New USPS Shipping Rates 2023

We have always used the Post Office for shipping packages. 

Never UPS, or DHL or FedEx.

Every time we visited those costs, the USPS was by far the best deal. 

The Post Office drives to your location every day of the year.  No special trips. Better for burning fossil fuel, y'know?  And as many USPS vehicles are switching to electric, well, even better for our planet.

Before this 2023 rate change, the Post Office had a system of basically flat rate charges based on where the package originated.  That meant that, since we are in Connecticut, a package mailed to Connecticut buyers was cheaper than a package sent to California.  It also meant that weight was not a consideration up to 20 pounds.

To make the shipping expense more attractive for you, we decreased the amount you would pay in shipping fees as you spent more.  You probably noticed that sometimes you paid no shipping at all.  That's because we picked up the tab on that, despite being a small company.  That's how much we appreciate your business! So if you bought $100 worth of soaps and creams, there was no shipping charge to you. But if you only spent $25, the basic shipping rate applied.

So here we are with a new pricing structure from the USPS.

They assure us this will be a fairer system for all of us. Use our own box and pay only for the weight and destination.  However, this system makes it difficult for us to continue our own system of discounting shipping fees as you add items to your cart. So we have ended that for now. 

Another wrench in the works is that the least expensive shipping rate, Parcel Select Ground, takes 2 to 8 days to reach its destination. While our soaps will travel pretty well, I shouldn't want our creams to be in a hot truck for a week, or upside down in stack of boxes in a hot warehouse,  before arriving. So what to do?

For now, if you live near Connecticut, we'll send your package by the cheapest, slowest rate.  However, the farther you are from the East Coast, the service that will kick in will be for 3 to 5 day delivery, called Priority First Class.  

If you spend over $100, we will process Loyalty Lion credits to cover the shipping cost for you to use on a future purchase.  It's sort of like paying it forward.

We need to wait and see if the new Post Office shipping rates are better for all of us - or not. Since several members of the USPS Board of Directors have made it clear they want Ben Franklin's baby to be auctioned off to a corporate interest - I mean, private/public enterprise - we'll have to wait and see if someone really cares about how much you and I spend to get our packages, or if this will serve as more "proof" that the government has to finally give up on the system and let one of our millionaires take it in hand instead of we the people.

So, there you have it. New shipping regimen is in effect.  We will revisit it as we watch how it will actually work for you.

Thank you for supporting our work.  We do it for you!

I highly recommend that you take advantage of the Loyalty Lion points you earn every time you buy a bar of soap.  That will help with your shipping costs, too.

Carole