Will Congress Put the Brakes on Postage Rate Hikes?

by: Gumball

I definitely resent the fact that small sellers and citzens at large are being charged double and triple rates to compensate for the heavy discounts the Post Office gives Amazon and the rediculous penny on the dollar rates Asia gets. DeJoy is already causing the Post Office to lose busniess, and the venues like Amazon and Ebay as well. I just went the main Post Office Friday and I was the only one there, mailing the one package I had sold on Ebay. There was no one else waiting with packages to mail. I noticed the baskets behind the two Postal clerks were also empty.  There used to be lines out the door on Saturday because a lot of the smaller Post Offices are closed, and bins and counters full of packages. The lack of packages and customers are visible at my regular Post Office too. Of course, that will spur DeJoy to raise the rates and insist customers with large packages, tubes, or whatever package he can ban use FedEx and UPS. After all, he has 75 million dollars invested in those companies.

I know that I have already turned to buying local rather than pay inflated shipping rates. That leaves money in my pocket and leaves me more to spend. I have also started selling locally again. No Postal fees there.  

by: Marie

It should be noted that the holiday SurCharge was extended.  It no longer starts Mid October, it starts October 2nd.  It no longer ends in the last week of December, it now ends in the last week of January.  Well after the holidays are over.

by: Chicago48

Amazon postage/shipping rates for using UPS is cheaper than the USPS.  The cost of Mailing a package via USPS is equal to mailing it through UPS.

by: GetAGrip

With the incompentence of Congress in the past few years, I would file this wish under NO GOING TO HAPPEN HOT AIR.

by: terry55

@GetAGrip
Ain't that the truth, wishful thinking or best case, years getting passed. Selling fishing gear, summer is my season BUT I've had a couple days with no pick up OR 1-2 packages in box when I usually have a tub full. My mail lady is coming thru 2-3 hours earlier then ever. My business is hanging by a thread and doubt I'll make it past 2023.

by: Mark4

The post office has already priced itself out of the market. With our business we had 5 to 10 packages a day going USPS priority mail, they all ship UPS now as UPS is much less costly.  

by: Stone Cutter

***Who is your customer?...rich vs poor ***

I don’t pay extra for postage...my customers do. If Sellers cannot raise rates to compensate for postal rate increases, it ultimately means your products are not in demand. If selling products that buyers can easily purchase at the local shopping mall, online Sellers cannot compete with that.

“I just went to the main Post Office Friday and I was the only one there, mailing the one package I had sold on Ebay. There was no one else waiting with packages to mail.”

According to the U.S. banking industry, consumer spending on general retail is currently slow throughout the U.S. I don’t believe this has anything to do with USPS rates. Instead, consumers have spent a boatload on travel and dining, and are currently paying off their summertime charge card debt.

As I’m typing, I’m listening to a retail analyst on CNBC. He says that low income consumers have pulled back on spending, while higher income consumers continue to spend.

As I’ve said before, who is your customer?...rich vs poor. My customers are professional women with a huge thirst for jewelry. I increase my prices to adjust for inflation, and my customers continue to buy.

Inflation is a problem everywhere, and spending habits will change according to the spending priorities of the consumer.

by: comments

Now that billions have been given to the USPS the only changes are higher postage and they updated the package research request feature to prevent you from making a request.

Example: Sent a shipment to a repeat customer. Package goes out for delivery and is marked "insufficient address" Return to sender. The package was never returned and the address was sufficient because it is a repeat customer. I go to open a package research request. It advises me to make a claim for the $100 package insurance and there is no option to make an inquiry.

Congress needs to do a heck of a lot more then worry about fee hikes. The current set up encourages mail theft by postal workers without any recourse from the shipper while USPIS investigates everything except mail theft (unless of course someone stealing postage...the only mail related thing they care about.

