More details of the May 12 rate increase were released today. With these announcements, the USPS continues it’s shift from a mailing service to a shipping service.
With dropping volume in letter mail, the USPS has been emphasizing their packages services in recent years. They have been particularly aggressive with flat rate Priority Mail boxes, targeted at eBay sellers, and Express Mail services.
Two rule changes allow them to become even more competitive in the package services (shipping) market. They will now use zones to calculate the postage on shipments that formerly had fixed prices, and they are now able to offer discounts based on mailing volume and source of sale (online shipments for example).
Here are some of the details of the new shipping rates…