Postal Rate Increases Coming May 14th!
If you ship any of your products with Speaker Fulfillment Services via the post office you need to be aware that the Postal Service has finalized their rate increases and they will be going into effect on May 14th, 2007.
With rare exceptions, costs are going up, sometimes significantly in almost every postal category. We’ve prepared this document to give you an overview of what you’re going to be dealing with. Obviously, it’s impossible to cover every possible scenario in this document (the rate charts are multiple pages in length), but this should give you a good idea of what you’re facing.
Bottom line – we recommend that you increase your shipping and handling charges per order to make sure you’re covering the increase in prices coming next month.
Some of these changes are significant and you may need to rethink your shipping choices, frequency of shipments, price at which you sell continuity type products, etc.
Here are some samples of what’s coming:
Domestic Shipments
1st Class Mail is now going to be split up into two categories – 1st class mail parcels and 1st class mail flats. Any package that is ¾” or thicker will now be considered a parcel and will be subject to the parcel rates. Packages in either category can weigh up to 13 oz. maximum. Above 13 ounces it kicks over to the Priority Mail category.
Samples: 2 ounce 1st class mail flat
Old Rate: 63 cents New Rate: 97 cents
3 ounce 1st class mail flat
Old Rate: $1.01 New Rate: $1.14
2 ounce 1st class mail parcel
Old Rate: 63 cents New Rate: $1.30
11 ounce 1st class mail parcel
Old Rate: $1.73 New Rate: $2.83
Priority Mail is available for any package over 13 ounces in weight.
Samples: 1 lb. Priority Mail Package
Old Rate: $4.05 New Rate: $4.60
2 lb. Priority Mail Package
Old Rate: $4.25 New Rate: $4.60 - $7.50
The postage costs for Priority Mail packages weighing two pounds or more is dependent on the ship to destination. The further away from Terre Haute, Indiana, our ship from point, the higher the postage costs.
Media Mail is available for shipment of books and other packages weighing anywhere from 1 ounce up to 70 lbs. Delivery time is slower (10-14 days on average).
Sample: 1 lb. Media Mail Package
Old Rate: $1.73 New Rate: $2.13
International Shipments
We currently use three major services from the Post Office for international shipments – Global Express, International Air Mail Letter, and International Air Mail Parcel Post. The post office is changing the names of these services and adjusting rates.
Global Express will now be called Express Mail International. Delivery time is quoted as from 3-5 days. Tracking information is available to some countries.
Samples: 4 lb. package shipping to Canada
Old Rate: $20.30 New Rate: $28.50
4 lb. package shipping to U.K.
Old Rate: $37.70 New Rate: $43.25
4 lb. package shipping to Australia
Old Rate: $36.80 New Rate: $40.00
The Postal Service also has a service called Global Express Guaranteed which is 1-3 day delivery time. We are still awaiting these specific rates from the Postal Service, but if you have a package that must get there quickly the Post Office does offer you an option.
International Air Mail Letter will now be called 1st Class Mail International. This service is for packages weighing up to 4 lbs.
Samples: 3 ounce package shipping to Canada
Old Rate: $1.15 New Rate: $1.31
3 ounce package shipping to Great Britain
Old Rate: $2.25 New Rate: $2.70
3 ounce package shipping to Australia
Old Rate: $2.75 New Rate: $2.70
Wow, one actually went down slightly!
International Air Mail Parcel will now be called Priority Mail International. This is for packages weighing 4 lbs. or more.
Samples: 5 lb. package shipping to Canada
Old Rate: $17.65 New Rate: $21.20
5 lb. package shipping to Great Britain
Old Rate: $33.75 New Rate: $36.00
5 lb. package shipping to Australia
Old Rate: $36.90 New Rate: $38.00
Again, this is just an overview to give you an idea of what your business is facing. If you have specific questions about the impact of this postal increase on you please email PostalInfo@SFSMail.com. This will go straight into our online support center and you should anticipate a response within two business days to any questions you ask.
Don’t wait to update your shipping and handling charges until too late!