I apologize for anyone having mistakenly read this in another thread....it really was meant to be here! I'm afraid I need to cut loose on this topic a bit, I'm so frustrated, so it's a bit of a rant. Oooops....so sorry.
OK...Canada Post sucks, I surely have to agree....and its going to suck more!... And if it's so "self-sufficient" why is this happening? "Competitive"....oh puhleezzz.....obviously Canada Post hasnt checked (Or maybe they just don't care) the rates of our nearest Southern neighbors who just happen to be for most of us our biggest competitors as well (Who gain on our profit margins about 15% every year as the Canada Post increases go directly into Canada Posts pockets, or more likely, just come directly out of ours so that we can stay competitive with the U.S. market!)
As for increases they're allowed to place them once a year as per their original agreement. As for not relying solely on us for staying in business, that is true in the broadest sense, however small business is making up a larger and larger portion of the economy right across the board, and collectively makes up a very big portion of their business. However, they tend to be fragmented with small voices, unlike large corporations with large organized voices.
I don't think anyone should construe small business as just eBayers, but rather a part of the economy that grows more important every day, and as such deserves at the very least more consideration that it is currently given. Powersellers should see themselves not as small islands, but part of a much bigger business tableau, and become involved with organisations that can collectively fight for more recognition for small business on a very large bargaining table!
As for working "WITH" them (CanadaPost), you can only do that if you have very volume being sent, to get a contract rate good enough to consider it to be good business (Somehow, it's hard to find those kind of business people selling those kind of numbers on eBay.ca). Although if you're a high value seller (ie. big-ticket values), where the Power Seller Rating is high, you can indeed get breaks with Canada Post.
Strange system....one seller sells a dozen or so things total selling value $5000, sends those dozen items, maybe $200 in shipping costs....another seller sells 80-100 items value $1200, around say $800 in shipping cost, gets an immensely smaller break in shipping costs.
UPS (not the USPS) is planning on venturing into a wider range of mail options in Canada....but they're planning on softening up the market a bit before they come here.....get this...in January, under NAFTA (Yeah....there's that ugly word!!...), UPS is challenging Canada Post (And it's a behind closed doors hearing, of course) under section 13 of NAFTA, I believe, that Canada Post has an unfair trade "advantage" in that its subsidized, especially in "courier" related services.
Now I don't know if any of you pay advantage to NAFTA, but like softwood lumber, to name the most obvious case, the Americans have yet to yield, or lose on any initial NAFTA ruling (Oh yeah....after 7 WTO rulings that the tariffs & duties imposed were unsubstantiated...billions of Canadian dollars already paid to the Americans...and a couple of years later...they finally agree to "reduce" the tariffs...I could go on)....
Anyway, if you think 15% for small packet increase is bad, just wait until next year, (after a NAFTA ruling that will see some of Canada Posts revenues reduced )unless Canada Post applies to the Government to lift it's rate increase schedule (They are only allowed increases once a year), and watch small packet and Expedited and ExpressPost go skyrocketing through the roof, as all trade analysts seem to agree that UPS will win initially.
It's felt that Canada Post really has little to lose as the "specialty services" part of their business is not their primary revenue driver, so they won't put up much of a fight. But given a heavy handed agreement from NAFTA, it will surely affect the overall "profitability" of other services and will likely result in increases beyond the normal structures they use.
Better believe that then I'll be doing a scheduled 1 1/2 drive south of the border a couple of times a week to send my parcels, which are primarily small packets, and would ship for around 30% less cost from the U.S., with a greater choice of services!! Right now it's an iffy proposition to do that, high gas prices affecting that decision, but just a little bit bigger increase on shipping costs and I'll be going south with my mail, and think a lot of business near the border will do the same. Not that I want to...... Just that I may Have to!
I hear rumblings in the Small Business Associations, looking for a system to use small couriers to run mail south of the border. Not sure how that will work, but if Canada Post keeps having a drain of their revenue going south increasing, things could get ugly for them, MAYBE just maybe then they'll listen to small businesses and start to treat us with a little more respect for the amount of money we pour into their pockets.
Most of us can't get the discounts on contract because our item volumes aren't high enough. But put all of us "little" folks near the border together going south to use the U.S. mail system and we'll hear Canada Post howling to bring us back......You think????????
