worse: they send you the surprise bills like 6 weeks AFTER you received the package! (they don't charge upon receive, probably because they know customer would refuse the package if they knew they have to pay this overcharged fees)

But as all the peoples said on this topic, the higher cost of shipping would kills the small business on Ebay...

[poseidonmarine]

Just for the record, USPS is a member of UPU (Universal Postal Union). This union exists so that various post offices around the globe can communicate easier and offer a service of about the same level.

I also know that the higher the revenue the better prices you can offer. Everybody can understand that a cargo plane is more expensive when its not full, but when you have a high volume of mail pieces, the cost per unit must decrease, besides the fact that the plane will burn a little extra fuel. This situation is against the common sense, since USPS must be quite a busy shipping carrier. Its not my opinion, check those date

https://www.17track.net/en/ourdata

Please also check the receiving volume as well. USPS ship/receive ratio is unequally distributed, thanks to China. When something costs 5$ with shipping, and from those 5$ 15% belongs to paypal and ebay, another let's say 50% of gross is the seller's gross gain, what's left for actual shipping cost? I guess USPS funds that shipping... No need to repeat more of what other people correctly said. I also insist that the market has been flooded with Chinese junk products; that situation is really troublesome for the global trade since the rest of sellers are put out of the competition.

Have you ever tried to see what other countries post office costs? Countries who are also members of UPU, so that we are talking on equal terms. Let's see...

Bulgaria

http://www.bgpost.bg/bg/calculator?type_package=4&destination=2&find=calculate

Ok you will have problem with the language, but in the first checkbox check forth option, in the second, the second option, next checkbox the first country that appears, which is Australia, then 500-1000g a very common weight range for many sellers, then check с предимство and препоръка and известие за доставяне. So you have priority, recommended and delivery signature proof. 30BGN = 16.20USD.

Greece

https://www.elta.gr/en-us/calculatepostage.aspx

Letter=> International => Rest of the World (Category for Australia) 1st Class => Registered => Irregular => Any value from 501-999g

15Euro = 15.84USD

Finland

http://www.posti.fi/liitteet/hinnatjamaksutavat/hinnastot/kirjepalvelut-en.pdf

I am not sure if I calculated with the same options, but I think 17Euro = 17.95USD.

France

https://www.french-property.com/guides/france/la-poste-mail/postal-tariffs-services/

501g-2KGS 17.5Euro, 1.5Euro for recorded delivery,  plus insurance if you would like.

I hope you get the whole idea. I would be soft if I said that USPS is ripping you off.

[kylhay4]

 USPS prices go up EBAY loves it they scam 10% off all shipping

[timeless-treasures-n-gifts]

For the service we get the rates are already to high. You must improve your service first.  YOUR GONNA PRICE YOURSELVES OUT OF BUSINESS!

DO NOT raise postal rates.

[suztiques4you]

This is just plain wrong - first eBay is now charging 9% on shipping as well as sale price, PayPal then hits the seller again for the total sale, including shipping, and now the USPS wants more for shipping? Come on eBay - fight for us here! The small businesses are already living on the edge. 

[rockz1101]

posted by

imasuv: 02-24-2017 09:05 AM

This is not about a postal rate increase.

IT is about a S&H increase from ebay.

The ebay team of negotiators failed to get the discount for selling postage that ebay wanted.

Read what ebay wants you to help them with, either way this goes, expect increases in fees being announced soon. 

 https://www.prc.gov/dockets/showdocket/RM2017-1

Notice who/what companies reponded and who didn't.

Comments
Designations and Declarations
Library References
Motion or Request/Response/Reply
Notices
Orders/Responses to Orders

Thank You for posting the actual PRC docket link!

Here's what you will see when you open the link:

Institutional Cost Contribution Requirement for Competitive Products

11/22/2016 - Original Filing

01/23/2017 - Deadline for Comments

03/09/2017 - Deadline for Reply Comments

I  read only a few .pdfs.  Clearly eBay has not submitted

any Declaration, Comments, nor Responses to Orders. 

To date, eBay has abstained from submitting  to the PRC. 

And signing a petition will do what? 

[rubberfeet_us]

This is getting out oif hand.  I sell low cost items and end up paying more in poistage than what the item costs.  

[paulsuperboy]

Really? More Government Funds For USPS, The Government Makes Alot Of Money Especially For Tax Season.

[toyhazen]

USPS PRICES KEEP GOING UP PEOPLE WILL START GOING AND BUYING FROM STORES NOT EBAY BECAUSE OF THE SHIPPING PRICES ARE TO HIGH.

[sani-caki]

We are already working hard and comprimising to keep the cost down to provide the lowest possible prices. In order to compete with department stores, shipping included prices are important to be low.

