Deutsche Post and bpost are planning to increase various prices in 2016 to compensate for falling mail volumes while USPS want to increase shipping rates by 9.5% on average.
Deutsche Post announced the standard domestic letter price in Germany will go up from 62 euro cents to 70 cents on January 1, 2016, and then remain stable for three years. In addition, the prices for international standard letters will be raised from 80 to 90 cents and for large international letters up to 500 grams from €3.45 to €3.55. Prices for all other letter formats, domestic or otherwise, will not change.
“Even after the envisaged adjustment to 70 euro cents, the price for standard letters in Germany will still be in the mid-range compared with letter prices in other European countries. This position will continue to improve thanks to the stable prices foreseen for the next three years and the price hikes that continue to be expected for other countries in the following years,” the company explained.
The German federal network agency announced details today about the purposed benchmark decision for the mechanism governing postal rates from 2016 to 2018, which grants Deutsche Post leeway to raise prices. If the general parameters published today are confirmed by the ultimate benchmark decision expected by the end of November, Deutsche Post intends to request official approval of the new tariff from the German federal network agency. The agency then has until the middle of December to make a decision.
Deutsche Post explained that it is publishing news of the planned price measure now to give its customers the opportunity to ready themselves for the new prices ahead of time.
Elsewhere in Europe, bpost will increase domestic mail prices by 1.5% on average with various price rises for 2016. “The price rise is an adjustment connected with major investments to further modernise the mail and parcel organisation and hence continually improve service quality,” it said.
From January 1st 2016, a stamp for a normalised mail item within Belgium will cost €0.74 instead of €0.72, for purchases of ten or more postage stamps. The price of a single stamp increases to €0.79.
The price for standardised international mail rises from €1.10 to €1.13 (within Europe) and from €1.32 to €1.35 (rest of the world), provided five or more stamps are purchased. The prices for individual stamps for international mail rise from €1.20 to €1.23 and from €1.42 to €1.45. The new prices apply to all mail sent at the standard rate.
Meanwhile, the US Postal Service wants to increase its commercial shipping prices by an average of 9.5% from January 17, 2016, while keeping mail prices unchanged. The increase includes a 9.8% average rise for Priority Mail, which is the first increase in the parcel product’s price for three years. The changes need approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission.
