I believe First Class packages have already had an increase this year…and in the Aug proposal the package prices are still the same ([URL removed]

The Aug rate increase is for first class mail…stamps,
letters, postcards, and flats, oversized envelopes

Product
Current Prices————————-Planned Prices

Letters (1 oz.)

55 cents——————58 cents

Letters additional ounce(s)

20 cents————————20 cents (unchanged)

Letters (metered 1 oz.)

51 cents——————-53 cents

Domestic Postcards

36 cents———————40 cents

Flats (1 oz.)
$1.00———————$1.20

Outbound International Letters
(1 oz.)

$1.16—————————$1.30

If you’re not familiar with Pirate Ship, you need to look at their rates. For heavier items I use cubic shipping which saves a lot on items mailed by priority mail. I also order USPS boxes and Priority Flat Rate bubble envelopes which save a bunch. Today I sold a man’s denim vest and put it in a Flat Rate bubble mailer for $7.40. The weight was 2 lbs and regular Priority Mail would have been about $4 more. Pirate Ship also has international shipping up to 4 lbs under their Simple Export Rate. We just have to look a little more to get cheaper shipping.

I’m changing from USPS to FedEx as much as I possibly can. My experiences in the last 6 months have been terrible with USPS. I’ve had 4 problems in just the last 1 1/2 weeks. I sent a priority insured package to MN. from WI. on 5/20~~as of last night it was in Sioux Falls, S.D.. I sent a Priority envelope from WI. to MN. & it bounced back & forth between St. Paul & LaCrosse, WI. & finally got delivered a week later. I sent a package to FL. & it took 1 week to get from my post office to the 1st sorting center in Oak Creek WI.. In the last few months I’ve had 2 payments I’ve sent out get there a month later causing me late fees close to $100.00. I had 2 Amazon packages that were suppose to have been delivered to my P.O. Box yesterday~~the idiots sent them both out with a rural delivery carrier so I MIGHT get them today or maybe not until Monday. USPS has turned into a nightmare. I always ship over the counter at the post office but 1 of my Amazon packages I’m waiting for is a postal scale~~I’m going to start using FedEx & printing my own labels. I’m in a tiny town but I can drop FedEx packages at the Dollar General Store. I highly doubt a rate increase with USPS is going to change their service. I’ve even had a clerk tell me I can’t ship to HI. because it isn’t in the USA. The same clerk also told me New Mexico is in Mexico so I can’t ship there. Maybe they should be giving IQ tests to their employees before hiring people that aren’t qualified to do the job. I’m so fed up with USPS I’m going to use them as little as I have to.

My Wife had heard about the Letter Stamps going up to .58c (from .55c come Aug) but not Media so perhaps TrinketBox is correct (I hope so). Those constant price increases are going to put me out of business more and more as Ship Costs exceeds the price of the items in some cases now. Its usually expensive for the FIRST item and cheaper if I can ship an additional item COMBINED but majority of my buyers have always been single hits here. So they raise the prices again for the same bad service. Went to drop something at the PO yesterday (Holiday) and the chute was jammed. Came back this morning, an hour after they opened and chute was still jammed (bet they never even cleared it prior to opening today). And the line was out the door almost as they probably only had 1 person at the counter. I drove to another PO to mail my package (where the chute was not jammed). Pathetic service.

yes its getting very costly [URL removed] [URL removed]