Just saw these two stories in the Supply Chain Dive newsletter. Huge increase possible for Ground Advantage Commercial rates as well as a new ‘divider’ for Dimensional Weights.
I have to see if Stamps/Endicia/Dazzle is using the Commercial rates before I panic on what the ‘new improved’ costs are going to be…
UGHHHHHHHH.
Proposed USPS Ground Advantage Commercial price increases by weight and shipping distance
Holy *****.
We sell a lot of stuff that is under 4oz, and quite a bit of 8oz. Probably most of our eBay business. We already have customers complaining about the rates after the latest “temporary” surcharge; this is gonna really hurt.
About 90% of my sales (such as they are) are 4oz so this will bite big time.
I guess I am going to be forced to learn how to use their templates on Amazon to adjust all the prices on over 3000 items.
At this point I’m just glad I have cut down from 5500 like I was about 5 years ago. That was a forced evolution caused by old age and budget constraints, but this is going to be purely a disaster relief play!
Which other brands do I dump?
AND after years (a decade) of moving away from books because they take longer to pack and ship, I may have to go back there since Media Mail is going to look like a freaking bargain again!
If you’re selling on Amazon (or buying shipping through Veeqo), BPM is an even better deal; with the bonus that it can be used not just on regular books, but on things that have ads as well.
We have Veeqo to get BPM just for the Playbills and auction catalogs that we sell on the Bay.
I am also deep in the 4oz or less shipments. And committed to fixed price shipping to all zones. May have to go the BPM route.
This has been a good sales month for me. In spite of the surcharges. Some items are shipping with old shipping prices, and a very small loss. Others are shipping with my newly raised prices and I have had no buyer comments or pushback.
I might be benefiting from some competitors pulling back, or I might be benefiting from my ideosynchratic selection of merchandise. Since my product cost approaches zero it is hard to see any profit erosion.
Are these new USPS rates on top of the surcharge, when does the surcharge expire?
I’m honestly surprised this wasn’t done sooner for all offerings. I mean gas is up 50% with no end in sight. A nightmare for anyone relying on vehicles for their business model, much less everyone else in the world who are secondary victims.
I believe that it was stated to end in January; IOW, right about the time of the next rate hike, so that they can keep it in without most people noticing.
The July 2026 pricing will replace the Transportation-Related Time-Limited 2026 Price Change so there will not be any future reduction.
What will be interesting is the Holiday surcharge that will be added on top of the July 2026 increase. The 2026 Holiday surcharge could put USPS GA at the $10 mark.
With this price increase, we will be forced to look hard at price including shipping (free shipping) model verses price with shipping added model. The price with shipping added will at least show the customer that our pricing is stable and that this increase and future increases are shipping related.
USPS GA is high enough!! What are these USPS commission members thinking? Plus another increase near holiday season!! A, well aware jet fuel-anything oil related- has increased in price…but everywhere I pass a gas-station, I think of gouging law, passed in late 70’s, ought to be reenacted. . Wasn’t it Federal legislation?
We used to send almost all our Mass Markets GA-many times under 9 oz- but no longer!
Plus if Media Mail is discontinued, which there’s been whispers about for years, we’re going to be up S-- Creek-a southern euphemism for having no where to turn!!
I have a thought (nightmare) that is NOT directly related to the increase.
I’m convinced that 75% or more Amazon sellers are just oblivious to what is going on in the world.
Can you imagine what is going to happen when those sellers that have been doing FBM suddenly decide to go to FBA because it might actually be a better shipping situation?
I don’t do FBA but from everything I see on the NSFE it is apparently taking up to 6 weeks to get things checked in and ready to sell there. How much further out might that go if they are flooded with new converts trying to escape the carnage that this increase is going to cause?
I can see it now – “I sent in my items on July 30 and it’s already been two months and there has been no change from 'received. What can I do? My credit card payment is overdue!”
See this post from today to demonstrate THAT stupidity!!
“Right now I have around $12,000 in credit card debt that needs to be paid at the end of this month. Because Amazon keeps holding my inventory without processing it, I cannot recover any cash flow from my sales.”
My last 2 shipments of 580 mixed items and 260 mixed items took about a month after receiving to be fully integrated into FBA.
I am in the middle of the country and always get allocated to a east coast facility where it is shipped back to the midwest in large allotments to be reshipped again to other warehouses. 10 years ago, it was Joliet, all the time, now it’s Atlantic coast always.
Took my wife to the library she was out of reading matter, and really does not like kindle.
Picked up some vintage model railroading magazines which were at the magazine swap. Another patron has some great magazines that he has been culling. The price of shipping has been impacted and I was using GA. Gave me some motivation to do the deed.
Were not hurt by the fact that yesterday’s new listings were midwestern road company programs and playbills.
I’ve never compared Veeqo to Stamps; I suspect they are similar, but don’t know.
We use it because it offers Bound Printed Matter, which no other service offers. Since we sell a lot of Playbills and auction catalogs on the bay (things that don’t qualify for Media Mail due to advertising), it saves a lot of money over GA on ebay or any other source I’ve looked at. But never directly compared GA across platforms.
And I’m saying that BPM on Veeqo for the playbill was almost $3 cheaper than GA on Veeqo or ebay. $3.95 to ship coast-to-coast for 8 ounce package.
