eBay

yjw1 · ‎11-03-2003

We do about $50,000 in shipping with CP a year.
I just talked to a CP rep and the discount is far less than the expense of weighting and measuring parcels, filling out manifests. Using a BROKER! ETC.

Looking for opinions on the cheapest method for US shipping.

acurael · ‎11-03-2003

If you're spending $50K you should def. look at the couriers - Purolator, FedEx and UPS will all offer a very healthy discount from posted rates and all three offer Ground services to the US. Couriers have other benefits over the post office too - online tracking, guaranteed ontime or free, daily pickup, shipping software, etc. etc.

It'll depend on the size and weight of items you ship though.

yjw1 · ‎11-03-2003

We have looked into all of them and can not beat Canada Post. What do you use?

can-import · ‎11-03-2003

You will have to negociate... you will never get better rates if you only use the standard rates!

acurael · ‎11-03-2003

I use UPS - I've gotten quotes from all three of the couriers mentioned for substantial discounts from their posted rates - by substantial I mean up to 50%... but this will vary depending on your local market and the volume you can bring to them.

And don't be afraid to play one against the other once you have quotes from them. The first offer is rarely the best they can do... in my experience, both UPS and FedEx love to take business from CP - Purolator not so much as they're owned by Purolator...

allstarsalez · ‎11-05-2003

we spent 11,000 CAN alone for shipping in OCTOBER and it appears to us that power seller discount is a "S@it". i got very disappointed to know that we are not getting discounts on mailing to US by expedited parcel. VERY VERY disappointed.

OF COURSE it looks nice when ebay said "10-15% OFF" but they lied by not telling what is behind that.

CP is OK but i would like to have bigger discounts for the volume we do. However i DO like their electronic shipping tool, it's neat.

i heard that UPS gives you to use their computer for all the labeling and stuff like that but you have to enter each customer address manually and that there is no way to IMPORT file into their software. that's what really stops me from using UPS as it will take all my valuable time to enter these addresses. watta waste.

anyone shipping by FED EX ? is it worth considering them ?

acurael · ‎11-05-2003

UPS will provide a computer and printer to high dollar accounts.

Their software is extremely robust and will allow for varying levels of automation depending on your needs.

If you're spending $100K a year in shipping costs - call the couriers! With that kind of money on the line, they'll send a rep out to see you and discuss everything in person.

your-chic-shopper · ‎11-05-2003

Canada Post also provides a computer for high volume . We were provided a P3 with thermal printer through Canada Post for level 3 Across Canada . They just do not offer it as openly as Fedex or UPS. You just have to ask for it .

I stronly recommned if you are doing more then 10 parcels a day . That you open an account with Canada Post personally, you will get a larger discount then the Ebay discount . You will also get your own rep if you have a high volume. You will also get the discount on ground parcels to USA over 1kg

allstarsalez · ‎11-07-2003

acurael (937 )

we r currently looking at the UPS as our shipping solution. it will cost WAY less to ship with them then with CP.

it appears that CP gives discount there, but doesn't give discount here. so, its WAY too confusing and we think that spending 11,000 CAN a month on shipping we DESERVE a better deal.

i heard that UPS is basing their discount rates on the total weight of what you ship.

i'd love to explore them if you have any information i would appreciate that.

cheers,
john

amberwoodottawa · ‎11-07-2003

We looked at UPS in the beginning. I would suggest that when talking to them make certain they fully explain their Insurance Policy related to what you are shipping. That was one of the reasons we decided not to go with UPS. Also keep in mind no deliveries to PO boxes.

It may be wise to do a quick review of your recent sales to determine what busines you may loose based on not being able to sell to customers having a PO box. I suppose you could use CP for those customers that have PO boxes and loose the spare change because you wont have a CP discount.

I looked at my 3-month history of sales and found that PO boxes represent 10% of my shipping business, not something that I would want to loose.

acurael · ‎11-07-2003

Keep in mind that those with a PO box almost always have a physical address that UPS (and other couriers) can deliver to.

UPS does charge based on total weight of all packages in a shipment vs CP which charges based on the weight of each package - this can save you considerable money if you send multiple items.

As far as basing the discounts on weight vs. dollars spent - the two are interchangeable essentially, right? I can't comment on what their internal workings are - but they'll ask you about package weights, # of packages, service levels, destinations, etc. in order to provide a quote.

UPS discounts are also setup according to "target" - so you might be 50% off at 100% of target, 40% at 80% of target, 30% at 70%, etc. This is based on a 12 week period I think to it evens out spikes.

UPS insurance is similar to others in my experience - they want to only pay on the shipper's cost and will only offer insurance on new items. This of course is the policy for the "masses". Everything is open to negotiation...

$40K or more per year in freight with UPS will get you into their pca program - dedicated account rep (no more dealing with the standard 800#) plus email support for everything - which I find incredibly handy.

amberwoodottawa · ‎11-07-2003

The only issue I raise with insurance is that before they would insure any of my products, they wanted a sample of each instrument fully packaged so they could send them off to Montreal for what they referred to as being "Extreme Testing".

