Best posts made by Pauldow

Most USPS rates are going up Jan 27, 2019. 1 Oz. first class letters go from 50 to 55 cents.
Additional ounce rates go down from 23 to 15 cents though.
Here’s a summary of the main changes.
Sorry the alignment is messed up. The text editor doesn’t like the tab character, and multiple spaces to create columns also get removed.

The proposed Mailing Services price changes include:

Product Current New
Letters (1 oz.) 50 c 55 c
Letters additional ounces 21 c 15 c
Letters (metered 1 oz.) 47 c 50 c
Outbound International Letters (1 oz.) $1.15 $1.15
Domestic Postcards 35 c 35 c

The proposed domestic Priority Mail Retail Flat Rate price changes are:

Product Current New
Small Flat Rate Box $7.20 $7.90
Medium Flat Rate Box $13.65 $14.35
Large Flat Rate Box $18.90 $19.95
APO/FPO Large Flat Rate Box $17.40 $18.45
Regular Flat Rate Envelope $6.70 $7.45
Legal Flat Rate Envelope $7.00 $7.65
Padded Flat Rate Envelope $7.25 $8.00

I didn’t see any statement if there will be any change to the sweetheart deal Amazon gets will change.

The big issue is how all the small sellers have to comply with the tax regulations for over 10,800 taxing jurisdictions. It’s not just the rates either. Some things are taxable in one place, and not in the other. Other items, such as clothing, can be taxed depending on the cost.
Next they have to keep track and submit the money to each of the taxing authority. They may also need to apply for a bunch of sales tax/business permits. There are fees to operate businesses in many places. Annual reports may then need to be issued to each state.
The ruling says the taxes have to be “simple”, and a taxing authority can say “Our rules are simple.” The problem comes with 10,000 so-called simple rules that all need to be complied with.
As the ruling says, selling a small amount makes them exempt, but it isn’t a very high threshold before the burden takes effect.

Looks like the forums are closed. I get no response when I try to visit. The last time I was able to get a page was 10:28 EDT.
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

The Deals page is still there for now.
It’s like the Titanic sinking a little at a time.

I’m so old, I can remember when they put 20 lbs. in a bag. Now they sometimes put in 15.