Don’t panic over the end of USPS FCPS at the end of next week – the transition should not be arduous for shippers, and the US Postal Service is offering a grace period. On Tuesday, it said it would continue to accept, process, and deliver First Class Package Service and Parcel Select Ground after July 9th, the date that those services will merge to form the brand new USPS Ground Advantage service.
The USPS announced the grace period on June 27, saying it will accept all legacy products without penalty or assessment through September 30, 2023. The grace period will also allow for the receipt of parcels already in transit for delivery at the time of the implementation of USPS Ground Advantage.
We first reported the Postal Service’s plan to reshape “ground” services a year ago in, “USPS ‘Frankensteins’ First Class Package and Ground,” and we wrote about the official new service called USPS Ground Advantage in February.
The commercial rate change will be negligible for the old services once they are merged into the new Ground offering on July 9 (at least this time around).
Other services will see some rate changes, however:
- Regular First Class (market dominant) rates are going up an average of 5.4% since they were raised 6 months ago;
- The cost of a stamp will rise 4.8%, from 63 cents to 66 cents;
- Rates for Media Mail and Library Mail will rise by 7.4%;
- No price changes are being made in July for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, Domestic Extra Services, or the majority of International Products.
To reiterate, the USPS is consolidating First Class Package Service, USPS Retail Ground, and Parcel Select Ground under the new USPS Ground Advantage branding, which will feature two-to five day service standards for packages weighing up to 70 pounds – including parcels weighing up to 15.999 ounces.
On Tuesday, eBay described what sounded like an easy transition when the new Ground Advantage service debuts and new rates go into effect:
“We’ll update labels automatically,” eBay stated. “If you had a sale with First-Class Package or Parcel Select Ground, the label will print and display as USPS Ground Advantage™.
“If you printed your label prior to July 9th, USPS will continue to accept packages with the previous services for a period of time.”
eBay also announced last week that when the USPS rate changes go into effect on July 9, its special “eBay Standard Envelope” service would see an increase.
Also on June 27, the USPS announced almost as an afterthought that it had received approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to implement USPS Ground Advantage on July 9, 2023.
When the Panicdemic started and it hit the postal services particularly bad, I began telling my customers: “your item is going out today and should arrive in a week or two”.
The WuFlu is a speck in our rearview mirror (wink, wink, nudge, nudge….) but because the USPS continues to flounder and rearrange the deck chairs on the sinking SS USPS, I still tell my customers the same thing….
I remember the days when I began selling on ebay (before it became evilbay) and getting shocked every time my customer got his Priority parcel in THREE days, going to the opposite coast, sometimes in as little as TWO days!!
July 9th is here and it seems eBay has their own name for USPS Ground Advantage: It’s called “USPS Parcel Select/Ground Advantage”. Hoping that makes things less complicated for you in changing your listings. BTW, it would be simple computer programming to do that for you; the bulk editor doesn’t let you select just the 1st class parcels for editing, but is still somewhat useful. I don’t know but imagine if you select items in the editor that weigh over a pound to change to Parcel Select/Ground Advantage, that will generate an error.
I’ve noticed many customers are in a hurry to get their items. What would you rather they see for shipping options: “First Class Mail” , “Ground Advantage” or “Parcel Select/Ground Advantage”?
I’m waiting for the last minute to make the change as “ground” in the name doesn’t seem it would seem as speedy as “First Class Mail.”
I was wrong. No error messages because eBay’s USPS Parcel Select/Ground Advantage works for many more pounds that 1 lb. Rates increase with the same steps as 1st class, and again at 1.1 lbs, 2.1 lbs, etc.
Also for the bulk editor, it looks like you need to select which items you want to edit from your listings as there isn’t enough info available if you try to do that with all your stuff in the bulk editor at once.