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Mon Apr 10 2023 16:08:19

It's Official: USPS to Raise Rates Again in July

By: Ina Steiner

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The USPS will raise rates in July, citing inflation and a "previously defective pricing model." The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) will review the rates, which, if approved, would raise First Class Mail by approximately 5.4% since it last raised rates in January.

Rates for Media Mail and Library Mail will rise by 7.4%. Money Orders will increase by 15.7%, and Post Office Box Service will increase by 4.2%.

Because the USPS now raises rates twice a year,* those percentages don't show the full impact of rate changes - they are 6-month comparisons, not year-over-year comparisons.

For example, the cost of a stamp will rise 4.8%, from 63 cents to 66 cents. But last year, the USPS raised the cost of a stamp from 58 cents to 60 cents on July 10, 2022 - meaning the new price is a 10% increase year-over-year. (In July 2023, it will cost nearly 14% more to mail a letter compared to the cost in June of 2022.)

It's not lost on marketplace sellers that a rise in shipping is a rise in fees on sites like eBay and Etsy, which factor shipping costs into their selling fees.

The USPS is restricted in how much it can raise Market Dominant rates (though not as much as it used to be), and it noted in today's filing that the Governors of the US Postal Service used "virtually all of the pricing authority available to it."

The USPS also noted in the filing with the PRC that First-Class Mail is the highest revenue-generating mail class, accounting for $24.2 billion, or 30.7%, of the $78.8 billion in total revenue in Fiscal Year 2022.

As it had last year, the USPS filed its July prices for Market Dominant services first. Look for the other shoe to drop next month when the USPS will announce higher rates for Competitive services, which includes Priority Mail and First Class Package Service (to be renamed "USPS Ground Advantage" on July 9th).

The new rates will take effect on July 9, 2023, you can find the details on the PRC website.

*The USPS actually raises rates three times a year - each October through January, it puts in place "temporary" surcharge rates that last 3 and a half months.



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Perminate Link for It's Official: USPS to Raise Rates Again in July   It's Official: USPS to Raise Rates Again in July

This user has validated their user name. by: toolguy

Tue Apr 11 00:46:32 2023

Inflation is 8% so this is no surprise, maybe when the USPS gets electric vehicles they can lower the postage prices. ROTFLMAO

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This user has validated their user name. by: COVID-19

Tue Apr 11 01:43:42 2023

Hello, USPS?! My packages are still missing, stuck at your lazy distribution centers!

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by: GetAGrip This user has validated their user name.

Tue Apr 11 07:12:09 2023

Our mailings are only first class mail. No tracking. Mail 2 - 300 envelopes a week. We charge 2.25 each. I will be long gone before I lose money on shipping.

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by: terry55 This user has validated their user name.

Tue Apr 11 08:33:36 2023

Guess that means another 6% drop in sales, had a 40% dropped last year. Funny they blame inflation for the loss's yet when it was low they still raise rates. Slap in the face of small sellers who have kept the PO afloat. Like mentioned, ebay shipping increase, you also have to add the price of supplies increase because the increase.  

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by: lessthanthreerecords This user has validated their user name.

Tue Apr 11 09:28:04 2023

For years, the price of shipping a 1-2 pound package via media mail never increased by more than a couple cents a year, and often less. Now, it's gone up by nearly $1 in two years. That's not inflation, that's robbery from a government branch that is supposed to be a service to the American people!

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This user has validated their user name. by: Rexford

Tue Apr 11 09:29:08 2023

These bi-yearly +surge rates during holidays are unsustainable. I guess Postmaster DeJoyless knows that.  Wasn't he put in to destroy USPS?   The leaders at eBay must be about ready to kiss his ring, among other things.
 

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by: RL15 This user has validated their user name.

Tue Apr 11 13:23:23 2023

since usps got to stop prefunding retirements, what happened to all the money usps was using for prefunding?

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This user has validated their user name. by: Rexford

Tue Apr 11 13:59:56 2023

"That's not inflation, that's robbery from a government branch that is supposed to be a service to the American people!"

DeJoy’s priorities are not aligned with the mission of the USPS and the needs of the American people.  I am really hoping that he will be ousted in the next year. Biden can't remove him, but Biden now has five appointees compared to the four that Trump had, due to some Biden appointments to the USPS Board of Governors.   Let's hope to see Dejoy removed in the near future.

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by: DTSM This user has validated their user name.

