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Henry,
Although it sounds like a big jump, when you do the math it is only a
15% increase over the old rate. When you consider that fuel costs have doubled
in the past year, it's really pretty amazing that the post office is holding the
inevitable increase to such a low level. We need to be thankful for that, but
you're right -- psychologically it is going to be an issue.
Given that another rate increase is almost certain to happen before long,
buyers and sellers are going to have to come to a compromise on
safety-during-shipping vs. cost-of-shipping. A single poster, reasonably
well packaged but not over-packaged should be able to go from the East Coast to
the West Coast for between $4.05 to $6.05 at the new Priority rates. But I have
noticed that a lot of sellers, in a effort to be extra-safe (which is laudable)
have been way over-packaging lately and thus adding to the weight. Of course,
you can make a very good argument that the extra $3 or $4 dollars is well-spent
to protect the poster. It's true, but I think sellers are probably going to have
to start looking at offering several levels of "standard" shipping fees.
Something like:
Basic Shipping -- $ 6.00 -- Your purchase will be well-packaged and should
arrive undamaged if nothing unusual happens during shipping.
Extra Safe -- $9.00 -- Your purchase will be packaged with additional
padding and protection, in a heavier box or mailing tube than our basic
rate.
Super Safe -- $12.00 and up depending on size and weight -- Your purchase
will be packaged in the most secure way possible in a container that should
withstand just about anything.
Then the buyer can make their own choice as to how much they want to
pay, because a lot of people are going to have a problem paying $9.00
or more to ship a poster worth $10 to $40 dollars.
-- JR
----- Original Message -----
From: Henry Mazel
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 13:12
Subject: [MOPO] Postal rate increase With insurance and delivery confirmation, this particular poster to LA cost ThePosterMint $16.00, a fair sized bite for shipping by the US post office. Henry The Poster Mint
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