USPS Label 888 Being Phased Out.

Label 888 is what replaced label 400 for those of us wanting to affix tracking numbers in conjunction with stamps.

See previous discussion on the phaseout of Label 400 in 2023:

https://goscf.com/t/83481

Now, the USPS is going further, phasing out the label 888 after 3 years of use. Labels will no longer be distributed as of January 17, 2027 and customers will be allowed to use up their existing stock through January 31, 2028.

https://www.federalregister.gov/doc...discontinued

The above page frames it as a "proposed rule" as of September 9, 2026, but my local post office today informed me that this is indeed going into effect.

I see no reference to anything replacing it, so my assumption is that in order to add tracking to stamp-affixed parcels, it will have to be done at the counter via $0.00 PVI (postage validation imprint).

Sadly, this farks my ebay workflow bigtime. Right now I can affix and scan the tracking numbers into ebay as I prepare the packages one by one. Once this goes into effect, I won't have the tracking numbers until *AFTER* I come back from the post office, at which point I'll have to go in and manually type in the numbers one by one.

The bigger issue is making sure that no 2 parcels going out on the same day are going to the same city/zip, as there is no way to differentiate them from the USPS receipt, so you could easily swap the tracking numbers.