Are you outraged by the shipping increase of Canada Post ?

[lany666]

I live in Québec, postage went sky high today, I am so mad !!! here is an example: as of today to ship a oversized letter between 200 to 499 grams cost $ 20.60 !!! last week the cost was 15.20 talk about an increase !!!

I have over 400 items listed, I need to change all my shipping fees, local, Usa & International.  Canada Post did not advise us untill last friday what the increase would be.  I am so  so discouraged, what do you THINK ????

[michaelbb2]

I think you missed the first announcements by Canada Post about the increase.  They announced the increase months ago....at lease here in Saskatchewan they did.  I agree that the increase is high. ...

[karl*katz]

There was a thread about this back in November but I don't know when Canada Post made the announcement.

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Updates/Canada-Post-increases-postal-tates-by-up-to-60-in-2014/td...

[femmefan1946]

Are you using Calculated Shipping? If so, all your rates should change automatically since the two systems are integrated.

If you are using Flat Rate Shipping, you have probably been cheating yourself on Canadian parcel rates which vary according to destination.

[femmefan1946]

BTW-- did you know that you can get Free SubTitles by listing on the Canada /Francophone site. You still get world wide exposure and more importantly US exposure.

[i*m-still-here]

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..................  what do you THINK ????

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I agree.

There has been one increase after the other and they've never really phased me much.

This time the increases are unreasonable.

That coupled with greatly reduced quality of service from the CPO is more than a little annoying.

What's wrong with this picture?

Higher Prices /  Reduced Service.

Something only the PO can away with.

Clearly, they're doing something wrong.

[around_again_records]

I wonder how many CP execs are on the "Sunshine List" of people earning over 100K a year.

Something is certainly wrong with the direction CP is taking. Increasing prices on a service that is already overpriced seems like it will just run them farther into the ground. No on can afford shipping costs therefore volume will decrease. Keep the prices reasonable and volume will increase.

[nuvistors]

We can thank the unions for the increase.

[recped]

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@nuvistors wrote:

We can thank the unions for the increase.

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Must be a time warp, sounds like 1974 not 2014

[canadianfootballcards]

It is discouraging, but as someone (Mr. Elmwood?) correctly pointed out, the falling Canadian dollar offsets the rise in shipping costs.

At least for me it does.

Canada Post has raised rates each of the three years I've been doing this, so I expect rates to rise once more in 2015, and 2016 and on and on and on...

I'm no business expert and I didn't stay at any Holiday Inn Express last night, but I find it odd that CP is turning off the very segment of its customer base that would help with long-term success, the e-commerce crowd. If it were me, I'd be simplifying my price structure and offerings to attract more customers, where CP seems to be doing the opposite — forever raising prices and introducing convoluted tiering.

Surely they must realize that with the advent of online billing and emailing, the letter post side of the business is nearly obsolete?
Their service reductions indicate that they do.

But their other actions indicate they have no idea what they're going to replace it with.

[toff3]

Under the present business model and political regime, Canada Post, to stay afloat financially, has no alternative but to keep raising prices and cutting service - and even those options are no guarantee of success.

CP is saddled with the universal service obligation, being bound to deliver a letter across town or five time zones for the same price - a totally daft, totally unsustainable policy. CP is also burdened with very high labour costs (originating in the 1970s when the post office department of the government had to buy off the militant unions). Lastly, CP has been hung out to dry and left to fend for itself by the government - no subsidies, no bailouts, no relief for its $7 billion pension deficit, at any cost.

After decades of nearly annual price rises (including various examples of underhanded and irrational pricing) and service cuts, we've reached the point where letter postage had to be increased, in one fell swoop, by 35%, a single domestic stamp costs $1.00, and doorstep delivery is to end.

With this latest "transformation", CP has promised future postage increases will be similar to those in past years (you know, the nickel-and-dime stuff). Yeah, right.

Canada Post is a disaster, a failure of colossal proportions. Only a complete make-over, with the ditching of the current business model as a first priority, along with a totally different attitude by government, will bring us a viable, fair postal system, which is vital because, notwithstanding the comments of assorted misguided academics, journalists and other commentators, the mail is an essential service.

