USPS DIM Witted Price Increase 23 June

[Shesawaya38485]

I didn't see anything on here about "Phase 2" of this year's USPS price increases that take effect 23 June - "having to do with DIM Weight. That stands for dimensional weight, a pricing method shipping carriers came up with to charge more for packages that are lightweight, but take up a lot of room."

I've sent an e-mail to support to see if they are going to make any changes to the shipping calculator or if we will have to figure it out for ourselves and mark anything that is more than 1 cubic foot as "Oversize Package".

What’s Changing on June 23rd
Currently the USPS DIM divisor is 194, and it only applies to Priority Mail parcels larger than a cubic foot for packages going to zones 5-9.
Beginning June 23, the USPS is changing the DIM divisor from 194 to 166 (the lower the number, the higher the rate); it’s expanding DIM Weight to all zones; and it’s expanding DIM Weight pricing beyond Priority Mail to include Priority Mail Express and Parcel Select Ground.
What is not changing is the box size – USPS DIM Weight still applies only to boxes larger than a cubic foot (1728 cubic inches).


https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2019/...tal-rate-hike/

[rocks2dust]

It seems that they are pushing as much as possible toward the Priority Flat Rate model for things shipped in all but small boxes.

For anything else, it is going to be an added chore to figure out the dimensional capacity for boxes, unless you buy boxes with that info already printed on the bottoms. The cubic capacity is already printed on the free Priority boxes, but those don't work with other services. Cubic capacity rates have been available to commercial accounts for some time, though unavailable to most shippers (except through a few sites, e.g.: pirateship.com) and not at post office counters.

[Shesawaya38485]

It seems that they are pushing as much as possible toward the Priority Flat Rate model for things shipped in all but small boxes.

You are probably right, as it does make sense from a business perspective - if all boxes are the same size and shape they can be more efficiently loaded into trucks. Odd size boxes "waste" space. One would think that they would make a wider variety of flat rate boxes available to achieve more efficiency in their loading. I do recall reading another article using Amazon as an example (which I have seen Amazon do) of sellers who use what ever size box is convenient and shipping small items in large boxes with more packing material, when a smaller box would work just as well.

I did get a reply from support this morning:

"Hi Shes,

Thanks for the email, we are aware of the changes and have checked that our calculated shipping system will access the new amounts when they go live."

We'll just have to check our larger items to see if anything needs to be changed after the update.

[rocks2dust]

One would think that they would make a wider variety of flat rate boxes available to achieve more efficiency in their loading.

Yes, I've also noticed that Amazon boxes arrive mostly full of bags of air. For larger and heavier items going by USPS that won't fit into Small Flat Rate boxes, I'm a fan of the USPS Priority Regional Rate A boxes. Within the US, shipping them costs less than the Medium Flat Rate boxes.

[KCAuto]

I didn't see anything on here about "Phase 2" of this year's USPS price increases that take effect 23 June - "having to do with DIM Weight. That stands for dimensional weight, a pricing method shipping carriers came up with to charge more for packages that are lightweight, but take up a lot of room."

I've sent an e-mail to support to see if they are going to make any changes to the shipping calculator or if we will have to figure it out for ourselves and mark anything that is more than 1 cubic foot as "Oversize Package".

What’s Changing on June 23rd
Currently the USPS DIM divisor is 194, and it only applies to Priority Mail parcels larger than a cubic foot for packages going to zones 5-9.
Beginning June 23, the USPS is changing the DIM divisor from 194 to 166 (the lower the number, the higher the rate); it’s expanding DIM Weight to all zones; and it’s expanding DIM Weight pricing beyond Priority Mail to include Priority Mail Express and Parcel Select Ground.
What is not changing is the box size – USPS DIM Weight still applies only to boxes larger than a cubic foot (1728 cubic inches).


https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2019/...tal-rate-hike/

usps retail ground is the cheapest (for zones 5-9) of all for packages over 1 cubic foot (1728) now but you have to purchase over the counter. priority still beats retail ground for zones 1-4. retail ground will only deliver to zones 1-4 if it is a 'hazardous' package - marked consumer comodity - orm-d - and identifies what hazardous material/item is in it such as 'isopropyl alcohol 70% (by volume) External Use Only - maybe throw a few alcohol pads in the box? as far as i can determine this change does not affect flat rate packages (as the usps has already figured dim weight into their pricing). but the listings here definitely need the ability to show dimensions in order to calculate correctly.

i just joined site and have a few questions re how state sales taxes are handled here? re package dimensions in listings so they calculate mailing costs correctly?