Shipping Woes in canada

[kruisingsam]

Ok. I know a similar question has been asked many times before but really, how to deal with the outrageous shipping rates by Canada post that are nothing short of highway robbery? Just shipped an item that barely weighed more than 300 grams to Alberta (from BC) and was shocked when they told me the shipping cost was $13. That's like 40% of what I sold the item for (offered free shipping). So, after all fees I ended up making a net profit of $10 on the $35 sale !!! So, what if I sell something a lot heavier? How can we make any money with these outrageous rates? I thought about going to the US to ship -since I'm only about 15 minutes from the border- but the US customs told me I'd have to pay like $10 if I bring stuff with me with the intent to ship it from there.

So yeah, how the hell can we make any money here?

[ypdc_dennis]

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@kruisingsam wrote:

Ok. I know a similar question has been asked many times before but really, how to deal with ,,, shipping rates by Canada post? Just shipped an item that barely weighed more than 300 grams to Alberta (from BC) and was shocked when they told me the shipping cost was $13. ... So, what if I sell something a lot heavier?  

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1) Buy your shipping through paypal -- Expedited parcel gets around a 15% discount (ignore regular parcel since it is not any cheaper and has fewer benefits).

2) If under 500g AND less than 2cm thick you can ship using oversize lettermail

2015 rates:
051-100g .. 1.80
101-200g .. 2.95
201-300g .. 4.10
301-400g .. 4.70
401-500g .. 5.05

Not insured, but rates are good for all of Canada (unlike parcel rates which vary by location).

3) Know where the price weight breaks are for sending a Canada Post parcel. Your 300g item would cost the same as a 600g item as they both would be on the first level of under 750g, next level is under 1 kg, then every 500g above that is a new price level. To a max of 30kg.

4) Small is good.  Point 3 is modified by dimensional (volumetric weight equivalent) surcharges if your package is too large. Canada Post and most other shippers (UPS, Fedex, etc) now charge this. Calculated for expedited parcel as volume in cm / 6000 = adjusted weight.  --  so a 30x30x30cm box would be treated as 4.5kg, even it only weighs 1kg. So make sure your item is not too large when packaged.

5) Use calculated shipping when listing. This does mean you have to have good idea what the parcel will weigh and how big the parcel will be. It has the advantage that you do not need to worry about parcel shipping costs to remote areas.

6) If not using PayPal to ship, then sign up for Canada Post's "Solutions for Small Business" (formerly called VentureOne) program, which gives you some discounts (and allows you to buy Expedited parcel at the PO counter for the same price as regular parcel).

More reading: www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/pgabcmail-e.asp