If you haven't ordered something online or shipped a package lately, you may be surprised at how much shipping fees have increased. At the end of January 2021 every shipping option has increased in price.
FedEx Ground, FedEx 2Day®, FedEx Home Delivery®, and FedEx SmartPost® services increased approximately 4.9%
USPS shipping services: Priority Mail—3.5% increase, Priority Mail Express—1.2% increase, First Class Package—6.5% increase, Parcel Select—4.9% increase
UPS published rates increased by an average of 4.9% effective December 27, 2020
I had someone on Ebay ask me why shipping cost so much on a $4.50 item that they wanted to buy. The person was located about a 1000 miles from me. The package weight was over 1 pound, so it needs to be shipped with Priority Mail or FedEx/UPS ground. The lowest rate was $11.10 using Priority Mail. It is unlikely that someone is going to spend 2.5X the value of an item for shipping. I think this is going to have a severe impact on online retail. No one is going to pay more in shipping than an item is worth, unless they have no other option. When I look for items to resell, I include the cost of shipping to determine if the resale value of an item will result in a profit. If I find an item for $20 and shipping is $10, I have to be able to sell it for $40, in order to make a profit, or it just isn't worth my time. This eliminates many items, and is making it even more difficult for online resellers to make money in 2021. My sales have dropped off 75% compared to the same time period in 2020. Online sellers will be placing more local pickup only listings, or using platforms like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace to find local buyers and avoid high shipping fees. People will be going back to shopping at local stores instead of buying online.
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