Regional rate shipping gone

[bashort]

Just found this out when a buyer told me that they could not make a purchase, the problem was that we had it set up with regional rate shipping that has been discontinued. First that I have heard of it

[stainlessenginecovers]

How does one input a specific TYPE of Priority Packaging (Medium Flat Rate, Bubble Flat Rate etc for example)??

[nobody*s_perfect]

Sellers only have to specify either a specific type of flat rate packaging (padded envelope, Medium box, etc.) or else just generic Priority Mail package/thick envelope which would apply to any packaging provided by the sender as ell as the non-flat-rate Priority packaging available through USPS, including the big Tyvek envelope, the 07 and 04 boxes, and now the former Regional boxes. Those are available in the drop-down list of services when setting up a listing.

[wastingtime101]

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devon@ebay wrote:

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Hey @wastingtime101! I reached out to our Shipping Team and this is what they said:

"The Shipping product team verified that they removed Regional Box A & Regional Box B as a shipping service on December 30, 2022. For sellers who currently have Regional Boxes as shipping service within the listing, if they don’t change the shipping service at the listing label, the default shipment at label printing will be Priority Mail."   

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Hi devon@ebay - yes, that part is clear, but doesn't really address what happened with the OP. Their buyer was unable to purchase since the listing was set up with Regional Rate.

The question isn't what happens after the sale - it's what happens to those listings that offered RR as the shipping method? Should we assume that until sellers make the necessary adjustments to their listings that buyers will continue to experience errors when they try to purchase from these listings?

I assume sales on listings that offer flat rate shipping would be unaffected, but if a seller set up a listing with calculated shipping for a regional rate box which is what I believe @bashort did, that buyers will get hit with an error because the system can't calculate RR rates any longer.

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

Sellers only have to specify either a specific type of flat rate packaging (padded envelope, Medium box, etc.) or else just generic Priority Mail package/thick envelope which would apply to any packaging provided by the sender as ell as the non-flat-rate Priority packaging available through USPS, including the big Tyvek envelope, the 07 and 04 boxes, and now the former Regional boxes. Those are available in the drop-down list of services when setting up a listing.

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@nobody*s_perfect 

Is that just for 'calculated shipping'? (I've only used 'flat rate' (my price) and only have a drop down for GSP for size/weight; but for Domestic, only shows 'Standard' or 'Expedited'. 

[ame4548]

I don't set up shipping in the listing tool, but the business policy setup for shipping allows you to choose the specific type of priority mail packaging you will be using.

I will miss the regional rate boxes. I've been ordering them from USPS the last few weeks because I'll still use the RRA quite often.

[nobody*s_perfect]

We might be using different versions of the listing form. Click on "Add services" if that's available.

[devon@ebay]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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devon@ebay wrote:

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Hey @wastingtime101! I reached out to our Shipping Team and this is what they said:

"The Shipping product team verified that they removed Regional Box A & Regional Box B as a shipping service on December 30, 2022. For sellers who currently have Regional Boxes as shipping service within the listing, if they don’t change the shipping service at the listing label, the default shipment at label printing will be Priority Mail."   

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Hi devon@ebay - yes, that part is clear, but doesn't really address what happened with the OP. Their buyer was unable to purchase since the listing was set up with Regional Rate.

The question isn't what happens after the sale - it's what happens to those listings that offered RR as the shipping method? Should we assume that until sellers make the necessary adjustments to their listings that buyers will continue to experience errors when they try to purchase from these listings?

I assume sales on listings that offer flat rate shipping would be unaffected, but if a seller set up a listing with calculated shipping for a regional rate box which is what I believe @bashort did, that buyers will get hit with an error because the system can't calculate RR rates any longer.

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@wastingtime101 Here is their response to your follow-up:

"Between now and January 22 when Regional Rate boxes are discontinued, Regional Rate Boxes will still show on the listings and be available for purchase on eBay Labels. After January 22, Priority Mail will be the service shown on these listings and purchases will not fail."

[wastingtime101]

Thanks devon@ebay - not sure why the OP's experience was different, but at least we know how it's supposed to work.

[leis_cosmetics]

Hi, we've been encountering this same issue for the past 3 days. Good to see there are forums on these types of things or else we'd probably still be unaware. Instead of the RR boxes we've switched over to using MFR and 14x9x9 boxes. Shipping price isn't quite the same on it but it isn't too far off

[articwollf]

I found the regional rate A box was the cheapest way to ship those items too big to fit into a padded flat rate envelope. what has anybody found to be the cheapest alternative? I mainly do clothing so like that 3-6# 

[nobody*s_perfect]

As an economical alternative to the Regional boxes, USPS recommends their service called Priority Mail Cubic.. It's not available through eBay (yet) but you can purchase it on other online postage services including Pirateship.

[rdm-material-handling]

hey Germantown! I just found out about the discontinuation; not sure how I missed it.... there's pretty decent discrepancy between Regional rate box A and Medium sized boxes. And the difference between Small and Medium is HUGE. I liked having the in-between option and it made it easier for me to offer free shipping. I am going to review all of my listings, since ebay just recently changed their format and you can now offer multiple shipping options.

Anyway, good luck finding some of that good ol' wissahickon schist!

Best from Bristol, Bucks County 

🙂

[sealersupply]

I have Pirate Ship & USPS accounts I tried both to ship a Regional A box could not find label on either one ?

Can I still use Regional A box to ship Cubic ? as they fit my product perfectly although it says Priority mail on the box ?  (If anyone knows)

I tried it today we'll see what USPS does. Thanks for input... They make it harder all the time for small business

Amazon are just as bad 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@sealersupply wrote:

I have Pirate Ship & USPS accounts I tried both to ship a Regional A box could not find label on either one ?

Can I still use Regional A box to ship Cubic ? ...

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The Regional rates have been discontinued. They are no more. They do not appear in the USPS pricing charts in any way. There is no Regional rate for USPS postage any more. You cannot purchase Regional postage through PirateShip, through USPS or anywhere else on Earth.

  The USPS memo which announces the discontinuation of Regional rates says you can now use the Regional boxes for regular Priority rate, but it's not clear to me whether this includes Priority Cubic. Some of the text is ambiguous ("Remaining Regional Rate Boxes can still be used for shipping, but they will be treated as weight and rate packages"  and "Cubic is a sub-service of Priority Mail in which commercial customers ship items using their own packaging").

Since this change took effect 2 months ago, maybe some other posters have experience with whether the Regional boxes can now be used for Priority Cubic rates.

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Regional-Rate-Boxes