eBay

sailor.v. · ‎08-31-2011

I am curious if there are any Canadian sellers who use USPS... like going down the the states and shipping their wares through there?

I'm asking because I've heard of some people doing this, but I am not sure of the logistics of it all, like, do you require a US mailing return address on it or can you use your own Canadian address? Do you even need a return address on it?

I have a bunch of posters that I would like to sell, but being from Canada, I am afraid that CanadaPost is going to charge an arm and a leg for them, so I would like to see if shipping via USPS is a viable option for me since I live near the border (though this would probably require me getting a Nexus pass to make it worth my time).

zentealifecom · ‎02-01-2016

Any services at Ottawa area?

@sailor.v. wrote:
I am curious if there are any Canadian sellers who use USPS... like going down the the states and shipping their wares through there?

I'm asking because I've heard of some people doing this, but I am not sure of the logistics of it all, like, do you require a US mailing return address on it or can you use your own Canadian address? Do you even need a return address on it?

I have a bunch of posters that I would like to sell, but being from Canada, I am afraid that CanadaPost is going to charge an arm and a leg for them, so I would like to see if shipping via USPS is a viable option for me since I live near the border (though this would probably require me getting a Nexus pass to make it worth my time).

retailraccoon · ‎02-17-2016

I have called ECOM Express here in Montreal.

This is a one-man show with a station-wagon.

I have not tried his services, but he is in Montreal West Island, and goes to the USPS location 3 times a week.

hlmacdon · ‎02-17-2016

@it.multiservices wrote:
I have called ECOM Express here in Montreal.
This is a one-man show with a station-wagon.

I have not tried his services, but he is in Montreal West Island, and goes to the USPS location 3 times a week.

If you are dealing with a private individual/sole proprietor who is providing this service I'd recommend you do a trial period before you explicitly start advertising services to buyers. I've seen individuals providing these services get banned from border crossings for misdeclaring items (intentionally as well as unintentionally). You'll want to make sure you are dealing with someone who is well established in this area.

gorilla-scales · ‎02-17-2016

It really is pathetic that Canada Post cant get their stuff together and provide the thousands of potential e-commerce customers with an affordable postal service that is actually competitive with the rest of the developed world. They are missing out on Million$ in revenue and so are we. If they ever get it, business in Canada would be amazing.

pocomocomputing · ‎02-17-2016

@it.multiservices wrote:
I have called ECOM Express here in Montreal.
This is a one-man show with a station-wagon.

I have not tried his services, but he is in Montreal West Island, and goes to the USPS location 3 times a week.

I remember getting a one-man show with a small truck/plow to clear the snow from my driveway when I lived in Montreal on the West Island years ago. He promised to show up and said he had a good truck and was a good worker. He was cheaper than the smaller companies with several trucks. So I decided to give him a chance.

Each storm he had trouble getting to me and his other customers, never cleared the snow by 7 am as promised, did not show sometimes because his truck was broken or he could not get to me. Always excuses, could not get my money back because he was so small. I ended up shoveling my snow out of my driveway most of the winter and losing the $$ I spent on him. At least it was a 2 payment deal, 1/2 down in the fall, 1/2 in Feb. Came asking for the second half of the payment in Feb and I just laughed and shut the door in his face.

I would never trust a one-man show to get eBay packages into the USA on time and in the mail there. A disaster waiting to happen. Lose you eBay account because of a lot of late deliveries.

retailraccoon · ‎02-22-2016

I am indeed not sure about trying the services of this person.

Does anyone know of an established business that does this in the Montreal area?

wowshades · ‎02-28-2016

I stopped by at chitchats office in Mississauga. Wasn't impressed by their setup at all. The place looks like a mess...anyways they do not ship any items that they say fall under fda and in my case sunglasses.
Now I'm looking for a courier that ship cross border to usps as Canada post rates sucks and UPS is out of the question.

Any ideas?

hlmacdon · ‎02-28-2016

@wowshades wrote:
I stopped by at chitchats office in Mississauga. Wasn't impressed by their setup at all. The place looks like a mess...anyways they do not ship any items that they say fall under fda and in my case sunglasses.
Now I'm looking for a courier that ship cross border to usps as Canada post rates sucks and UPS is out of the question.

Any ideas?

If they are a regulated category you have a hard time finding a forwarder that is going to transport them across the land border and risk a border ban or being flagged for ongoing inspection due to improper paperwork or an item that doesn't meet standards. From a quick read sunglasses are classified as medical devices, require FDA registration, valid testing proving they meet standards (shatter resistance, and specialized entry. When something passes through the border with a forwarder, it is considered a commercial entry and subject to all relevant regulation, and liability is 100% on the individual/company transporting that product.

midcentureager · ‎02-28-2016

I answered my own question. Called Peace Arch and commercial crossings are not allowed; use truck (Pacific) crossing.

zentealifecom · ‎03-15-2016

Well... 2 hours distance from Ottawa to Montreal. I don't think they provide services in Ottawa.

wonkavision · ‎03-16-2016

I have looked everywhere to figure I what I have to do for customs to bring my items over the border to ship through the USPS and not have to pay duty on them. I live 10 minutes to the border. (Windsor/Detroit). Does anyone know how to set this up? Please help.

hlmacdon · ‎03-17-2016

@wonkavision wrote:
I have looked everywhere to figure I what I have to do for customs to bring my items over the border to ship through the USPS and not have to pay duty on them. I live 10 minutes to the border. (Windsor/Detroit). Does anyone know how to set this up? Please help.

