In case you are not aware the United States Postal Service
is basically a money black hole. Want some examples? 2012 $15.9 Billion in
losses, 2013 $4.8 Billion, 2014 $5.3 Billion it’s a fairly consistent pattern
of being in the red year after year. What’s causing this continual hemorrhaging
of money? Lots of factors loss of revenue from a decline in first class mail (can
you remember the last time you paid a bill by mail). Six day a week delivery
the USPS has pushed hard since 2010 to cut Saturday delivery’s estimating that
it would save approximately $2 Billion from the cut. Bad trade agreements? Absolutely
a contributing factor check out our recent blog on terminal
dues and how the USPS is hurt financially on every shipment. With little to no chance of the issue
being fixed anytime soon by Washington the USPS is taking drastic measures to
stop the bleeding. Enter the USPS revenue assurance program what is its
purpose? To assure that the postal service reduces the loss of revenue from inadequate
postage fees being paid. How are they going to determine if there was an
underpayment? Better technology that far more accurately determines the weight
and the dimensions of your package. Where it starts to get scary is how they
plan to collect these unpaid fees. Do you purchase postage from eBay, Stamps.com
or another similar postal provider? Well in future expect to get a bill from
them each time the USPS determines that your postage payment was insufficient. What
this potentially means is that you could soon start to receive a bill for a package
you sent days or weeks ago and since you are no longer in possession of the
package no way to determine the accuracy of their finding. While reports say
there will be a dispute process it’s still very vague how this will work. How
do you dispute a charge? What sort of documentation is required? What
documentation could a seller actually provide? Unfortunately, this program is
still in its early stages of implementation details are very vague but expect
more soon. Don’t be shocked when that first charge appears on your eBay or
stamps.com statement. In the meantime be prepared by doing your due diligence
accurately weigh and measure each item. Standardize your packing materials,
have a box size or padded envelope for each type of merchandise you sell. To
minimize errors regarding package dimensions switch to flat rate priority boxes
when it is financially feasible. Most important of all make sure you are using
an accurate scale. No one likes a surprise bill particularly if there is little
to no way to know if it’s accurate or not.