SNEAKY USPS pricing... Did you KNOW THIS??? YOU SHOULD

[HighlandHeart]

let me share with you what I JUST discovered today....

This all started a couple weeks ago when a customer did not want to use PayPal so I turned on the check out for Etsy. The customer paid for the order however because it did not go through Paypal I didn't have my regular link to click to print my postage from my PayPal account.

I thought I'd try printing from Etsy.. When I did go to the etsy postage link to print postage I put in the pounds and the dimensions and I got a price it was over $30. I thought to myself that's a lot of money so I went to Paypal and I opened up the multi order shipping service that they have.Again I got pricing in the 30's.

I had a panic attack because I thought "oh my god I underestimated the weight for this in a big way and immediately contacted the customer, apologized and let them know that I was unable to ship it with priority but I would be shipping it parcel post because I didn't correctly identify the price for shipping. Now I felt horrible..and when I do misjudge a pricing for postage it has been a couple of dollars and I have always eaten it.. but this was going to be an $18 loss...


CUT TO: 3 days ago I got another order this time with a gift certificate. I thought "cool, this has opened me up to other sales I might not get.

I went straight to PayPal and again put in the weight of 2 .3lbs put in some dimensions (which I always guesstimated) and AGAIN I got 30 something dollars...

at this point I contacted PayPal because there was something wrong with their system.. I won't go into all the details because there was quite a trail to this discovery and about an hour on the phone. I talked to several people but what ended up happening is I asked to speak to the supervisor

While I was on the phone with him he's at his end trying to recreate the problem I was having on their Multiple Shipping Tool and the price I was getting with the shipping.

This is what we discovered......

We started playing around with the dimensions. When we put in dimensions of 10 x10x12 I got the original price I was quoted by the USPS postal site of around $12.

If you add 2 inches and say put in 14 x14x12 (which I had done earlier) the price of shipping when up 3 times to over $30 both of us were shocked.


so we noticed if you changed it to 14x14 x10 adjusting an couple inchs your pricingchanged.. He went to the USPS site and it was doing the same..

We discovered that it was not a problem with the PayPal system but that USPS was upping the price of shipping based on your DIMENSIONS....

This was NOT a crazy large package.. it was a standard sized box.. I looked all over the site to try to find something about Larger packaging but nothing came up until I finally his the little "question" mark next to the priority mail when a pop up came up that included this little diddy......


Priority Mail "Balloon Price"
Parcels addressed for delivery to zones 1-4 (including local) that weigh less than 20 pounds and measure more than 84 inches but not more than 108 inches in combined length plus girth (distance around the thickest part) are charged the 20-pound Priority Mail zoned price.

Priority Mail "Dimensional Weight"
Parcels addressed for delivery to zones 5-8 that exceed 1 cubic foot (1,728 cubic inches) are charged based on the actual weight or the dimensional weight, whichever is greater.




USPS is now charging based on size of your package... he was very upset to learn this and from his knowledge no one at PayPal which is a subsidy of Ebay knew that this was going on..


Basically the USPS has hidden this from the public... it is a GREY area of wording and very very shady business!!!!

Nowhere on their site, when you use the calculator, does it state you will be charged more for a package that is 14 by 14 by 12 weighs 2.3 lb than a package that weighs 10x10 x12 and weighs the same will cost you an additional $18 dollars UNLESS you hit that itty bitty little question mark to find the above "balloon" or "dimensional" weight...


we both came to the conclusion that this was a result of the changes that went in at January 1 2014

Tomorrow morning he is going to present this information at a meeting because PayPal/eBay makes the USPS multiple BILLIONS...

This supervisor was very upset to know that people were being upcharged at this rate...

THIS IS HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!



be very aware when your shipping things of what your dimensions are...

Now anytime I've ever physically walked into the post office carrying a box I have never had a post office worker measure my package they have only ever weighed so be very vigilant about what you enter into the dimensions and how you're measuring up your package because the post office is it ripping you off for 2 inches


as some of you know my "real" job is as a film/tv makeup artist.. I will be contacting some of my friends who are in the broadcast news business and I plan to bring this to the attention of some of the consumer advocates on the local stations.. I suggest you do the same and contact your local stations... Let them know the shady business of the post office.. it's one thing to charge these prices but the HIDE them in quite another..

