Etsy Adds Discounted Cubic Rates To Replace USPS Regional Rate Shipping
Sellers have been scrambling to find alternative shipping methods since USPS discontinued Regional Rates effective January 22 and now it appears Etsy has an update announcing sellers will have access to discounted Priority Mail Cubic Rates going forward.
USPS Cubic Pricing
You now have access to USPS Cubic Pricing–a rate that isn’t offered at USPS retail locations– when you buy shipping labels on Etsy.
Cubic pricing rates are determined by package dimensions and distance traveled instead of weight so this can be a great, lower cost option if you ship heavier items that don’t take up much space, like a paperweight.To qualify, packages must:
- Weigh less than 20 pounds
- Measure up to 0.5 in cubic feet
- Have sides that are less than 18 inches; if a side is too close to this measurement, it might be disqualified.
Sellers in the Etsy community say you may still want to shop around though, as Etsy may not be showing the same discounts for Cubic Rates as PirateShip.
Some of my packages shipping cubic this week were the same price at Etsy and Pirate Ship. Some. Not all. So still have to compare if you want the best ship price.
Etsy isnt showing cubic rate in the drop down but if you look at the label, it's printed on there. Before the 22nd, Etsy cubic rate was higher. I switched to Pirate Ship for cheaper cubic rates. But since Monday, it seems Etsy is now passing on the discount to the seller. In most cases. I still see some pricing lower on Pirate Ship.
If I remember correctly, Etsy has had cubic, they just didn't pass on the discount to sellers. They probably decided to offer it because PirateShip is pulling a good portion of their label sales.
I'll stick with PirateShip.
Yes, you're correct. Etsy's Priority postage labels did show cubic tiers and Etsy only paid those cubic rates while sellers paid the Priority commercial rates, which at times could be quite a bit.
I bet they decided to offer cubic rates because of PS.
I wonder if eBay will do the same?
eBay sellers have been asking the same thing - but so far have not received any specific answers.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
They just "killed the golden goose". I imported my 1500+ eBay items to there since it was free. Turned out just to be a lot of work for (maybe) 3 sales a month.
The total fees were higher there before this new $20 a month cost structure, even though they claimed otherwise. When one factors in the 3.49% + 49 cent PayPal processing fees so one can get paid, there went a good chunk of profit.
Now they have boosted their commission to 11%, and still claim that the cost to sell there is less than eBay's. And remember that this does not include payment processing. WHY?? Makes no sense at all.
On eBay, for $27.95 a month, I sell over 100 items there every 30-31 days. Makes ZERO SENSE to pay a site $20 to make just a couple of sales. Since they now allow 50 "free listings", I have trimmed my offerings back to just below that amount. Also had to raise all my prices accordingly to absorb the extra selling costs.
The people who run the show here obviously didn't realize that eBay sellers who imported their listings gave the site a great depth of product, which would attract more buyers. Now that will be gone, because NO ONE will pay them $20 monthly for little to no sales.
The site also has technical issues that they refuse to fix. It was a decent resource to enable the occasional sale, but they will soon be stacked onto the eCommerce trash heap of companies that THOUGHT they could compete with Amazon and eBay. Etsy may also suffer the same fate soon, as many sellers are also leaving their site due to high fees, website issues, and poor management.
Basic eComm rule here: When you do not carry any inventory, and sellers are solely responsible for supplying your site with the goods offered, DON'T BITE THE HAND WHICH FEEDS YOU!!!
eBay seller since 2022
Just started selling about a year and half ago
800 items sold 99.7 feedback
Recently I went away for family things for 30 days set my acct to be away … got back with items not received cases opened
I wasn’t able to revise existing listings post new listings OR refund the buyer from my eBay funds …
The items were caught up in recent wild fires but ended up being delivered late. I had to beg the buyer to let me pay them off of eBay to close the case because it was on hold and I wasn’t able to refund them from my eBay acct etc…. So luckily they obliged and I did … but ever since then my acct must be strikes as high risk because funds have been on hold 3 days after delivery since then indefinitely might I add… I get the run around everytime etc etc FINALLY I got someone saying it’s temporary it’ll be back to normal etc. these r all reps from escalated departments… one lady told me that with my history and feedback I’ve proved beyond doubt that I’m reliable seller and shouldn’t be on hold she put in for a appeal never heard back got the run around for another few months… they keep telling me I’ve been chosen for the new update they r rolling out total BS … do you believe that sellers will stay on eBay with these holds ? No they will simply go to another platform … they r 100% making money on the holds and use any reasoning to tell you basically no and keep profiting…. The get around is creating a new acct… these cases were closed without eBay having to step in and might I add I lost $$ and its been truly frustrating esp since I’ve built the acct up but I know I can do it again.. when they tell me its going to happen to all accts I just mention how my brother just opened one n now has immediate payments they don’t know what to say I don’t think they really even know.,, its sad n scummy but I see a class action lawsuit coming honestly ! I don’t know💬 if I forgot anything but well written thanks for the information. Have a great one!