Ina you should encourage your readers to do package inquiries though FOIA request. It seems to be the only way to get assistance beyond a reading of the public tracking.  

by: shut1968

@Gumball

It's completely opposite in Atlanta, most of the offices around here have a line of customers out the door and down the hallway, pretty much from the time they open to close.

USPS is still (for the most part) cheaper than UPS or FedEx, every time I buy a shipping label on Pirateship I get a notification how much more it will cost to send the same package UPS, it's generally higher by about $4, at least for smaller packages.

by: The End

"Will Congress Put the Brakes on Postage Rate Hikes?"
They better or this country will be S.O.L.

by: Rexford

While they are at it they should kick Dejoy to the curb.

by: ShortSeller

The inaction by the Democrats in addressing any of this just tells you neither side gives a hoot about US businesses and individuals being blatantly ripped off. No other civilized country raises postal rates for a national post service multiple times a year. It's time for criminal investigations, not posturing. Pathetic.

by: Marie

@shortseller

Who do you think put Dejoy in charge of the USPS??  He is a friend of Trump's and that is how he got the job.  So likely the Republicans do not want to mess with the man's job or they may suffer the rath of Trump.  

I'm not sure how you turn this problem around to being the fault of Democrats.  

by: Fly on the Wall

Yet Amazon can use a box 100 times the item's size (think a tube of lipstick in a 9x9x6" box) and pay only pennies on the dollar while we (consumers, sellers) pay more to make up for corporate GREED, yet again/still. Something is very wrong with this picture!

by: Marie

@fly on the wall

That is called volume pricing.  It has been around for many years in all kinds of industries.  Volume selling is what gets you better prices at warehouse stores like Costco and Sam's club.  

Amazon ships from the warehouses they have by the pallets full.  They likely presort their shipments too.  For these reasons and more, they can get an additional discount on the shipping because it cuts down on the work needed by USPS.

The same theory works in all kinds of industries.

by: The End

"I'm not sure how you turn this problem around to being the fault of Democrats."
Trump was elected BECAUSE of Democrats Marie.
Trump is The anti shenanigans boss.
Had to say it   :o)
And have a Good Weekend.....

by: Marie

I'll just state what I said before.

Who do you think put Dejoy in charge of the USPS??  He is a friend of Trump's and that is how he got the job.  So likely the Republicans do not want to mess with the man's job or they may suffer the rath of Trump.  

I'm not sure how you turn this problem around to being the fault of Democrats.  

DeJoy is in charge of USPS because Trump put him into that position.  Democrats had nothing to do with it.  

Whether or not you agree that Dejoy is doing a good job or not, what I stated are just the simple facts, nothing more.  Well except my comment about the Rath of Trump.  That was an opinion.

by: Snapped

“ Trump was elected BECAUSE of Democrats Marie.”

Sort of, but not by ‘fault’.  Any govt. ‘shenanigans’ that may have contributed since then to this current brink of Constitutional disaster were the result of the previous 8 years worth of everything attempted politically being stymied by ‘party principal’ that included disregarding any potential merit by default.  This was the ‘inaction’ accused of the incumbent, and seized upon by megalomania.

And that ‘principal’, as we’ve come to see, and how could you NOT see, is rooted in the mob rule ignorance and fear of diversity being a threat instead of an asset.  Particularly when it comes to protecting one’s own ability to monetize the system, so to speak.

As that relates to this slice of agency rate hikes, it rests with those who hold office and are performing under these ‘principals’.  Though it’s not really clear when public office holders became people who we had to choose based on their spouted beliefs, (and frequently untruthful at that), rather than people we picked to represent ours, regardless of their ‘peer’s’ opinions.  Probably because the latter might involve docking one’s yacht for a few seasons.  Or dinghy, as it might apply.  

Which is to say, this next few months, from rate hikes to anything else you wish to have a voice in, a vote for reason over rote rule will reveal whether “We The People” prefer to speak, or ride the same ol’ stormy seas.  

They’re supposed to be working for you.  Call, text, tweet, snail mail or the eKind, feel free to remind them.