driley43
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posted on November 29, 2000 03:36:41 PM
I thought I would pass this on. I went to post office this morning and while there asked the post man about the pending increase and how it would affect such things like priority mail and he said just because stamps go up it doesn't always mean priority and such go up. So maybe we will get lucky and it will just be stamps.
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bearmom
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posted on November 29, 2000 04:50:38 PM
And Gore will concede the election in order to preserve unity in our nation.. 
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chasd7
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posted on November 29, 2000 06:42:30 PM
Riley may have something there.
After all, the PO has a lot competition on
package delivery
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VeryModern
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posted on November 29, 2000 07:46:08 PM
I thought the increase was in the bag. $3.20 goes to $3.90.
It's baaaaad.
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CAgrrl
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posted on November 29, 2000 08:01:44 PM
yes, I thought I read that too VeryModern. I think it may even have been at the USPS web site. Then again it may have been here.
I know I'll be feeling the burn. I'm working overtime to get every single thing in my inventory listed ASAP. Stuff is hard enough to sell without additional postage costs added in.
I am seriously considering quitting auction selling all together as of the first of the year. I already waste too much time trying to explain to people why $3.20 for shipping is a bargain. I have thought for awhile now that the post office is reaping more rewards than online auction sellers are. I do understand that fuel costs have gone up dramatically...but people will only pay so much. And I can see this from the buyer's side as well- after all I buy a lot too. It just sux all the way around. 
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CAgrrl
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posted on November 29, 2000 08:04:14 PM
chas- did you know that UPS is charging a fuel surcharge right now? because of the high cost of gas I guess.
The USPS might have competition, but they still have the best rates around. Plus NO ONE wants to have to go pick their packages up at UPS or Fed-ex.
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justjoan
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posted on November 29, 2000 08:20:23 PM
Don't know if the rest of you do it but I add- multiple buys saves on shipping.
Does get me a few more sales at times and of course it does save the buyer.
Guess postoffice wants the monies they have spent on the FREE ??? Boxes and labels and etc.
Joan
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CAgrrl
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posted on November 29, 2000 08:28:44 PM
I do that too Joan! It does help sometimes! Sometimes not, depending on what the buyer is looking for & what you have for sale.
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warr
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posted on November 30, 2000 09:15:56 AM
Looks like they intend on decreasing the weight from 2# to 1# for the flat rate!
Following from the USPS website:
Priority Mail
Recommended:
A one-pound rate of $3.50 (proposed $3.45)
A two-pound rate of $3.95 (proposed $3.85)
Did not recommend:
Retaining the two-pound rate as the flat rate. Instead, recommended the one-pound rate as the flat-rate
That makes it about like the status of dimpled and pregnant CHAD!
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zzyzx000
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posted on November 30, 2000 02:57:01 PM
I read the proposals too.
The nitty gritty was to raise the rates for 2 lbs. way up and to keep the public from going ballistic, they introduced a new 1 lb. or less rate of $1.45 with a CATCH:
The catch is, if you use their "free" boxes then you have to use the 2 lb. rate even if it weighs less than 1 lb.
So the effect is to charge you about $.50 for the box if you are under 1 lb. Considering than some of the boxes weigh 1/2 lbs. there's not a lot you can ship inside one of these boxes anyways for under 1 lb.
Thus you will save half a buck if you use your own Spartan packaging for your lighter packages.
This increase may backfire as some folks will find out that you can legally ship lots more than books 'book rate.' The new name for this is "Special Standard mail and includes tapes, magazines, computer software, cassettes.. the 'new' ways to destribute information.
Anybody seen anything about increases to book rate?
Another interesting thing I read about the proposed rate increases was the reasoning that the increase was intended to create a multi-billion $ surplus because it was good fiscal policy to have a nest egg for a rainy day or some other such babble.
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chum
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posted on November 30, 2000 05:44:45 PM
Now I see why so many dot-coms are going out of business. How will people be able to afford this huge increase? I know for a fact it will most likely put me out, because customers gripe about it now. Insurance is jumping from .85 to a whopping $1.35!! That might not sound like a lot, but the retailers will benifit most. Why pay all this shipping when you can go to the mall? I just cant see charging $5.30 for a 2lb insured package. I heard the higher the weight, the more it costs. I think I am better off going back to school, and get a job I can depend on.
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dman3
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posted on November 30, 2000 06:08:41 PM
Well actually USPS shipping will still be a good deal try finding someone else to drive your packages around the world daily for this rate dont think you will find it.
I like the new 1lbs or less rate for $1.45 if you dont use there free boxes.
Right now here in NY My PO. tells me any package I send under 1lbs must go frist class or priority and charges me $3.20 for each package under 1lbs I was loseing up to $20 weekly on shipping because of this.
I dont think these new rate incresses will have a bad of an effect as some think they will, Most the problems are going to come from the incress for insurance and other extras.
Most my sales are under 1 lbs I dont use there free boxes if they will have a $1.45 rate I will save 50% on 89% of my shipping.
also I think if you read more on the rate changes you will find there is going to be no more book rate shipping.
http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
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auctionee
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posted on November 30, 2000 06:50:46 PM
$1.45?? Where are we finding this number at?? All I've seen is $3.45 for a 1 pound rate.
