Postage Rates for Small Packages are Increasing Rapidly

Postage rates have changed rapidly over the last few years.  We ship a lot of very small packages; most of the time under 1 pound.  Postage in July 2005 for a small 1st class package was under $1.00.  Rates over the years slowly went up.  However, the last few years have been very different.  1st class is now called ground advantage and the lowest rate is close to $6.00.  These prices are with a commercial discount.  Full retail at the Post Office is much more expensive. 

We keep records of every order ever placed, every invoice, and the cost of every package ever sent out.  We can look at exact dates and tell you the exact price paid for a package going back 22 years!  We can look back at July 4th, 6 years ago in 2020 and tell you we were paying $2.84 for the majority of our small packages.  In 15 years the price went up about $1.50.  Now in just 6 years that price is $5.92 for the majority of our small packages.  That is more than a 100% increase in just 6 years!  We anticipate the prices will be going up much higher much faster unfortunately.

Going into our 22nd year of online beading sales it is tough!  This year is tougher than any we have faced before.  We had to raise our shipping charges and will soon need to raise them again as they are still not covering our shipping expenses.  In the past if a small item was missing or broken, we could send it out for a $1.00.  Now, that missing or broken item costs $6.00 to ship.  If the original order was $5.00 plus $6.00 shipping and now we are spending an additional $6.00 on shipping we are losing money and cannot operate for long.  We now ask our customers if we can send this item with their next order or if we can give them a credit.  We quality check every order we send to minimize errors.  It is just too costly to make a mistake these days.