Calculations are INCORRECT for Parcel Post Packages using Dimensional Weight - Prove Otherwise, eBay

[e-antiquez.com]

I am now convinced that eBay and/or the USPS calculator interface is incorrect when attempting to calculate the price of parcel post packages using dimensional weight.  I proved this today by using the USPS site to calculate a shipping total and comparing to eBay.

First, let me say that I had a sense that something was 'off' when a random check of prices on the USPS website since June consistently showed that retail parcel post, which should always be a little more expensive than the deals we get through eBay, were lower than what eBay was calculating.  That was my first sense that something here was amiss.

Today, here is what occurred for an order that a buyer placed two days ago.  My zip is 95691 in CA, theirs was 23831 in VA so this represented a coast to coast shipment.  My estimated size and weight for the package was 6 pounds in a 19x13x13 box.  eBay charged the buyer $60.83 for Parcel Select Ground Service.  When I processed the shipping label, I compared USPS $60.83 cost to Fed Ex Home Delivery, which was less than half.  So I took the Fed Ex Home Delivery option and refunded the buyer a tidy sum of $30.

After all of this was done I started thinking - how do I know that $60.83 charge was correct and by the way, why did that $60.83 charge look unrealistically close to the Priority Mail rate?  So I went out to the USPS website and sure enough, the retail cost to ship a 6 pound package in a box 19x13x13 to 23831 was only $26.10, which is **bleep** close to what Fed Ex charged for their home delivery.  That made sense to me.  

Let's think about this for a second.  Every one of us doing larger item shipments has probably seen a significant if not jaw-dropping drop in sales since the new rates went into effect in June, and I'm being inundated by **bleep** off buyers who want me to explain my high shipping costs.  Case in point: this buyer approached me before the sale to ask if I'd take a discount because of the shipping costs.  I said yes and discounted the item to help with their overall costs.

WHATEVER IS WRONG HERE IS CAUSING EBAYERS LIKE ME TO 1) LOSE SALES, 2) LOSE PROFIT, AND 3) LOOK BAD TO POTENTIAL BUYERS.  This eBay / USPS problem is resulting in dollars being taken right out of my pocket to make the sale, if a sale can even be made.  

WHAT SAY YOU, MY SELLER PEERS?  HAVE YOU SEEN THIS, TOO??!  Class action lawsuit, anyone?  

21 years on eBay so I've shipped a package or two over the years.  

[johnrj1226]

Used the eBay Calculator & the USPS.com web site  calculator and  got the  following results for your exact package  size & weight with the  same  from  & to  zip codes on each of the calculators.

1.  USPS Priority Mail ......................  $69.75

2.  USPS Parcel Select Ground.....  $59.83

3.  USPS Retail Ground ................... $26.10

Note both  #2  & #3 are ground services  and have an ESTIMATED Delivery time of 2-9 business days.  Maybe some one just picked the wrong shipping  service.   I would hold off on that "class action suit" for now.

Don't  know where your $60.83 came from unless this was a  commercial rate for the  Priority  Mail rate vs  standard retail rate.

Sorry you lost money that you didn't need to.

Parcel Post service no longer exists in  name.  USPS dropped it a few  years ago

[mvls1]

Your problem is not with Ebay, it is with USPS. Ebay calculated shipping is quoting/charging buyers the correct rate for parcel select which is the online version of retail ground. USPS raised the parcel select rates around June 23 and at the same time, they DID NOT raise the retail ground rates, which can only be purchased in person over the counter at the post office. The rate increases are for all online shipping such as Stamps.com, Pirateship, Etsy, etc. I know it is a problem, but this time, Ebay is really not at fault.

In addition, the lower retail ground rates only apply to packages going to zones 5-9. Packages going to zones 1-4 are for live animals and hazardous materials that must be shipped by ground transport to qualify for the lower rates, otherwise you must ship priority mail. If you check on the USPS web site for rates (which it looks like you did) you will see that they will quote you a price for retail ground but you cannot purchase the label online. You must take the package to the post office and pay for it there to get that rate.

Knowing that calculated shipping is going to yield higher shipping rates, we have switched to flat rate shipping and charge enough to cover our cost coast to coast.

[orangehound]

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@e-antiquez.com wrote:

First, let me say that I had a sense that something was 'off' when a random check of prices on the USPS website since June consistently showed that retail parcel post, which should always be a little more expensive than the deals we get through eBay, were lower than what eBay was calculating.  That was my first sense that something here was amiss.