[rachel-renee]

Naturally, I am not happy about USPS implementing a round of more rate hikes. It is increasingly difficult to stay in business. But while I am signing this petition in protest of USPS raising their rates yet again; personally, I AM MORE FRUSTRATED WITH EBAY SKIMMING OFF A PROFIT FROM THE FEES WE PAY IN SHIPPING. Honestly, I think we need to start a petition protesting eBay on this practice. While I know that eBay says they instituted that policy to combat unethical sellers from overcharging on shipping, I know that in truth it is really just an excuse for a money grab. It has not prevented shady sellers from overcharging on shipping, and in fact, since eBay makes a profit off of those shipping prices, there is a disincentive for eBay to crack down on those shady sellers. It is a blatant conflict of interest. EBAY, IF YOU WANT HONEST SELLERS, THEN YOU NEED TO PRACTICE ETHICS YOURSELF. IF YOU REALLY CARED ABOUT US, AND REALLY WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THE POSTAGE RATES GOING UP ON US, YOU WOULD STOP CHARGING US ON SHIPPING!

[connectedauto]

-It would not be so bad if we were able to charge a reasonable shipping charge to our customers without losing an additional percentage to eBay fees. I understand the reasoning, I remember when sellers would charge $0.99 for a product and $20.00 to ship, but we have always tried to just charge $0.99 - $1.99 to ship and we still lose a percenatge. eBay needs to help us out here.

-We live in a "got to have it now and free" society, but the sellers are the ones paying for it. Its bad enough our prices are being driven down by the over flooding of China and other countries selling products that are massed produced, avoiding copyright laws and price gouging. I buy all my packaging supplies in bulk to get my shipping cost as low as I can, but the more the USPS rates go up, the more it makes it hard to stay competitive. 

[ispectraboutique]

"USPS Needs to renegotiate its aggreement with China/Hong Kong. Chinese sellers are selling stuff for $1 with free shipping" 

There are anti-dumping laws that China doesn't abide by while keeping the value of their currency low. China spends $2 to make a $1, it's undermining the U.S. economy. 

To add insult to injury Chinese wholesalers sell on Ebay.  Even if we were to buy from them in bulk @100+ quantity, our landing price still can't compete with China's first class mail service.

Hence Chinese goods costing a $1 with free shipping is unfair business practise.

[hillbilly_thrift]

I agree with all the posts on here about everything. USPS does not need to raise their rates, their rates are already too high and shipping is a real problem for sellers on ebay. I offer make an offer on a lot of my products, however people almost always come back with such a low offer that I cannot accept it because I also offer free shipping. By the time I sell something for $5.00, then pay the miinimum first class postage of $2.61 and then the ebay fees and paypal fees, I am in the negative with the item, not to mention the cost that I have in the item. I think ebay should remove the cost that they have put on sellers for the shipping costs. If a seller is overcharging for shipping, then penalize that seller, not all of the sellers. It has been kncreasingly hard to make a profit selling on ebay, and I and I am sure others are looking for a way to sell on other venues.

[tonemonster-1]

It's great that eBay is so concerned with shipping costs. However,  the biggest problem with shipping costs is that eBay takes a fee on already too high USPS postage, causing sellers to have to charge more, and buyers to pay more. The appropriate petition would be to demand eBay STOP TAKING FEES ON SHIPPING.  It is a usurious practice and harms both sellers and buyers. If ebay truly cared about postage  costs it WILL stop taking a final value fee on shipping charges AND stop mandating tracking to keep or obtain top rated seller status. We are grown ups here and we can decide how we need to ship and what requires tracking. The excuse eBay started out with, that it's "trying to keep shipping cost down by charging a fee to sellers so that they will not overcharge on shipping," has never made less sense than now. Buyers can determine whether they want to pay shipping on an item and eBay needs to stop double dipping. Draft that petition and I'll sign.

[baydealz]

Whatever, I like to see the oter outrage over ebay sucking.  Worst company ever - constantly biting the hand that feeds it.  Raise the prices, sellers need to find an alternative, these clowns want to be an ecommerce engine, not a sales site that made it grow. 

[bootandnukeenterprises]

The reason that USPS rates are higher isnt because of delivery costs. It actual due to a bill that congress passed the make sure that the USPS has 5 BILLION dollars in reserve for retirement of people they havent even effing hired yet! Many of the USPS buildings are falling apart, the trucks are around 20 years old now even for the newer ones. Our local post man has to leave the truck running or he has to push start the piece of poop down our hill to get it running again. So they are wasting millions on idling trucks that need repair because there is next to nothing for the repair budget. Everytime USPS tries to change something to save money, congress tells them to kick rocks. So blame your local rep on the increases, not USPS directly. Also for price, we could be the UK that charges 1-2 bucks for a letter, a freaking letter. So yeah we could say its all ebays fault but...in reality its chinese sellers and congress that is jacking up your postage rates. Now I never understood the 10% on shipping, even when I show I make nothing on shipping ebay just shrugs. My question is why hasnt anyone sued, or even USPS sued because that is for shipping but it goes into ebays pockets. 

