Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

art2love1
Community Member

Hi, all:  (This refers to rates by Canada Post):  I sold several items and charged the minimum shipping rate - no tracking or insurance, and guess what?? One was delivered a month late, the other was probably lost. I have hundreds of items valued below 100 dollars and are light in weight: prints, ties, scarves, eyewear.  I see sellers selling antique prints with domestic shipping anywhere from 3 to 10 dollars, and international at some 13, but if I am to avoid any numerous claims for unreceived merchandize, I need to charge the full tracked and insured rate, which again, doubles, quardruples or triples the price.  I am having a very hard time. I need advice.

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

"I need to charge the full tracked and insured rate"


 


Frankly, it is not a "need", it is a choice.


 


On average, Canada Post will lose less than one parcel in one hundred.  Factor that 1% in your prices (call it self-insurance if you wish) and continue to offer a reasonable proposition to your buyer.


 


If you double, triple or quadruple your shipping charge in order to protect yourself, you will quickly see your sales volume drop and customers complain about your shipping charge.


 


Take a good look at your successful competitors, including Americna sellers.  What do they do?


 


Buyers and potential buyers do not care about your costs and your problems.  They look at you and your competitors and make their purchasing decision on the basis of what is being offered. Shipping charge is an important factor in determining the value offered.

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

To give you an example on Pierre's comments, 90% of my sales on eBay goes Light Packet (international) or Letter Mail (in Canada). That is no tracking and no insurance. I get about 1 claim per 200 shipments. My average sales is 8.80$ per item. I only need to put 0.05$ aside on each sales to compensate for the lost.


 


With time I also stopped shipping to some countries were I found that I had more claims than my average.


 


Come to my store
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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

art2love1
Community Member

they ship antique prints for 5 to 7 dollars in canada, about 9 to the usa and about 11 overseas. obviously this is letter mail, the cheapest. i am just nervous about doing this and encountering a slew of scams, negative feedback and basically theft. It happened already.

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

art2love1
Community Member

As to the rest of my items: lots are heavy and over 100 dollars. These need to be insured and to the UK for instance, cheapest rate for 1kg large box is around 50. this cannot be avoided. and a pair of new chanel eyeglasses at 300 would be some 55 insured and tracked. help?

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

"and a pair of new chanel eyeglasses at 300 would be some 55 insured and tracked"


 


What do your competitors - selling similar items - do?


 


Can you compete on that basis?


 


If not, selling these things on eBay is not a good proposition for you if you cannot accept the risks involved in mail order.


 


At the end of the day, the decision is not made by you but by buyers looking at your items, comparing to other items offered by other sellers with different prices and conditions and making a decision to purchase.


 


It is your choice to make your items competitive. 


 


If not, what is the point?

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

You do NOT need tracking or insurance, you are choosing to pay that. Air to the UK is $35.


 


eBay selling is not for everyone. You have to put a space between you and what you are doing. You are not doing that.


 


Help? Separate business from personal.


 


Losses are part of business. Not personal.

Message 7 of 57
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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

WOW! Your shipping rates are way out of line for Canada. $23 for a pair of shoes? I flate rate at $10 and I break even or make 50¢. Most of your stuff will go for about $10 in Canada using Paypal shipping.

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

art2love1
Community Member

1 kg air to uk, box of shoes, is some 40 dollars.


air to australia 400gr shoe box: some 20


Would you send merchandize valued at 150 dollars to those destination without insurance or tracking?? Or do you draw the line at, say, 60??

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

art2love1
Community Member

Box of shoes, 1 kgs, Montreal to Vancouver: about 18 without insurance. How can you send for 10????

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

I NEVER intentionally buy tracking or insurance. It comes free with Expedited. I have never, in 8,000 sales looked to, no, that is not right. I did once to Russia.


 


Know yer weights, 990 grams to UK is $35.69.


 


Winnipeg to outside Montreal, 1K, went yesterday for $9.50 Expedited, Paypal shipping. Weight, in Canada, is not a factor.

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

art2love1
Community Member

paypal shipping?? you mean there is a better rate if you print your labels on paypal?

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!


paypal shipping?? you mean there is a better rate if you print your labels on paypal?



 


OMG, yes!  Check the discounts - they're significant. 


 


You mean you've been going to the Post Office with your parcels?  Do you have a Venture 1 card?  If you're shipping a lot of items over 500gms outside Canada that you want to insure, you should definitely look into doing your labels online.  I haven't been to the Post Office for years. :^O

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

Yep. Runs about 20% off for Expedited in Canada. I have beens elling  for years and only really discovered it last summer.


 


Expedited international is 25% off, but, that is changing in April to 18% off. Tracked Packet is gonna be 14% off.


 


You can cut your Cdn shipping rates in half and still be ahead. Then, yer Cdn sales will take off, eh.

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!


You can cut your Cdn shipping rates in half and still be ahead. Then, yer Cdn sales will take off, eh.



 


Yeah, eh?  Especially if overseas buyers get fed up with the new Global Shipping Programme and start looking at Cdn. listings for a change. 😛

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

"you mean there is a better rate if you print your labels on paypal?"


 


Buying postage through PayPal is one option.  Savings are nice. 🙂


 


Another, better in my opinion, is to lick stamps on the parcel or envelope.  Stamps with full original gum can be purchased at deep discounts (25% - 40% below face value) and savings do add up - if you buy right. 🙂 🙂


 


In the last fourteen years, I have used nearly $100,000 in postage (average $6,000+ year): lots of licking! 🙂 


Lots of savings 🙂 🙂

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

art2love1
Community Member

can someone send me link to paypal shipping options? I have looked at their page on ebay and find it CONFUSING!! is there something idiot-proof, eh???? and the stamp licking - is that really an option or a joke?

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

art2love1
Community Member

yep, to post office with boxes and my ENTREPRENEUR card which gives me maybe 5% on expedited. NOT ENOUGH. IS THERE ANOTHER CARD OUT THERE WORTH MORE?? I am, however, not registered as a business, so that's one thing to keep in mind...

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

art2love1
Community Member

still with 20% discount the diff between 1 kg to vancouver at some 18 dollars and 10 dollars quoted by another seller is huge! the discrepancy is still that of some 6 dollars or so...

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Re: Our Canadian OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates: HELP!

tobyshitzu
Community Member

Just log on to paypal and click print label beside one of your payments (there are a couple more clicks required before you buy anything) .  The options are the same as at the post office, but there is an extra discount on expedited and expresspost, and soon the (near pointless )"tracked packet" .  unfortunately the discount is going to fall soon

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