I suspect very few people have had any idea this was happening.. Please share this.. and try it yourself...


For example I just put in a 1lb box with the dimensions of 15x15x15..shipping from my zip code to a zip code in Wi. which puts my package into that certain zone for "dimensional" packaging...

my shipping for priority mail would be 42.90... taking just ONE INCH off of the dimensions showed these results...

14x15x15 $40.89 USD
13x15x15 $38.86 USD
13x14x15 $36.80 USD

See what's happening??? they are charging you for INCHES!!!!! this is VASTLY affect your shipping...

[Former_Member]

Thanks for the information Theresa.

But I hate to tell you that the USPS has been charging a 'balloon rate' on larger packages for years.

From the USPS web site:

"""Priority Mail "Balloon Price"
Parcels addressed for delivery to zones 1-4 (including local) that weigh less than 20 pounds and measure more than 84 inches but not more than 108 inches in combined length plus girth (distance around the thickest part) are charged the 20-pound Priority Mail zoned price.

Priority Mail "Dimensional Weight"

Parcels addressed for delivery to zones 5-8 that exceed 1 cubic foot (1,728 cubic inches) are charged based on the actual weight or the dimensional weight, whichever is greater. ""

And if any dimension is over 12" then the package MUST be sent as a "large package' regardless of the weight.

[HighlandHeart]

I NEVER had this before.. I KNOW I have sent packages at the 14x 14 sizes before and had them NOT run 30 something dollars.. and how could the supervisor at PayPal not know about this??? because it was news for him..

he also looked up notice from USPS about the new pricing going into effect for Jan. 1 2014 and noticed vague language about it.. I am pretty sure this is newer... but regardless it is complete misleading on the usps site to quote a price for pound and NOT ask for dimensions in that quote if they are indeed going to charge more..

[Former_Member]

Yeah, that is why I take my things to the Post Office. That way they tell me exact measurements. If over I take home and redo. Been that way I know for 5 years.

[HighlandHeart]

I honestly have NEVER had the issue until recent.. because I always guesstimate the dimensions and it has always been aligned with what the post office calculator gives me.. it has never been until these recent two that I had such a HUGE jump in pricing.. I'm just stunned... and I guess an idiot.. lol.. but the guy on the phone who was a supervisor was also quite upset and didnt know about the huge difference.. I mean seriously an almost $20 difference for a mere couple of inches.. I would understand if my package was huge but it isn't just normal sized..

[Former_Member]

Flat rate boxes are sometime cheaper for heavier items.

[Former_Member]

I use flat rate for almost everything. It's just easier and I am not surprised at the post. You'd be surprised at what you can fit in those things!

[settiano]

I experience this constantly. Almost all of my packages are determined to have balloon charges. I always tell my customers a higher price than what the online guesstimator says so that I can be accurate, and then I refund if needed.

[HighlandHeart]

sadly Jaclyn the flat rate boxes are not big enough for some of the stuff I sell... and if I have to combine.. well that's another story but what I am most upset about is that there is NO mention of this on the site when you go to calculate shipping at USPS.. it should be right there in plain site.. not hidden..

[BebeAndKay]

Very interesting. I've come across this once or twice in the past on ebay, and I always just used a box with the dimensions of the lowest price I could. I knew the prices went up drastically for anything considered "overpriced" but didn't know just one inch could do it.

Personally I have never in all my years had a box measured at the P.O., that I am aware of. They're too busy, and truth be told- we know more about their pricing and shipping practices than most of the clerk's do. My clerk is pretty sharp, and still I have told her about policies she was not aware of. I am an honest person, but if one inch doubled the price? No way. And if they dont measure the boxes, they're choosing not to enforce.

[Former_Member]

We have a scale at ours and I think most where they lay the package or envelope down on. On that if you notice are lines. If it goes over those then it cost more.

I live in a small town and they are good about showing me before they go to put postage on it.

Now prices did jump again in Jan. And I think it has hurt online business and international as well. BUT they either had to cut more hours or raise prices and people went nuts over the hour thing.

[Former_Member]

Ugh, my head is spinning.......tmi.