USPS mulls raising fees for some packages during holiday season

The United States Postal Service's proposal to temporarily hike prices on “some package services" could cost Long Island businesses and consumers more this holiday season.

The price changes, if approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, would take effect Oct. 5 and run through Jan. 18, the Postal Service said in a news release late last week. The hike is necessary to help offset increased handling costs of shipping during the agency’s peak season, which “include hiring additional employees to process and deliver seasonal mail,” Martha Johnson, senior public relations representative for USPS, said in an email.

Prices would rise for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage and Parcel Select products, but the cost of stamps and other offerings would not be impacted, the agency said.

The scheduled price increases vary from 30 cents to as much as $16 depending on the service, weight of the parcel and distance between sender and destination, according to the announcement.

The Postal Service's busiest time of the year is the two weeks before Christmas, Johnson said.

The Postal Regulatory Commission is expected to make a decision within 30 days on whether to approve the price increases, Johnson added.

But local business community leaders emphasized the negative impact the hikes would have on local businesses.

“Increased shipping costs is yet another gut punch to small businesses that rely on the USPS for sending goods to their customers,” Matt Cohen, president and CEO of the Long Island Association business group said in a emailed statement.

“It couldn’t be at a worse time when so many need a successful holiday season to make up for slow stretches during the rest of the year,” Cohen said. 

News of the shipping price increases follows a July news release in which the USPS announced increases to the price of Forever stamps and other mailing products and services. 

The Postal Service has said that both those recent stamp price increases as well as the temporary hike in shipping costs for packages are part of its 10-year “Delivering for America” plan. 

The plan, launched in 2021, aims to make the agency financially self-sustaining through operational investments, including $40 billion in staff and infrastructure over the decade. Additional planned investments include upgrades to USPS' parcel sorting equipment, its information technology systems, carrier mobile devices and vehicle modernization.

Lisa Mettrock, owner of Huntington-based A Tisket A Tasket Anything In A Basket, a gift basket business, said she isn't surprised to hear about a planned increase given the higher costs of shipping she's seen over the years already. 

“Everything is going up,” Mettrock said. “The cost of shipping is insane. It’s not just USPS, FedEx does it do.” FedEx most recently increased shipping rates for its Express, Ground and Freight services by an average of 5.9% at the start of the year, the company said in an overview of its price changes.

Mettrock, whose business primarily uses UPS, FedEx and USPS to deliver its products to customers, said price hikes on shipping put pressure on smaller businesses.

While raising prices on consumers can help offset costs, it has its limits when many competitors offer free shipping, Mettrock said.

“You can charge more, but it’s just going to hurt the bottom line because there’s just too many places that give you free shipping,” she said. “The problem is you can’t keep upping prices for customers, but your overhead just gets higher and higher.”