primitive jumps back into selling on eBay; shipping a shocker

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=403x2939

Oh my.

grasswire  (1000+ posts)      Tue Jun-23-09 06:53 PM
Original message
 
what the heck has happened to shipping costs??

I've jumped back into selling on eBay. Today I mailed out my first package. I had charged the buyer $4 for postage. It rang up at almost $16 for postage and delivery confirmation!

Shipping costs have apparently exploded in the last several years. Did they jump when oil was high and never go down again?

GAH!!!

Vinca  (1000+ posts)      Wed Jun-24-09 08:15 AM
Response to Original message
 
1. It's foolishly expensive now. I guess the fixed rate boxes are a good deal, but they're too small to fit much into. Even cards cost more to mail. I had a regular stamp on my brother's musical birthday card but decided to have them weigh it to be sure and it was 3 times as much based on being a little bit larger than a regular letter.

democraticinsurgent  (864 posts)        Wed Jun-24-09 09:26 AM
Response to Original message
 
2. The May postal hike was sneaky in some ways

Although the first class stamp went up by only 2 cents to 44 cents, the price of a small first class international package (a square, 5 oz package containing one 45 record) to most European countries went up from $4.80 to $5.64. Craziness and certainly not proportional in any way to the main increase.

[Traveshamockery]

Methinks shipping at the post office is a pretty good bargain if you consider what it would involve if you actually had to deliver some of those packages yourself. 

[thundley4]

Hm, the DUmmies are complaining about costs at the United States Post Office, a GOVERNMENT controlled operation?