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USPS increases next week
logger7
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http://blog.stamps.com/2017/10/26/usps-announces-2018-postage-rate-increase/
Ebay first class will be going up too.
What kind of service are shippers experiencing? I have been seeing some delays probably weather related.
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I have experienced good service from usps over many years but I had a mail delay this week. Took a coin 7 days to go from Chicago to me in Detroit. Should have taken 3-4 days max. The tracking info showed my package sat for 2 days in Chicago without moving, and when it finally got back in transit it was slow to arrive. As is, an increase in usps charges is probably a good thing as they have been losing money for years!
I have a pitney bowes postage meter and account that I use for my biz and they are offsetting the new fee structure.
Latari
Isn't it funny that on some of those charts, instead of showing the new rate, they show "increase per package " ?
Trying to make it look like a small thing, instead of showing the true, actual amount or cost.
It wasn't that long ago, a one ounce package cost the same as a one ounce envelope. Now it's 2.16 more. They first blamed fax machines, then email, I don't know why they can't make money.
I literally have no idea what the cost of my packages will be now. I guess I will just find out in a few days.
deflation
Keep an open mind, or get financially repressed -Zoltan Pozsar
The USPS is required to have infrastructure to deliver mail to just about every address in the country. That is very expensive, especially when they have to deliver a first class letter to every location for the same price, no matter how remote the area.
As far as I know, Fed Ex and UPS do not have the same requirements.
The federal government subsidizes airlines to provide "essential air service" to lightly populated areas. I believe the USPS should receive some sort of subsidy for remote delivery, when they are shackled with the requirement to do so.
What the hell. Didn't they JUST increase it a few months ago?! At this rate we'll be paying around $10 for a 3oz first class padded envelope by 2025..
...now this is what happens when too many buyers write “return to sender” on packages when their items arrive a day after guilt got the best of them...it ain’t really free to get back home after all...now the rest of us have to pay for it
Only a couple of years ago I could print a Express letter package through Ebay for $12. Now well over $20.
I just happened to purchase 100 "forever stamps" last week because of the increase.
I just might be able to retire on my wise choice.
Priority Mail for me has been 4 - 5 days since the holidays as recently as this week for me.
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I have no idea what’s going in n at the USPS now. Priority is taking 7 days from the Midwest to The west coast.
I have seen mostly normal service... though my wife had a package take an inordinate amount of time to go 100 miles.... 11 or 12 days I think.. could have been 10. That was this month, not holiday shipping. However, that was only one package... everything else this month has been normal, even 5 days from the west coast. Cheers, RickO
You can buy old stamps for below face value if the costs are adding up.
I just thought it was me but I had a "2 day" Priority package take a 7 day vacation in Montgomery, AL on its way to MA
I vote leave 1st class alone and 4x the price on ads to compensate.
I say it's TEA IN THE HARBOR time !!!!!!!
I recently had a First Class package go 4000+ miles to Alaska in 3 days! Even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then.
You are totally correct! That is the main reason the USPS continues to have problems.
It started with UPS. Now there are many more private delivery services out there. And guess what? USPS is the only one that delivers to EVERY address in the United States.
Most of the "cream" deliveries........packages going to big volume (and big business) mailers has been siphoned off. There is big profit in this type of delivery.
But.......send a package to the house on the side of a mountain 40 miles from nowhere and guess who delivers it?
The Postal Service.
THATS how you make money. Deliver the cream, throw out the sour.
If the powers that be ever succeed in breaking up the USPS, get ready to get in your car and drive 40 miles to get that package from some sort of "pickup hub".
Support the USPS.
Pete
My results have been good lately, both on outgoing and incoming packages.
The ladies at the local PO are great too.
I have an issue every now and then, but overall, I am satisfied with the service.
I'm not happy about this price increase, but that's out of my control.
They hardly ship any ads, that's the problem. "Junk mail" has been replaced with "spam email". T
Best cure for high prices is high prices.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Bet the rates didn't go up for junk mail my box is stuffed about three out of six days of the week.
I would be interested to see the financials of the usps, that is one of the problems, that they have worked into their retirements colas that are unsustainable. Probably at some point they will realize that they could increase their rates in parity or slightly under to some of the private shippers and not lose too many customers.
I got this from ebay:
As you may be aware, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced increases on shipping costs effective January 21, 2018.
As a valued eBay seller and frequent user of USPS services, we want to make you aware of these updates. An overview of the changes to eBay’s negotiated discount pricing can be found in the table below and additional savings details are available on ebay.com/usps. Once USPS increases their shipping rates, the eBay shipping calculator and discounted eBay labels rates will be updated automatically.
Class of Service
2017 Avg USPS Retail Rate
2018 Avg USPS Retail Rate
2018 Avg eBay label rate (eTRS)
2018 Avg eBay label rate (non-eTRS)
First Class Package Service®
$ 3.64
$ 4.05
$ 3.12
$ 3.12
Priority Mail®
$ 10.40
$ 10.53
$ 9.06
$ 9.32
Priority Mail Express®
$ 31.15
$ 32.34
$ 27.80
$ 28.65
First Class Package International Service®
$ 16.60
$ 17.25
$ 14.76
$ 16.39
Priority Mail International®
$ 54.03
$ 56.13
$ 46.91
$ 53.32
Priority Mail Express International™
$ 67.18
$ 69.80
$ 53.05
$ 66.31
NO........The Postal Service changed the name of "Junk" mail from Bulk Mail to Bulk Business Mail.
