USPS has another Rate Increase as of Sept 16th, But just on some shipments

[mam98031]

USPS® Rate Changes Effective September 16, 2024

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‎09-04-2024 11:38 AM

Effective September 16, 2024, USPS will increase rates for package delivery to select zip codes. Although this increase affects a very low percentage of transactions on ebay.com, you may see a higher shipping label cost for some locations.

The increase is for weight-based and cubic packages up to 20 lbs. for Priority Mail, Priority Mail Flat Rate, and Ground Advantage delivery to these zip codes.

The eBay shipping calculator will automatically update on September 16 with the new rates.

Thank you for selling on eBay.

The Shipping Team

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/USPS-Rate-Changes-Effective-September-16-2024/ba-p/34661...

The link to the Zip Codes affected by this change is LONG.  Almost 18 thousand of them.

The announcement does not tell us what the rate changes are.  I'm trying to locate that info and will share it once I find it.

[yo_baby_sup]

 7 business days away and no info on how much the increase is.  unreal to be looking at 4 increases in 2024.

[mam98031]

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@yo_baby_sup wrote:

 7 business days away and no info on how much the increase is.  unreal to be looking at 4 increases in 2024.

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@yo_baby_sup 

We haven't had 4 increases this year, at least not yet.  This one is the 3rd.  The best I've been able to find out on this is that it is only for rural packages, so it is difficult to give us a rate.

That actually makes good sense because it isn't likely to affect most packages.  

Don't blame the lack of information on the details of this on Ebay.  It is USPS that is not giving details.

[wastingtime101]

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@yo_baby_sup wrote:

 7 business days away and no info on how much the increase is.  unreal to be looking at 4 increases in 2024.

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Rate increases aren't published in advance (except sometimes for flat rate packaging) unless they're public-facing changes. This is strictly a change for third party postage providers with deeper discounts, which means the info is not public-facing. Sometimes they provide an average % but that never really tells us much since it's an average.

Assume worst case scenario: new rates to these zips affecting "a very low percentage of transactions" could be as high as the USPS Commercial rate, but might be lower. Rates won't be higher than the commercial rate.

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

If rates are lower than commercial, consider it a pleasant surprise. If they are equal to commercial, consider yourself well informed in advance. @yo_baby_sup 

[valueaddedresource]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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@yo_baby_sup wrote:

 7 business days away and no info on how much the increase is.  unreal to be looking at 4 increases in 2024.

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Rate increases aren't published in advance (except sometimes for flat rate packaging) unless they're public-facing changes.

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@wastingtime101 is absolutely right on this - USPS does not make advance public announcements about changes to third party negotiated rates (which is what this September change is).

They usually only provide advance notice for changes to direct retail and commercial rates, like this announcement they made yesterday about "temporary" holiday increases for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, and Ground Advantage.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/USPS-Holiday-2024-Rate-Increase-Starts-October-6th/m-p/346641... 

[mam98031]

Thank you for this very important information.

https://pe.usps.com/PriceChange

[yo_baby_sup]

okay... that doesn't help those of us who pass those negotiated discounts on to our customers and have to make adjustments before the new increase goes into effect.  Not every ecommerce site has shipping calculators that automatically adjust for the new increase. so not providing information on what the increase is (which they obviously already know) has the potential to negatively impact my business.

[valueaddedresource]

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@yo_baby_sup wrote:

okay... that doesn't help those of us who pass those negotiated discounts on to our customers and have to make adjustments before the new increase goes into effect.  Not every ecommerce site has shipping calculators that automatically adjust for the new increase. so not providing information on what the increase is (which they obviously already know) has the potential to negatively impact my business.

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@yo_baby_sup  totally understand the frustration and desire for transparency, it was just a general comment that these types of increases in the negotiated rates never really had that.

If you're already passing along the discounted rates, you likely already have some amount baked in to cover the fact that eBay charges fees on the shipping (I would hope).

In this instance I'm not sure that providing exact rates would even help a great deal. Since it only impacts certain zip codes and there is no way for you to know before a sale is made where it will eventually ship, even if you knew the rates it would still be a challenge to figure out how much extra to bake in to cover things without over calculating and adding too much for shipments that won't be impacted by the change.

Unfortunately, every seller may come to a slightly different calculation about how much this change will impact their shipping costs depending on trends of where their items usually ship to.

My suggestion would be to possibly switch to retail rates temporarily to have enough buffer or just understand that if you stick with passing on the discount, there may be some period of time where you're going to have to collect data from your sales to see how much of an impact this is going to have and adjust how much you have baked in accordingly.

[wastingtime101]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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if you stick with passing on the discount, there may be some period of time where you're going to have to collect data from your sales to see how much of an impact this is going to have and adjust how much you have baked in accordingly.