You'll need an inward cargo manifest filled out (see here) as well as a copy of invoices for the items sold. Ideally you'll want the invoices to reference the site sold (ebay invoices are fine, if your own site outside of ebay add the website on the invoices) in the event a customs officer needs to look up the item. For a first time crossing, expect to be subject to inspection and have packages opened and items looked up to verify value and descriptions. Be truthful on your declarations and carry a roll of extra tape (usually they'll retape with customs tape) and you'll have nothing to worry about. Do not describe your items incorrectly (incorrect HS codes that are similar are usually not a problem as different officers will have different opinions on what is applicable) and do not under declare values. Make sure you know the country of origin (where it was manufactured) for your items.

To fill out out the inward cargo manifest: section 1) Province Country of Registration License Plate of Vehicle Year and Model (ie ON Canada 123 XYZ 2015 Bugatti Veyron. 2) Name of Person Transporting Shipment, 3) Name/Address of Owner 4) Foreign Port of Lading put your city and province 5) US Port of Destination put Various, 6) Port of Arrival put US City/State where crossing border. In the Details section, Column No 3 and 4 are the main ones to fill in. You'll need to know the HS code of your item(s). Separate them into groups of HS Codes, then create a line entry in No 3 with the number of packages, weight, HS Code, Country of Origin and description of item. In No 4 put the names of the people applicable for that HS code with the total value of their shipment, with separate lines for each person. Repeat for any additional HS code groupings.

You'll have to use the commercial lane to cross (these are commercial entries, do not, and I repeat do not, use the regular lanes you would when entering normally) and ensure your border crossing has a commercial lane ahead of time. You will have to pay an entry fee (I believe it is around $10 per crossing) or get a transponder for yearly use ($400 and something these days as it was recently raised in cost). Individual shipments to a single person under $800 are not subject to duty or taxes. For orders over that amount there is different paperwork/fees to be paid. If memory serves this procedure is classified as an informal entry and the total value limit of items crossing is $2500 before a separate procedure needs to followed. I'd recommend calling the US folks to confirm the limits depending on how much you are bringing across. I've never hit that per crossing so I can't advise.

You'll also want to check ahead if there are any restrictions on the types of items you are bringing across. For example you can't transport sunglasses over as they are considered medical devices and require additional approvals/paperwork. If in doubt phone and ask the US folks, they are there to help and are in a much better mood when you ask before crossing rather than showing up at the border and asking questions. When you set your shipping rates for your items, consider amortizing the cost of the entry fee across your packages (ie add 50 cents to a dollar to cover). While all of this sounds somewhat complicated, it is quite easy once you've done it and as long as you don't have dozens of different types of items you are transporting.

vip-marketplace · ‎03-17-2016

If anyone knows a company that could take my 20-30 weekly packages accross the border from Quebec City, that would be fantastic!

I've made a bit a reasearch already but couln't find anything... it's crazy the amount of $ I'm throwing out the window shipping in the US with Canada Post.

I'm also considering moving to Sherbrook this year which is ~40 minutes from the border. Unless there are some companies doing it from there It should be worth my time to cross the border myself once a week...

hlmacdon · ‎03-17-2016

@vip-marketplace wrote:

I've made a bit a reasearch already but couln't find anything... it's crazy the amount of $ I'm throwing out the window shipping in the US with Canada Post.

I'm also considering moving to Sherbrook this year which is ~40 minutes from the border. Unless there are some companies doing it from there It should be worth my time to cross the border myself once a week...

It is something you would want to weigh carefully. Depending on the size and weight of your items, expedited parcel pricing isn't always that much different than priority mail (States closer to your USPS entry point would be an exception) and depending on your location in Canada clears into the US quite quickly. You may find moving from a same/1 day handling time to a once a week shipout might have a negative impact on your US sales. Shipping several times a week (not easy) via USPS is fairly key in my experience as US customers are sensitive to handling times. Even adding one more day to my shipping schedule for USPS had a measurable effect on buyer satisfaction and repeat buys.

recped · ‎03-17-2016

@vip-marketplace wrote:
If anyone knows a company that could take my 20-30 weekly packages accross the border from Quebec City, that would be fantastic!

I've made a bit a reasearch already but couln't find anything... it's crazy the amount of $ I'm throwing out the window shipping in the US with Canada Post.

I'm also considering moving to Sherbrook this year which is ~40 minutes from the border. Unless there are some companies doing it from there It should be worth my time to cross the border myself once a week...

If your packages are fairly small/light you could ship them in bulk (via UPS) to a mail drop over the border who can hand them over to USPS. With the new $800 free limit in the US UPS will do the customs clearance pretty cheap if the total value of all the packages is under $800.

