I’ve said it many times before: As time goes on, you should get used to regular shipping rate increases whether they be in the form of increased shipping rates or rate surcharges. That’s why I’m shocked to find that USPS will actually be having a rate reduction for some services to begin April 10th, 2016. Most important to eCommerce merchants: lower USPS First Class rates.
How is this possible? Simply put, USPS was given the ability by the Postal Regulatory Commission to raise its rate above its usual allowed amount in 2014 from the revenue lost during the 2008 – 2009 recession. That offer ends on April 10th.
USPS First Class and all its subcategories, including First Class Mail – Parcel, will see a 3.5% to 4.2% price reduction on Retail rates. Since Commercial Base Pricing (CBP) typically beats Retail Rates by a decent margin, this wouldn’t usually affect commercial shippers. However, since Retail Rates on First Class Parcels weighing 1-3 ounces have been lower than CBP since the January 17th rate change, ShippingEasy implemented the First Class Retail rates to make sure you get the lowest rates. Yes, this means that the April reduction on First Class Retail means even cheaper rates for you.
To put it all together: First Class Shipments weighing 1-3 ounces will now cost $2.45 as opposed to the current $2.54 starting April 10th, 2016.
While this isn’t crazy savings, businesses shipping many lighter packages can stand to save a bit over the course of the year – especially those with high order volume (lots of shipments!).
You can find more information about this and other changes included in the “Spring 2016 Rollback” on the USPS Postal Explorer here. As always, we’ll share more updates as they develop!
Rob Zaleski
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