[2good2miss2015]

Stop It!!!

I firmly believe this proposal would have a detrimental effcat on my ebay cost to sale.

[*heather_lee*]

Well, consider this: If the USPS would *stop* offering those deep discounts (like "epacks") to international sellers, how much would they be saving then? So, yeah, I do "blame" them. There are any number of ways they can take care of seeing to their needs *without* it being at the US consumer's expense.

[*heather_lee*]

I'm frankly about of the opinion that since they want to favor people "overseas" over those of us here, it'd be nice to see them "go down". Maybe that's what they need! If you can't take care of us *first* instead of favoring them, then "toodles". Then go cry to them and see how much they'll take care of you after all the benefits and cuts you've given them. They won't care, and that'll be when they realize that, no, they really couldn't "afford" to do that stuff at our expense.

[pghpens8766]

maybe start with giving sellers back the 20% discount they used to get on shipping ebay!  you make it really hard to make anything anymore, the fees are ridiculous!  you know you're nothing without the sellers right?  I know I will be selling way less on here now because of the exorbitant fees sellers are forced to pay.

[automedland]

the rates are very expensive even for small things... Don't penalize sellers & buyers for small items that weigh less than 4 oz because actually USPS charges almost 30% of the total cost. 

[first-class-sales-llc]

Please Stop Raising shipping prices. It's already hard enough with other expenes. You're slowly killing ecommerce. 

[xboxboba]

Another rate increase is ridiculous, they just raised it after the first of the year. And to think I'm paying for institutional costs when the post offices around me are terrible, of the 3 in my area, one was closed years ago, another doesn't even have up to date technology, and the third opens at Noon closes at 3:45 PM. And they want more money, when they don't even offer the same service to all customers. If you can't run 3 post offices, build one centralized location run it full time and close the others.

[rose-hill]

EBAY is a great platform, It's like a farm.. 

And the sellers and buyers are the seeds of the field..

 As our growth condition is better so is the quality and the quantity of the fruit 

continue to provide good conditions so everyone can enjoy Good business

[skipcindy]

I like to charge people actual postage.  Ebay gives a little break, but then goes back and charges me 9% for something that I paid for and got a 1% discount..  This means that I had to pay 8% more for my shipping and I could have mailed it cheaper at the post office!!  It is stupid that I am paying for shipping when that is a cost that I am paying out.  So , it costs me 9% to send out a package to a buyer.  Ebay doesn't do a thing.  I print a label and get charged .  Ebay should quit charging the 9%.  I am sure that if you see that a shipping charge is way more that somehow those could be charged.

[chaiyocreations]

eBay can help US sellers by pitching for scrapping ePacket agreement.

The real reason for low cost shipment from China is the ePacket agreement between USPS and Hong Kong Post. Per below arcticle, the deal helps eBay tremendously as they get huge volumes are sold from China.

  This is last year's artcile, but facts have not changed -  http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2015/6/1434508451.html

  Per this artcile, USPS loses millions every year. The side effect is domestice price increase to offset loss arising from ePacket shipments.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/09/12/the-postal-service-is-losing-millions-a-...

[pickypickerton]

I quit using ebay for shipping a long time ago. Connect to a ship station account. $25 a month for unlimited sales channels and it is so much faster to process labels. Not to mention they have negotiated pricing with USPS and its cheaper than what we are stuck with through ebay. 

[mathunts1]

I just started my ebay business last winter and have already seen two postage increases. If this trend continues I could potentially be forced out of business. At a minimum I may be forced to charge more for my product and therefore recieve less business. Raising my prices is the last thing that I want to do. My "niche" in my feild of business is hinged on being able to provide a higher quality product for a lower price than the competition. More shipping increases will prohibit my ability to do so.

[mrn_1961]

I find ironic that Ebay wants us to step up to raise our voice against an increase in shipping costs when this INCREASES their bottom of line ..

Mr. Ebay .. how about a counter proposal !?! ... If you care about our shipping costs why don't you eliminate that ridicilous fee on our shipping costs !!

Between you, Mr. Paypal who just announced an increase in their fees, and Mr. USPS .. soon there will be no margins left ! ... and wait until they will impose mandatory state sale tax !! Say goodbye to Ebay commerce as we know it today !

[mrn_1961]

Mr. Ebay .. how about a counter proposal !?! ... If you care about our shipping costs why don't you eliminate that ridicilous fee on our shipping costs !!

