eBay

gorillascalesca · ‎09-14-2016

So we ship from BC, usually with CP Expedited. Mailed a package to Ontario a while ago that weighed 0.750kg - a small box.. cost me $14 with venture one discount. Buyer needed to return, we sent a pre-paid return label.. same dimension, same weight, but going from Ontario back to BC.. this time the label cost $9.18

I've been in ecommerce for over 12 years now. I knew we paid a lot for shipping in Canada, but I had no idea that the postal system was not a level playing field depending on what province you were in. That's just ridiculous. /rant

momcqueen · ‎09-14-2016

I think you are misinterpreting what happened.

It has always costs more to mail a parcel 4000 km from remote area to remote area than across the street in an urban centre.

Your price discrepancy is due to the variation between your Solutions for Small Business discount (formerly Venture One) and the Paypal Shipping discount. Assuming it was an Expedited label both ways, you only got a five per cent discount by using your Solutions for Small Business account (also assuming you are a Tier 1 savings customer) versus the return label which was bought and paid via Paypla shipping which is discounted 18 per cent.

That is your difference.

Unless you are a major online shipper with Tier 4 or your own contract with Canada Post, you will get a better CPC Expedited Parcel discount using Paypal Shipping.

gorillascalesca · ‎09-14-2016

You are assuming a lot of things there. Both labels were purchased the exact same way.. through EST no paypal. I personally ordered both labels - all we did was switch our address from sender to recipient and flipped the customer from recipient to sender. Same discount.

mr.elmwood · ‎09-14-2016

This is not possible. You cannot ship from Ont to BC for $9.18.

I plugged in numbers and got the same postage rate both ways. Something in what was inputed changed.

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gorillascalesca · ‎09-14-2016

I did the same check as you.. seems this may have been an anomaly. But I have the two labels in front of me. For some reason they charged me less for the return label.

momcqueen · ‎09-14-2016

Naturally I assume things. No person posing a question ever came to the Discussion Board with all the facts laid neatly on the table; if that was the case, there would be no need to ask a question about it.

ypdc_dennis · ‎09-14-2016

@gorillascalesca wrote:
So we ship from BC, usually with CP Expedited. Mailed a package to Ontario a while ago that weighed 0.750kg - a small box.. cost me $14 with venture one discount. Buyer needed to return, we sent a pre-paid return label.. same dimension, same weight, but going from Ontario back to BC.. this time the label cost $9.18

I've been in ecommerce for over 12 years now. I knew we paid a lot for shipping in Canada, but I had no idea that the postal system was not a level playing field depending on what province you were in. That's just ridiculous. /rant

Did you check the cost to ship from yourself to yourself?

Canada Post EST might not have used the customer's address as the start point, but just defaulted to using your own for calculating the cost. Also check your credit card (or whatever payment method you use) for an additional charge for that label.

-..-

Also, has your Solutions for Small Business (formerly Venture One) discount changed?

-..-

momcqueen · ‎09-14-2016

@ypdc_dennis wrote:
@gorillascalesca wrote:
So we ship from BC, usually with CP Expedited. Mailed a package to Ontario a while ago that weighed 0.750kg - a small box.. cost me $14 with venture one discount. Buyer needed to return, we sent a pre-paid return label.. same dimension, same weight, but going from Ontario back to BC.. this time the label cost $9.18

I've been in ecommerce for over 12 years now. I knew we paid a lot for shipping in Canada, but I had no idea that the postal system was not a level playing field depending on what province you were in. That's just ridiculous. /rant

Did you check the cost to ship from yourself to yourself?

Canada Post EST might not have used the customer's address as the start point, but just defaulted to using your own.

-..-

Also, has your Solutions for Small Business (formerly Venture One) discount changed?

-..-

Good point. It's re-evaluated quarterly.

mr.elmwood · ‎09-14-2016

Yeah, $9 sounds local. I remember saying in the past "It cost $9 just to mail across the street".

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ricarmic · ‎09-14-2016

Since I'm a guy who puts real stamps on my packages, I have the tables all printed off....

The very cheapest amount one can ship an expedited parcel for in Canada at the normal venture one rate is $7.80 plus fuel surcharge. I've never ever shipped anything to a code that close. The cheapest code I've ever shipped to is $9.32 plus fuel surcharge....

mr.elmwood · ‎09-14-2016

Using canadapost.ca, to ship to myself, Xpresspost, retail is $12.38.

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mr.elmwood · ‎09-14-2016

@mjwl2006 wrote:
@ypdc_dennis wrote:
@gorillascalesca wrote:
So we ship from BC, usually with CP Expedited. Mailed a package to Ontario a while ago that weighed 0.750kg - a small box.. cost me $14 with venture one discount. Buyer needed to return, we sent a pre-paid return label.. same dimension, same weight, but going from Ontario back to BC.. this time the label cost $9.18

I've been in ecommerce for over 12 years now. I knew we paid a lot for shipping in Canada, but I had no idea that the postal system was not a level playing field depending on what province you were in. That's just ridiculous. /rant

Did you check the cost to ship from yourself to yourself?

Canada Post EST might not have used the customer's address as the start point, but just defaulted to using your own.

-..-

Also, has your Solutions for Small Business (formerly Venture One) discount changed?

-..-

Good point. It's re-evaluated quarterly.

Or worse, from the customer back to the customer?

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pjcdn2005 · ‎09-14-2016

Something does seem off as the lower rate you mentioned does sound more like a within province rate. Is it possible that if you use CP online for both original label that they have some sort of special return rate?

As mj mentioned the PayPal discount for expedited parcel is usually less than the CP small business discount so you may want to start using that for your outgoing parcels.

momcqueen · ‎09-14-2016

I wondered about that too, pj. But if Canada Post offers a special rate for Return labels as part of their Solutions for Small Business program, they make a secret of it. I cannot find anything about that in the program information.