Is USPS ground advantage going to be snail mail?

[agemelee]

I am worried about this and debating about just changing my listings to priority mail. If I ship UPS or fed ex ground, it can take over a week for a buyer to receive an item. 

First class usually can get across country by the second day. (If mailed Monday it arrives Wed).

Does anyone have any information on this? If its going to take over a week for buyer’s to receive an item (and WEEKS if in Alaska or Hawaii) this service will be awful. 

I know ebay is making us manually adjust all our listings too. 

Any thoughts?

[wastingtime101]

Who says you have to manually adjust your listings @agemelee? Seems you're operating off bad info and rumors.

eBay will handle the transition automatically and the only exception where sellers may see issues is if they currently offer multiple of the changing services within the same listing.

So if you have a listing that offers both First Class and Parcel Select, you might have to manually delete one of the options as it will now be a duplicate.

But if you offer only one of the options between First Class, Parcel Select and Retail Ground within a listing, eBay will automatically convert those to Ground Advantage.

As for shipping times, it's not going to change. If you want to read more:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/USPS-to-replace-First-Class-Package-Retail-Ground-Parcel-Sele...

Directly from USPS, this is what they said about making changes a full year ago in preparation for this change:

"In August 2022, the Postal Service implemented upgraded service standards for its USPS Retail Ground and Parcel Select Ground products, aligning service standards with the current First-Class Package Service product within the contiguous United States. Service standards for these products were accelerated from two-to-eight-days to two-to-five-days for the same affordable price."

[agemelee]

 

There is a big notification and FAQ on ebay that states It…

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/choosing-a-carrier-and-service/usps-and-ebay-labels

[agemelee]

 

Did you not  see the faq

[richard1rst]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Who says you have to manually adjust your listings @agemelee? Seems you're operating off bad info and rumors.

eBay will handle the transition automatically and the only exception where sellers may see issues is if they currently offer multiple of the changing services within the same listing.

So if you have a listing that offers both First Class and Parcel Select, you might have to manually delete one of the options as it will now be a duplicate.

But if you offer only one of the options between First Class, Parcel Select and Retail Ground within a listing, eBay will automatically convert those to Ground Advantage.

As for shipping times, it's not going to change. If you want to read more:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/USPS-to-replace-First-Class-Package-Retail-Ground-Parcel-Sele...

Directly from USPS, this is what they said about making changes a full year ago in preparation for this change:

"In August 2022, the Postal Service implemented upgraded service standards for its USPS Retail Ground and Parcel Select Ground products, aligning service standards with the current First-Class Package Service product within the contiguous United States. Service standards for these products were accelerated from two-to-eight-days to two-to-five-days for the same affordable price."

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However, it is this particular line that is causing some of us consternation as seen in a similar thread started by jmwalte1

What about Hawaii, Alaska, APOs and U S Territories? As it is now first class is fairly quick. But how do you ship ground to those areas without it taking forever?

As near as we can tell that question has not been addressed by either USPS or eBay.

[wastingtime101]

Ah, thanks so much @agemelee and @richard1rst! I did not see the FAQ.

The eBay announcement does not link to that page.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/USPS-Rate-Changes-effective-July-9-2023/ba-p/33825248

[wastingtime101]

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@richard1rst wrote:

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However, it is this particular line that is causing some of us consternation as seen in a similar thread started by jmwalte1What about Hawaii, Alaska, APOs and U S Territories? As it is now first class is fairly quick. But how do you ship ground to those areas without it taking forever?As near as we can tell that question has not been addressed by either USPS or eBay.

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Did you guys read about that in the FAQ you linked? It says:

Will USPS Ground Advantage fly offshore?
Yes. USPS Ground Advantage will fly to/from/throughout offshore destinations as a 2-5 service whereas PSG currently travels by boat and is a 2-8 day service.

So it seems packages to Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico will travel by air to maintain the 2-5 biz day delivery time.

The exception would be packages that have to travel surface transportation only (hazmat, etc) and USPS will identify those packages as they need to be marked in accordance with USPS guidelines.

[simba6]

It's safe to assume it won't cost less or be faster.  Shipping costs  are really killing mail order.

[nobody*s_perfect]

USPS has stated that Ground Advantage delivery times will be 2 - 5 days.  

Comparing the current prices for Parcel Select Ground with the rates that go into effect on July 9 shows that some weight/zone combinations are increasing a little, while others will be slightly lower.  Prices for packages up to 15.99 ounces (i.e., the service currently known as First Class package) will be unchanged.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Not sure if I'm right or not (sure hope I am) as it's very confusing, but it appears that we're NOT going to lose that ounce between 15 and 15.9 for FCP when it transitions to GA?

[nobody*s_perfect]

Correct. The latest draft of the proposed rates shows the weight for the bracket above 12 ounces as "weight not over" 15.999 ounces.  Even for retail!

https://pe.usps.com/resources/PriceChange/July%202023%20Price%20Change%2020230526%20-%20Notice123%20...

[cymbalsmith]

I'm saving money with USPS Ground Advantage and as an expert using UPS, I can tell you it is just as fast. I sell from time-to-time rare posters but kept the lesser value prints off eBay due to the cost of shipping the posters. Then I began using ground UPS and what cost me 25 to ship with USPS cost between 8 and 13 dollars depending on distance and destination. Now with USPS Ground advantage my poster ship for 4.50 to 8.60 for 98 percent of my posters. I also get a discount purchasing with eBay and even with me paying a percentage to eBay I still save time and money. This has now helped me with selling all my posters and not losing money on shipping with the old USPS prices before this new service started in July 2023. Mind you when I shipped UPS I also had to go to the local UPS Francise store to drop off the merchandise shipments.  You will have no problem with USPS Ground Advantage.

[nobody*s_perfect]

The online rates for Ground Advantage are identical to the old rates for First Class packages for weights up to 15.99 ounces, and about the same for weights over 1 pound. I think you must have been overlooking some of your USPS options earlier.

[anjofak]

We ship from AK and have seen this ground advantage seems to be more ground than advantage..meaning they tend to get the slow boat to Seattle more often than not. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

But is that different from how USPS handled Parcel Select Ground?