Loss of USPS Regional Rate Boxes will be costly for Booksellers

[lost-lizard-trading-company]

Loss of use of USPS Regional Rate Boxes will be costly for book sellers. RRB were a welcome and useful shipping tool for many online sellers, especially book sellers and other shippers of small, compact items.

Today (1/1/2023) I prepared a 7# shipment which will ship in a RRB-A (an 11 by 3 by 13" USPS-provided Priority Box). Today the cost of that shipment is $10.63; at the end of this month (effective January 22, 2023) it will be $20.82, nearly a 100% shipping price increase (especially if you include the increase in sellers' fees from the fee assessment on shipping).  The larger "B" RRBs were especially useful for heavy, over-sized books for which using RRB made a competitive alternative to Media Mail.

Did anyone consider the effects of this change on shippers who relied on RR Box options?  Is there an easy way to pull specific shipping options from listings?

[mtgraves7984]

Loss of use of USPS Regional Rate Boxes will be costly for book sellers.

@lost-lizard-trading-company 

I think they'll be missed by all types of sellers who relied on the less costly option. I hate to see them go, too. Dang it.

[sapphire_studio]

Use priority mail cubic pricing on pirate ship

[ms.rodriguez*]

The post office was probably losing millions of dollars with these boxes. Bummer. I used them once in a while too.   You have no choice but to raise the shipping on the bigger and heavier books. Customers will have to get used to the new, higher rates just like they got used to high fuel prices.    No choice.  Lord, ebay stockholders must be celebrating this too.   When shipping costs go up, Ebay profits go up too.

[simba6]

No they just wanted to slip in another rate hike it looks like.

[lakefor94]

I only used the Regional A. Going to miss those occasionally.  

If I needed a B, UPS would beat the price of the Regional B most of the time.  When the B did win the price war by a bit, it was not worth the risk of using USPS over UPS. 

The Regional A came in handy.

[ms.rodriguez*]

The new postal rate hikes start Jan. 22, 2023 on the same day that the Christmas surcharge is supposed to end.  Supposedly, some rates are supposed to be slightly cheaper. Who knows.

[buyselljack2016]

Did anyone consider the effects of this change on shippers who relied on RR Box options? -

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I would expect that the carrier considered it.

[ebooksdiva]

USPS website says Customers with Priority Mail Regional Rate Boxes A and B in their inventory can still use them for shipping, but they will be processed as weight and rate packages.

Here's the link Priority Mail Regional Rate Boxes A and B will be Discontinued (usps.com)

[nobody*s_perfect]

Here's another version of that link, without the (usps.com) connected:

https://postaltimes.com/postalnews/priority-mail-change-regional-rate-boxes-discontinued/

[sapphire_studio]

From Oregon to New York ( Which is the most expensive it gets)  Here are the priority and ground cubic weights offered by pirate ship for a regional A size Box that weighs up to 20 pounds:

 

[stephenmorgan]

That is too bad.

The Regional Rate A boxes would be a .3 cubic and the B boxes are a .5 cubic. 

I wonder if the A&B's can be used for the cubic pricing.

[deserdog]

Recently I have had both media mail and parcel select ground be delivered to zone 8 in 2 to 4 days. Parcel select ground cubic and priority cubic are also goo choices, depending on the size and weight of the package. I only use Pirate Ship.

[lakefor94]

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@ebooksdiva wrote:

USPS website says Customers with Priority Mail Regional Rate Boxes A and B in their inventory can still use them for shipping, but they will be processed as weight and rate packages.

Here's the link Priority Mail Regional Rate Boxes A and B will be Discontinued (usps.com)

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Does weight and rate mean we can use the A &B for any shipment as long as correct USPS shipping label is purchased to match the weight and dimensions?

[nobody*s_perfect]

Yes, starting on January 22.