@flyhooks4less wrote:Good Day,
Has anyone noticed any recent issues with Canada Post Small Packet Air service? This service does not provide tracking, however it has been fairly reliable for me. However in the last 2 months they have failed me. I have had at least 4 buyers in the last few months state they have not received their packages. 2 of the said packages were sent days apart to the same address in Mexico, one to New Zealand, and another to Bahrain. Of course, no tracking means I must refund shipping and cost of goods.
I have had very few losses in previous months or years. If this continues I may have no choice but to shut down my international sales.
Just wondering if others have encountered similar issues?
Thanks for looking..
Mexico in particular is a very problematic destination, I haven't shipped there very much but the non-delivery issues are well known and the ones that do get delivered can take a very long time. I've been a "victim" a few times.
I've never shipped to Bahrain but for any of the Gulf States customs can be an issue (your items should not be a problem).
As far as New Zealand, very few reports of issues there, I've never had any but it can be a bit on the slow side.
These not received reports you've had, how long after shipping are you getting them?
Oh yeah, "tracking", all that would do is confirm the non-delivery, tracking is not magic pixie dust.
OK thanks.
Doesn't sound like your buyers are jumping the gun.
My experience with Mexico and the other well known for delay destinations is that 4 - 6 weeks is not unusual. That said I understand it's difficult to ask or expect a buyer to wait longer when it's been a month.
@Anonymous wrote:Why not include mail service with tracking number like Tracket Packet or XpressPost for your international sales which the buyers would pay for and you wouldn't lose any.
It is a risk for us to charge mail service with tracking number which we started a few years ago and needless to say many buyers don't mind paying for them! Of course we may lose many potential buyers when they see the shipping costs with tracking number but at least we sleep better especially the so-called "cookie jar insurance" don't work for the expensive items that we are selling.
Here's a scenerio I deal with EVERY day.........
Sell $20 item Internationally
Charge $15 shipping (400 - 500g item) (my shipping charge is lower than my competition)
My cost for that $15 shipping is < $10
I have a $5 - $7 "handling charge" to cover losses and put in my pocket.
Or
Sell $20 Item Internationally
Charge $30 for tracked shipping
My cost for that shipping is $30
I have ZERO handling charge to cover losses and put in my pocket
I also have half the sales because my shipping charge is now double.
My packages still get lost because tracking does nothing at all to prevent anything but a fraudulent buyer......I'm not happy, my buyers are not happy, the only people happy are the post office.
The OP is in a slightly different situation because many of their product are very light, on the other hand some of their items are lower than $20 but the same thing applies. Paying for tracked shipping when it incurs a substantial cost in both profits and sales in not a good plan.
Over my history in mail order my loss rate on International shipments is less than 1 in 500, using the example above I would be spending out of MY pocket more than $5000 to protect myself from ONE single loss of less than $30. If my loss rate was 1 in 100 I would be spending $500, even losing 1 in $10 would still mean spending $50 to cover $30 in losses!
The reality is that "cookie-jar" of about 10 cents per shipment would more than cover my normal losses. Over all my time on eBay I have only had tiny number (a handful perhaps) of lost shipments where I had even a whiff of suspicion that the buyer was less than honest and half those shipments WERE sent using tracking (due to size/weight, only methods with tracking available).
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