Tom

[cloclo1104c]

I also live in Québec and the increases are simply not acceptable! I went to the post office with 20 packages and I paid 39$ more than what it would have cost me in the past. For exemple, a package that used to cost me 7.80$ now cost me 10.50$! An increase of 2.70$.

Post canada will kill the means that was keeping it afloat. It will become very hard to compete with the low shipping fees americans are offering. I will definatly sell less items every month due to the increases. What's worst is that I have over 6000 items listed on a third party site and now I will have to change all of those listings! I don't know what I'll do but if anyone has a way to save on the shipping, please let us know. After, having given thousounds of dollars to post canada that's how they are thanking me. I just hope there will be so many complaints that pc will back off.

[recped]

My only outrage with the new letter rates is the 15 cent (plus GST) surcharge on single stamps. The only people who are likely to ever buy a single stamp are those at the low end of the income scale.

People with money have computers and smartphones and do most of their communicating online they rarely need to mail anything and when they do buying a sheet of stamps for less than $10 is something they can easily handle.

On the other hand a low income person struggling to put food on the table is less likely to be using online methods and may find buying $10 worth of stamps a bit more difficult.

[realjazz-123]

Among the CP workers I have spoken with, there is the view, to which I agree, that the current Government is doing their best to upset customers (Canadians) by increasing prices and offering less service. With fewer CP users and increasing loss of revenue, the Government will be forced to cease CP service and sell mail delivery to private business. Eventual private  business ownership of mail delivery has been the agenda all along of current government.

[toff3]

My only outrage with the new letter rates is the 15 cent (plus GST) surcharge on single stamps

So, Ben, you're not particularly bothered by having to pay $2.50 in postage to send a letter to Germany, when an American can send it for US$1.15 and a German can send a letter to Canada for $1.14 (0.75 euro at today's exchange rate)?

Each to his own, I guess.

Tom 

[toff3]

Realjazz,

First, it's not the government who's increasing prices and cutting service, it's Canada Post.

Second, we can only hope that mail service in Canada will eventually be privatized. It's probably our only chance for a fair, reasonable and rational postal service but the longer the government delays in selling off Canada Post the higher will be the cost, as the government will have to pick up CP's enormous - and steadily growing - pension deficit.

Tom

[realjazz-123]

Do you really think CP can do anything at all-like raise prices and lower service- without consent and direction of the current Government?

[recped]

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@realjazz-123 wrote:

Do you really think CP can do anything at all-like raise prices and lower service- without consent and direction of the current Government?

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For LetterMail ONLY they need to get Federal approval (even that may not include Oversize).

Perhaps toff knows for sure but I don't remember a Canada Post application for an increase ever being denied by ANY government. There was some yelling back and forth when CP proposed raising a standard letter to 17 cents (but the increase was approved in the end).

Dozens of national postal services have been privatized over the past 20+ years, not sure if a single one of them resulted in lower rates or expanded service, certainly not in the UK or Germany or ?????

[realjazz-123]

I want to clarify my earlier post. I agree with the VIEW  that the agenda of Government /CP actions is to eventually privatize the Postal system. However, I DO NOT agree with such privatization of any Crown corporation and certainly do not expect any benefit (cost or service) to the general population of customers if it happens. Yet I do not think that this forum is the place to air my own views on a Conservative government business plan.

[recped]

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@realjazz-123 wrote:

I want to clarify my earlier post. I agree with the VIEW  that the agenda of Government /CP actions is to eventually privatize the Postal system. However, I DO NOT agree with such privatization of any Crown corporation and certainly do not expect any benefit (cost or service) to the general population of customers if it happens. Yet I do not think that this forum is the place to air my own views on a Conservative government business plan.

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Got it!

There is a common notion on these boards (and elsewhere) that the answer to high postage rates is privatization and there will be an added bonus of improved service.

If/when the feds do decide to unload Canada Post I hope they do a better job than in the UK.

http://postandparcel.info/60692/news/companies/nao-says-uk-government-lost-hundreds-of-millions-on-r...