07-11-2020 05:07 AM
Does anyone here round up shipping weights instead of using the exact weight?
Rounding up a 1, 2 or 3 oz package to 4 oz.
Rounding up a 5, 6 or 7 oz. package to 8 oz.
Rounding up a 9, 10 or 11 oz. package to 12 oz.
Any pros or cons?
07-11-2020 05:44 AM
not sure why you would do it?...........if it makes a difference in price.....
I always use 2#, if the actual weight is 1# 1oz........as priority/media/parcel all increase the price by the #, not the ounce......
but with first class, I use exact ounces......(if it 3 .1 oz) that is rounded up to 4.......
07-11-2020 05:49 AM
I always round up. Going up to the next ounce or two rarely changes the cost of postage purchased via eBay...which is nice because I estimate my weights. If I'm off by an ounce or two, it doesn't matter. Even if the postage does go up, I'll eat the few cents.
07-11-2020 06:01 AM
@byrd69er wrote: ... Going up to the next ounce or two rarely changes the cost of postage purchased via eBay.. .
USPS postage prices are per pound, except for First Class postage, which goes by ounce.
Under the current pricing structure, First Class Package prices are shown in 1-ounce increments, but the prices are the same for 0-4 ounces, 5-8 ounces, etc. So going up from 3 ounces to 4 will have no effect on price for your First Class package -- but going from 4 ounces to 5 ounces will.
07-11-2020 06:02 AM
07-11-2020 06:05 AM
@inhawaii wrote:Does anyone here round up shipping weights instead of using the exact weight?
Rounding up a 1, 2 or 3 oz package to 4 oz.
Rounding up a 5, 6 or 7 oz. package to 8 oz.
Rounding up a 9, 10 or 11 oz. package to 12 oz.
Any pros or cons?
Not really, as you evidently know already that the price breakpoints for domestic First Class Package are in 4-ounce increments as you showed here.
But generally speaking, the key to always paying the right price and not overpaying for no reason is to have a trusted digital scale that will give you the right answer every time. You don't need an expensive one, just one that agrees with whatever weight is shown on the USPS scale at Acceptance time. I think I paid twenty bucks for mine, a cheap blue plastic-case digital one from the post office, in fact. That was a zillion years ago now, and it's still working perfectly.
07-11-2020 07:59 AM
@inhawaii wrote:Does anyone here round up shipping weights instead of using the exact weight?
Rounding up a 1, 2 or 3 oz package to 4 oz.
Rounding up a 5, 6 or 7 oz. package to 8 oz.
Rounding up a 9, 10 or 11 oz. package to 12 oz.
Any pros or cons?
No.
Why complicate it and add another step that serves no purpose?
Also USPS asks for the WEIGHT not the max weight for the pricing group that the parcel would fall into.
07-11-2020 08:19 AM
I always round up, especially on the first class stuff because the packing material, shipping label, tape, and invoice add weight.
07-11-2020 08:30 AM
@toysaver wrote:I always round up, especially on the first class stuff because the packing material, shipping label, tape, and invoice add weight.
That's not rounding. That's guesstimating the total package weight. The way the term "rounding" is used in the OP, it would mean knowing that the actual total package weight was 3 ounces but listing it as 4 ounces.
07-11-2020 08:52 AM
Why would anyone round up from 3 ounces to 4? Three is three is three....not four.
07-11-2020 08:56 AM
As my earlier post (#5) illustrates, I don't get it either.
07-11-2020 09:01 AM
I always round up to the highest point of the particular price increment--if it weighs six ounces, I go with 8...I'm naturally a bit paranoid, so I just don't trust my scale...lol (and I don't want to stick a buyer with postage due). I have many other quirks besides this one...lol
07-11-2020 09:02 AM - edited 07-11-2020 09:04 AM
Yes, I round up.
1, 2 or 3 oz package to 4 oz.
5, 6 or 7 oz. package to 8 oz.
9, 10 or 11 oz. package to 12 oz.
Pros: It costs the same to ship 4 ounces as 1 ounce. It costs the same to ship 8 ounces as 5 ounces. It costs the same to ship 12 ounces as 9 ounces...
If the package weighs 5 ounces, I know I can add up to 3 ounces of additional packaging materials.
07-11-2020 09:08 AM - edited 07-11-2020 09:09 AM
But that still doesn't explain why you would put an 8-ounce label on a package with an actual weight of 5 ounces. Pointing out that the cost is the same isn't an explanation for why you'd deliberately put an inaccurate weight on the package.
07-11-2020 09:09 AM
@inhawaii wrote:Does anyone here round up shipping weights instead of using the exact weight?
Rounding up a 1, 2 or 3 oz package to 4 oz.
Rounding up a 5, 6 or 7 oz. package to 8 oz.
Rounding up a 9, 10 or 11 oz. package to 12 oz.
Any pros or cons?
I do it as you posted above. ^^^
No particular 'pros' or 'cons', but if I'm paying for 4, 8 or 12 anyway... I'll have my label reflect it.