USPS to replace First Class Package, Retail Ground, Parcel Select with Ground Advantage Summer 2023

[wastingtime101]

As USPS implements price & service changes every July (think the first year was August), I expect that's about the time they're planning to roll this out.

https://postalnews.com/blog/2023/02/10/usps-seeks-to-replace-first-class-package-service-with-usps-g...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — As part of its overall strategy to enhance its shipping offerings, the United States Postal Service today filed a procedural filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) notifying the commission of the Postal Service’s intention to replace its existing First-Class Package Service category with USPS Ground Advantage. USPS Ground Advantage will feature two-to five day service standards for packages up to 70 pounds.

The filing streamlines and simplifies package shipping options for customers and enhances the Postal Service’s ground product offering with the anticipated summer 2023 launch of its improved ground product — USPS Ground Advantage.

[tori_729]

Will we now have to measure "first class" under a pound shipments and put in dimensions? I never know how to do that with packages... 

If DIM rates apply to things under a pound, that's gonna suck for some larger packages that are still under the pound. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

USPS applies dimensional rate only to packages that are over 1 cubic foot, i.e., 1728 cubic inches, and there is a surcharge for package length over 22 inches. Below those thresholds, you can enter just a rough estimate of the dimensions.

How can you not know how to enter package dimensions? Length, width, thickness. In inches, to the nearest inch, with no fractions or decimals.  If it's an envelope, just estimate the thickness; as long as it's under the thresholds for surcharges, an estimate is OK.

[tori_729]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

USPS applies dimensional rate only to packages that are over 1 cubic foot, i.e., 1728 cubic inches, and there is a surcharge for package length over 22 inches. Below those thresholds, you can enter just a rough estimate of the dimensions.

How can you not know how to enter package dimensions? Length, width, thickness. In inches, to the nearest inch, with no fractions or decimals.  If it's an envelope, just estimate the thickness; as long as it's under the thresholds for surcharges, an estimate is OK.

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Packages specifically, I guess I can just put 1" if there's not much depth. It's just always confusing to me which part to include in which particularly the depth if it seems to cut into the length. Maybe I'm overthinking it. 
I've never entered dimensions for packages under a pound because it's not required. It's just extra work that I haven't generally done.

[hunchojack_34]

Of course raising rates 200% over the last couple years wasn't good enough for USPS. Sure they won't be raising rates right now under this system, but I'm sure sending anything for less than $5 will be a thing of the past this coming winter.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@tori_729 wrote: ... Packages specifically, I guess I can just put 1" if there's not much depth. It's just always confusing to me which part to include in which particularly the depth if it seems to cut into the length. Maybe I'm overthinking it. ....

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You're definitely overthinking it.  

[norskmediashop]

so with a store of nearly two thousand listings and many, not all, set with first class shipping,,,,we have to manually change every single one?  Why is the system not automatically rolling it in to replace first class? 

This sounds like a nightmare in terms of changing things, we don't use the business policy stuff that's just a mess and too complicated, so not sure what to do. What happens to the first class ship option if we don't change anything? Maybe Im over thinking it just trying to understand, its reading like every single listing has to be manually changed and that's daunting to think of having to sit here and do.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@norskmediashop wrote: ... Why is the system not automatically rolling it in to replace first class? ... What happens to the first class ship option if we don't change anything? Maybe Im over thinking it just trying to understand, its reading like every single listing has to be manually changed and that's daunting to think of having to sit here and do.

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It's just a change in the name of the service. Prices for packages up to 15.99 ounces aren't changing.  IMHO it's premature to expect that listings will not automatically adjust to the new name for the service formerly known as First Class packages. There has been no indication from eBay that sellers will have to change anything manually.  

[norskmediashop]

Thank you, the information I read in ebay basically said sellers will have to make the change. Im trying to find where I read that, as I lost it now.

[nobody*s_perfect]

eBay's Announcement 5 days ago just said, " USPS Ground Advantage, available July 9, 2023, will combine three existing USPS® services (First-Class Package, Parcel Select Ground and Retail Ground) into one service. More information to follow soon. "

[wastingtime101]

eBay posted an FAQ section at the bottom of this page:

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

Some highlights:

Do I need to update the shipping service in my listings and business policies?
In most cases, yes. Listings with the following USPS services will need to be updated to select USPS Ground Advantage

- First-Class Package Service
- Retail Ground
- Parcel Select Ground if offered in addition to First-Class Package Service and/or Retail Ground

These changes can be applied starting July 9. We recommend that you make these updates as soon as possible in order to keep your shipping information up-to-date for buyers.

If my listings and business policies only show Parcel Select Ground as a shipping service, do I need to update to USPS Ground Advantage?
No. If your listings and business policy has Parcel Select Ground as the sole shipping service, the service name will be changed to USPS Ground Advantage starting July 9.

Question for eBay kyle@ebay : If a biz policy or listing offers Parcel Select along with a non-affected service like Priority Mail, will Parcel Select still be automatically updated to Ground Advantage per above FAQ? Is it correct to assume that Parcel Select being the "sole" shipping service means the sole affected service as related to First Class, Parcel Select and Retail Ground? Or does it have to truly be the only service with no other non-affected services (USPS Priority, UPS Ground, FedEx Ground, etc) offered in the same listing/policy?

What services will need to be updated to USPS Ground Advantage in my listings and business policies?
Any listing with one or more of the following services from July 9:

First Class Package Service
Retail Ground Service

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FYI @imapaqrat you were asking about this and there's now updated info so what I posted previously no longer applies. Tagging @iamalwaysright also.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

... Do I need to update the shipping service in my listings and business policies?
In most cases, yes. Listings with the following USPS services will need to be updated to select USPS Ground Advantage

- First-Class Package Service
- Retail Ground
- Parcel Select Ground if offered in addition to First-Class Package Service and/or Retail Ground...

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What an absolute nightmare for sellers with large numbers of listings!  This is certainly a situation where having business policies is going to pay off.

Thank you for finding that information, which is buried in a page that most sellers have never seen. eBay really should put something about this in Announcements, especially since the June 21 original announcement about this new service specifically said, "More information to follow soon."

[wastingtime101]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

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What an absolute nightmare for sellers with large numbers of listings!  This is certainly a situation where having business policies is going to pay off.

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Indeed. Sellers not using biz policies can use the bulk editor, but they still need to know which listings offer which shipping services for that to work smoothly for them.

If anybody is interested switching to biz policies, here's my usual advice:

Business policies help me keep my sanity. Manage and edit them (or disable them to go back to how you used to set up your listings) on this page.

Once you set up your shipping policies and name them so you can easily identify them, you can go to your active listings and bulk edit to assign your new policies.

After the initial mess of policies that are created when you first sign up are no longer tied to active listings, you can delete them.

It takes a little time and work to set it up, but in my opinion it's well worth it.

[wastingtime101]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

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Thank you for finding that information, which is buried in a page that most sellers have never seen. eBay really should put something about this in Announcements

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I thought I said this earlier, but I guess I didn't.

I think eBay should not only post an announcement, but they should send a mass email out to sellers since this is a significant change that will require a lot of manual updates. And they should put a pinned post on this board with the FAQ because you know we'll be flooded with posts about it and a pinned post can cut that way down.

[norskmediashop]

and what happens if we do nothing, this is a mess

[wastingtime101]

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@norskmediashop wrote:

and what happens if we do nothing, this is a mess

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Why would you do nothing when you know you need to make changes?

With nearly 2K listings, biz policies would work to your benefit.