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This sounds pretty Grinch-y to me, but hey, why shouldn't the USPS get its share of the inflation pie, too, right? (sarcasm)
From the link, my italics: The planned price hikes would range from $0.75 to $6.50, varying by weight and distance shipped, according to a news release. The changes would be temporary, being instituted from Oct. 2 to Jan. 22.
"This seasonal adjustment will bring prices for the Postal Service’s commercial and retail customers in line with competitive practices," the statement read. "No structural changes are planned as part of this limited pricing initiative."
I am guessing Amazon has an account, probably a contract with USPS, so that makes me wonder if it will hit Amazon or not, thus ourselves. Seems to me that the USPS already is high enough, and I can't help but wonder if it would be "temporary" or not.
I also wonder if this will catch on with the other providers of similar services.
Well, I guess the USPS has to buy diesel fuel like any other shipper. And it's not come down like gasoline has. It's still about $5.50/gallon here, while regular gas ranges from $3.35 (Costco) to $3.79 (major top tier brands).
I am guessing Amazon has an account, probably a contract with USPS, so that makes me wonder if it will hit Amazon or not, thus ourselves. Seems to me that the USPS already is high enough, and I can't help but wonder if it would be "temporary" or not.
I also wonder if this will catch on with the other providers of similar services.
UPS and FedEx have had similar holiday season surcharges since at least 2017. Even though the postal service stops paying penalty overtime rates for hours worked passed 10 hours a day in December they had been splurging money in operating cost for those years prior to the pandemic. This is just a move to get the approval for the post office to do what other services have long done.
Online retail is going to be as dead as brick and mortar. Between the taxes, fees, rapidly rising shipping rates, packing supplies, and fierce competition contributing to razor thin margins, you have to be moving an extraordinary amount of merchandise in order to make it worth the effort. The margins aren't always that great, and little bumps in operating costs can wipe out profits and lead to a loss.
Who wants to go through the effort to sell online, just to give all their money to the postal service, the government and Amazon, Ebay and the rest, with not much left over to reward yourself? And I think customers have probably been taking their frustrations out on sellers. Many people get very upset when prices spike and they immediately blame the people just trying to make an honest living in many cases.
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