eBay

mr.elmwood · ‎10-03-2016

"The House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) would like to invite you to appear before the Committee in Winnipeg on Friday, October 21 from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. in view of its study on Canada Post."

I get five minutes for a presentation and then they ask me questions.

Input. I need input. I really do not care what it is as I want all angles.

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cumos55 · ‎10-03-2016

The key is to be supportive of Canada Post... without any reference to the negativity expressed by Union(s)..

Actions by the Federal Government... through legislation ....are critical for Canada Post.... and perhaps the only way for Canada Post to make adjustments quickly and without opposition like the type of opposition we saw over July and August last summer....

That first report did not choose NOT to say certain things..... just said them carefully....

The focus of the committee is Canada Post and the future of Canada Post......

cumos55 · ‎10-03-2016

We all must ask ourselves...... Do we really need door-to-door delivery.?

and ... We can make adjustments to live without door-to-door delivery.

People will adjust..... People in new housing developments in a city never had door-to-door delivery

i.am.vivian · ‎10-03-2016

@cumos55 wrote:

The future of mail delivery is community mailboxes.... Who will pay $20 each month for door to door delivery

This might be the future reality, I don't deny it. Its just that we've had dtd delivery for as long as me and my grandparents can remember and the country didn't go broke over it. There is a horrible nasty wicked part of me, a very miniscule part thankfully, that thinks people who support those things should suddenly find themselves crippled and alone. Permanently. I'm not, but I am grateful enough to say "There but for the grace of God go I". I try to imagine what it would be like if I were not able to run down to the corner to get my mail. For those less fortunate I would not take away a service they might value.

I see no point to go too off topic about this issue which was hashed out and rehashed over and over during the summer threads. I really don't think the seller reps presenting to the committee will be expected to go so far as to voice opinions on these sorts of things but I suppose it may be easier to get forgiveness than permission. 🙂

I would think in 5 minutes the focus would be on what will best improve the life for the small seller. Reading over the previous thread from August, there are a lot of good ideas in there for what people think would help. I would like to see emphasis on affordable mailing options to keep postage costs as low as realistically possible and affordable tracking for little things like CDs or at the very least an entry scan even if the item never gets a look after that. Ideally a delivery scan, but even an entry scan might be helpful if eBay would ever accept proof of shipment.

cumos55 · ‎10-03-2016

About $20 annually is correct... my error...

i.am.vivian · ‎10-03-2016

@cumos55 wrote:
The key is to be supportive of Canada Post...

That's very true. Supportive, enthusiastic, positive, and helpful with their suggestions. They have 3 weeks to put together their proposals, but time goes pretty quick.

cumos55 · ‎10-03-2016

As eBay sellers we have to look at

(1) How we use Canada Post.

(2) Who we are.....the people that use eBay.... age.... income.... our economic future..

(3) We need a measure of economic stability without any distraction such as a strike or lockout

(3) The cost of postage

(4) Tracking

Canada Post has a lot of hurdles to cross in order for it to be exceptionally functional for eBay sellers....

cumos55 · ‎10-03-2016

As eBay sellers we need Canada Post to deliver our sales to our customers....

In today's on-line world... Canada Post is changing ... and needs us, as eBay sellers to continue to use all services... and more specifically parcel services... For without parcels... where would Canada Post be....

We need Canada Post.... Canada Post needs us

vintagenorth · ‎10-03-2016

@i.am.vivian wrote:

This might be the future reality, I don't deny it. Its just that we've had dtd delivery for as long as me and my grandparents can remember and the country didn't go broke over it. There is a horrible nasty wicked part of me, a very miniscule part thankfully, that thinks people who support those things should suddenly find themselves crippled and alone. Permanently. I'm not, but I am grateful enough to say "There but for the grace of God go I". I try to imagine what it would be like if I were not able to run down to the corner to get my mail. For those less fortunate I would not take away a service they might value.

