Exactly the “USPS has made it very clear that they do not want your packages” and the reason their hurting businesses. Its not poor business decisions, its because the higher rates are reducing inventory that can be sold. There are no other shipping options for items weighting less then a pound.
As far as UPS, my nearest drop off is 15 miles away, added time and gas, big on profit. I use to sell fishing rods but they have to be dropped of at a main depot, the little ones are limited to 16″. Plus I have to buy boxes to ship, which have doubled in the last year and once you hit 49″ its no cheaper then USPS. UPS rates for a box $10 up to 48″, 49″ jumps to $21 and add $3 for box, 12% fee ebay charges on FVF, shipping and taxes, listed shipping is now $16.

USPS has made it very clear that they do not want your packages or your business. UPS services are cheaper, package survival rate is way better, they actually pay their insurance claims, and most towns have at least 1 UPS store and 1 UPS community pickup center so you do not have to pay for pickup at your door.

If you do go with pickup at the door, then in many cases UPS and USPS are similar in cost. UPS is still less expensive for me, because of the surcharge.

Now we’re all like Pavlov’s Dog.
Hear about rising costs, expecting SUPER poor performance on top of the poor performance from the Last rise in costs.
Won’t be very long before : Uncle Harry is going to (pick a state) ….got anything you want delivered ?

No, Baby Cakes, I have ZERO competition :o)
So, the Postal Service is making or breaking the whole scene.

And yet, “DeStroy” is finally balancing the books for USPS, as USPS began to lose money because of the internet. All those retail ads (junk mail) that was put in peoples mailboxes began to dry up as more businesses began to rely on online marketing and it was the “Ad Dollars” that allowed USPS to exist with a positive cash flow. Mostly, the banking industry and their never ending mortgage offers were paying good money to distribute their mail.

And this is not only a problem is the US, but internationally, where postal services everywhere are no longer generating the Ad revenue, as they once were. And to think, it was all that junk mail that kept shipping prices steady for consumers.

I had a recent sale of jewelry where my customer ask me to make sure that when I ship, I use extra bubble wrap with extra pieces of cardboard. I thought…really?…is this what this buyer is use to? So, I reached out to the buyer to let her know that I use strong external shipping boxes with a 200 lb. crush test…so she should not worry.

Yesterday, I got a rave review from the seller who not only loves her new necklace, but loved the fact that I use “secure” shipping. And now, she’s interested in 2 more pieces from my shop. Soon, she will be “another” repeat buyer.

If I were USPS, I would only insure for lost packages because…THERE ARE TOO MANY SELLERS WHO GO CHEAP ON PACKAGING…and this is not the fault of USPS.

Sent out an 8 ounce book today (Monday) by Medial Mail $3.49

A 30 cent increase. People already hate to pay postage and seem to think you can send it with a stamp.

My carrier now sometimes has to come back twice, as the little standard mail truck often can only hold a few of these big Amazon boxes. Plus a hand truck is often needed to bring them to the door.