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New 2016 (proposed) postage rates are up
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cosmicray



Posts: 7286

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 3:58 pm    Post subject: New 2016 (proposed) postage rates are up Reply with quote

Fasten your seat belt before you read these ....

http://pe.usps.gov/
Left side bar ... If you have Excel (I do not) you can D/L the xlsx file. Otherwise, you will need to pull the CSV archive, and unzip it. Then open with your favorite text viewer.

I'm going to list the PM Comm Base increases, one row per weight, 7 columns. Local, zone 1 + 2 in the first column, then 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. I'm ignoring zone 9. All numbers are in dollars.

1-lb +0.70, +0.73, +0.70, +0.66, +0.58, +0.60, +1.14
2-lb +0.69, +0.71, +0.76, +0.60, +0.66, +0.72, +0.80
3-lb +0.77, +0.70, +0.81, +0.64, +0.75, +0.81, +0.95
4-lb +0.55, +0.65, +0.65, +0.00, +0.00, +0.72, +0.81
5-lb +0.61, +0.66, +0.59, +0.00, +0.00, +0.83, +0.94
6-lb +0.60, +0.55, +0.57, +0.00, +0.00, +0.95, +1.08

That's all I have the patience to calculate.

My Opinion ... If fuel prices being so much lower, are saving USPS all that money, why the increase ?
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tigercreekgifts



Posts: 6293

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 6:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Because I posted an article in another topic that said since the USPS is continually adding new asian based countries to their list of countries that get to ship to the U.S. for free, they will be raising our rates every year for the next few years with no end in site to make up for it. They are raising the rates because they are losing millions per year with these free china shipping deals because they are not concerned about profit margins they are more concerned about becoming the most often used international shipping service. And they recently added more countries to the list of those that get to ship for free, and most all of them are asian based countries.

They've had treaties like this for several years but in 2012-13 they started signing even more of these deals which were the biggest deals they have agreed to by far, which is the same time when everyone's sales really started to suffer 2012-13. So we can expect these rate increases indefinitely (most likely) because each time they add a new country to that list, our rates go up as we are paying to compensate the USPS for what they are losing on the international shipping. The USPS barely makes a dollar in profit for each international package they deliver under these agreements.
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cosmicray



Posts: 7286

PostPosted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As soon as Christmas is over, I will have to raise my rates. Last time I skipped it, this time no way. If Amazon does nothing about how much they send to the sellers, there's going to be major pain over there.
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tigercreekgifts



Posts: 6293

PostPosted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 2:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I usually try to hold off too but I will most likely be raising my rates after christmas as well. I remember when I could charge $1.99 for my lowest shipping rate but then the lowest first class price went up to $2.04 so I raised my price to $2.65 because items that can ship for such a low amount are items that I only have listed for a few dollars that can ship in a small padded envelope, so the PP fee was always the lowest and after adding the fee to the actual postage cost I still had 28 cents left over. For a low cost item on ecrater, 28 cents was more than enough to cover the 2.9% marketplace fee and still have about 15 cents left over to cover the envelope costs because I buy mine in bulk and literally only pay around 7 cents per envelope.

I left my lowest s/h rate at $2.65 for all of 2014 and most of 2015. Now when ecrater gave me the option to choose a higher ad level amount I had to raise that price to $2.99 a few months ago but that still covers everything I have to pay for. I calculated my mandatory costs and determined that $2.99 was the lowest I could charge and make sure I never had to eat into my profits to cover postage and FVFs. This year however, if the raise is anything more than 10 cents per every weight group then I will have to raise my prices, and based on the PM chart you provided I suspect the first class rates will be going up quite a bit too.

I am trying my best to charge only what is needed for postage, PP fee, FVF fee, and envelope cost so my postage prices are still attractive for their appropriate weight and mail class. I always leave myself a little a bit of padding just in case but I suspect if the rates go up too much more I may have to raise my lowest postage price to just over $4.

I have my lightweight low priced items like trading cards and stickers set up so that a buyer can add 9 cards or 9 small packs of loose stickers to their cart and still pay just $2.99 to ship them all. Now if the rates go up enough, I doubt anyone that anyone is going to pay over $4 to ship a 50 cent card (if they only want just the one card) unless they just desperately want it. I could bunch some of these lower priced items together into lots but I don't like to do that, because the people who buy those items are avid collectors and they only want the items they don't already have, they don't want to buy a lot of 15 cards they already have just to get the one card in that lot they don't have. So some of those items may just be moved to my flea market inventory in the future.

Most of the time my customers looking for trading cards and collectors stationery buy 8-13 items a time but for anyone that wants just one item, the shipping price is already way too much for them.
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elpereles



Posts: 3427

PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

cosmicray, thanks for the info. I almost forget this yearly punish from the USPS. Wink

Quote:
As soon as Christmas is over, I will have to raise my rates. Last time I skipped it, this time no way.


