Shipping Prices Increase? (1 Viewer)

[justincarothers]

I shipped a 16lb box to Washington two weeks ago and it was $24.23 with USPS Ground Advantage. Trying to ship the same exact box today and it is charging $51.01. I did not find any price increase announcement. Anyone seen anything like this? It is always a little higher to ship to the West coast from Texas but this is ridiculous

 

[Cynamon]

If you were shipping FedEx, I would have guessed the zip code is more rural as they charge more the further out from a hub, but USPS shouldn’t do that.

USPS also isn’t doing a holiday surcharge so that can’t be it either.

Are you using the USPS site directly or pirate ship? If indirect possibly something is wrong with the API and it’s pulling the wrong price.

 

[justincarothers]

If you were shipping FedEx, I would have guessed the zip code is more rural as they charge more the further out from a hub, but USPS shouldn’t do that.

USPS also isn’t doing a holiday surcharge so that can’t be it either.

Are you using the USPS site directly or pirate ship? If indirect possibly something is wrong with the API and it’s pulling the wrong price.

I tried stamps.com, shippo.com and shipstation.com

 

[CraigT78]

Pirate ship.

Also a business account with either UPS or FedEx will eventually give you much better pricing.

 

[TheOffalo]

What were the dimensions of the box?

 

[justincarothers]

I have a business account with both. This is an overnight increase. I shipped 280 packages last month with no issues.

 

[justincarothers]

What were the dimensions of the box?

Same box size, same weight.

 

[surfik]

not on my end

 

[justincarothers]

Pirate ship.

Also a business account with either UPS or FedEx will eventually give you much better pricing.

Pirate ship has exact same prices as stamps.com $51.01 there as well

 

[TheOffalo]

Same box size, same weight.

Curious what the actual size was.

So far have not been impressed with Ground Advantage.

Assuming you can view/reprint the labels from Shippo, can you see if they were coded any differently as far as weight, zone, dimensions on the two labels?

 

[kaida]

Try looking up the postage rate to an address you've shipped to previously, with the same dimensions and weight as before, and see if it's changed.

 

[justincarothers]

Smaller boxes seem to still be about the same. It's only larger boxes.

 

[CdnBeerLover]

Edit: just realized I misread the OP.

 

[KingZilla]

Would these have fit in one of the priority mail "flat rate" boxes? They do have different sizes. That should be cheaper.

 

[justincarothers]

Would these have fit in one of the priority mail "flat rate" boxes? They do have different sizes. That should be cheaper.

No. It’s 50 racks. Flat rate not an option

 

[kaida]

I'm guessing you're in between 108 and 130 inches for your package. It may be cheaper to pack into two smaller boxes.

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Parcel-Size-Weight-Fee-Standards#oversized_price

 

[Colquhoun]

Is Parcel Select an option? It used to be that service was only for commercial, but I'm not sure if available through Shipstation or Stamps.com.
Parcel Select has always been a good (albeit slower) way to ship bulkier boxes at a better rate.

 

[greenchip]

Fuel surcharge hidden?
Large box = more fuel for sure

 

[ovo]

I heard rates were, or went up ???

 

[PlaidDragon]

I shipped a 16lb box to Washington two weeks ago and it was $24.23 with USPS Ground Advantage. Trying to ship the same exact box today and it is charging $51.01. I did not find any price increase announcement. Anyone seen anything like this? It is always a little higher to ship to the West coast from Texas but this is ridiculous

I ship 5x7 envelopes via USPS with tracking all over the US for a side biz. Price has been $5.00-5.25 for a while (most recently, last week). I rarely ship anything larger so can't say exactly on big boxes.

 

[KingZilla]

I recently shipped a medium sized package with USPS. The cost seemed high. I entered a size of 1" less on the dimensions and the price dropped in HALF. So I cut the box down to fit that dimension and shipped it. Evidently, SIZE MATTTERS. I don't know about current UPS or FedEx ground pricing, but I'm sure you got prices from them as well. Someone suggested you ship in 2 (or more) smaller boxes. Not sure the total would be less but I hope you can find a solution. Otherwise anyone shipping anything is just subject to price increases and of course, the cost will have to be passed on to the customer.

 

[greenchip]

Evidently, SIZE MATTTERS.

Yes, shipping costs of big boxes go by weight and volume (cubic in. or cubic ft.).

There was a hike when there is a small difference in volume, so figuring out was a pain.

Thanks to SFRB, MFRB, and LFRB.