What is going on with USPS shipping charges?!

[petebarbe-8]

Recently I sold an item that was approximately 10 lbs and had 14x14x4 dimensions which I wanted to ship through USPS Priority Mail from Seattle to Tennessee.   Both Priority Mail and USPS Ground were $45 to ship! 

Yet FedEx and UPS were both around $15 for ground shipment for the exact same weight and dimensions.

This has been happening repeatedly.  It is costing me sales.  A lot of buyers don't want to use FedEx or USPS and each of those options can have hidden charges on my monthly invoice. 

Is anyone else experiencing this or have an idea of why USPS is running at 3x the rates of FedEx/UPS for even moderately heavy items?  Is this something wrong with the way eBay is calculating this or is the post office just losing its mind?  I don't recall this happening before.

[disneyshopper]

If you decide to go the Fed Ex/UPS route, there will be additional charges when the invoice is sent.  That $15 is just an estimation.  There will be additional charges: transportation, rural delivery, etc.

[nobody*s_perfect]

The eBay shipping calculators for USPS postage (in listings and in label purchases) are 99.99% accurate.

$44.55 is the correct USPS retail postage rate to ship 10 pounds via Priority Mail to Zone 8.  If you purchase a label online, it's $38.18 (minus 3% for Top Rated Sellers).

http://pe.usps.com/cpim/ftp/manuals/dmm300/notice123.pdf

As you mentioned, there can be surprise hidden fees when shipping through private carriers.

Is there any chance that you could fit this item into a Large flat rate box, which is 12 x 12 x 5.5 inches? (There's also one that's about 23 x 12 x 3 inches.) That would cost $18.70.

[buyselljack2016]

Are you sure the dimensions/weight are in correctly?

14 X 14 X 4 should not fall into the dim weight, but the #'s you provide show a fee for 14 lb rate coast to coast.

[petebarbe-8]

There's no way I can fit most of the stuff I sell into the flat rate boxes.   Even the largest flat rate box is too small.

I think my real concern here is why is it suddenly $45 to ship a 10lb item with fairly normal dimensions?  That is outrageously expensive.   Have shipping costs greatly increased lately for anything over 5 lbs through USPS or am I just imagining things?

[nobody*s_perfect]

The only rate change since last January is a 40-cent surcharge added in October.  USPS rates are adjusted every January and usually go up a couple percent. There have been no sudden large changes.

Part of your sticker shock is that you're looking at retail prices, and most of it is because you're shipping to Zone 8. Shipping that same 10 pounds via Priority Mail to Zone 1 would cost $13.60 retail  (or $10.16 online), and to Zone 4 would be $20.40 retail (or $12.56 online).

[petebarbe-8 · Accepted solution]

Okay so it's because of the specific location its being shipped to?  Thank you, I didn't know that Zone 8 was so much more expensive.....

Because I'm absolutely positive I've shipped other items with similar dimensions and weight for half of this price or less, as you pointed out.

[pooh333piglet]

USPS has not changed recently. There was a rate hike but not too the extreme as you state. Yes it could add as much as $5-10 for a large package. Your package is oversized and seems likely to be going to the farthest zone so high rate. For this size ground option is best. Plus will be delivered sooner than crazed USPS priority right now

[buyselljack2016]

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

Are you sure the dimensions/weight are in correctly?

14 X 14 X 4 should not fall into the dim weight, but the #'s you provide show a fee for 14 lb rate coast to coast.

---

I was likely looking at a different item.  $59.95 to me.

[buyselljack2016]

14 X 14 X 4 is not oversize.

Cost of USPS ground vs. Priority difference is generally pennies.

35 cents in the OP's example (if not TRS)  If TRS, take 3%off the Pri cost for an eBay label.

[nobody*s_perfect]

That package is NOT "oversized".  USPS charges a "dimensional weight" if a package is over 1 cubic foot, which is 1728 cubic inches.   The OP's package at 14x14x4 is just 784 cubic inches, which is less than half of the threshold volume.

Also, ground option is not better. The price difference between Priority Mail and Parcel Select Ground would be less than a dollar. And right now it would take forever to get there, I don't understand why you seem to think it would go faster than Priority.

[petebarbe-8]

I still think $45 to ship something of this size and weight to Tennessee is an outrageous rate and I do not understand at all why it is that expensive when all the other zones are so much cheaper to ship to.....

14x14x4 is a pretty normal package size and 10 lbs isn't a particularly abnormal weight.  $45 seems like a pretty abnormal price to move that item for me....But if that's how it is that's how it is I guess.  I certainly don't trust FedEx or UPS as far as I can throw them either.

eBay really needs to be more up front about the real costs of shipping FedEx and UPS with its sellers.  When I agree to a certain price to ship something that should be the price, not that plus whatever arbitrary amount they add at will to my monthly bill afterwards....

[nobody*s_perfect]

Starting with Zone 5, the postage cost for your 10-pound package goes up about $5 more per Zone.  You can see the price charts for Priority Mail in the USPS rates publication that I linked to in post #3.

You can set up your own handy 1-page Zone reference chart here, based on your ZIP Code:

https://postcalc.usps.com/DomesticZoneChart

And you can see a color-coded zone map here, also based on your ZIP Code. Being in the Northwest corner of the country has some disadvantages; your USPS Zone 8 would include almost everybody east of the Mississippi.

https://apps.endicia.com/apps/zonemap

[groundhogsupplycompany]

Wait, what?! Why are their additional charges invoiced? I got on the forums today because I see 3 additional FedEx invoice charges on packages I sent on 12-8-20 and I'm trying to figure out why there are extra charges.

[pooh333piglet]

Thx for clarifying. I made a mistake. I meant fedex or ups ground instead of USPS priority. USPS ground is not a good option rarely.