Etsy Adds Discounted Cubic Rates To Replace USPS Regional Rate Shipping

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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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.

Re: 2023 United States Postal Service Rate Changes and Updates
January 22, 2023: Regional Rates USPS has discontinued Regional Rate Box prices. This means that this mail class is no longer available when you purchase shipping labels through Etsy. The recommended alternative for Regional Rate Box pricing is Priority Mail Cubic–more details below. You can f…

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:

  1. Weigh less than 20 pounds
  2. Measure up to 0.5 in cubic feet
  3. 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.

Etsy adds cubic rates?
2023 United States Postal Service Rate Changes and... - Welcome to the Etsy Community Etsy is adding cubic rate pricing? I am reading that to mean Priority and Parcel not just the new Parcel cubic? How are you reading it?

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.

Will eBay Support USPS Cubic Rate To Replace Discontinued Regional Rate?
Sellers scrambling after USPS Regional Rate discontined ask - will eBay support Priority Mail Cubic as a replacement?
EtsyShipping

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Liz Morton is a 17 year ecommerce pro turned indie investigative journalist providing ad-free deep dives on eBay, Amazon, Etsy & more, championing sellers & advocating for corporate accountability.


Recent Comments
Avatar PlaceholderMksowa12 hours ago
They need to fix a very broken system full of nasty attitudes. The patrons no longer matter.
Avatar PlaceholderMarty_JYesterday
Was just checking to see if it would post without creating an account but….
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!
Avatar PlaceholderJkvinyl3Yesterday
As many have already quoted - us sellers now can not charge for packaging. I will be £500 a year out of pocket.