Between you, Mr. Paypal who just announced an increase in their fees, and Mr. USPS .. soon there will be no margins left ! ... and wait until they will impose mandatory state sale tax !! Say goodbye to Ebay commerce as we know it today !

[zombietoyz]

eBay is committed to low Shipping Rates, it's just good business. I wonder why eBay doesnt create an eBay Shipping Service and cut-out the USPS middle man. The money must be there for the Infrastructure, plus it would create jobs and have guaranteed revenue.

[buyerssuperstore]

I'M CLOSE MY EBAY STORE AND MOVE ON TO SOMETHING BETTER ! THANKS FOR HELPING THE SELLERS EBAY  

[davart1]

Ebay could stop charge a 9% fee on postage that would be a savings right there. If you care about what your seller pay, set the example and cut you fees on postage - last I check ebay doesn't deliver the mail. 

[simplelist]

I sell small first class items so the change is only a few cents for me but it does add up and never good for small buisness as Im in a market that the price of my items seen to only go down. Seems the world is a race to the bottom and if that doesnt kill your buisness the expences will!!

[kevin-phillips]

The Forced Slavery of the American People .... continues.

Inflation, taxes, permits, licenses, fee, unlawful rules, regulations, acts, codes, statutes ...

It does not help, of course that eBay feels the need to jump into this pillaging by charging sellers a commission for the cost of shipping.

Millions of sellers were hit badly, years ago, when the Elite Jackasses at the "Board of Governors" decided to cease all surface shipping to overseas buyers.   We are already at the point where small inexpensive items are hard to sell because the shipping cost is more than the item is worth.  Unfortunately this penal economic slavery really doesn't sink in until one is arrested for some stupid violation of the rules of the STATE terrorists.  If that man/woman stands up to the system and demands accountablility he/she will really discover the fascist face behind the facade of U.S. Justice (strike that ... judicial extortion).

[yuniquedesigns]

ENOUGH IS INCREASING ALREADY... DID SOMEBODY SAY "COST OF LIVING"... INCREASED REATES MEANS "INCREASED COSTS TO COMMUNICATE OR EVEN MAKE A LIVING"

NO COST INCREASE, PLEASE...

[shoplikeavillain]

USPS is cheap.  The problem they have is pkgs over 1lb but under 5lb the pricing is out of wack with the rest and then Fedex Smartpost is way cheaper.  

I would propose that eBay stop charging seller fees on the shipping charges.  I understand some inflate their shipping or handling fees instead of a sale price. I would suggest that anyone who prints shipping from ebay directly should have the actual shipping amount exempted from your selling charges. Seller fees would still then apply to anything that is not an actual shipping charge. This would encourage more use of ebay shipping tools and tracking while also saving everyone money without scapegoating the USPS.

[newnewnewmann]

It's not the USPS that charges a 10% fee for buying their postage.

[wolverinevsx23]

Raising the price of shipping is ludacris and hurts everyone..from the little guy scraping his unwanted junk, resellers, and store businesses. Gas prices went down a lot in the past 5 years so what is their excuse to drive up the price? Seriously, they need to get reliable workers who make the deliveries on time like in the hours of 9AM-1PM, not after 4PM like it's been lately for me. We've had 8 or 9 different carriers in the past year. I understand they are under stress, but damnit USPS, get your **bleep** together and FIX your internal problems!!! The prices of shipping should be going down, not up.

[maldo_marga]

Good evening, I  would like to know if Ebay will consider working out an agreement with another delivery service company such as FedEx or UPS. FedEx offers big discounts to big corporations and the rates are between $3 & $5 for reg & legal size envelopes & next day delivery. I'm still learning but I have a suggestion: For orders that are purchased  with free shipping, it will be useful for us " the sellers" that the customer sees somewhere in his/her  order form how much the seller  is paying for shipping.   An educated consumer is a great customer. Thank you

[alaus-hfpvg4j]

Dam, I just started Ebay but this?

[talontsi2007]

i think it's hard to say that sellers alone have the right to force the hand of USPS. EBAY should really be stepping in on our behalf. Since it is in the benefit of EBay to  keep us selling

[noaweddl0]

The USPS has lost three of my packages this month and when I went to see the Postmaster, he was just like "Dunno. Sorry."

I also got an empty envelope back in my mailbox with a piece of paper just simply saying "We lost your items. Sorry." It wasn't ripped, torn, or anything. It looked as if someone intentionally opened it and took the items out.

This kind of behavior has to change. The USPS is struggling hard, and it's really no wonder why. If they want more money to do their jobs, then I suggest they start by doing their jobs right and cut down on the incidents, as well as provide better customer service and start acting like they give a **bleep** about the customers.