I buy a lot of my material from the US. Even with the price of a flat rate going up to $16.95 it is still a lot cheaper to buy there than here in New Zealand. Some fabrics you get for US$9yard can be up to NZ$28m, hence why most I buy is from the US. I do from NZ but only if on sale or it's a must need. With the flat rate envelopes I usually buy material up to the limit a seller says it will hold usually too. So in saying all this, the small increase will not deter me from buying from the US