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dman3
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posted on November 30, 2000 07:55:35 PM
the $1.45 was for up to 1 pound when not useing free boxes not sure where they got this from but if it is true it will be a great deal for many buyers and seller of very light weight items Under a pound that must now go frist class .
http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
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zzyzx000
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posted on November 30, 2000 09:46:30 PM
My bad. I typed in $1.45 when I meant $3.45 for 1 lb. priority mail.
About the increase in insurance: This is nothing more than highway robbery. I have shipped several thousand packages in the past 2 years without a single one gone missing or damaged. But several years ago I bought a fragile golf statue for about $200 and the seller put it in a box big enough to pack about 1 foot of peanuts around it in all dimentions. So when it arrived it was in pieces. Obviously it had been dropped from a great height. It was insured. Here is how the claim want:
I was instructed to bring the statue and packaging to my PO and surrender it and fill out a long paper. Then I had to contact the seller and request they fill out some long papers. They made a trip to their PO and was told they were out of forms. So they waited a week to go back and there were no forms. So they were sent a form by me. They filled out the form and sent it in and I waited about 90 days before getting paid. Missing from the payment was the amount paid for postage (about $20) and the amount paid for insurance (I forget how much...it was fully insured.)
So the net result was, I paid handsomely for insurance and not only didn't get a thing for my money, but I was out the shipping and insurance charges.
Soultion: I say embrace the increase in insurance charges and here's why:
If you can afford to pay out a claim yourself, be your own insurance carrier. I do for most of the items I sell. Here's how I do it:
In the auction description state this:
"Buyer must request insurance for shipping damages, otherwise they assume the risk."
Then when the auction is over, in the message I can add to the notice Yahoo sends the winner, I explain that I think Insurance is a bad bet, but if they insist, they must request insurance.
Few do request it and when they do I make a note of it, and charge the buyer the same rate as the Post Office insurance. But I become the insurance carrier. In consideration for their insurance, I am prepared to refund the buyer all of their fees paid in case of lost or damaged items. And I am prepared to pay it immediately when a claim is made. That's a lot better deal than I got from the Post office. And it's a cash cow for me. So far, I haven't gotten a single claim from my buyers.
Just think how much the PO is raking in, and they have the cahonees to raise the rates...
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granee
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posted on November 30, 2000 09:48:54 PM
The $1.45 for one pound quoted above is a TYPO---it should state $3.45.
If you're shipping very light items (under 12 ounces), you can send them in your own packaging, by first class (which is the SAME AIRMAIL RATE as priority, but you only pay for the ounces you use, where priority is $3.20 regardless of weight up to 2 pounds).
I think it's OUTRAGEOUS that the Post Office is asking for a HUGE rate hike that they *don't need*, that they *can't justify charging*, and that will CRIPPLE mail-order sales at a time when internet businesses are floundering and paddling like crazy to stay afloat.
Where does the Post Office say they're eliminating the book rate???????????????
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heygrape
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posted on November 30, 2000 10:25:36 PM
They normally reimburse the amount you paid for the item with a copy of the Congrats letter to the buyer, and they are supposed to reimburse the postage too, but you have to remind them about that 5 times while they are filling out the claim and INSIST they add that to the claim. For some reason, there are a lot of either Lazy or downright Stupid Postal Clerks out there that need to be guided through the claim process.
They usually don't reimburse the amount you paid for the insurance, but they are required to reimburse the price you paid AND the postage paid, so don't take no for an answer.
I refused to take no for an answer every time and every time, they paid it. I explained to them every time that I paid them to SHIP my item, Not to Destroy it and I will NOT pay them for destroying my item, and I win every time.
Grapey (Winner of the stubborn old broads award for 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1997.
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heygrape
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posted on November 30, 2000 10:29:13 PM
I forgot to add:
If I cannot gain satisfaction from the clerk I am talking to, I request a supervisor.
If I cannot gain satisfaction from the supervisor, I explain that I have all day and will be more than happy to wait while they call Washington for instruction and proper education of the claim procedures.
Remember, to remain calm and continue to smile like you know something they don't the whole time.
Works every time.
[ edited by heygrape on Nov 30, 2000 10:30 PM ]
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CAgrrl
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posted on November 30, 2000 10:33:55 PM
Interesting, because I have always been told that I couldn't get the shipping back.
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heygrape
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posted on November 30, 2000 10:36:12 PM
They lied to ya hunny!
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moonmem-07
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posted on December 1, 2000 10:42:56 AM
It would be nice if the po actually paid when they damaged something! I mailed a porcelain doll to a customer insured. The doll was chipped during shipping. The po said they couldn't have done it. Well they did! It's in the appeal process now. I don't have much hope of recovering the money. The claims person at my local po has been very helpful. She is not the problem. As anyone gone thru the appeal process before with the po? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Melanie
"If man were to be crossed with a cat, it would greatly improve the man, but deteriorate the cat." Mark Twain
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chasd7
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posted on December 3, 2000 10:36:38 AM
The PO is playing it close to the vest.