But what about those of us who have never had door to door delivery? We have managed all our lives, either driving to a post office a few miles away or walking to a community mailbox. In fact, I still have to drive to a post office in order to mail my items for sale. Can't even mail anything larger than a standard envelope at the comm. mailbox.

silverpinups · ‎10-03-2016

I am also not willing to lose my daily home delivery... I will register my house as a business if it comes down to community mail boxes.

The 20.00 a week fee for residential service (is not expectable by the way but.... ) won't outweigh the time and cost I'll have to spend driving down to the local Post Office on a regular weekly basis to pick up all my packages.

silverpinups · ‎10-03-2016

Sorry.... (is not acceptable)

i.am.vivian · ‎10-03-2016

@vintagenorth wrote:
But what about those of us who have never had door to door delivery? We have managed all our lives, either driving to a post office a few miles away or walking to a community mailbox.

Right. Because you can. 🙂

katlover1952 · ‎10-04-2016

The two things that would top my list would be a small packet type of rate within Canada & of course tracking. We definitely need cheaper tracking. The difference in shipping a small packet air & shipping by tracked is way too much especially in the 250 gram & under category.

Good luck Mr E. Hopefully this will be well worth the time & effort you are putting in to it.

zee-chan · ‎10-04-2016

@i.am.vivian wrote:
@vintagenorth wrote:
But what about those of us who have never had door to door delivery? We have managed all our lives, either driving to a post office a few miles away or walking to a community mailbox.

Right. Because you can. 🙂

How about those who can't manage without door-to-door delivery apply for it (I do think it should be free)? For example, if someone is over 80 years old or is wheelchair-bound or has some sort of medical / physical condition that makes it difficult for them to get mail from a community mailbox a block away, they can APPLY for the door-to-door delivery service by showing CP some sort of medical record or ID etc? I mean, assuming only one household out of ten needs mandatory door-to-door delivery, that should at least save a good amount of time and manpower when they can delivery 90% of the mail to a community mailbox and then delivery the rest at the door.

I have been using community mailboxes (either the street one or those townhome ones) since I was a little kid... I can't even remember ever having door-to-door delivery except for parcels that don't fit in the community mailbox.

That and I'm more than happy with getting mail two or three times a week. Heck even though my mailbox is only a minute walk away, I only check it a couple times a week...

pocomocomputing · ‎10-04-2016

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

I know that some will disagree but I think that they should go ahead with the community mailboxes with perhaps some special revisions for housebound people. As I've mentioned before, I've had a community mailbox since 2002 and it has never caused a problem for us.

I think that everyone here will want less expensive tracking although is that the type of thing that the committee will be looking at? If they are looking at suggestions for rates etc. I would suggest that they have smaller price increments for international parcels. For example, Rather than charge $9.78 for 250gr small parcel air to the UK and $19.55 for 251-500gr they could increase the price in 100 or 200 gr increments up to 1 kg and after that increase it at every 500gr.

To increase parcels within Canada, they could start the pricing at at a lower weight/lower cost then they do now. (750gr). I don't mind paying $15 for a 1 kg parcel but $12 for a 100 gr isn't reasonable.

Offer a parcel service within Canada similar to small packet US.

I think the reason for the 750 grams for Expedited Parcel first break is that anything there is a minimum cost to deliver a package no matter what the weight is between 0 and 750 grams. They probably did a study years ago that they can't offer a 250 gram or 500 gram rate because it would have to be the same cost to process as the 750 gram.

Now they can have a 500 gram rate for Expedited Parcel USA because they just get it across the border to the USA and USPS with their more efficient system handles the rest of the delivery.

I also think that is the reason Light Packet went up so much in the recent years. The cost to process and order got more expensive so to make a profit and not a loss on the service, the price went up and they raised the minimum weight to 200 grams since they could not process an item for less.

cumos55 · ‎10-04-2016

Canada Post already has a service option for people who cannot make trips to a community mailbox.

