New Media Mail Prices

Media mail prices will go up on May 11, 2009. Here is the link:

May 2009 USPS prices

I have kept my base rate at $3.75 for at least a couple of years. At some point, I increased to $3.85 but decreased again to $3.75 to stay competitive with what others were charging on eBay. That was at the time in which I was still into playing eBay's games, and I have continued to hold onto the $3.75 price even though I should have raised it. So my rate stayed at $3.75 for longer than it should have.

On May 11, the cost of a one-pound media mail package will increase from $2.23 to $2.38, and the cost of a two-pound package will increase from $2.58 to $2.77. Since most of my packages which contain one book always weigh between one and two pounds, the cost of a media mail package will increase $0.19 for me.

Additionally, I have now used PayPal shipping for all of my packages for two years. Delivery confirmation is required on all PayPal packages, and this adds $0.18 to the postage. I notice that the retail delivery confirmation (when bought at the counter in a post office) will increase from $0.70 to $0.80. This means that the PayPal delivery confirmation may increase as well.

Assuming that the PayPal delivery confirmation remains at $0.18, the cost of a two-pound media mail package will be $2.95. I figure in around a $1.00 handling charge which does not necessarily completely cover the cost of tape, stretch wrap, and boxes that I purchase. I see that I must increase my base rate to a minimum of $3.95 to cover my costs.

The point of this message is to alert anyone who is only a buyer that nearly all sellers will be raising their rates within one month. Even though I have only mentioned media mail in this post, be aware that priority mail, first class stamps, and most everything else will also increase.

Fortunately Bonanzle has a batch editor, and I should be able to change the postage amount for all of my listings in a relatively small amount of time. I will make the necessary changes around May 10. On the other hand, I might hold off for a few weeks. As I recall from several years ago when I made the change from $3.45 to either $3.65 or $3.75, I held off for around a month to wait for everyone else to increase their rates first. By doing that, I let buyers get used to the higher prices as they bought from other sellers, then I increased my rates.