They gave all of us a service talk about how "It's NOT junk.........Its business"
They started calling the stuff BBM when referring to it.
Oh well.......it was just another day in the cauldron I call the Postal Service.
Pete
Probly too many people holding them to their guarantee and getting free service even if the package was a half hour late. Tacky IMO.
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It is totally up to the customer, I had a package that was many hours overdue and I made a claim in one of the easiest most traveled shipping corridors in the US. Insurance is like a bet, if the business fails to fulfill the contract, you are entitled to a refund. I had someone send me a parcel this week that he had heavily insured that was two days late, no claim on that one, but it is a pain to have to deal with a lack of competence.
Twice I tried to get a refund for day late deliveries. Spent over an hour one time and a couple of days the other. Never tried a third time as they clearly do not want to give refunds and erect every possible obstacle.
I've noticed that most of my Amazon Prime parcels are delivered by the Post Office. I know that many of them are simply the last leg of the journey to my home. UPS dumps the packages at the local Post Office and they get to do the hard part.
If I were the USPS I would double the rate to UPS and make them deliver if they don't like it. Why? The USPS delivers on Saturday (UPS typically doesn't) AND the USPS delivers in adverse weather FAR BETTER than UPS ever did.
Time for the pretty boys at UPS to do the whole job, not just the easy stuff. My bet is that they can't, even if they wanted to.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
You can make up any "Facts" that you want, but the volume of 1st through 4th class mail have tanked.
https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-facts/decade-of-facts-and-figures.htm
You've got a 25% drop in total mail volume, a 20% decrease in staff but NO CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF DELIVERY POINTS.
Which is why the future in the "mail game" is items that must be delivered to the end user. Faxes and email have obliterated the normal mail volume so USPS, UPS, FedEx have to live on packages and hard copy items that can't be emailed.
Junk mail ought to go the way of the dinosaur - make it EXPENSIVE and it will go away. Heaven knows we all get enough spam and that is easy enough to deal with and doesn't waste paper.
Simple problems, simple solutions.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
I have a usps corporate account, well over 10 years; if I have an express failure I email the account manager in my state, he emails me a form to sign, I scan it and email it back to him. Credit goes right back into the account.
I understand but if I'm not inconvenienced because the delivery was an hour late I'd just let it go. Technically I could be an ass and press for a refund but why bother.
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USPS packages up until last week from GC to Las Vegas were 2 days. I had one this week sent to me in CA and it shows delayed. Originally showed delivery day of Thursday before it was marked delayed shipment and I'm only 30 minutes up the fwy from GC.
My Ebay Store
Something stinks at the PO. My Priority package to GC took 8 days from Ohio. Everything I am expecting is way late. What is going on? Anyone know??
I heard that due to foul weather in the South, delays created a log-jam.
South like So Cal.
It is a bit cold and breezy here, but from the PO to my office isn't very treacherous right now.
My Ebay Store
I like USPS, I think is better than UPS for residential. It is cheap and fast.
I just created a priority label with the wholesale rates, a flat envelope went from $5.95 to $6.55.
Way too cold here in SoCal, won't be able to put on short pants till about noon today.
WOW....that's a steep increase.
I'm sure I'll get the updated rates when I log in to Stamps.com
Pete
Just mailed a low value slab ($27 including $2 shipping) in a waffleboard slid inside a small bubble wrap manila mailer. Cheapest trip to destination two states away was $3.50. Ebay took 10%, paypal 4%. Didn't leave much for me. Don't know how you guys who sell on ebay do it.
Ebay rates for light weight first class appear to have gone from $2.61 to $2.66. Not bad at all.
You could pay the $20 a month store fee and you get the discounts, you would probably be around 11% in expenses if you were a powerseller.
Bought a few sheets of forever stamps to save the penny on each. Big deal.
I did notice that they now have a new pink slip to notify you of an attempted package delivery. About the size of a #10 envelope now and has adhesive on the back at the top. Much better than the old one and mimics a FedEx/UPS form.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
They should lower the insurance rates in keeping with private insurance companies like Hugh Wood and Ship and Insure; if their system is so safe why not expand their included insurance coverage and lower the add on insurance?
This is the Ship and Insure rate structure: https://shipandinsure.com/rates.aspx USPS is manifold more.
Buying older stamps in bulk works for me. I commonly use $2,500 or more in postage annually for business mail. Two 25 cent stamps are as good as a Forever stamp when sending a business letter. With a bit of persistence you can purchase them in quantity on Ebay for 60-65% of Face Value (after you factor in Ebay Bucks, credit card rebates, etc.). Similarly discounted larger denomination Priority Mail stamps ($5.60 and $6.65) mean I no longer purchase any postage from USPS at full price.
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Does not work for the casual seller.