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New USPS Surcharge Fees Apply to eBay and Etsy Sellers

Ina Steiner
USPS
USPS

The USPS is instituting stiff new surcharge fees on April 3rd that will devastate sellers of certain types of goods. eBay and Etsy sellers who had held out hope the marketplaces would be able to negotiate a deal with the Postal Service to exempt their packages got bad news this month

Etsy informed sellers today about the new fees, and an eBay moderator finally confirmed on March 10 in a follow-up in the Weekly Chat that the fees would indeed apply to eBay sellers who purchase shipping labels through the marketplace.

As we reported in December, the USPS delayed the surcharge fees temporarily after shippers found them buried in its 2022 rate-hike schedule released in November.

In this November 18th blog post, we explained what the fees meant for sellers, using an example of a seller of movie posters who would pay a new $4 nonstandard fee for a tube greater than 22″ and a new $15 nonstandard fee for a tube greater than 30″ – on top of the postage cost they would normally pay.

Etsy summarized the changes in its Seller Handbook today.

On December 3, the USPS had explained the reason it was delaying instituting the new fees until April, telling the Postal Regulatory Commission: “This brief delay is intended to provide the industry with additional time to plan and adjust for these changes, and aligns with our intent to be judicious in our pricing decisions and responsive to the needs of our customers.”

In responding to sellers in the March 9th Weekly Chat thread, the moderator said eBay’s shipping team would be making an announcement about the upcoming April 3rd changes but was awaiting some clarification with USPS. It’s possible eBay made an announcement on the boards, but there’s been no alert on its Seller Announcement Board as of today.

Despite wishful thinking, marketplace sellers will have to pay the surcharge fees for nonstandard fees if they continue to use USPS.

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Ina Steiner
Ina Steiner
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.

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Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.

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5 thoughts on “New USPS Surcharge Fees Apply to eBay and Etsy Sellers”

  1. With Amazon shipping many of their own packages now, eBay may be USPS’s biggest customer. When Amazon was USPS’s top shipper, the used that as leverage to get better rates than anyone else, some speculate USPS gave them rates below costs to keep mail volume up.

    Why hasn’t eBay’s crack shipping team used this leverage to get better rates now? Or maybe they have but they are keeping all of the savings for themselves instead of passing it along to their sellers like Amazon did. Ebay could ask for tracking numbers that last 6 months, get Sunday deliveries, priority shipments, and lower prices all to help their sellers, yet they never have. Why is that?

  2. eBay needs to be shut down permanently. The end. I hope they cease operations and go bankrupt. There are NO places to sell new auto parts in my garage that I have not used except craigslist which now days is also a big joke. The end of selling extras in your household are over. Been on eBay over 22 years and it is ONE BIG JOKE!

  3. Ebay wont’ post an announcement until after the increase when they get flooded with calls, we’ve been telling them on the chat thread since Dec.I guess ebay is seeing dollar signs with the extra shipping fee they “think” their going to get. There is no adjustment or alignment to a 150% surcharge, it will be a total end in sales. If I even could sell an item with shipping jumping from $10 to $25, it’d have to be a high dollar item, USPS insurance doesn’t cover the shipping so if it gets broken, boom your out $25 right off
    I always thought with the up and down crazy seasonal updates, ebay would be the one ending my business, not the USPS

  4. I never ship posters via USPS anymore. They destroy about 30% of all tubes, round, triangle or square shaped because the carriers feel they can shove a 36 inch tube into a mailbox by bending it. Have a photo of a tube with a friggin shoe print right where the tube was bent.

    Yes, they pay the claims, but it the claim does not include my labor costs to reprint, nor does it cover the cost of items that were supposed to be gifts which are now late, because I have to reship.

    UPS delivers my tubes 99.99% of the time, on time and without damage. Plus, they are always cheaper than Priority Mail.

    Etsy sellers should be using Pirate Ship or Ship Station to process their orders. Why give Etsy any more control over your business? Keep anything you can separate from Etsy.

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