Yes, unfortunetly USPS rates rise again Jan 27th 2013. What does that mean for your/my customers? Higher prices of course
US CUSTOMERS:
Most prices for the US went up about $1-$4, really not that big of a deal. Where I was charging 5.99 to ship, now I am charging 6.50 for a standard flat rate envelope item.
INTERNATIONAL: Prices on most items are actually going DOWN by a few $'s, with the new rise to the rates they also made a big change for First Class by giving it tracking,
so now I am able to send items at lower-cost overseas so that means most
items will be getting a lower price for international shipping. This does mean longer ship times, but you can of course request priority mail. The biggest problem now is really going to be watching the weight on items. First Class has a 4lb weight limit so I can't use it when I ship coats...which really sucks because their flat rate rates went up about $20 for international customers.
For both customers you'll notice that "additional item" prices went up, really i was being completely unrealistic before and I ended up paying out of pocket a lot of the time when i would get multiple item orders, so this has been "fixed".
My new prices are already up in the shop since nothing will be shipped until after the rate change..since its on a sunday.
Here is an example of my new rates vs my old rates:
Country Prev Price New Price
US 5.99 6.50 Priority Mail
Canada 14.99 20.50 Priority Mail
Europe/Aus/Asia 16.99 16.50 First Class
Mexico 15.99 14.50 First Class
If in canada and you wish to receive first class shipping instead your price will be 11.50 for a single item
If in Europe/Australia/Asia and you would like priority mail instead your price will be 24.50 for a single item
Here is a break down of the new rates for anything over 4 lbs
Country Prev Price New Price
Priority Medium Flat Rate Box
US 9.99 12.50
Canada 32.99 51.50
Eur/Aus/Asia 45.99 61.50
Priority Large Flat Rate Box
US 14.99 16.50
Canada 46.99 55.00
Eur/Aus/Asia 63.99 81.50
So as you can see the rates went up quite a bit for these services but like i said this is mostly for coats. The standard items will still go low-cost to you. I hope this helps ease some of your minds about the rate rise. I know a lot of sellers have been freaking out about it..including myself. We hate to raise shipping rates, its not fair to you and its not fair to us but this one was actually "good" if you want to call it that, now i can offer first class to my customers..hooray!
Thanks for your continued support over these past..oh geez 8 years!! Wowzers, time flies.