USPS Rate Changes May 2012

The United States Postal Service will be changing their rates starting the first week in May 2012. Their first-class service is being reclassified from expedited, (which delivery time is between 2 to 3 days) to standard shipping service (with an estimated delivery time between 2 to 5 days). The name will be changed from First-Class Mail to First-Class Package.

All vendors who have online stores need to be ready when these changes occur. Please warn your customers of the upcoming changes, and reset your online store items with the new shipping options. If you sell on eBay, you will have a little help in updating your listings.

E-Bay will automatically make these changes on the listings that have First-Class Mail as a shipping service option during the first week in May. For those who list expedited shipping, it is required that the wording is changed in your shipping descriptions. For customers who want a true expedited delivery of your products, you may use a different service that offers a 2 to 3 day delivery time.

Take a moment to review your stores and your listings to make sure you are still able to meet the shipping time frame as show your customers. Click here for more information.


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Got the USPS Rate Increase Blues?

If you are still learning to adjust to the recent US Postal Service rate changes, a new guide has been released that may help you figure it all out. Stamps.com is offering a free guide to the pricing change. The “Ultimate Guide to the 2012 USPS Postage Rate Increase” is now available online to help.

The guide takes you through all the various rate increases by level of service. From Express Mail to Priority Mail to First Class Mail, the guide has lots of information about new product offerings and details about the new pricing. The details for each price and service even includes pros and cons to help you decide which USPS mailing service would be best for your package.

To grab your copy of the guide, please click here.

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USPS Rate Increase Coming in April

My colleague, Eric, over at Stamps.com was kind enough to notify me of the great news - another USPS rate increase is coming in April. The Postal Regulatory Commission approved the rate for April 2011. The rate increase will affect First Class Mail (domestic and international), Media Mail, and Parcel Post. Yippee.

The new prices will be implemented on April 17. Click here to see the new prices. The best way to handle this increase is to use calculated shipping on your eBay orders. eBay integrates with the USPS and when you use calculated shipping, the shipping fee is calculated based on the seller's zip code, the buyer's zip code, the weight of the package, and the class of mail. It is the most fair way to calculate shipping charges. The video below explains how to use the calculated shipping feature if you are not familiar with it.




And, in case you are not aware, you can print your shipping labels directly from your eBay Selling Manager. It is easy, fast, and free. Here is a video on how to print your shipping labels from eBay after a sale:

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