how to get economy shipping rates for canada post for dvds and books

[bentley65]

Hi.  I am a new Canadian seller, using ebay.ca and listing in can dollars. I would  like to start selling dvds and books. I am using buy it now and the buyer must pay shipping. I am still using my first 50 free listings.

I have listed a few dvds in the smallest, non padded envelopes which I cut down to the size of the dvd. These are series with 4 dvds inside but are around 2 cm thick. 

The weight was 250 grams, size 21 cm long, 16 cm wide and 2 cm high. I listed them at first as 9 dollars Canadian and the shipping quote on the item showing on my listing was over 13 dollars for Canada post regular parcel.

I chose Canada post light packet usa for my usa shipping and it doesn't give a quote. I was told there is no shipping calculator available for my international orders and I have to always ask a buyer for state and zip code, go on Canada post website and get a calculation from there for any buyers, then add the cost to buy it now item and invoice the usa buyer. the cost so far for other items was always double the domestic shipping cost which deterred any usa buyers. I haven't yet sold any dvds but I am assuming the shipping cost will again be double for the usa shipping. 

so I lowered my price to 5 dollars can each dvd set. now it doesn't give any quote at all on domestic shipping which means for buy it now I have to get emails from domestic and usa buyers and go to the Canada post website get the quote etc etc. I don't know why it did then when I changed the price I must have screwed something up. 

I am overwhelmed with this shipping. is there any easier way to do this? what am I doing wrong? I have seen other experienced sellers that offer free economy shipping which I think must be in the plain brown envelopes - letter mail - I am using plain non padded brown envelopes but it never gives me the option of using letter mail. the shipping domestic when it would give a quote was always over 13 dollars. at this rate I would have to give away the dvd to pay the shipping cost. 

I would appreciate anyone who could offer any advice on how to get economy Canada post shipping and advice on pricing the dvds I have or how I could price things and offer free shipping. any advice appreciated. thanks very much.

[bentley65]

Thanks so much for the great advice and information! Now to let it all sink into my tiny brain! 🙂

[alison333 · Accepted solution]

Hi Bentley 🙂

I just happened across your question and thought I would give you a quick answer.  And perhaps some advice!?  I saw that other lovely & helpful sellers have given you info re post costs etc.

But I guess from my POV (as a Cdn seller of 'stuff' (vintage toys that mostly ship in small/med boxes), whenever I've sold bubble mail and/or envelope-type things... they are just WAY more trouble than their worth.  Honestly and ugh.  Unless it's an item that is VERY valuable that is.  Can Post doesn't have a 'media/mail rate' for books etc like they used to.

Sorry to say, but selling an item for 10 bucks (or less) is just not worth the time/effort.  Plus US buyers will not bid anyhow due to high ship costs shown from here.  They can probably get the same item for much less thru lower 48 seller, often with free shipping.

To add insult to injury, what's happening is, A) the calculator is very hard to figure out (no matter HOW much experience you have!)  B) on top of the 'actual' post costs when you post out, you also have to factor in the envelope/pack materials/time etc, C) eBay also charges you 10% fee on post costs (majorly unfair assuming you don't pass on as I don't), and D) starting July 1st they ALSO charge us HST (13% depending on prov) on top too.  UGH.

So when I go to the post office they charge me HST, which eBay has already charged for, so now paying it twice!  In fairness I don't use the 'services' here and print out labels blah blah, but whatever.

Bottom line, unless you're a massive distributor of DVDs/CDs/books/comics etc moving 1000's of units a month, it's a big problem and almost impossible to be competitive in that area as they just seem to be the worst/hardest things to sell here 😞

You might want to try to go thru a local sight like Kijiji instead?  At least that is free for the most part and you may not lose anything except a bit of time?!

Either way Good Luck and best wishes,

Alison 🙂

[thestuffofchris · Accepted solution]

"Bottom line, unless you're a massive distributor of DVDs/CDs/books/comics etc moving 1000's of units a month, it's a big problem and almost impossible to be competitive in that area as they just seem to be the worst/hardest things to sell here"

Not necessarily true, based on my experiences selling those items.

If you're trying to sell all the major titles that everyone else is selling and you're looking to make a living from it, it may be tougher. If you're just trying to off-load part a personal collection of niche titles and your intent is just to make a few bucks here and there, it might not be so difficult. If you have the patience and, in my opinion more importantly, the enjoyment of selling without focusing too hard on the "bottom line", it becomes more fun to sell than you might think (at least compared to the experiences of many sellers you read on these boards). At least to me, it IS worth the time and effort, even for lower priced items, because (shocker!) I like it here.

I know the OP may not be a seller like me, and may want to start earning an income here, so my post may not totally apply, but I always like to bring in my own perspective to downplay the idea of eBay being a cesspit of negativity for all to avoid.