{"id":35631,"date":"2020-01-31T22:24:15","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T22:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shippingeasy.com\/?p=35631"},"modified":"2020-01-31T22:24:15","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T22:24:15","slug":"2020-shipping-rates-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shippingeasy.com\/blog\/2020-shipping-rates-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"2020 Shipping Rates Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

As of January 26, the 2020 shipping rates have all taken effect. Merchants are beginning to settle in and adjust to paying a little more to ship packages. Not all merchants are fully aware of exactly what changed and how they should best adapt. If you haven\u2019t already, our E-commerce Seller\u2019s Guide to the 2020 Shipping Rate Changes gives you a full breakdown of the changes and what they mean. In this article, we\u2019ll give you the short and sweet version.<\/p>\n

2020 shipping rates: what changed?<\/H2><\/p>\n

The short answer: compared to the massive changes in 2019, not much has changed this year. 2020 USPS shipping rates increased an average of only 3.5% across services, which is much less than last year. Part of that is because of the major overhaul in 2019 of First-Class Package Service, which went from flat rate by weight to zone-based shipping by weight. <\/p>\n

\"2020<\/p>\n

While paying more to ship a package is never good news, e-commerce merchants can rejoice in the fact that USPS didn\u2019t make structural changes or increase rates to an excessive degree. For example, the aforementioned First-Class Package Service rates only increased by 2.4% on average. <\/p>\n

Get a full deep-dive overview of the 2020 rate changes in chart form by checking out this article<\/a>.<\/H6><\/p>\n

FedEx and UPS Daily Rates increased their shipping rates by an average of 4.9% across services. This is in-line with the rate increases both carriers have implemented over the past couple of years. When it comes to FedEx and UPS, however, simple rate increases aren\u2019t where things are problematic. The problem is the fees and surcharges that get added to the increased rates, which show up on invoices later. <\/p>\n

Fees could be more of a problem in 2020<\/H2><\/p>\n

The vast majority of e-commerce packages are destined for home delivery. With USPS, this doesn\u2019t matter. Packages are delivered wherever USPS delivers. When it comes to FedEx and UPS, merchants have to pay Residentia Surcharges for packages delivered to home addresses rather than businesses. <\/p>\n

UPS increased residential air services by 3.5% and residential ground services by 3.8%. While this doesn\u2019t sound like much at first, when you compare that to how much it adds to your package shipment, it can feel like a lot more. <\/p>\n