"USPS Rate Changes starting 5/31" Topic

I'm guessing there are many who are unaware of the rate changes coming up so I thought I would do a public service posting.

Priority Mail – no changes
Priority Mail Express – no changes
First Class Packages – +5.1%
Parcel Select – +8.0%
Media Mail – +2.3%
First Class Package International – +7.2%
Priority Mail International – +6.8%
Priority Mail Express International – +6.7%
USPS Tracking for Media Mail is now free -

Man, I'm being gouged.

Fuels prices are down significantly, and yet the Postal Services' pricing keeps going up, and up, and up, way beyond the inflation rate.

I guess they really want you to use Priority Mail. Parcel is almost as much as it is now, or more in some cases.

Yet there is no compensation when a 2 day priority package arrives on the 3rd or 4th day. It is rare to be honest, but when it happens, and I complain about it, they always have an excuse.

Another thing is the size of the priority flat rate boxes; they keep shrinking. Do you think I'm nuts? I can prove it. I started saving one example of each size, and writing the date on it as proof. I made that comment to a postal clerk one day and he said I was being silly, so I went home, grabbed two boxes (both medium size flat rate) and brought them in to compare. I received a rousing ovation from the other customers present!!! They increase prices, reduce the shipping capacity, and provide marginal service, and we (the consumers) are supposed to take it with a smile…
feels (and smells) like something out of Washington D.C.

That's because it is out of Washington DC…. : )

Allow me to rant about something I just encountered today.

I went online to the USPS site to "Click 'N Ship" a Marketplace item for a fellow TMPer. I had done a set price for the item, basically estimated shipping price plus a nominal amount, and the TMPer had already payed me. So imagine my surprise when I input his address and the system tells me I can only send it Priority or Priority Express, at which point I'm losing money. Long story short; if your parcel is very light (such as plastic or resin figures/models) and is going to certain Zones, you can't ship at First Class or Parcel Rate. Your only options are Priority or Priority Express. I wondered if maybe this was an online restriction, but I encountered the same thing at the physical PO.

Here's where it gets more frustrating.

1) If you're selling something through eBay, I'm 99% positive there are no such restrictions. I shipped lightweight parcels all Winter (including one 10 days ago) and was able to print postage through eBay with no problem. While I applaud the USPS for aggressively fighting for the eBay market share, this kind of secret handshake pricing BS is very confusing for customers.

2) I can send the package in question to my TMPer at a reasonable rate if I use a Priority Mail Regional Box. Unfortunately, basically no POs carry these so you have to order them. They are free (including delivery), but why in the bowels of Christ do I have to jump through so many hoops to give someone my business? And remember, the limitations are on things that are closer, not farther. If I was shipping to a TMPer in Iowa (or Texas, or California) instead of Indiana, I would have had no problems.

(deep breath)

Just a few years ago it was explained to me that shipping is as much about volume as it is about weight, so yes, the USPS does want you to use all those nice, uniform Priority Boxes. It seems, however, that there is a point at which they are discouraging business.

My advice? Order some Regional Rate boxes to have on hand. They should be free and they will save you much frustration.

The USPS is the greatest postal service in the world. It reliably delivers letters and packages across an entire continent, at rates that are frequently less than those charged in other developed nations.

It also operates under very difficult conditions, because as an employer it is forced to act like part of the federal government, i.e., it is very difficult to terminate employees. It is also required to serve even the most remote rural areas, even where it is not profitable to do so. At the same time, it does so without taxpayer dollars: the postal service has to fund itself like a private business.

So quit whining and show a little respect.

Oh man.

This is not good. With the fees Ebay is generating and the USPS rate hikes….

Dunno guys. First Class is the only route for International shipping (I've got customers on my case now…what will it be like then?).

I'm not sure it is the post office so much as the Ebay culture that is driving sellers into the redzone. The post office charges are more fait accompli to an already escalating situation.

Still, the upcharges don't help. Darn. This ain't good.

Ivan, I'm a normally a very vocal champion of the USPS, and will always tout it over other carriers.

However, the notion that I can't affordably mail a package to the closest ⅓ of the country because it is TOO LIGHT smacks of lunacy, or business metrics misapplied.

Respect is earned and not given. My local post office just started to close at 2:30pm, it has always opened at 7:30 am. I work from 7:30 – 4:30 every day, it is effectively useless to me now. I'm a small businessman in addition to a union employee at my day job. This climate of constant changes really hurts the small business guys. My international sales continue to be hurt by the increased postage. Just a terrible situation. Technology continues to make our world smaller and postage rates seem to be rising to effectively make it harder for small shippers to take advantage of it.

My international sales have pretty much been eliminated due to their high prices.

Add a rock, if the package is too light.

"….but why in the bowels of Christ do I have to jump through so many hoops to give someone my business?".

Because, it is still run as a quasi-governmental institution, so is inefficient, bloated, and not customer oriented.

Granted, it is still better than UPS.

On weekends, the local post office closes at 1:00 PM now, on Saturdays, and opens at 10:00 AM on weekdays. Frequently, they have lines out the door, due to poor counter staffing.

To alleviate that a bit, they've added another person who comes around with a pad of paper and asks you what services you want, instead of adding another person at the counter, which is just silly. Instead of actually processing mail, they're playing 20 questions.

I pointed that out to them that is silly, and redundant, but that is their new "initiative" for improving service.

I've never had a problem with the USPS. Don't like the rates, blame your government – they are the ones forcing the USPS to fund pensions in a way that no other entity has to do, they are also the ones that force it to do economically unsound practices (like delivering mail to everywhere, every day).

Funding public employee pensions adequately is appropriate, so we don't have to bail them out too, later.

