USPS Shipping and Package Volume Drops 5 Percent

by: GetAGrip

If it doesn't ship in a first class envelope then we don't sell it. So much easier than packages.

by: The End

Unsustainable.  

by: Shanna

I wonder if they will take a page out of Joe Biden's playbook, and after raising prices to unsustainable heights, lower them a tiny fraction and then take credit for helping the average taxpayer.

by: terry55

I'm surprised its not more of a decline, I know they wiped out 50% of my packages back in April. Keep raising them rates and less will sell, there's so much you can charge before items just won't sell anymore. There's alot of fishing lures I can't sell anymore because SHIPPING is actually the same or more then buying it new at a store, plus the price of the lure. What's saving me for now is the lures I sell they don't make anymore but even those are reaching their profit limit.

by: ebayout

How many single, used golf club shipments are they NOT getting 6 days a week with their insane $15 surcharge? 1,000...5,000?
That's an average of $12 a pop they're no longer seeing.
Iron sets not included...those are about $18-$24 a pop.

by: Rexford

Shanna's playing politics.

by: iheartjacksparrow

"First-Class Mail volume continued to decline due to on-going migration from mail to electronic communication...." So DeJoy thinks the answer to that is to raise the price of a First Class stamp.  

by: johnbay1

Not just Golf clubs,they killed our gift wrap and wallpaper business too.  

by: Gumball

I have lost 90% of my thimble and pin sales when I had to raise shipping from $3.25 to $3.95. I am worried that soon I will have to go over $4.00. Books are now over $4.00 for an average 2 pound book. So I imagine the postage revenue for Post Office will decline further as we move to more and more and more money to ship and item. Three raises this year, three raises last year, and another raise coming in January. Also be aware that First Class ground can move slower than media mail. It took 34 days for a package to reach Georgia from California. The old Pony Express pony could do it faster. I gave the buyer back the money after 25 days. When she notified me that it had come on the 8 of July, I gave her the item. Ebay has no way to send another invoice and you cannot send an email address for Paypal payment. Another package took 18 days to cross the US. I imagine there are going to be some real nightmares for Christmas shipping.  

by: Stone Cutter

.....BUT...BUT...BUT....
Wall Street reports that e-commerce sales are down too. During these summer months, consumers are spending their money at restaurants and on vacations.

I don’t believe a USPS package volume decline has much to do with increased rates. The U.S. banking industry says that during Covid lockdowns, all that federal stimulus, (supported by Biden),  “significantly” brought down credit card debt, and now consumers are spending heavy on outdoor activities, this summer.

Reported today, 40% of U.S. consumers continue to spend heavy as inflation appears to be peaking...not everyone is financially broke.

And about the “First Class stamp”....I read that USPS makes no money in mailing letters. Parcels make money for USPS.

by: Chicago48

The PO in our city, Chicago, went to every single street mailbox and sealed it, retooled it so that we can only put an envelope in the slot.  ONLY an envelope.  Before, we could put a small priority sized-box in the mailbox.  So now, we have to trek to the PO with our packages.  Or, we have to run after the  mailman on his delivery and give him the packages.  I wrote the Congressman & PO about this change, but of course to no reply.  I suggested they get boxes similar to UPS and Fedex so we could put our packages.  The PO did the change because of the thefts at the mailbox.  Thieves were getting envelopes (checks, IDs) from the mail boxes.
That's ^^ one reason why small businesses are not using the USPS.  I have 2 UPS stores within walking distance and there are Fedex/UPS drop boxes on the street and in buildings.  Another reason, as I was telling my Postman, nobody is mailing letters, we are emailing our documents.  The only first class mail is junk mail and promotions.  Maybe birthday cards, but important documents are emailed.
Folks are finding other ways to send their packages.  AMZ has lock boxes you can receive and send back packages.  Maybe the PO should take some cues from AMZ/UPS/FEDEX.

by: Chicago48

@ Shanna:  No politics please.  And it's not Biden raising prices, but the truck drivers who are delivering goods to stores and the supply chain that's choked in the oceans.
"I wonder if they will take a page out of Joe Biden's playbook, and after raising prices to unsustainable heights, lower them a tiny fraction and then take credit for helping the average taxpayer."

by: JohnGermaine

DeJoy(less) is doing the job he was hired to do, which was to destroy the USPS.  He is a conflict of interest and always has been, owning part of a competing delivery service.  He should have never been hired in the first place because of his conflict of interest and he needs to be removed ASAP.  

by: pace306

Its comming to the point where USPS should be (part) privatized.