This option was recognized as soon a Community mailboxes were introduced as an option for mail delivery.

This has been noted in the Canada Post Review...

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Also there is a regulation that stipulates Canada Post ... must .. deliver mail 5 days a week....... This can only be changed through government legislation

vintagenorth · ‎10-04-2016

@i.am.vivian wrote:
@vintagenorth wrote:
But what about those of us who have never had door to door delivery? We have managed all our lives, either driving to a post office a few miles away or walking to a community mailbox.

Right. Because you can. 🙂

Respectfully, I must disagree. It's not because I can, it's because I must. We have had no choice and have had to manage without any other alternative. Actually, having a community mailbox is better than having to drive to the nearest post office to get our mail. Of course, we still have to do that in order to pick up any parcels too large for the mailbox. At least my PO is open for pickup on Sat mornings. Where my daughter lives her PO is only open Monday to Friday from 9:30 until 4:30, and she can't even pick up her mail except during those hours which is hard when you work during the day. But, we adapt and somehow manage. 🙂

momcqueen · ‎10-04-2016

That's right. Each decision that I've made in my adult life about where I MUST live has been based on the available services. I don't have a spread in the foothills because I must reside in an urban center which has the services I require, among them to-door delivery of my mail by Canada Post.

widgetc · ‎10-04-2016

I would say lack of inexpensive tracking impedes sales in Canada and abroad and that adding that option could be a great revenue addition for CP as most sellers would use it most of the time.

rose-dee · ‎10-04-2016

@mr.elmwood wrote:

I get five minutes for a presentation and then they ask me questions.

Right. Clearly you will not have time for a lengthy exegesis on the entire state of Canada Post, including such things as daily home delivery and community boxes.

If you're speaking from the viewpoint of independent online sellers, specifically eBay sellers, there are probably just 5 or 6 main points or asks that would make an enormous difference to all of us, such as:

1) Canada Post should recognize that many thousands of one or two-person Canadian eBay micro-businesses rely on them for income, i.e. the landscape for CPC has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. As 'cumos' pointed out, a large proportion of those sellers are retirees or students who depend on the extra income. These sellers' income also contributes to the economy and taxes, etc. Reliability and continuity of postal service is absolutely crucial to us, more than for larger businesses that may have business interruption insurance.

2) Ideally, some form of cheap tracking. Within Canada would be nice, but most of us sell most of our goods to the U.S., and Small/Light Packet, just doesn't cut it anymore. (You can briefly explain how eBay's new on-time policy can very quickly put small sellers out of business).

3) Failing full tracking, provide an acceptance scan of some sort that could be uploaded and acceptable to the likes of eBay (I don't know about you, but I'd even be willing to pay a reasonable fee, say $0.50 for it). This would be enough to solve most eBay sellers' on-time delivery worries.

4) Keep a lid on price increases. 25% at a shot is a lot to bear. The last big hike on international rates more or less killed a lot of overseas sales.

5) A pie-in-the-sky ask: Can the 2.0cm thickness restriction for Light Packet USA and Int'l be expanded, just a teeny bit, to 2.5cm, at the same rates? Pretty please?

6) Last but not least, there is actually opportunity for CPC in supporting small online sellers.

Go get 'em!

sylviebee · ‎10-05-2016

I think that's it's wonderful that eBay.ca is finally starting to make an effort to sell their product to Canadians.

In the very near future all parcels will get scanned at some point at no added cost. In our computerized world that's inevitable and the real question is why it's taking so long and at such a cost? It should be an integral part of the service.

Sellers don't need tracking and the only purpose actual tracking would serve is that some buyers like to spend their time watching the profession, and if a parcel does go missing the PO can pinpoint where it happened.

rose-dee had a suggestion that hadn't occurred to me before. Until they get their ducks in a row, do we really need a scan at each end

of the journey? One scan either upon delivery or arrival "might" be enough.