Tue Apr 11 15:30:09 2023

I can mail the same 25 lb box with Fed Ex or UPS for 1/2 the cost. It is almost as if USPS would rather you not use their service at all. It is not even remotely competitive.  

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by: Marie This user has validated their user name.

Tue Apr 11 15:32:19 2023

Ina,

I'm unsure as to why we keep overlooking that USPS is raising prices 3X a year not 2.  January, July and October.  October is suppose to be temporary but as soon as it ends the new increase in January the following year kicks in.

DeJoy has been doing this the last 3 years I believe.

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This user has validated their user name. by: The End

Tue Apr 11 19:07:58 2023

Sure, you'll pay a ton up front for shipping (of my product).
Then I return the unused portion.
Nobody gets hosed.

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This user has validated their user name. by: Ina

Tue Apr 11 19:25:26 2023

@Marie - that's why there's an asterisk in the article - and at the bottom, it references the annual holiday surcharge pricing. Thanks.

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by: Marie This user has validated their user name.

Wed Apr 12 01:18:42 2023

It is likely not to many sellers care that they call it a surcharge, it is a rate increase that USPS is now implementing THREE times a year.  End result is the same.

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This user has validated their user name. by: iheartjacksparrow

Wed Apr 12 10:51:07 2023

@Marie - The new postage rates for January 2023, while higher than than the rates instituted in July 2022, were actually less than the October 2022 "holiday" rates. For instance, I was charging $5.00 for an eight ounce First Class Package during the holidays, but dropped it to $4.90 once the January pricing kicked in.    

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by: Stone Cutter This user has validated their user name.

Wed Apr 12 12:01:37 2023

*** It’s about what you sell ***

Online shopping is still crazy hot and consumers continue to spend. The U.S. economy is still in good shape; with low unemployment.

I now pay close to $9 bucks for a tub of cream cheese. I don’t like it, but I pay it.

If you sell desired products, consumers will pay for added shipping.There are signs that the U.S. consumer is beginning to slow, but overall, the economy remains strong.  

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by: Stone Cutter This user has validated their user name.

Wed Apr 12 12:13:50 2023

*** OPEC will tighten supply ***

This month, OPEC announced that it plans to reduce barrels of oil into the world market in order to jack up prices, as gas prices are beginning to increase, again. Summer traveling is around the corner which will also put a strain on gas prices.

Any company with transport costs will feel the pain, and USPS will feel it too.  

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by: terry55 This user has validated their user name.

Wed Apr 12 16:09:41 2023

Post the new postage rates when they come out, so I know how much to raise my shipping.
Also back in Jan. 1st class shipping went up for zones 1-4 and down for zones 5-9, because back in Oct. surcharge, they went up $.25 and $.40

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by: lessthanthreerecords This user has validated their user name.

Wed Apr 12 23:08:03 2023

"The new postage rates for January 2023, while higher than than the rates instituted in July 2022, were actually less than the October 2022 "holiday" rates."

This depends on the weight and services used. I believe most of what I send was higher in January 2023 than it was in October 2022, but I will admit, it was less of an increase than the July or October increase, and there may be an occasional item that costs slightly less to ship.

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by: Eagle This user has validated their user name.

Thu Apr 13 00:08:17 2023

It costs money to redirect all the misdirected packages. We constantly had packages shipped from TX to FL via CA, Package from TX to Canada via Germany, and Texas to Germany via Santiago, Chile. Not counting the 30 day + late deliveries. It's where USPS won't scan our packages locally. WE have to take our packages in to post office and have them scanned in front of us to end prove to our customers that USPS is in possession. We get 3-4 customers asking where their package is every month due to late deliveries and not scanned during transport.
WE are celebrating our 20th year online this year. The first 17 years we only had 3 lost packages. Now we have to file claims every 1-2 months, and we're paying munch higher shipping costs for sub-par service. I've started to recommend FedEx to customers even though it's more expensive they deliver the day when they state or at least contact our customers if it's going to be late. DeJoy is fulfilling his assignment to ruin USPS and make it appear justifiable to sell off to a private 3rd party like Republicans have wanted to do for decades. When that happens expect really high prices to ship!

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by: Marie This user has validated their user name.

Thu Apr 13 01:58:46 2023

@Jack

If that is important to you, that is great.

For me the rates that started in October were higher than what I was paying before that increase and that is what mattered to me and by buyers.

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