The 9% hike in Global Package Link (GPL) rates, in effect since last Dec. 27, was made permanent last week by the U.S. Postal Service. Direct marketers use the service to ship overseas customer orders.
The higher rate schedule includes discounts between 1 and 4% for high-volume mailers. In addition, the USPS expanded the GPL service to Argentina and proposed expanding the GPL service to Canada to include periodicals, publications, and catalogs.
Under the new GPL rates, which do not include import duties or taxes, a cataloger using standard GPL service will pay $9.50 or about $1.65 more to send a two pound package to a customer in France and $11.25, or about $1.15 more to send that package to Argentina.
The same package sent by premium service, with free insurance, can be sent to Germany for $13.50, to Argentina for $14.50, and $17 to China.
High-volume mailers using standard service, will qualify for a 1 percent discount if they send between 25,001 and 50,000 packages a year; a 2 percent for sending between 50,001 and 75,000 packages; a 3 percent discount for mailing between 75,001 and 100,000 packages, and a 4 percent discount for sending more than 100,001 packages a year via GPL.
Mailers are being asked by the USPS to comment on its proposal to help publishers and catalogers mailing at least 10,000 pieces or 250 pounds of mail to Canada by Sept. 24. Rates, determined by weight and sortation level, begin at 26.5 cents per piece.
Comments on the proposal should be sent to Manager, Pricing, Costing and Classification, International Business Unit, USPS, Room 370-IBU, Washington, DC, 20260-6500.
By law both actions are exempt from review by the Postal Rate Commission and do not need the approval of the postal service’s Board of Governors.