Knowing that they are EVERYONES choice for last mile delivery (gas/tolls/parking tickets) are too expensive - they know they can keep on raising prices and like eBay thinks "what are you going to do about it, if you dont like it use Fed Ex or UPS who are even more"

Shipping costs have gone past the point of being reasonable - if Spirit or Frontier can charge you $47 (got it in an email this AM) to go from Newark NJ to FL - it shouldnt be %50 of that to ship a 1 pound package... but yet it is.

Theres not enough oversight on USPS - keep raising the prices and you will keep loosing volume.

by: epuise

@Shanna
Facts are your friend.
Fmr. Pres. Trump installed Louis DeJoy in USPS.
The dismantling of sorting machines & rate hikes are DeJoy's doing.
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by: Shanna
Wed Aug 10 16:25:36 2022
I wonder if they will take a page out of Joe Biden's playbook, and after raising prices to unsustainable heights, lower them a tiny fraction and then take credit for helping the average taxpayer.

by: epuise

To 'fight inflation'...
Consumers are choosing buying in person over shipped items.
Consumers are buying in person off FB, Yard Sales, Fleas to avoid Sales Tax.
Online Sellers are subject to collecting Sales Tax & increased Ship Rates.
Online Sellers are at a disadvantage in many other ways.

by: cvsharkey

Add to this the box stores lowering their prices on many of the types of items frequently ordered online. Plus, Jack's right--spending is going to entertainment. People are sick & tired of being in their house--new sofa or not. Product pricing is going up & an increase in shipping fees tips the scale to the "Well, maybe not." side of the equation.  (for price shocks--look back on old receipts for what you paid for a reoccurring item a year or two ago to what it costs now. My pack of 3 flea & tick treatments went from $15.99 to $19.99 from last time I ordered.)  

by: Stone Cutter

@epuise
Yes, good point said, that consumers will avoid paying shipping costs when shopping in person. I had always said that the emergence of brick-n-mortar will occur as postal rates increase.

However, I have heard that after Covid lockdowns, today’s consumer wants to get out of the house and is why consumers are choosing mall shopping over e-commerce. Yet, as gas prices are high, traveling around town gets expensive, too. So for now, this shopping trend may just be a trend for this summer.

I have no doubt, that once Fall Season begins, and once the weather turns cold, consumers will be back to online shopping.  As long as consumers have jobs, they will pay more to have products shipped.

by: comments

I think the problem is quite political regardless of what some others have said. There just isn't one politician to blame.

The talking point that USPS is self funded and needs these hikes is completely untrue and the PRC rubber stamps any increase or service level type change requested regardless of how insane. The taxes payers just baled out the post office and paid for lots of EV's.

Trump did employ Dejoy and Biden Administration isn't helping either. No matter how you look at it the little guy is always the one who gets screwed. In fact we are so used to it that it escaped most people that they just raised signature confirmation to $3.10 up from $2.60. In reality many carriers don't even bother to the door to collect the signature anyway. When my regular guy is off they speed down the block with the pink card already to shove in my mailbox to make me have to go pick it up. How does that justify a fee increase?

The only person that should get out of politics is the government. News travels to fast to be as corrupt as all administrations have been since the founding.

That said though. USPS is not going broke due to cost of service, it is going broke by giving unaffordable pensions and other benefits. By raising prices so frequently the decline is surely due to the fact that they are not cheap and less reliable then UPS and FedEx.

by: ebayout

USPS and eBay are kindred spirits...both share a unique ability to not attract customers, and to lose the ones they do have.