eBay’s government relations office has started an online petition to ask Congress to support the US Postal Service. A statement on the petition page says “eBay supports financial relief for the USPS and forward-thinking policies to restructure the postal service and keep shipping rates affordable. It is imperative that eBay small businesses have access to low-cost, reliable shipping alternatives.”

Dear Senator/Representative:

Please take swift action to provide relief to the United States Postal Service (USPS). It’s very important that U.S. postal operations remain strong and solvent to ensure small Internet-enabled businesses have access to affordable shipping rates.

Small businesses depend on the affordable and reliable services provided by the USPS to get their products to customers. Together, e-commerce retailers constitute a USPS “super user,” and have helped offset some of the decline in traditional mail by generating increasing numbers of products for delivery. In fact, the Census Bureau has noted that e-commerce retail sales to consumers reached an all-time high in 2009, with total sales of $145 billion. And that number continues to grow as more and more businesses use the Internet to reach a new consumer base.

As online retail grows, affordable and competitive shipping rates are more and more important to the industry. Affordable shipping rates are particularly important to small e-commerce retailers that compete with large online and multi-channel retailers. Already, small businesses do not enjoy the same volume-based shipping rates that larger retailers command. This price difference is a challenge for small business retailers competing in a world of big retailers. Increases to USPS shipping rates would further jeopardize small retailers’ competitiveness.

It is essential that any restructuring of the USPS preserve competition in the marketplace, while ensuring affordable and timely shipping options. I urge you to support small online businesses by passing legislation that would provide relief to the USPS and retain competitive, affordable shipping rates for small businesses.

Sincerely,

via eBay Main Street Online Petition – Review Petition Text.

SHANGHAI — The U.S. Postal Service entered into an international tri-lateral agreement today in Shanghai, China with eBay Greater China & Southeast Asia (eBay GC) and China Post Express & Logistics Corporation. The agreement creates a new, simplified shipping platform for international tracking and delivery of lightweight goods ordered by consumers in the U.S. from eBay sellers in China.

The collaborative service and marketing agreement for these lightweight shipments provides U.S. consumers with greater convenience and delivery confirmation information online at usps.com. Sellers using eBay GC can track their shipments with electronic notifications such as in-process and proof-of-delivery scans at ebay.cn. Upon arrival in the U.S., these shipments are processed as domestic First-Class Mail, with a one to three-day delivery standard.

Sellers in China using the shipping platform through eBay GC are expected to ship small items such as cellular telephone accessories and electronics weighing up to 4.4 pounds (2 kilos), with most in the range of 13 ounces and under.

“This collaboration will increase convenience and improve delivery consistency for American consumers ordering small shipments from merchants in China, and holds great potential for increasing international package volumes for the Postal Service,” said Pranab Shah, managing director and vice president, Global Business. “We look forward to working with our business partners to build upon this agreement as we move forward.”

The agreement is in keeping with strategies to increase revenue and meet demand in the global marketplace as outlined in a comprehensive plan announced recently by the Postal Service. Ensuring a Viable Postal Service for America, the Postal Service action plan for the next decade, describes a flexible, agile Postal Service that can adapt to America’s changing mailing habits and preferences.

The global alliance positions China Post and the Postal Service as the preferred shippers and delivery agents of choice for eBay GC. eBay GC developed a seamless shipping application which allows its sellers to print online shipping labels, request pickups and track the status of shipments. China Post’s alliance with the Postal Service includes development of cobranded, data-rich shipping labels integrated with barcoding technology readable by both China Post and the Postal Service, along with logistics planning and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) information exchanges.

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – April 13, 2010) – Stamps.com® (NASDAQ: STMP), the leading provider of postage online and shipping software solutions to approximately 400,000 customers, today announced that it will continue to enable unlimited batch shipping from eBay Stores without any service fees to new customers who sign up before October 1, 2010. Batch shipping with Stamps.com allows eBay sellers to print up to 1,000 labels at a time, and via all classes of USPS mail — including First Class Mail International®. Read the rest of this entry »

An article on the Entrepreneur Magazine web site explains how one e-Bay seller is dealing with the USPS rate increase. Unfortunately, she gets the rationale for the increase wrong. “the main [reason] the extra revenue is needed [is] to fulfill a federal law that requires the USPS to place $1.3 billion in an escrow account to cover civil service retirement benefits. ”

Actually, the escrow payment is the only reason for the increase. And the amount is $3.1 billion, not 1.3. And it isn’t to “cover civil service retirement benefits”- the only real reason for the escrow account at the moment is to provide a few extra bucks to offset the Bush budget defecit.

But there are a couple of interesting comments made by the author:

• “One very smart way for a seller to turn insurance from a high expense into a profit center is to consider using private package insurance. I’ve used the services of a company called U-Pic.com for several years and have saved considerably on my insurance. My customers get optional insurance and pay the standard USPS rates. I pay U-Pic their standard rate, which is a 60-percent savings to me over the USPS rates. I actually profit while insuring my packages!”
• “Another thing to consider when using Priority Mail is the availability of free boxes–delivered direct to your door by the post office. This doesn’t seem like much, but you can save up to 65 cents per box when you buy in bulk.”
• “My first knee-jerk reaction was thinking I would switch all my shipping over to UPS or FedEx Ground, but then found out that they’ve had rate increases as well.”

That last comment does make me wonder how much of an eBay expert the author is, if she doesn’t realize that UPS and FedEx raise their prices every year, but maybe it’s just that she’s always used the PO?

Ouch! The Postal Rates Went Up!