USPS ground advantage and shipping settings
Mostly ship with USPS first class, but now that it is ground advantage.
1. Do we need to change shipping transit time? Because we use "managed by AMZN" as transit time.
2. Any advice?
Thank you in advance.
USPS ground advantage and shipping settings
Mostly ship with USPS first class, but now that it is ground advantage.
1. Do we need to change shipping transit time? Because we use "managed by AMZN" as transit time.
2. Any advice?
Thank you in advance.
24 replies
Seller_DdmPiA1p1S2Wu
I don't think the transit time actually changes. As I understand it, USPS Ground Advantage is still the same speed as USPS First Class Mail and USPS Parcel Select were, they are just rebranded into a single product now. It doesn't seem that Amazon is showing USPS Ground Advantage as a shipping option, though. They are still showing USPS Parcel Select/First Class Mail which shouldn't be available anymore. I selected it on an order just now hoping it would actually give me a USPS Ground Advantage label, but no, I got a USPS Parcel Select label. I would prefer to ship USPS Ground Advantage since if the item comes back to me I don't have to pay return shipping with USPS Ground Advantage, but I do with USPS Parcel Select.
Seller_EkbLZUYSpmJEy
USPS shows the expected shipping transit time for USPS Ground Advantage as 2 to 5 days. As @Seller_DdmPiA1p1S2Wu has noted, this should not be an issue with templates that were set with First Class Package and Parcel Select transit times as they are the same. Larger packages that went as USPS Ground will have a slightly shorter time as they are going from 2 to 8 days down to the 2 to 5 days.
In addition to not getting the included return shipping with USPS Ground Advantage, one will not be getting the included $100 insurance coverage that comes with a USPS Ground Advantage label.
Since USPS has stated that they will honor labels with First Class Package until September 30, 2023, one might expect Amazon to be slow in this transition.
As a side note, USPS Ground Advantage has a $4 surcharge on any package with a length greater than 22 inches.
Also, we had some packages that went out today where we used ShipStation and we noticed that ShipStation was programmed to use the Commercial Ground Advantage Cubic price automatically which is nice as GA Cubic pricing is a little lower. Hopefully, Amazon will follow suit and this will be available here on Amazon Buy Shipping.
Seller_aV1Bh32hE0KND
New on July 9th, 2023 USPS is merging First Class Package and Parcel Select Ground and renaming them Ground Advantage. The services will remain the same 2-5 day delivery speed—USPS is just changing the name.
Seller_hBPJ5yuLwjaaJ
There are other threads on this topic, including a couple that mention the grace period for First-class is going to be September 30th.
As always, it's a good rule to search the forum, sort by "Newest", and then "Like" and add comments to existing threads so the moderators see one post with people's concerns instead of spreading across a lot of less active threads.
I'd suggest directing attention to this other thread by liking the original post.
P.S. I'm in the same boat with all labels today printing as USPS First Class, but I'm not worried about it. Amazon will have to update their system. Since "Ground Advantage" just officially went "live" yesterday, July 9th, they have time to update their Seller Central shipping.
Seller_XJk5RkDQR39p0
The best possible outcome is if the change comes from Amazon itself:
Just rename "USPS Ground Advantage" that now is first class and whatever it replaces.
Just saying, that is exactly what shipping proggies did.
KJ_Amazon
Our team is still working on implementing the new USPS Ground Advantage domestic shipping services, and preparing communications and updates.
There is no action needed by sellers right now, and I will share all information as soon as it becomes available.
KJ_Amazon
Seller_hBPJ5yuLwjaaJ
@KJ_Amazon the USPS First Class grace period was set to end on Sept 30, 2023.
Amazon Seller Central shipping is still defaulting to USPS First Class for one of the packages I tried to ship today.
On top of that, it doesn't show USPS Ground Advantage as an option, even though it has listed both Ground Advantage and First Class for months.
This is the only shipment that doesn't allow for USPS Ground Advantage and it's not related to our listing because we've shipped many orders of these with USPS Ground Advantage in the last few months since it became available.
Amazon was late in implementing the conversion to USPS Advantage, but the USPS grace-period, through Sep 30, 2023 made it were that wasn't a problem.
Unless the grace-period has been extended, Amazon shipping interface is now trying to force labels that will result in penalties or delays.
Attached is an example from today, so it's worth someone looking into why an invalid shipping service is still being shown, and forced.
Ground Advantage is not showing as an option because of the business operating hours, but USPS First class is no longer a valid service, so that's the bigger issue here.
Also, USPS First Class and Ground Advantage should have the same service standards, so that's also confusing.
KJ_Amazon
Unless the grace-period has been extended, Amazon shipping interface is now trying to force labels that will result in penalties or delays.
Hello @Seller_hBPJ5yuLwjaaJ. USPS approved an extension on the grace period for purchasing USPS legacy services, including First Class and Parcel Select.
The grace period now extends through October 31.
Please let me know if you experience any difficulty from your local USPS office regarding this extended grace period, such as First Class packages not being accepted. If so, we will ask our USPS partners to make sure the update has been shared with that location.
