Online sellers who thought they could game the system on new discounted USPS rates are finding out the hard way how the Automated Package Verification system works as packages with over-declared weights hit with rate adjustments.
The confusion started last week as shippers who purchase labels through eBay, Etsy, and third-party providers like Pirate Ship noticed new steeply discounted rates for 3-5 lb Ground Advantage packages that made these shipments significantly cheaper than lower weight packages.
Importantly, USPS Ground Advantage rates are calculated by the pound and round up for anything over a whole number, so packages that are 1 lb 1 oz – 1 lb 15 oz will be charged the still higher 2 lb rate while packages that are 2 lb 1 oz – 2 lb 15 oz will be charged the now more deeply discounted 3 lb rate.
Predictably, when some sellers realized that it would cost less to ship a 3 lb package than a 1 lb package, they simply changed the entered weight when printing a label to get the lower rate, assuming USPS would not charge for the overstatement.
Also predictably, some of those are now reporting that the APV system which automatically weighs and measures packages in transit caught at least some of those packages and charged them the difference between the lower 3 lb rate and the rate they should have paid for the actual weight.
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