Amazon sellers can now use the U.S. Postal Service's new shipping service, Ground Advantage, through Amazon Buy Shipping, the company announced last month.
"When you purchase Amazon Buy Shipping labels, you can now choose USPS Ground Advantage," Amazon said in an announcement to sellers. "Your existing shipping templates have automatically been updated to the equivalent USPS Ground Advantage ship method."
Amazon Buy Shipping allows sellers to purchase shipping labels at discounted rates that Amazon negotiated with carriers, or simply use their own rates. The e-commerce giant said earlier this year that Buy Shipping offers the lowest available commercial Postal Service rates, with an average of 35% off USPS Ground retail rates.
Amazon sellers automating order fulfillment via a third-party tool or their own software may need to manually update the shipping method name to ensure they can still automatically purchase Postal Service labels, according to the announcement.
Ground Advantage, which launched in July, formed from existing shipping services in USPS Retail Ground, Parcel Select Ground and First-Class Package Service. The new service delivers packages in 2 to 5 business days across the continental U.S. and offers three shipping methods, per Amazon's announcement:
- USPS Ground Advantage Light for packages weighing less than 1 pound
- USPS Ground Advantage Heavy for packages weighing between 1 pound and 70 pounds
- USPS Ground Advantage Cubic, which prices based on package size and distance instead of weight
The Postal Service is counting on Ground Advantage to help the transforming agency compete more effectively versus FedEx and UPS. The agency ended the grace period for shippers continuing to use the streamlined service’s predecessors on Tuesday. Now, shippers must comply with new mailing rules to avoid added fees.
The agency ended the grace period for shippers continuing to use Ground Advantage predecessors on Tuesday. Now, shippers must comply with new mailing rules to avoid added fees.
