USPS 2023 Rates May Include End of PM Regional, Zone Changes

by: GetAGrip

If it does ship via first class mail we don't sell it. Got out of using priority mail months ago. Packages shipped each week has gone from 75 - 100 to maybe 2 or 3. First class 0.60 mail has gone through the roof.

by: Rexford

GetAGrip says "Packages shipped each week has gone from 75 - 100 to maybe 2 or 3."

eBay was once the source of most of the items that I ship but now eBay is dead last.  Some of the other sites are kicking eBay's backside.  

Keep spending time on time wasting "enhancements" like item specifics eBay.  Sellers don't need you anymore.  Sellers are no longer willing to devote hours on end of eBay busy work for such a small  financial return on their time.

by: GetAGrip

@ Rexford.

You have no idea how much time I spent working on ebay. But because your nosey I will tell you its less than 5 hours a week. One makes its own problems. We buy our stuff for less than 5 cents on the dollar and sell it for 7-8 each with 2 shipping. We sell hundreds of items a week. I'm sure your smart enough to figure it out. We don't mess with anything to promote or sell. Its just there. If you have the lowest people buy it.

by: Rexford

GetAGrip, I think that you completely misread my post or I misread yours.  Believe me, I am not being nosey.  Your business is your business.

You stated "Packages shipped each week has gone from 75 - 100 to maybe 2 or 3."  In your response to me you state "We sell hundreds of items a week."

I pasted your quote because it appeared to me, by your statement, that you were shipping only 2 or 3 packages per week and I found that statement inline with the fact that I am shipping far fewer packages due to the fact that eBay's sales have slowed. Congratulations to you as it appears that this is not the case for your business.

You may have meant that you are only shipping 2 or 3 Priority packages per week.  It is hard to discern because you did not specify that in your first post...you just said 2 or 3 packages.  You did add "First class 0.60 mail has gone through the roof" which I overlooked.

My statement "Keep spending time on time wasting "enhancements" like item specifics eBay" was directed at eBay, not you.

by: The End

I have patented a very special product.
With the Google Search being what it is, people find my item easily.
I don't pay a DIME in campaign ads.
I know how to setup my Search Engine Optimization with keywords on my site.
Easy Peasy.
Usually takes a day or two to "seed" through the internet.
It's like fishing. You must be patient.
Ebay will be gone in just a few years.
Don't waste your time kicking a dead horse.
Move on and experience having your own website.
You'll be Very Glad you did  :o)

by: Marie

Good Grief, CONGRESS needs to jump in on this.  The holiday surcharge is starting a few weeks earlier this year [Oct. 2nd] and ending almost a month later than the last couple of years on [January 22nd].

Then without any break at all they are going to implement their FIRST rate increase on Jan. 23rd.  

I just can't wait to see what the new rates will be if the Postal Commission doesn't start standing up to USPS which has completely gotten out of hand.

by: Marty2020

Guys, with all due respect, ebay won't be gone in a few years. I have heard hat "predictions"  so many times (I am on ebay since 1998). Although my sales are down, due to what I sell and also the economic conditions, there are plenty of sellers who sell a lot. I had my own site...with practically zero sales. Unless you have a hot product, for most sellers, ebay is the best venue to sell.

by: ZZ

I mostly sell stuff 4 lbs or less. I can't remember ever finding that Regional Box B was the best price, A works for me often. Remember those commercials where the Auto parts guy was packing a Priority box with brake shoes and calling Flat Rate Priority Mail the "easier way to ship?" Easier if you don't care about money.

by: epuise

On a 10 Order typical sample of my Priority Mail Parcels:
5 go PM Flat or Padded Envelope.
4 go PM FR - A - Box.
1 goes PM by Dim/Wt.
Remainder go FCM.
IF/when the - A - box goes away...so will more of my sales.
The PM Med FR Box is substantially MORE for very little Dim capacity.
As many of my items are small, but, heavy, this will further reduce what I ship.
More & more is being sold in person, at live Venues.
eBay, Etsy, these Carriers... are killing 'the goose'.
There is 'price resistance' in the TOTAL a Customer will pay.
More & more of that price is going to fees, costs, taxes.
I refuse to work for less, less, less.
Until slavery is re-enacted... I/we have a choice.

by: RMA49311

I for one will miss the Reigonal Rate A boxes. Although all my ebay items have calculated shipping every once in a while someone would end up paying full boat Priority rate and I could use the RRA service instead and that put a couple bucks back in my pocket.

