The Postal Service announced Thursday that it lost $1.9 billion in the six months that ended March 31. Revenues dropped 1.4 percent vs. the same period in 2009 and mail volume dropped 6.3 percent. USPS reported that 88.1 billion pieces of mail were delivered in the first six months of the current fiscal year and that includes a $180 million boost in first-class mail from the Census Bureau.
To regain viability USPS is seeking congressional approval to eliminate Saturday mail delivery and for relief from an annual payment of more than $5 billion for retiree health benefits.
In April, the Government Accountability Office agreed, reporting that the post office’s business model “is not viable due to USPS’s inability to reduce costs sufficiently in response to continuing mail volume and revenue declines. Given its financial problems and outlook, USPS cannot support its current level of service and operations.”
In addition, according to the GAO the post office is nearing its $15 billion borrowing limit mandated by the U.S. Treasury and has unfunded pension and retiree health obligations and other liabilities of about $90 billion. Without an overhaul, “risks of larger USPS losses, rate increases and taxpayer subsidies will increase.”
This situation is really bad for us merchants that are currently dependent on the USPS for deliver service. With many companies constantly vying for merchant customers to use USPS services and discounted rates, should we be concerned? How much longer can the USPS sustain these losses without passing off cost to shippers or even worse, reducing service levels?
Wow, considering shipping is 1/2 of your scoring factor for eBay’s Top Rated Seller program, I really think it is important for us merchants to weigh the long term risks for our business models. If you are dependent on USPS, where does your model churn if cost skyrocket or service declines in this “DSR-Customer Feedback” driven society on multi channel platforms?!?
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We mostly ship small orders by USPS (small, flat-rate box) because FedEx Ground and UPS cannot compete with the $4.95 price. As soon as an order is large enough to require a medium, flat-rate box, it's often cheaper to send it FedEx or UPS.
While I appreciate the free boxes we receive from the USPS, I can't help but wonder how much money is being wasted on them… and how many thousands (possibly tens of thousands) of these boxes are being used for moving or storage.
I'd rather provide my own boxes in exchange for lower rates and better service.
Ever since eBay dumped everything from store to core, most small to medium sellers (and some large volume sellers too) are not getting exposure on the eBay site, which is a service eBay should be providing with those ridiculous HIGHER fee's! Sellers keep calling Ebay about this issue but hear the same lame excuse over and over, “We didn't know there was an issue”.
JD has all customer reps lying to people and sounding like broken records.
Not only has that man ruined many lives (including senior citizens that were trying to make a little cash for medical expenses, prescriptions, etc, etc) but he is also making it worse for USPS!! I went to my post office last week and told them what is going on with eBay, and they were completely and utterly taken back at what JD is doing. The manager told me now they understand what's been going on since around the middle of April, why it's gotten even worse with USPS. They were depending on eBay sellers, but now can't, since so many sellers have, and are continuing to leave eBay.
Thousands of eBay sellers are leaving because they are not getting exposure which means NO SALES and MUCH LESS PACKAGES BEING MAILED! Sellers are fed up with eBay taking their fee's and not providing service, and if the rumor is true as most suspect is, JD is trying to rid eBay of all the small to medium size sellers while lying and saying “I love all my children”, as he did. The numbers don't lie, everyone knows eBay is declining and it's all because of one sociopath of a man. People want the old eBay back, the way it was when EVERYONE was making money!! I am so sick of JD saying it's 2010 and eccomerce is changing everyday, blah, blah, blah. There was never a platform such as the way eBay once was where people could find hard to find items, collectibles and such that they can't find anywhere else. Sure, the Goodwill carries collectibles, but you have to be darn lucky to find what your looking for there! Ebay HAD it all, and that's what the people want back! Ebay is flooded right now with Chinese junk that anyone can pick up at their local Walmart and the flooding is the reason most sellers are not getting exposure! Buyers do NOT want to go through pages and pages of Chinese junk to find what they are looking for. Most just give up after a couple pages.
This is not the only problem, scammers are worse than they ever were on eBay and it's because of the unfair one-way feedback, DSR stars, and buyer protection plan. Don't get me wrong, I do think the buyer protection is a good idea, but there has to be fairness to everyone, including the sellers.
I don't think there is a CEO that's hated as much as John Donahoe is hated.
Most sellers loathed Meg Whitman, but I was one that didn't, because EVERYONE was making money when she was there!! Personally, I hope she loses her run for CA governor, JD is kicked out on his arrogant a$$, and Meg comes back to clean up his mess!!
To read a good discussion thread right on eBay's own site, I recommend reading all the complaints here:
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Seller-Central…
To read a blog with the TRUTH about what is going on with eBay and paypal, I recommend reading here:
http://www.bloggernews.net/124457
And for your enjoyment, here's a picture of the moron that gets pleasure out of ruining peoples lives (and helping more with the decline of USPS)!
The nose in the following picture tells all!!
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/1140/pinocchiojo…
One thing I do know, people CAN NOT WAIT until the following happens!
http://corporate.visa.com/media-center/press-re…
Paypal is JD's backup excuse that he uses to hide the real eBay numbers!!
Looking forward to seeing what the next two quarters bring. I always get a kick out of JD's excuses, which is the reason for the Donicchio picture!
[...] and authorized the production of a pane of four evergreen tree branches as the [...] Related posts:The USPS is Hemorrhaging Money At a Staggering Rate The Postal Service announced Thursday that it lost $1.9 [...]
to understand you must research on usps starting with free google book of ” The United States Post Office, its past record, it present condition and it potential relation to the new world era, by Daneil Calhoun Roper, chairperson of the United States Tarriff Commission and First Assistant Post Master General, 1913 1917, in 1971 was the great postal strike making the USPO into the USPS. In 2000, 2001, the Postal employee were made to pay in an extra 15 percent to their retirment funds , knows as fers and csrs, for budget deficit balance only. Then in 2002 this increase was removed by the president from his budget ( he and congress had thanked the usps employees for thier sacrifice) in 2003 congress got infomred of the overpayments to the retirment funds, so then the congrss enacted the postal accountibility and enhancement act. from there you can read on things changing in the usps at http://www.postalmag.com/joygoldberguspsstres.pdf or awpu 3800 library, stess in the workplace articals. Then go to http://www.billburras.org -misc, type tose words in to find, bill burras journal, should show up with org, and misc, scroll read elevator and phoney excuses for diverting usps revenus, then go to ALEC/Koch Cabal The privitization of USPS for Ups and FedEx , bob sloan artical vltp
then go to examiner .com, to read Tim Mc Cown artical on june 10, 2012, behind all the schemes and lies of the priviitization of USPS, lastly go to http://www.savethepostoffice.com
you can also research about alec and it companies that support it actions against the usps, ( ebay is one of them)