Just Curious: Will USPS discontinue regular Priorty Mail?

[duffy4444]

     When the USPS dumped First Class/Parcel Select and merged it into Ground Advantage, GA has become almost as fast as regular Priority Mail, and it now also has up to $100 insurance. For me, GA has been much more efficient all across the US, both in cost and speed. It makes me wonder if the USPS may be planning on sunsetting regular Priority Mail but not PM Express for those critical needs. It sure would cut USPS costs with nearly the same service as regular PM. I haven't had the need to use any of my PM boxes for the last 8 months, and feedback from my buyers has shown a lot of positive comments on how fast they have been receiving their GA shipments from me this past year.

   If I were in a position of authority at the USPS, I would consider dumping regular PM (maybe including Flat Rate?) in lieu of the success of  of GA, and yet keeping PM Express for those special needs.

   I'm just curious and have lately been thinking ahead of how much money the USPS could save, perhaps even cutting the remaining shipping rates (I know - yeah, rigggght!), and erase the cost of all those PM boxes and all the associated overhead.

   Let me know what you think, and what your own USPS shipping experiences have been this past year since GA was introduced. 

Cheers, Duffy

[luckythewinner]

I agree. I believe that they are heading towards eliminating the non-express Priority Mail. It costs more than Ground Advantage and is not always faster, so why keep it?

Due to Congress' ineptitude, the USPS is in a constant funding crisis. Why would they get rid of a service that millions of people voluntarily pay extra for?

[tobaccocardyahoo]

When it gets there has a lot to do with where there is.

Priority Mail and Ground Advantage seem to serve the coasts in similar times, but service to "flyover country differs greatly.

Since I am on the right coast, I get to see the difference. If you are in flyover country, you might not.

Keeping Priority Mail makes total sense since both FEDEX and UPS offer multiple levels of service.

[richard1rst]

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@1786davycrockett wrote:

For heavier shipments, I still find Priority to be cheaper than Ground Advantage, although I'm still very pleased that the cut-off weight for Ground Advantage is significantly higher than the old First Class Package weight.

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I keep seeing various claims where it is alleged that Priority Mail is sometimes cheaper than Ground Advantage. NOPE.

I use Pirateship and I have been using GA since the day it was introduced. One of the features is that when you enter size and weight is automatically shows you the cheapest method (unlike eBay that always shows the same order and you have to go looking for the best deal). NOT ONCE has PM ever been cheaper than GA. NEVER! Almost always it is GA with an occasional UPS (although UPS is usually a difference of much less than a dollar). Not once has PM been at the top of the list. Near, far, light, heavy - not once.

The refutation I occasionally get is to quote the RETAIL price. And apparently there are some quirks there. BUT you don’t pay retail do you? The DISCOUNTED price that you actually pay always favors GA.

PRIORITY MAIL HAS NEVER BEEN CHEAPER THAN GROUND ADVANTAGE.

[funfactorychannel]

It feels faster now since its less packages being ship. Wait til holidays kick in, then priority gets priority and ground advantages delays will come forth..

[jg.mason]

I refused to ship with the old ground service. It was taking almost 30 days to get my items delivered with ground witch was causing me to have INR cases opened.

So when they changed to ground advantage I saw the delivery times they were claiming and thought I'd give it a try, now I ship very little by priority mail. 

I hope they don't do away with it though, I like the "free" boxes and some of my items fit them real well.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

I don't believe they'll get rid of it b/c so many people use it unnecessarily, at premium rates.  But personally, I started using GA right away & I love it, everything still gets everywhere in 2-3 days, mostly 2, but I'm pretty central US & I think I've only used PM once since I started with GA b/c a PRFE was cheaper than what it would have cost to send it GA.  That's the only time it's occured though.   

I also used to get a few customers who chose PM (I offer 2 services) & I haven't had that happen even once, since I switched to GA, even though I still offer the service. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     I doubt USPS  will sunset Priority mail although they may revise it a bit. I am on the east coast and while GA is generally the best option I often utilize USPS priority mal flat rate boxes and envelopes because they are cheaper than GA for some things. This is usually for heavier items that I can shove into a priority mail box or envelope and send it cheaper than I can GA regardless of where the buyer lives. 

     As an example I currently have a listing for 43 pounds of lead ingots where I am offering free shipping. That item will ship in a priority mail medium flat rate box simply because there is no cheaper way to send it. I have a 24 pound lead brick that I can ship in a priority mail flat rate envelope and several lots of tools that will also go into priority mail flat rate envelopes. Other than the exceptions GA is my mail shipping method and only occasionally have I found it cheaper to send something using priority mail cubic as opposed to GA but as far as speed of delivery I have seen little difference between priority and GA.  

     If they ever lower the priority mail flat rate package from the current 70 pounds that may cause me a few issues depending on what they drop it to. In my opinion GA was one of the best things USPS has done in YEARS.