UPS and Fedex have both announced rate increases, which will “coincidentally” average 4.9% for both shippers. The USPS has announced increases averaging 9.5% across many services, however there will be no Media Mail postage increase–good news for book publishers selling Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) and Kickstarter project creators shipping books!
UPS Details
- Increases were effective February 28, 2015.
- The 4.9% increase covers all services except for UPS Air and UPS International, which will increase 5.2%.
Fedex Details
- Increases were effective January 4, 2016.
- Increases apply to Fedex Ground, Express, Home Delivery, and Freight. The Freight rates are for destinations within the U.S., and between the U.S. and Canada and the U.S. and Mexico.
USPS Details
- Increases will be effective January 17, 2016.
- Priority Mail will increase about 9.8%, the first hike in three years.
- Priority Mail Express will go up about 15.6%.
- First-Class Mail Parcel rates willl increase about 12.8%, but the weight limit has increased from 12.99 oz. to 15.99 oz.
- Priority Mail International goes up 19.2%, and Priority Mail Express International will rise 11.6%.
- No increases to Media Mail or Library Mail. One source says that First Class Mail letters, flats and parcels will also not increase, but that seems to conflict with other sources.
Impact on Bookmobile Publisher Customers
Bookmobile ships books mainly three ways: cartons via UPS, pallets via UPS Freight and other LTL services, and orders to consumers for DTC sales via USPS, primarily Media Mail.
- Shipping cartons via UPS will increase approximately 4.9%.
- Shipping pallets via UPS will increase approximately 4.9%.
- Shipping packages via Media Mail will not increase.
No Increase in Shipping to Itasca Books!
Shipping from our print plant to our Itasca Books warehouse will not increase at all! It’s currently free and will remain free.
Interesting Perspective on the Much-Maligned USPS
As a side note, there was a great piece on the USPS in the Times last week by an author who comes from Turkey, a country where, like many in the world, reliable postal service is unknown: Why the Post Office Makes America Great. She also gives a shout out to public libraries!
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I’d be happy to answer questions—you can contact me via email. I welcome any feedback, including that pointing out my errors!
Don Leeper is founder and CEO of Bookmobile, which has provided design, printing, eBook, and distribution services for book publishers since 1982.