FedEx Corp is raising prices on more than a third of its US ground shipments, those bulky but lightweight packages carrying popular items like diapers, sweaters and shoes, in a surprise move expected to shake up the world of e-commerce.
Instead of charging by weight alone, all packages will be priced according to size.
FedEx planned to apply "dimensional weight pricing" to all ground shipments starting in January. Before this, only the biggest packages - measuring three cubic feet or more - were priced this way.
"The joy ride is over," said Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix, a developer of shipment-tracking and analysis software.
Under the new rate system the price of shipping a five-pound, 30-pack of double-roll toilet paper the shortest distance (between 0-240 km) would increase 42 percent, according to Jindel.
The change in pricing would dramatically affect either online shoppers or retailers or both. Someone will have to swallow the estimated hundreds of millions of dollars in extra shipping costs.
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