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The only immediate impact for sellers that use calculated shipping will be on orders placed before Sept 16 that aren't shipping until after Sept 16 - and that's the been the case for every price change for as many years back as I can recall. This zip-code specific change doesn't matter in that respect; it'll be the same impact as other price changes.

For sellers that pass on the discount, you are correct they will have higher fees and have to build in more of a cushion for those fees, but I expect the impact will be so minimal it'll be negligible for non-mega sellers. As I said above, if a seller is concerned they can assume USPS commercial rates (since that's the highest potential impact) in order to determine the fee cushion.

[dolcetreasures]

Just sent a small 1.4 pound package to AZ. It was $9.69. It’s getting absolutely intolerable especially with free returns. I’m not sure most eBay businesses can survive these types of shipping costs unless they are getting their items for free. If you’re selling shoes and sneakers, your fate is already sealed…

[valueaddedresource]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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if you stick with passing on the discount, there may be some period of time where you're going to have to collect data from your sales to see how much of an impact this is going to have and adjust how much you have baked in accordingly.

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The only immediate impact for sellers that use calculated shipping will be on orders placed before Sept 16 that aren't shipping until after Sept 16 - and that's the been the case for every price change for as many years back as I can recall. This zip-code specific change doesn't matter in that respect; it'll be the same impact as other price changes.

For sellers that pass on the discount, you are correct they will have higher fees and have to build in more of a cushion for those fees, but I expect the impact will be so minimal it'll be negligible for non-mega sellers. As I said above, if a seller is concerned they can assume USPS commercial rates (since that's the highest potential impact) in order to determine the fee cushion.

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@wastingtime101 definitely agree I think the impact will be minimal for the vast majority of sellers and I would caution against knee jerk reactions to add much to the cushion they hopefully already have in place until they've been able to see how much impact it will really have.

Your suggestion of assuming commercial is a good place to start.

[mam98031]

This is the link to the OCTOBER price increase.  

https://pe.usps.com/PriceChange

[mam98031]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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if you stick with passing on the discount, there may be some period of time where you're going to have to collect data from your sales to see how much of an impact this is going to have and adjust how much you have baked in accordingly.

---

The only immediate impact for sellers that use calculated shipping will be on orders placed before Sept 16 that aren't shipping until after Sept 16 - and that's the been the case for every price change for as many years back as I can recall. This zip-code specific change doesn't matter in that respect; it'll be the same impact as other price changes.

For sellers that pass on the discount, you are correct they will have higher fees and have to build in more of a cushion for those fees, but I expect the impact will be so minimal it'll be negligible for non-mega sellers. As I said above, if a seller is concerned they can assume USPS commercial rates (since that's the highest potential impact) in order to determine the fee cushion.

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@wastingtime101 

Then there are all those sellers that do stated shipping.  They price it themselves.  There are lots of sellers that do it this way too.  Any suggestions for them, other than move to Calculated shipping?

[mam98031]

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@dolcetreasures wrote:

Just sent a small 1.4 pound package to AZ. It was $9.69. It’s getting absolutely intolerable especially with free returns. I’m not sure most eBay businesses can survive these types of shipping costs unless they are getting their items for free. If you’re selling shoes and sneakers, your fate is already sealed…

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@dolcetreasures 

The only thing that Free Returns has you paying for the return shipping for that under other Return options is properly filed Buyer Remorse Returns.  We all, even with a No Return policy, have to pay for the return shipping on all INADs.  So unless you get more properly filed Buyer Remorse returns, not much would change for you if you changed your return policy.

[wastingtime101]

By "sated shipping" "stated shipping" do you mean flat (or free) shipping?

For sellers charging flat ship costs (or "free," baked into item price) my advice is essentially the same @mam98031 .

Use commercial rates for estimates when adjusting your costs until you can confirm the true impact.

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

Since the Oct holiday surcharge will go into effect just a couple weeks later my advice is to factor in both changes before making adjustments, that way you don't have to do the work twice.

[mam98031]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

By "sated shipping" do you mean flat (or free) shipping?

For sellers charging flat ship costs (or "free," baked into item price) my advice is essentially the same @mam98031 .

Use commercial rates for estimates when adjusting your costs until you can confirm the true impact.

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

Since the Oct holiday surcharge will go into effect just a couple weeks later my advice is to factor in both changes before making adjustments, that way you don't have to do the work twice.

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I never claimed to be a good typist.  Sorry for the typo, I have arthritis in my hands and it has really been acting up the last couple of days.

Yes, you are corrected, I meant to say stated shipping.  But it would also hold true for those sellers using Free Shipping as well.

Oh, I appreciate it, I know I need to update my shipping when there is a USPS raise of rates like we will have next month.  This is an all to familiar occurrence.  I was just sharing with you that this is or can be more of an issue with these undisclosed increases for sellers that use these types of charging for shipping.  I knew there wasn't a real answer for that.  But again thanks.