Postal officals expected to back five-day mail week

The Washington Post reports that Postmaster John Potter plans to formally present his plan for a five-day mail week to his board of directors and postal regulators. According to Potter, letter carriers would stop delivering mail to American homes and businesses and would not pick up mail from blue collection boxes on Saturdays. However, Post Offices would remain open and mail would be delivered to Post Office boxes on Saturdays. Express mail services would also continue seven days a week. The delivery cuts are estimated to save the Postal Service $3.1 billion in the first year and up to $5.1 billion by 2020.

Potter is scheduled to present the plans to the Postal Board of Governors today and to the Postal Regulatory Commission on March 30. Both panels are expected to approve the plans; Potter would then be faced with convincing Congress. Before the Postal Service can make any changes, lawmakers must change a law mandating six-day mail delivery.

Read the rest of the Washington Post article here.

‘eBay: On Location’ Comes to Atlanta!

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‘eBay: On Location‘ will be live in Atlanta at the Omni Hotel on March 19-20, and iabol will be there! This is an official eBay event designed to provide practical information for building and growing a successful eBay business. iabol supports eBay in a streamlined version of iabol.com called iabol for eBay. iabol for eBay is an easy to use multi-carrier shipping solution currently certified with UPS® and USPS® via Endicia®, giving eBayers more choices for domestic and international shipping.

If you want to talk eBay shipping (or just say hi!), talk to our Director of Marketing, Marty Stamps- Marty is an expert in parcel shipping, and he can answer any questions you might have about eBay shipping options.

Karl Manrodt of GSU Discusses Changes in Supply Chain Management

In Case of Biological Attack, USPS in Charge of Delivering Medical Aid

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In an Executive Order issued last week, President Barack Obama charged the United States Postal Service with delivering drugs and other medical aid to Americans in case of large-scale biological attack.

President Obama cited the Postal Service’s “capacity for rapid residential delivery” as the primary reason for his decision, but noted that the Postal Service’s role in responding to a biological attack will not supersede the authority of other agencies.

Source article here.

From everyone here at ABOL Software, Happy Holidays!

We sincerely appreciate the support of our customers and partners during the past year, and extend our best wishes for a peaceful, happy holiday season.

We look forward to a prosperous 2010 and can’t wait to share all the new, exciting announcements and upcoming iabol features we have in store!

2010 Brings Rate Changes for Carriers

FedEx, UPS and USPS have all announced changes in their rates to begin January 4, 2010.

Stay up to date by viewing the changes here:

• FedEx
• UPS
• USPS

iabol for eBay Featured on The Savvy Seller’s ‘Tips from the Top’ Podcast

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Join iabol’s Director of Marketing Marty Stamps and The Savvy Seller Marlene Gavens for today’s ‘Tips from the Top’ podcast!

Marlene is an eBay Certified Trainer and Consultant, and her popular podcast ‘Tips from the Top’ offers great advice on auctioning success to eBay sellers.

Marty and Marlene will be discussing iabol for eBay, iabol’s new application for eBay designed with Power Sellers in mind. iabol for eBay is an easy to use, multi-carrier shipping solution currently certified with UPS and USPS via Endicia., and gives eBay sellers more choices for domestic and international shipping.

Tune in today, December 1, at 2pm EST/11am PST to ask questions and learn more about how iabol for eBay can simplify your eBay shipping. Click here to listen.

*UPDATE: If you missed the podcast, click here to download or listen.

Introducing iabol for eBay!

ABOL Software is pleased to announce the release of iabol for eBay, our streamlined version of iabol.com designed for eBay PowerSellers and professional sellers. iabol for eBay is an easy-to use, multi-carrier shipping that will initially offer the services of UPS® and USPS® via Endicia®. The application is integrated with eBay’s Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro tools, and is accessible directly from the seller’s My eBay page.

iabol for eBay offers sellers a number of features that they’ve been asking for, including scale and printer integration, order search and auto write-back to My eBay- and it’s easy to get started! eBay sellers who use Selling Manager or Selling Manager Pro can get a free, no risk trial of iabol for eBay simply by logging in to their My eBay account page and adding iabol for eBay to their Applications list.

 

 

New Feature of the Week: UPS Negotiated Rates in iabol

iabol now offers the ability to display your UPS negotiated rates when estimating rates and generating shipping labels. This new feature will help you make better decisions about your shipping, make bill reconciliation easier and help improve customer satisfaction by providing more accurate shipping rates.

Setting up your UPS negotiated rates in iabol is easy! Just go to your iabol dashboard and select “Edit Carrier” for UPS. Select “Next” in the Carrier Setup Wizard until you locate your UPS Rate Access Code. Then, all you have to do is contact your UPS Account Representative and provide them with your UPS Account Number and the UPS Rate Access Code and request that they enable Negotiated Rates to be displayed for your account. That’s it! For more info on UPS Negotiated Rates, call us at 877.847.2265.

Not using iabol yet? Simplify your shipping and start saving money today- click here for a free 30 day trial of iabol Internet shipping software.

New Feature of the Week- Easy Hardware Integration

iabol’s Easy Hardware Integration

iabol makes cutting shipping costs easy with great features like low monthly cost, UPS service included free, no maintenance fees (ever!) and money saving options like U-PIC parcel insurance- but did you know that iabol can also save your business money with its easy hardware integration?

That’s right- most likely, the hardware you already have is all you need to use iabol’s efficient, reliable shipping and label printing features. iabol supports most computers, scales and scanners.  It doesn’t matter what type of computer you have, because iabol is a web-based shipping solution and conveniently has no software to install. All you need is a compatible web browser (IE 6.0 or higher- IE is required for use with dedicated label printers, Firefox 3.0 or higher and Safari)!

Other hardware iabol supports:

• Barcode Scanners

Most keyboard-wedge barcode scanners

• Scales

Weigh Tronix

Fairbanks

Mettler Toledo

• Label Printers

Eltron*

Zebra*

Laser and Ink Jet**

*special paper stock required

**label pouches  may be required

Don’t see your hardware listed? Give us a call at 877.847.2265 and we’ll help you find out if it’s supported through iabol. Ready to get started? Click here to get 30 days of iabol free with UPS included!