21 years on eBay so I've shipped a package or two over the years.  

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I think you may be letting your 21 years of shipping experience cloud your view of the shift that happened in June to USPS postal rates.  🙂

In June, the USPS imposed dimensional weights on Parcel Select, but they  DID NOT impose dimensional weights on Retail Ground  ... I know this doesn't make sense because Retail Ground has always been more expensive than Parcel Select, but that's what happened.    Thus, for lighter weight packages over one cubic foot, the Retail Ground prices will be significantly cheaper than Parcel Select.

This is not eBay.  This is USPS.

[smilekc]

The question is, why did USPS go to dimensional pricing on Parcel Select, but not Retail Ground?? It makes no sense. I sell a lot of large light weight items, & sales of them have dropped off completely as shipping is now crazy. I think I can offer Retail Ground shipping in my listings to get the low rate, but that adds a lot more steps to the shipping process, no more click & ship.

[lintbrush*]

It's not eBay.  It's USPS.  Here's your proof:

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm

Your buyer is Zone 8.

A 19x13x13 box is 3,211 cu in.  

Dim Weight Divisor is 166

3,211/166 = 19.34...

For Parcel Select Ground it ships at the 20 lb rate.

For Retail Ground it ships at the 6 lb rate.  

johnrj's posted prices are right and based on USPS published pricing.

USPS ClickNShip shows you the Retail Rate which isn't available online.

For large boxes either list with Retail Ground as an option for large boxes and buy your postage at the PO, or add/switch to another carrier.  I went with UPS for my large packages.

@e-antiquez.com 

[fern*wood]

@e-antiquez.com 

Hoping you return to read the explanation. 

[e-antiquez.com]

I challenge anyone to find any other service where one is levied a double-the-cost surcharge for using an automated solution that can be purchased at half the cost by involving a human.  I agree now that eBay's calculator engine may not be the source of the problem but where was our representation when the USPS made this change?  Did the USPS double rates for online sellers because they wanted to ditch the Amazon business?  Or all online business?  This decision will cost them while it costs us in sales, and eBay has successfully negotiated discounts for shipping in the past.  Please feel free to rationalize how I can be charged $60 to send something that if I walk up to a window at a P.O. can be sent at $30...from the point of entry perspective, the cost is higher to have a human manage that transaction.  Once we've passed the point of entry the process of shipping is EXACTLY the same.  if the P.O. was doing this because of costs for shipping based on size, retail and parcel select would be the same because both points of entry require the same amount of space on a truck and airplane.  Looks like a form of customer discrimination and penalization against online sellers to me.  What did we do to deserve this?  

[fern*wood]

My guess is that USPS will close the retail parcel loophole for cheaper dimensional rates.

[earlyant-77]

eBay has successfully negotiated discounts for shipping in the past.

They have? They are the same rates as Stamps, Endicia, etc.. Since ebay can't do any pre-sorting, or have a drop trailer for any packages - because they ship nothing - I doubt they get a lower rate than commbase+. They just keep the difference if you aren't a TRS.

Some shipping sites, like pirateship, offer cubic pricing, and that's free to use. Ebay MAY get those discounts, but they aren't passing that off to the seller.

Some selling sites give you the combase+ no matter what, and 100.00 insurance for Priority mail.

[smilekc]

I think USPS feels that people that buy the postage online will cheat on the package dimensions to get a cheaper rate. So, they jack the rate for online way up to cover themselves. At the Post Office the highly trained staff will enter the exact dimensions so they can charge a lower rate.

I was told by a PO worker a few years ago that he expects the USPS to phase out cheap parcel service all together at some point.

Me, I'm going to try shipping with Fed Ex, so the USPS will loose my business. I hate to do it as the USPS has worked great for me, but I have to be able to charge resonable rates for shipping with as little work on my end as possible. Paying at the USPS counter rather than online does not do this.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@smilekc wrote: ... I was told by a PO worker a few years ago that he expects the USPS to phase out cheap parcel service all together at some point.....

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That has basically already been done.  For years the prices for Parcel Select and Priority Mail have been nearly identical for the same weight and zone.  Imposing dimensional weight on all zones and on Parcel Select was merely another step in that direction.