Don’t be surprised if your favorite e-retailer tries to persuade you to have your purchase shipped by ground instead of air.
That’s because almost all the major shippers, except for the United States Postal Service, are now adding a fuel surcharge. So far, most e-retailers have absorbed the cost, although they’re going with cheaper shipping options when possible.
“It’s almost a requirement [for e-retailers] to offer free shipping,” says Doug Caldwell, vice president at ShipSweet.com, a shipping company based in Seattle.
But indeed, that “free shipping” is getting increasingly expensive. This month, both FedEx and the United Parcel Service tacked on an additional 11 percent for express delivery and 6.5 percent for ground.
To educate his customers, Steven Drollinger of Dogwood Ceramic Supply in Gulfport, Miss., wrote a long explanation of the current fuel surcharge rates. Dogwood is passing along such charges to buyers.
“I was getting calls from customers who were freaked out,” he says. “They were saying, ‘What do you mean it’s up $10? It was $100 last month!’ It’s hard for people grasp it could trickle down to everything they buy.”
Look for that trickle-down to increase, says Mr. Caldwell. Because fuel surcharges lag, he says, they will rise closer to 25 percent by May.