I did the same for the domestic light weight items. Now it looks like I will need to check it again for all.
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GoneFunky



Posts: 1331

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 12:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I sell a lot of flat, first class items that will ship as a large envelope. There's almost a dollar difference between the envelope rate and parcel rate. I can't believe the jump in rates this year. It happens every year, but this one seems a bit excessive.

This article shows the increase ...

http://blog.stamps.com/2015/10/22/usps-announces-postage-rate-increase-starts-january-17-2016/
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tigercreekgifts



Posts: 6293

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 1:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow Frilly. Just estimated my lowest shipping cost going up to about $3.65 maybe more.
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PrimroseCafe



Posts: 735

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 5:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

WOW and we have NO inflation.
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SheilaDeesPostcards
moderator


Posts: 4614

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 5:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
The U.S. Postal Service has proposed a postage rate increase for select mail classes and services in 2016, pending approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). If approved by the PRC, the new postage rates will start on Sunday, January 17, 2016.
It's not fixed in stone until approved.
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MoonwishesStore
moderator


Posts: 17389

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 8:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Crazy rates. Is the USPS trying to put itself out of business? I think I will be seeing the death of my international sales. Amazon will for sure have to raise their shipping rates, especially for priority packages. If I'm reading that chart right, I won't have to worry so much about extra heavy patterns as they will all go by the same price up to 8 ounces so I won't have to charge a surcharge on the patterns that are 6 ounces or more.
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SammysSupplies



Posts: 1631

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 8:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

yikes Shocked
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SheilaDeesPostcards
moderator


Posts: 4614

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Moon, here's a quote from the link FrillyPad posted to a Stamps.com page with bold added by me:
Quote:
First Class Package International Service postage rates will increase by an average of 21.6% in 2016, however Commercial Base and Plus prices will remain the same next year.
Since you use Endicia, you won't have an increase. Also, there are now First Class Parcel rates for 14, 15, and 16 oz. packages. I suppose if something weights 16 oz or less AND doesn't need the Priority Mail insurance, you will have an option if you qualitify for commercial base rates.

I wasn't impress with the fact that postage purchased on line at the the USPS site will be charged the same as counter rates.

Time will tell what will get approved.
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school-yearbooks



Posts: 2477

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

'

There may be other factors that will limit the new postal rate hikes such as ...

Amazon may be secretly building a team that will help it replace FedEx and UPS

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-building-in-house-delivery-team-2015-10

Baird Equity Research also published a similar note earlier this week that predicted Amazon soon launching its own transportation and logistics network. It wrote that "Amazon has 'powerhouse potential' in the large transportation and logistics market, dominated by global enterprises such as DHL and UPS," stressing its expanding fulfillment-warehouse network and Prime Now services.

"As Amazon builds out the logistical network, we are hearing more and more stories of Amazon employees delivering packages to businesses and houses. It seems that Amazon is doing the math and is cutting out third party carriers like UPS and FedEx in Prime Heavy areas," ChannelAdvisor wrote in a blog post.

All the shipping companies are tied together, including the US postal system. The days of 'take it or leave it' are coming to an end.

.
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cosmicray



Posts: 7286

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

SheilaDeesPostcards wrote:
Also, there are now First Class Parcel rates for 14, 15, and 16 oz. packages. I suppose if something weights 16 oz or less AND doesn't need the Priority Mail insurance, you will have an option if you qualitify for commercial base rates.

Yeah, I missed that. But look what happened to the rates from 3-oz up to 8-oz ...

FCPS Commercial rate list

not over this
weight (ozs)
1   $2.60
2   $2.60
3   $2.60
4   $2.60
5   $2.60
6   $2.60
7   $2.60
8   $2.60
9   $3.30
10  $3.35
11  $3.40
12  $3.45
13  $3.50
14  $3.55
15  $3.60
15.999  $3.65

They took away the better pricing for lighter packages. We're all now paying for 8-oz, even if the package weighs 2-oz. I can currently ship 1-5 LEGO parts for 2-oz (which is the same rate as 3-oz). That may kill my LEGO parts business. To maintain parity, my $4.12 base rate would have to move up to around $4.70. They're killing me.

To be clear, this is for domestic FCPS Commercial Base. Commercial Plus is being "eliminated". The post several above me (I think) was referring to international FCPS.
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MoonwishesStore
moderator


Posts: 17389

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 1:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And they are getting rid of different flat or zoned rate boxes. Will they let them be used with the appropriate postage or will they need to be dumped/bonfire. I have never found that the Priority boxes that are zoned are ever a savings. They usually cost more than if I put them in an old |Amazon box and put some Priority stickers on it.

I needed a flat rate envelope today as I had used my last one in my close by stock, only the room we keep all the extra stuff was the one that has the mouse. Bad enough going in there if it got caught in the trap, but worse if it is still running around free. In the spring we had a really dumb mole in the office. I've always heard that they were blind and this one proved it by coming out in the lighted office and walking right by me. The joy of living in the country in a house that took years to build so all these critters have their own freeway system built and we are still tracking them down. Very Happy Couple of years ago a squirrel got into one of my Butterick boxes and built a nest using my patterns.
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