eBay Announce Peak Season Shipping Rate Surcharges Affecting Sellers Using USPS & FedEx – Updated 10/26/2021
It has been no secret that many of the leading couriers have been planning more peak season shipping surcharges for the upcoming holiday season to cover some of the increased logistics and staffing costs. FedEx already announced their surcharges in August and now eBay has released an announcement to help all of their sellers when it comes to navigating these couriers and peak season surcharges.
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In addition to the eBay update on FedEx, the carrier also issued an update today on its money-back guarantee. Effective November 1, FedEx will suspend its FedEx Money-Back Guarantee on all domestic services during the holiday season. Here is more information about this change.
The eBay Peak Season Shipping Rate Surcharges Announcement
“USPS® and FedEx® have announced increases to shipping rates and surcharges for the upcoming peak holiday season. While UPS® has also announced peak rate surcharges for many customers, when you ship with UPS using eBay Labels, peak season rate increases will not apply.
To help you understand the carrier updates, we’ve summarized the changes below. We encourage you to review the changes and plan ahead for higher peak season shipping rates.
USPS
The United States Postal Service (USPS) will temporarily increase shipping rates from October 3 to December 26, 2021. These peak season rate increases will apply anywhere postage is purchased. However, you can still pay below USPS retail rates by using eBay Labels to print USPS postage.
- The First Class rate will increase by $0.30 per package.
- The Priority Mail Flat Rate and Priority Mail Express Flat Rate will increase by $0.75 per package.
- Rate increases for Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Parcel Select, and Retail Ground are based on the destination and dimensions of the package:
FedEx
FedEx announced increases on specific surcharges for this peak season.
Per-package delivery surcharges from November 1, 2021, to January 16, 2022
Peak Residential Delivery surcharges will be updated for the following FedEx services:
- FedEx Express per-package surcharge. A peak surcharge of $1.63 will be applied to all shipments.
- FedEx Ground per-package surcharge. There will be no peak surcharge for shipments.
- FedEx Ground Economy per-package surcharge. A peak surcharge of $1.50 will be applied to all FedEx Ground Economy (previously called FedEx SmartPost) shipments.
Accessorial surcharge Increases from October 4, 2021 to January 16, 2022
An additional peak season fee will be added to the standard rates FedEx assesses on the following surcharges:
- Additional Handling will increase by $5.95 per package.
- Oversized Package will increase by $30.00 per package.
- Ground Unauthorized Shipment will increase by $350.00 per package.
These surcharges are most commonly applied when package dimensions exceed certain limitations or when non-standard packaging is used. The charges can be both unexpected and costly. You can help avoid these surcharges by accurately measuring and entering the weight and dimensions of your package when you print your shipping label. Learn how the way you package can affect your bottom line.
Learn more about 2021 FedEx Express and FedEx Ground surcharges and fees.
UPS
There will be no UPS rate or surcharge increases this peak season when you use eBay Labels.
Tip: Use eBay’s shipping calculator to calculate accurate shipping costs. Peak season rate increases will be updated in the shipping calculator.
If you have questions about any of these changes or shipping best practices, please check directly with your carrier.
We know how important shipping is in your business, especially during the peak holiday season. We work closely with the carriers and continually monitor their performance. We will update you on any further changes as they develop.
As always, thank you for selling on eBay.
The Shipping Team”
As any more developments unfold we will keep you updated on what this means for you and your business.
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Dave Furness
Dave is a Co-Founder of eSeller365. For over 10 years he has been involved with eCommerce with a particular interest in the marketplaces and the huge opportunities available for sellers when utilizing a multi-channel strategy. After a year of being the UK’s youngest eCommerce consultant, he built an education platform called UnderstandingE that showed the world how to utilize Magento as the “Third Generation of Multi-Channel software”.
Dave has also created a YouTube channel dedicated to entrepreneurship and eCommerce as well as a podcast dedicated to mental health awareness. When Dave isn’t working his main interests include learning and playing Chess, researching the Crypto and NFT space, and trying to find the nearest beach.