Could it be, that they are trying to avoid
a lot of trouble from the mail order houses?
We may not have any clout but there are people who do, maybe all is not lost.
Dream on, dream on
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VeryModern
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posted on December 3, 2000 11:45:48 AM
Far as I am concerned they may very well be on the verge of a major mistake. In my area they are replacing the old jeeps with larger vehicles, obviously designed to accommodate parcels as opposed to letters since this is how the business has morphed.
Decisions like this were not made last week of course but when Ebay was at it's peak along with the Internet in general and no one considered a slow down. We absorbed the increase from $2.90 to $3.20 without any measurable pain and so they come back with another increase, three times as much and when the market (us) is depressed and very unlikely to be able to weather the shock very well.
As it is, how many reading this have had a "shopping cart" full of e-goods only to abandon it when you see how much the shipping is? I bet nearly 100%, and how many times are you going to do that before you say "to hell with it.." and quit looking on line all together? With the postage increase this is bound to happen *even more* frequently and so the result is predictable.
USPS may just find that they (like plenty of other businesses and individuals) have over-extended themselves with their large mail trucks driving around all day 1/2 full (if they are lucky).
[ edited by VeryModern on Dec 3, 2000 11:49 AM ]
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zzyzx000
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posted on December 3, 2000 12:08:41 PM
Along with those large trucks should come some back braces and training in lifting for the employees.
I have shipped several thousand small parcels in the past 2 years without problems BUT on 3 occasions when I was on the Left Coast on a buying trip, I packed and shipped myself heavy boxes of about 60 lbs. each sent Parcel Post to Detroit. In each case when I got the boxes they were almost literally trashed. The cardboard of the box was always bashed and wrinkled, and often torn open with items exposed.
The contents in some boxes which had computer software in their own boxes, had the computer boxes flattened like an accordian. the conclusions i make to all this is:
Postal employees are not equiped or trained to pick up heavy parcels. They do fine with a few lbs. but I suspect they push, drag, (kick?), and drop heavy parcels rather than pick them up.
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heygrape
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posted on December 3, 2000 12:14:24 PM
"Has anyone gone thru the appeal process before with the po?"
**********************
I haven't (knock on wood).
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dman3
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posted on December 3, 2000 05:12:37 PM
I Dont think these Incresses will hurt in most areas of online auction sales if sellers deal with it in a way as to make it seem like a value to the buyers.
I have already started changeing the way I add shipping on all my auctions from actual shipping to a fixed rate that is higher then actual postage.
my fixed rate will include costom packaging, insureing the Item for the purchace price and Delivery conformation.
MY fixed rate Starts at $5.60 for a item weighting 10oz before packageing.
Items weighing 24to 36oz before packageing $6.10
and add .53cent for each additional 5oz before packing over that for Shipping inside the USA.
The addition of Delivery conformation Will get my sales inline with proof of shipping for anyone who uses credit cards to pay claiming I never shipped the Item. I will be
covered by insurance on every sale no more buyers Choice.
This would be on my breakable item small packet rates will be better under a pound .
I have been noticeing many many sellers have already been chargeing the $5 and $6 rate for shipping for a few months now with no trouble if the service is good and the bidder really wants your item they will have no problems with this type of fixed rate.
http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
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CAgrrl
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posted on December 3, 2000 06:10:39 PM
Verymodern- I think there is a lot of wisdom in your post. Unfortunately it isn't what anyone wants to hear...I wish (for once) you WEREN'T right!!
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CAgrrl
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posted on December 3, 2000 06:17:05 PM
Thinking this over for a second- I do think that in the future the post office will be delivering fewer & fewer letter...how many of you guys are still writing letters? The only letters I ever write are to my (few) friends who are so behind the times that they don't have computers. And even then, rarely. I use email to keep in touch instead. When I'm looking for work I don't use the USPS- I fax. About the only think I use the USPS for aside from paying my bills is to send out auction packages.
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VeryModern
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posted on December 3, 2000 06:50:32 PM
I have some Christmas cards ready to go, the first "letters" I have sent in months. Pay all my bills online, email replaces snail mail, online greeting cards, Paypal and it's clones step up to the plate, what else is there to send?
The USPS is well aware that is why they have an online bill payment too, but they are counting on internet commerce remaining strong like all of us, and I disagree with grapey on this one - they have far more to lose than you or I. Could be they raise it and then we see the first REVERSAL of a fee increase in history as far as I am aware.
dman - I am glad you feel confident but many are not. I have read analysts that feel this increase will be the last nail in the Amazon's coffin. I agree with you about offering value, but in a different form. I see people selling a piece of used children's clothing for example - shipping $3.20. I would always make lots of several pieces that came in right at two pounds to give good bang for the buck. If sellers can't learn to do this, they're over as far as I am concerned. Thing is, if not enough of them can figure this out then the buyer quits shopping online all together as opposed to trying to find a needle in a haystack in the form of a GOOD DEAL, and a seller like me loses along with them.
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VeryModern
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posted on December 3, 2000 07:03:10 PM
CAgrrl - thanks for the compliment.
I needed it tonight, and the other thread too.
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