I do wish they'd go to a five day workweek to cut costs, and still keep their offices open on Saturday, to provide service to people that have to work during the week.

I was at the post office today to mail a package for my mom. I didn't notice the postal increase signs when I went in. There was a line at 2 PM. I got through it. But the self-service machine was broken! So you had no options but to go inside the post office.

However, I don't have complaints about when my mail is delivered. We usually get it about 10 AM most mornings. My parents don't get their mail until 12-2 PM. I don't quite understand that. But the increases on the rates are getting ugly.

We don't have a self-service machine, and they don't even sell stamps via vending machine at our post office either.

You've got to wait 15 – 30 minutes if you need a single stamp, unless you get lucky and there is a kind soul in the line with extras available.

Ridiculous.

FYI to those that have issues making it the post office for various reasons…

They will come to you and pick up your boxes. Its free if you put it out one day (I've cut it as close as 6 hours with no charge) or $20 USD if you want them to be there at a certain time. I've only ever done the free pickup and it works great for me. Just leave the packages at the desk, in your door, by your back door, in your garage – whatever – and they come get them. I have never had an issue using this free service. Plus, they scan them immediately when they add them to the truck. This solved an issue I had a few times where they never scanned my parcels when I dropped them off.

Shipping cost is based on weight, volume, and distance. Using same size priority boxes allows them to rack and stack to maximize space in their planes. So that will probably be the wave of the future very soon.

As for the 1st class international increase, If I place a $100 USD order to the UK and instead of $20 USD it now costs me $21.40 USD to get or ship, I'm not going to change my buying habits. Would you cancel a $100 USD order for $1.40 USD? I didn't think so…

There are alternative shippers. Go check out Fedex and UPS. Then you'll see that USPS isn't really noncompetitive at all. In fact USPS and Fedex can be virtually the same thing considering Fedex carries a lot of mail under contract. They have to keep those planes full too in order to make money.

I don't work for any of these companies but I was involved in logistics for many years. USPS, Fedex, then a distant third is UPS, DHL, and all the others.

I no longer marvel at mail delivery. In the 70's and 80's maybe that was a feat worthy of consideration but now with Uber, drones, cell phones and their computing power, sat nav, etc etc the bar has been raised.

> Funding public employee pensions adequately is appropriate, so we don't have to bail them out too, later.

If it is good for them it should be just as good for everyone else. All I am going to say on this.

IVAN DBA – The USPS routinely loses my mail, both incoming and outgoing. When I have tried to work with them to resolve the issue, I get shoulder shrugs from the drones behind the counter and they tell me to take it up with the "sender"!!! THE SENDER? REALLY? Even when I know for a fact that Fed Ex delivered the package to the Post Office???
I'll stop "whining" when they start doing the job that they are paid to do, at ever increasing rates I might add.

To be fair, Fed Ex and others lose and damage more than they should as well.

The 1st Class increase is bad, but their change in international shipping policies is horrible. You can no longer insure 1st Class Mail internationally, and their minimum charge is about $25 USD for an ounce to a pound, so the effective rate for that has about doubled, or tripled, or more.

Some destinations do get about $50 USD of basic insurance with international PM service though.

Try living in another country for a few years, almost any will do, and then tell me how bad the USPS is…

Rebmarine: Sorry about your bad luck. But the fact that there is incompetence at your particular post office doesn't negate the reliability the USPS exhibits across most of the country.

Lived in the UK for a number of years, excellent service there too.

@Ivan DBA
The fact remains that the quality of service is simply not in line with the numerous price increases. If services were expanded accordingly, and those in customer facing positions were generally nicer, then I would have less to complain about. Placing an automated kiosk in the lobby does not make up for poor customer service. The fact of the matter is that many of the clowns behind the counter act as if they are doing you a favor by accepting your package or answering your questions. I've been around the world (dozens of countries) and while I have minimal experience with their postal services, at least the people are generally friendly.
When prices are raised (and customers complain) you can't shrug it off or make fun of it. I have seen customers comment on the fact that prices increase and then the clown behind the counter takes an attitude with that customer. If you are in a customer facing position then you need to have a thicker skin. If you can't handle an upset customer then you deserve to be reprimanded or disciplined in some manner. It's basic customer service. You cannot defend that!!! Many of the postal clerks that I have met in the past dozen years or so have the same apathetic attitude because they know that they are protected by a system that rewards (or at least protects) incompetence.

I don't need to live anywhere else in the world to know that the problems are systemic. I have lived in the northeast, southeast, west coast, and central regions of the USA and I have experienced the same lethargy and apathy in each region. Some offices have been better than others (which can be said about any service industry) but the same general attitude persists everywhere I go. Regardless of their reliability (generally good, but questionable at times) there are remarkably few that I would consider customer service oriented. Most just don't want to be bothered.

My personal experiences with the USPS, from receiving mail here in Sydney and when visiting Maumee Ohio, were terrific. When we were in Maumee, much of my posting was done during the Christmas/New Year period, and I just made the appropriate seasonal allowances for waiting to get to the service counter. Individual staff there were beyond reproach giving us help to get the important goodies back to Oz.

Being here in Australia, and having to shop the rest of the world in order to pursue my chosen hobbies, I've just learned to shrug off the postal charges, pretty much whatever they are.

I became enured early to the idea that those charges could often exceed the value of the purchased goods.

See my recent post regarding a package taking about four days to arrive in Sydney from Indiana, yet taking almost twice as long to get to me in Sydney from only twenty miles away, and you can guess what I think of Australia Post sometimes.

Still, anyone's postal system can always improve their game somehow.

Duck