Shipping Woes in canada

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?

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That's like 40% of what I sold the item for (offered free shipping).

 

You misunderstand 'Free' shipping.

The point is to include the cost of shipping in the cost of the item.

Buyers probably understand this but they still like it.

Which is cheapest:

A $5 item with $10 shipping?

A $10 item with $5 shipping?

A $15 item with Free Shipping?

Yet the $15 item will sell better than the $10 item and much better than the $5 item. For the same reason that a 'We pay the sales tax" promotion works better than a '13% Off' sale.  It feels good.

And the seller pays lower FVF on the shipping, including no shipping FVF on international shipping even when those are not $0.00.

 

You will have to do some massaging to find the right postage cost before you list. I have a Starfrit scale purchased at Canadian Tire for under $20 that weighs up to  5kilos , you may need something more powerful. And a tape measure.

Use metric measurements. Canada Post went metric in 1974 and everything else is inaccurate.

 

 

In addition to discounts on PP labels, you will see discounted mint never hinged* postage lots for sale on eBay. Some discounts run 20% with free shipping and all tax paid.  So there's that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Avoid 'no gum' postage which has been used but not postmarked. That's illegal. And hinged means someone licked it a little. ew.

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