I am afraid I was not prepared to send off 200 or 300 different-sized and shaped instruments ($50,000 to $100,000 worth of merchandise) to be TESTED by their testing lab to see if those instruments, fully packed would qualify for insurance when they dont ask the same of John Doe who drops off a package at the UPS counter and gets it insured without question.

your-chic-shopper · ‎11-07-2003

UPS is very good

However thier are certian things you will need to know in advance

Items over $200.00 in American Value will have too have a SIN or a Federal ID # included in the documents A lot of American's will give it, But their are others that will not . If you quote a certain price and then the American customer will not give their SIN # . You run the possiblity that the item might be held at American customs . Also if it happens more then three times too your company . Without providing the SIN # or Federal ID # for items over $200 American . You will get black balled by American Customs and all your items will be inspected by American Customs .

How do I know ...........It happend too me

It's very hard to email Ebay Customers and ask for thier SIN# through email . Actually it's almost impossible

Also UPS does what's called a safe drop. This means if you asked for the item to be signed when dropped off . If the driver believes that area is safe . The driver will leave the item at your customers door. This presents a problem if the item is stolen

Last thing to remember UPS does now charge volume size or weight what ever is greater to packages to America . When you call UPS ask about this

acurael · ‎11-07-2003

I've never had a problem on shipments over $200 and I never obtain a SS#

Provided the item is insured properly, there's no problem with the stolen item other than an inconvenience for your customer. UPS will cover the item and you can send another (provided obviously that it's not one of a kind)

UPS does have a density calculation just like CP and other carriers. Provided you're not sending boxes of feathers it shouldn't come up very often.

I couldn't be happier with UPS but obviously one company isn't going to be right for everyone's situation.

phoenix_top_drawer · ‎11-09-2003

Hi,

We've been wrestling with this one too. Our shipping costs are $300-$500 a week, mostly to Canada Post. We've asked them to get a rep to call us, to no avail. Are the other carriers as cavalier about customers of our size? Are we better off to stick with CP until we can ramp up our volume a bit? And does UPS have that brokerage "gotcha" going to the states? You know the one- driver smiling at the door looking for a brokerage fee? Has Fed Ex improved their handling of late?
Thanks

Brad

yjw1 · ‎11-09-2003

We have spent hours trying to find a better shipping option (most dealing with automated phone systems and on ignore). It seems all the couriers make it as difficult as possible for small business. Considering all the B/S required to set up with a different courier, and the small percentage you may acually save, it always comes back to regular over the counter US Expedite. The last attempt to get any good answers from CP; when this Power Seller discount thing came about, I was told there is no better way to ship the type of parcels we are selling cheaper than this.
Last month we spent in excess of $1300 a week at our local little CP outlet and her superior would not allow the part time employee to a few extra hours so your parcels would go out the same day. Pay for Expedite, the only option, and parcels don't go out for 2 day.
You would thing the couriers would be fighting for this kind of volume an we can't even get a rep to call us.
The next time a I have a few DAYS I am going to make another attempt to get somewhere with this.

99% of are parcels go to US, inused for about $100. Average fee per parcel is $15-$20. ANY SUGGESTIONS???

Between Shiping fees, Ebay fees and the ill US dollar, I am wondering if it is all worth it.

acurael · ‎11-10-2003

For shipments headed south with UPS via their Ground service, there is a $21 USD "customs processing" fee on shipment over $200 USD.

You can of course split this up into multiple shipments or "adjust" the declared value.

Shipments sent 3 day select or higher have this "customs processing" fee included in the freight charge.

You can elect to have the $21 fee billed to the customer or to the shipper.

allstarsalez · ‎11-13-2003

SHIPPING IS NOT FUN GUYS !

I think we will ship some items with UPS by ground and some electronics by XPRESSPOST with 10-15% power seller discount.

i don't really like UPS with all their strange "polices, fees etc etc)" and i don't like CP with shipping charges getting higher next year. i dont like a bunch of other stuff i dont wanna talk about.

i agree with somebody that some people who got P.O. address have normal address.

as far as i see there is no FAST solution to the shipping.

amberwoodottawa · ‎11-13-2003

The cheapest way to ship is to take the goods across the border into the US and ship by USPS, UPS, Fedex or whom-ever. Their rates are insignificant compared to ours.

I have heard of some people that make a weekly trip to mail out their goods from a US destination. I have thought about it myself as I can be in the US inside of 45 minutes from my house.

souranial · ‎11-15-2003

The real fact of the matter seems that CanadaPost NEEDS to really do a complete company "makeover". USPS is really one of the greatest national Post-Service that I have ever seen. They are a no BS company. There service is extremely fast and their prices are way below what we Canadians who are used to CP would consider fair! How about we get together and create a company that picks up packages from Canadians and drives to the US to ship them there for a much cheaper price? Oops! I forgot - thats what CanadaPost is doing! If I were to ship a package from Buffalo (which is about 45 mins. away from me) I would pay $4.10 CAD to send the package so that it arrives within 3-5 days. If I send it from my CP outlet, I am charged $11 more than that just to get it to the US where CanadaPost gets a much cheaper rate than $4.10 for that package!!! CanadaPost takes $11 just to get it to the border!!! THAT IS RIDICULOUS!

If you really want to go crazy listen to what UPS told me about why their prices are so much higher sending from Canada to the US: the Cdn. Gov't charges UPS a HUGE (!!) tax for every package that leaves Canada. Upon asking WHY the gov't did that, they replied that the gov't wanted to secure CP as the main form of courier and not let any other company become superior (as UPS did in the US). That is just the biggest bunch of BS I've heard about the gov't yet!

Amber, that idea about the weekly drive sounds like it may be heading my way!

I've spoken to UPS and they might have a solution that could really be worth considering but would be quite some work to establish. If anybody is interested visit the discussion named "The UPS Solution".