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USPS confirms fifth peak season fee hike

Posted on by SellerBites

Amazon’s Climate Pledge now has nearly 600 companies committing to net zero by 2040—moves that could shape future seller regulations and costs.

  • USPS peak season price hike… again? 📦
  • Ever wonder what tools top agencies use for Amazon? 🛠️
  • Arizona claims Amazon misleads buyers ⚖️
  • Sellers hail TikTok Shop as 2025’s big opportunity 🚀
  • Get Looped In and take the chaos out of ecommerce accounting ✉️

CASH CORNER

If you thought you could skate through Q4 without extra shipping costs, think again. 

EcommerceBytes reported that USPS is rolling out its fifth round of holiday peak-season surcharges, running October 5, 2025, through January 18, 2026.

📦 What’s getting hit

This year’s rate hikes cover Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select—for both retail and commercial shipments.

A couple of eyebrow-raising examples from the commercial side:

  • Priority Mail Zone 5–9, 26–70 lbs. will cost $6.50 more.
  • USPS Ground Advantage Zone 1–4, 0–3 lbs., will cost $0.30 more.

Note: View the entire breakdown of fees on the USPS website.

🏗 USPS’s justification

They say it’s to offset “extra handling costs” for a smooth peak season. 

And while they claim their rates are still among the lowest in the industrialized world, sellers might feel otherwise when that label cost creeps up.

The seller thread under this announcement is on fire—read it here.

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BITES OF THE WEEK

BLACK MARKET

Amazon’s allegedly cheats shoppers again

Arizona’s courtroom is back for a third attempt at suing Amazon—well, technically, it’s two old lawsuits with a fresh coat of legal paint.

According to the Arizona Capitol Times, Attorney General Kris Mayes (AG) accused the retail giant of two things: Buy Box bias and a ‘roach motel’ scheme in its cancellation process.

🎯 The “best deal” that might not be

Did you know that nearly 98% of sales happen through the famous Buy Box? Yep, and the AG claimed Amazon misled shoppers into thinking they’re getting the lowest price.

  • Claim: AG said the algorithm favors Amazon’s own listings or sellers who pay hefty FBA fees.
  • Reason for previous dismissal: Lack of proof.
  • What’s new: The revised lawsuit now names specific parties.
    • In 2021, Amazon’s Buy Box offered the Bob Marley “Legend” vinyl for $22.97, while a third-party seller had it for $18.89.
    • In 2022, a Corsair gaming headset was $107.99 in the Buy Box, another seller had it for $71.

In each case, both options had identical Prime shipping terms. But AG said Amazon’s “biased” algorithm “put a thumb on the scale” for its own listings—costing consumers more.

🪤 The Prime trap

AG also took aim at Amazon’s pre-2023 Prime cancellation flow, calling it a “roach motel”: easy to enter, hard to escape. 

  • Claim: Back then, cancelling required at least 6 clicks. This friction reduced cancellations by 14%, all while ads claimed you could “cancel anytime.”
  • Reason for previous dismissal: The original lawsuits didn’t fit Arizona’s Consumer Fraud Act definition of ‘merchandise.’
  • What’s new: New filings argue Prime is a “service” that counts as “merchandise” under the law, meaning deceptive cancellation design could qualify as fraud.

🛡️ Amazon’s response

Amazon denies everything, saying the cases show a “fundamental misunderstanding” of how its business works, and that they were filed without reviewing a single Amazon document.

Check out the AG’s previous statement here.

BIG IDEA

Top sellers say TikTok Shop is the new Amazon

Before Amazon, there was eBay. Now, seasoned sellers say history’s on repeat, but the breakout star isn’t another marketplace, it’s TikTok Shop.

According to Business Insider, sellers who ignore TikTok Shop are already falling behind. Here’s why.

🗨️ Word on the street

The platform’s live selling feature is especially hot with brands moving tens of thousands of units in hours.

Not everyone’s cashing in, though—Kyle Goguen, co-founder of  CRBN pickleball, found that TikTok’s price-conscious shoppers are less likely to drop $200 on a paddle without viral hype to back it.

🧠 Sales insights

TikTok may still go dark—unstable as it is—but it definitely has lessons to teach.

Sellers in 2025 can’t afford to put all their eggs in the Amazon basket, diversifying across platforms is key. And for those willing to adapt quickly, mastering live selling could unlock massive early growth before the space becomes saturated.