Shipping Is Killing Me!!!

[myfrugalboutique]

Just a vent this morning. 

The shipping rates are killing me....Oh, the buyers want free shipping...but that is impossible. So we are supposed to raise the cost, and then they go to a drop shipper from Amazon who doesn't pay squat for the service.  

The USPS is out of control...We did not get our mail last week until after 5....our mail in ballots it was 7pm...The service is deteriorating and I think there have been four rate hikes this year...plus do not forget the "shipping adjustments"....I wonder where they do that.

Sorry, but I am just frustrated. 

[simba6]

The river had to build their own shipping company to keep costs under control.  That could not have been cheap.

It used to be the lack sales tax that offset some of the shipping increases. With that gone and endless increases it's making it harder to sell, that is for sure.

[chevymontecarlo88]

Have you considered bundling some of the items (if possible) to separate you from other sellers of like items?

[myfrugalboutique]

There are few things that I can bundle….the rates are rediculious….the level of service is going down. I have always defended the post office, but frankly after this last week of horrible service and rate increases they are on my list. 

I am in Arizona . It cost me $6.00 to mail a lightweight baseball cap to California… 

[tools*]

Tell it to the guy who installed DeJoy.

[bonanza125]

You are not alone. Anything valued under $6 is really not worth shipping unless the buyer pays the shipping cost. 

[wpt05]

USPS was operating at a loss for years.  Unfortunately, they are no longer subsidizing your shipping.  

[fern*wood]

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@myfrugalboutique wrote:

...The service is deteriorating and I think there have been four rate hikes this year...

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Looks like dejoy is doing what he was chosen for...I believe there is a plan.

[myfrugalboutique]

@tools*

Well that "guy" isn't on my list of contacts. Yes DeJoy needs to go.

[myfrugalboutique]

@wpt05   What WAS...they still are

The net loss totaled $6.5 billion, compared to net income of $56.0 billion for the prior year.  That is for fiscal year 2023

[tools*]

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@fern*wood wrote:

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@myfrugalboutique wrote:

...The service is deteriorating and I think there have been four rate hikes this year...

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Looks like dejoy is doing what he was chosen for...I believe there is a plan.

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The plan has been, for some time, to run it into the ground so it can be privatized, should there be an authoritarian regime and full control of Congress.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@simba6 wrote:

The river had to build their own shipping company to keep costs under control.  That could not have been cheap.

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It wasn't as expensive as it could have been. They are heavily reliant on independent contractors who own the trucks and hire their own employees for delivery from Amazon hubs to customers.

A similar strategy to FEDEX. But they have a different way of managing their contractors than FEDEX, and their contractors are more entrepreneurial.  They also invested in Rivian, the manufacturer of the electric trucks they use (lost a lot of money on that investment).

But they now deliver more packages than any other package delivery service in the US.

Shipping costs are high for most Ebay sellers. But that is because they are too small for the really good deals.

Temu sellers are shipping for $2.99 with tracking from US warehouses. They have deals with the partnered carriers who use USPS for last mile delivery. It is amazing how they can pay for two companies to profit on their shipments.

Shipping costs are so high that we all need to decide which items we sell, we should no longer sell. Buyer complaints about shipping are not just cheap buyers. Some items are no longer worth the price of the shipping we can offer, let alone the cost to buy the product.

For many years of selling online, I have had to periodical review what I buy to resell and eliminate the items which are not worth selling. Sometimes it is the total cost, sometimes it is the overall hassle, sometimes it is the competition.

There is a lot of stuff I sold in the past that I would never list again, even if someone dropped it off for free on my driveway.

[lovely_chelles_treasures]

Dear myfrugalboutique,

I share the same pain with you. I do think the shipping rates we can get from ebay right now are still too high, and what most buyers want now are low low prices but with decent quality (poor quality is never accepted). So far my experiences with postal service are okay, except that I think their prices are still too high. But, I find that UPS is such a scammer ( sorry I have to use such a word) because the rates they show on ebay are much different than the real rates they are charging. Their real rates are much much higher!! UPS keeps advertising new lower rates on eBay but they have hidden charges! Not sure if other sellers nowadays see the same problem? Please tell us, thank you 

[norskmediashop]

And the rates are going up yet again on the 27th, after they already did on the 1st. We have already lost 3 orders in the last few days because buyers asked for free shipping and we said no. As I said in another post this is why stores are packed, people are not going to be ordering online as much anymore with these rates, the golden days of ecommerce are ending I hate to say it. Have noticed this first hand as I went to order something on another site, the cost was $24 , by the time shipping and tax was added on, $40...I didn't buy it. so see the same thing is happening here.