RIP regional rate boxes

by: fusgeyer

USPS is not a big part of my business. When I do ship through them, it is either a postcard or small item that goes First Class Mail without tracking, or it is a stay flat envelope (for photos and artwork) that can go as a First Class Mail package.

Once pricing becomes close to UPS rates, I ship UPS. They pickup at my door  - USPS does not unless I have overnight packages. When I figure in time and gas going to and from the Post Office, UPS is still cheaper. One tubes and long cubes, USPS is stupid expensive. I can ship the same package (tube or long cube) via UPS overnight for what the same package would cost Priority Mail 3 day.

I never use the regional or flat rate boxes. They are too expensive and the pricing is higher than normal commercial rates.

by: toolguy

HOT TIP

Order as many "A" boxes as you can right now before the news gets out and they're out of stock.

by: toolguy

I use a lot of "A" boxes, this is not good news for me or my customers!

I do more buying on eBay now days and selling on Facebook.

With Facebook I only pay Paypal fees. . . . .It's saving me money that's for sure.

by: Stone Cutter

***UPS is ready to go “On Strike”.

First of all, I don’t pay for USPS rate increases, my customers do.

And for those of you who think UPS is a better deal, should think twice about that as UPS may go “On Strike” here shortly. A UPS Strike will be the largest Strike in U.S. history.

The reality...the days of selling greeting cards and stickers are over. If you sell products with higher price points you will have an easier time absorbing postal rate increases.

If I sell a necklace for $290, my customers won’t blink if I need to add an additional $1 buck for shipping.

“First Class” for USPS is about to die completely. Consumers now pay their bills online and get their magazines online. It’s clear to me that USPS wants to unload First Class mail altogether as there is no longer any money in it for USPS.  

by: iheartjacksparrow

I wish the USPS would go back to postage for First Class Packages being based on weight, not weight and zone. Since most of my merchandise ships as a FCP, I have to set postage for the farthest zone.  

by: Stone Cutter

***Just announced, FedEx warns of lower earnings***

FedEx says that a slowdown in traffic coupled with increased operating costs, is costing Fedex money and now expects layoffs to occur. However, much of their slowdown is in their overseas markets (Asia and Europe), while their U.S. business is also slowing, but just not as bad.

The days of cheap money is over as interest rates continue up to rise. USPS, UPS, FedEx...it makes no difference...an increase in operating costs will be passed down to the consumer.

Pick your business model wisely, or your e-commerce business will suffer.  

by: 4yourinfo

''Simplify'' = we need to cut it out, it's being used very smartly and we can make more money if it wasn't there... The point of any shipping company to have a flat rate option is to hope a customer will be lazy and just put all their items in the box and not do research on the price. If you think about it the standard flat rate boxes make no sense I can ship to Alaska for the same $ as to a zone right next door! The answer is the standard flat rate boxes are basically used by lazy shippers so USps is making money off them as opposed to regional boxes being used by smart shippers. I use a ton of box a - going to be a big loss for me and USps as UPS and FedEx will probably cut into those shipments at least by me..

by: Snapped

The elimination of zone and region rate boxes, beyond saving costs of producing them as separate bulk orders and then administrating a suitable distribution based on collecting and analyzing use data (another labor drain), is also due in part to the USPS reduced reliance on air assets for hub to hub transport. More of a reaction than a plan there, given the unpredictability of the past 30 months or so, and looking ahead.

Rate increase arguments notwithstanding, and there’s no denying ‘oversight’ is needed - though it was Congress that created the mess in the first place -  there is a cost savings realized from operational simplification.  But it only covers what was being overspent.  And that ‘repeal windfall’ now needs to start patching 15 years of infrastructure and asset neglect.

Mr, undeniable conflict of interest isn’t the best choice for that job, to be sure, but wherever this falls out, it will remain true that there’s a cut off in weight and size (and sometimes destination) that with all else equal, will render USPS as best value, above that UPS, and above that, FedEx.  Locally, there are other options too.  

But the “that” part - it will be different for every shipper.  And still too, none of eBay’s business.  None.

by: Plain1

UPSP rates have been going up about all of the 2000s, year after year.
We are approaching the point where a 3 ounce package is costing more to ship than the cost of the item being shipped.

The postal service was created as a service to the people of this country and not as a profit making branch of the government. This needs to be fixed.

by: RightbrainWoman

Raising prices in time of increased need... sounds like price gouging to me.