This is what I did for a few years before local services like ChitChat came on the scene who would take care of getting it across the border.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

recped · ‎03-17-2016

@hlmacdon wrote:
@vip-marketplace wrote:

I've made a bit a reasearch already but couln't find anything... it's crazy the amount of $ I'm throwing out the window shipping in the US with Canada Post.

I'm also considering moving to Sherbrook this year which is ~40 minutes from the border. Unless there are some companies doing it from there It should be worth my time to cross the border myself once a week...
It is something you would want to weigh carefully. Depending on the size and weight of your items, expedited parcel pricing isn't always that much different than priority mail (States closer to your USPS entry point would be an exception) and depending on your location in Canada clears into the US quite quickly. You may find moving from a same/1 day handling time to a once a week shipout might have a negative impact on your US sales. Shipping several times a week (not easy) via USPS is fairly key in my experience as US customers are sensitive to handling times. Even adding one more day to my shipping schedule for USPS had a measurable effect on buyer satisfaction and repeat buys.

Certainly true if everything you ship would have to go Priority. If your packages can go as First Class or even better Media it will be a lot cheaper (especially as the CA Dollar rises in value).

Regardless of price, the shipping time will be MUCH faster, 1 or 2 days to get it across the border and 2 - 3 days for local delivery, pretty rare to get 4 or 5 day delivery to the US from Canada Post even if you use Xpresspost.

All the packages I sent to the US on Monday afternoon were delivered this morning, less than 70 hours door to door including shipments to California and Texas.

I checked my shipments this week and ALL were delivered BEFORE eBay's earliest delivery date estimate (I have 5 day handling). even the ones that were bought last week.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

hlmacdon · ‎03-17-2016

@recped wrote:
@hlmacdon wrote:
Certainly true if everything you ship would have to go Priority. If your packages can go as First Class or even better Media it will be a lot cheaper (especially as the CA Dollar rises in value).

Regardless of price, the shipping time will be MUCH faster, 1 or 2 days to get it across the border and 2 - 3 days for local delivery, pretty rare to get 4 or 5 day delivery to the US from Canada Post even if you use Xpresspost.

All the packages I sent to the US on Monday afternoon were delivered this morning, less than 70 hours door to door including shipments to California and Texas.

I checked my shipments this week and ALL were delivered BEFORE eBay's earliest delivery date estimate (I have 5 day handling). even the ones that were bought last week.

I don't disagree on the shipping times as USPS is generally fast except for peak seasons. The only issue is the longer handling time on listings which does put off buyers. Repeat buyers will know it is more likely to be faster regardless of the handling days, but for prospective buyers it is harder to get that point across. I ship 3 days a week now with USPS, and since adding that extra day of coverage sales, the amount of feedback received (as well as comments on speed), and repeat buys have measurably increased. As you mention it is something you have to consider carefully as first class rates are a huge advantage, particularly now that shippers can easily access the 15.9 ounce rates.

recped · ‎03-18-2016

@hlmacdon wrote:
@recped wrote:
@hlmacdon wrote:
Certainly true if everything you ship would have to go Priority. If your packages can go as First Class or even better Media it will be a lot cheaper (especially as the CA Dollar rises in value).

Regardless of price, the shipping time will be MUCH faster, 1 or 2 days to get it across the border and 2 - 3 days for local delivery, pretty rare to get 4 or 5 day delivery to the US from Canada Post even if you use Xpresspost.

All the packages I sent to the US on Monday afternoon were delivered this morning, less than 70 hours door to door including shipments to California and Texas.

I checked my shipments this week and ALL were delivered BEFORE eBay's earliest delivery date estimate (I have 5 day handling). even the ones that were bought last week.
I don't disagree on the shipping times as USPS is generally fast except for peak seasons. The only issue is the longer handling time on listings which does put off buyers. Repeat buyers will know it is more likely to be faster regardless of the handling days, but for prospective buyers it is harder to get that point across. I ship 3 days a week now with USPS, and since adding that extra day of coverage sales, the amount of feedback received (as well as comments on speed), and repeat buys have measurably increased. As you mention it is something you have to consider carefully as first class rates are a huge advantage, particularly now that shippers can easily access the 15.9 ounce rates.

Frankly I doubt very much that any of my buyers look, notice or care about my handling time. As for great compliments in feedback from buyers, always gives you a feel good until you check and see they have been leaving the same or similar message for every seller since forever!

On the other hand actually providing speedy delivery certainly encourages buyers to come back. Of course so does good packing, an accurate description and a good price.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

yourtixfix · ‎03-28-2016

I have tried a few services to get our packages to the USA from Canada. Chitchats was ok but they are very unprofessional and dont care about lost packages. The staff at a few locations are rude and they seem to think they are the GODs of shipping.

Found a great place in Markham Ontario and just started about 2 months ago.

I signed up and have loved it since. Got a week free to try them out also which is nice. I think the coupon code I found online was "savings7".

Hope this helps.