Thursday, August 1, 2013

Thank You USPS

In case you haven't heard, the post office recently made some awesome changes! Here are the 4 changes that have been made:
1) Rebranding: Express Mail will be changed to Priority Mail Express (and Express Mail International will be changed to Priority Mail Express International);
2) Estimated delivery: Priority Mail packages will have an estimated service of 1 day, 2 days, or 3 days that will be displayed on the payment receipt, online shipping label and in the USPS Tracking information.
3) Insurance: Domestic Priority Mail will now include insurance with no additional charge.
4) International Tracking: Delivery Confirmation is now included for First Class Package International Service, and Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope and Small Flat Rate Box shipments going to the following countries: Canada, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland

Rebranding is probably the least exciting as that's just a change in appearance and no change in service. Estimated delivery is a nice change, but again, more of an appearance change than a change in service. Your package will still arrive in the same amount of time it would have before the change, you just get a better idea of when your package should arrive. But of course, the dates aren't guaranteed.

The two most exciting changes are the added insurance and the tracking for international packages!
The post office hasn't been real clear on the added insurance, but you will receive either $50 or $100 of free insurance with Priority Mail as of July 28th. Etsy states that any packages shipped with their labels will have $100 worth of insurance. Packages shipped with usps.com or other services may only carry $50. Either way that's a great addition!

 Tracking to international destinations is very exciting! I don't know how many times I've had customers ask when their package should arrive. The last scanned destination would be SC CHICAGO IL (USPS), US and then nothing for over a week. It's very hard to tell your customer "Sorry, I wish I had more information for you. But that's all they gave me." So it's very nice to have scans all along the way. It also covers sellers for non delivery cases as well.

Currently these changes don't come with any price increases. I'm hoping that the increases we saw at the start of 2013 took care of all these changes. I just hope we don't see another increase in 2014. But for now, I'll enjoy these awesome changes :)

14 comments:

  1. This is really helpful- especially the international tracking. That would have saved me a huge hassle earlier this year!

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  2. I am so excited about these changes! I printed a Priorty Mail label a couple of days ago and it read "2 day" on in big font on the label! Very cool. The international tracking is super awesome especially with all the orders going to AU and the UK!

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  3. Very positive changes. I was surprised to get the free insurance yesterday. And the international tracking will be GREAT! (Sometimes the hang up is in Customs, and nobody has control over that.)

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  4. Hooray for international tracking! It's about time! Those seem to be the only packages that ever get "stolen."

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  5. I had NO idea about this! Way to go USPS on getting the word out (not) but I'm glad you shared this. This is a great help!

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  6. I don't know how they'll get the other countries to track the packages but I sure hope it works as planned! Thanks for all this great info Edi!

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  7. It's such a refreshing change of pace to see some positive improvements from USPS! The international shipping changes are huge!

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  8. It's about time the Dutch mail makes some positive changes. Today prices went up for the second time this year. Unfortunately, they don't use the money to improve service. Hurray for positive changes :-)

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  9. The international tracking is an awesome change! And the free insurance too. Good stuff!

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  10. This is great, especially the international tracking! Love that! Thanks for sharing the info!

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  11. The insurance and international tracking is fantastic news! Also, I have to say I love the new packaging too. :)

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  12. I don't much ship to international or priority. My items are much softer than yours and don't need special handling. But this is all good to know! Thanks!

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  13. woo hoo! international tracking and scanning!

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  14. This is great & I knew nothing about it. Thanks for the heads up!

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