Canada post exorbitant shipping costs for tracking to US - is insurance enough?

[nscourge]

Shipping with tracking to US for low priced items makes it pointless to sell.

Is it OK to use a service that offers insurance without tracking(assuming Canada Post has something like this), to offset shipping costs?

If you sell on eBay from Canada, you are going to WANT to ship to the US, at competitive rates.

Canada Post does everything they can to hinder this goal.

I know they are not subsidized by taxes like USPS, but I would GLADLY have some portion of taxes going towards subsidizing a *useable* shipping service, if it meant we could have a service even *close* to the USPS(I don't care that USPS loses money - Canada Post *costs* us MONEY).

If I ship using a Canada Post service without tracking(and hence no delivery confirmation), and they buyer claims non-receipt - will I be able to recoup on the insurance claim?

Does Canada Post have a way of verifying receipt, if I do not select a tracking or delivery confirmation service?

If so, then this is just (another) way that Canada Post is screwing us.

Postal Unions should be against the law - I can't imagine a more unskilled form of labor(driving or *walking across the street to put something in a box!*).

The notion that Unions ensure a higher quality workers doesn't apply to delivering mail(anyone can walk across a street and put something in a box!). 

[nscourge]

First time posting on Canadian community forums - can't edit messages?

Very interesting.

[pocomocomputing]

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@nscourge wrote:
First time posting on Canadian community forums - can't edit messages?

Very interesting.

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Yes, but for 5 minutes only. It will show "Edit Reply" in options for 5 minutes then disappear. This allows you to correct a post for a mistake after posting but not change content after there are replies.

[nscourge]

I will test with this message.

EDIT: you were right.

I could have sworn it was different when I posted in .com community forum.

[pocomocomputing]

For low value items, you have to ship with uninsured no tracking services like Light Packet USA and Small Packet USA. A buyer can claim Item Not Received because there is no delivery confirmation. Generally, most buyers are honest so there are few INR claims. I have had about 4 INR claims (real or not I do not know) in the past 6 years on all items sold with most going LP USA or SP USA.

The profit on all the good sales pays for the loss on the INR items many times over.

[ricarmic]

Hi Nscourge! Here is a link to my self insurance experience, however my customer base (stamp collectors) is a lot different from yours, my guess based on what I see you are selling is that your risk factor is higher.......

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/My-experience-including-2014-Self-insurance-cookie-jar/m-...

[nscourge]

Thanks. I didn't realize how useless Light/Small Packet USA is.

No shipcover insurance either, like when using USPS.

Very... interesting.

OK, Canada can continue strangling opportunities for small business - I will feel less bad about building my wealth in other countries, rather than investing in a country that does everything it can to hinder investment - monetary policies that work to increase profit margins for large exporting companies(where productivity gains, limit hiring opportunities), while hindering foreign investment(who wants to invest in a country with a perpetually *declining* currency) and exacerbating small business expenses that rely upon imported goods( which are most of them, since Canada's manufacturing base has long since evaporated).

[nscourge]

Of course I don't sell in high enough volume to indulge the same risk assessments as someone who sells in much higher volumes.

I think it is telling that the most profitable eBay Canada ventures seem to be selling stamps, lol.

[reallynicestamps]

There are third party insurers .

We use Hugh Wood International, which offers complete coverage to collectors and dealers at better rates than home or commercial insurers. They covered our Store, mailed items, consigned material, travel to and from shows, and the shows themselves for shoptheft, damage in transit, fire and water damage. Probably some other stuff too.

Downside is that they only do annual contracts, but if you are a show dealer or have a large personal collection (of anything) it would be worth talking to them. They are a British company with offices in Toronto. Ask for Gina.

Many sellers have had a good relationship with shipinsurance. I haven't used them myself. But I understand they will do one off insurance.

Tracking is important for sellers who are worried about false claims of non-delivery. But it offers no Real World protection and the world wide postal system is very reliable. I base this on over 30 years of selling nationally and internationally, everything from dress patterns to stamps to woodstoves to books.

Insurance is more useful. And with some number crunching, you can probably work out the actual risk of false claims.

[tobyshitzu]

lack of tracking is more of an imagined issue then a real one.  Having sent 1000s of video games around the world in some cases i know I was ripped off, others may have been lost or ripped off.  But the rate is so low its not an issue, cents per item.  The ones that go crazy when that happens are the ones that were selling things at too low a margin to make sense to sell here

The biggest amount I ever lost, and it was clearly a scam, was something I had tracking for!  Buyer used the packaging with trackign number and mailed it to another address accross the country.   Tracking showed initial delivery to the proepr address so CP claimed their job was done (even with their CAO directly acknowledging they had a problem that lets tracking numbers start tracking again).   While paypal didn't cover it with tracking ultimately ending up with delivery to the wrong spot.   Tracking is no guarantee you don't lose money somehow. 

USPS isnt government subsidized either

[nscourge]

They're just in massive debt?

I guess it is the Chinese postal system which is heavily subsidized

[dutchman48]

Use shipsurance/insure post private insurance with light packet or small packet. Tracking is not required with them if you use light packet or small packet

[femmefan1946]

lack of tracking is more of an imagined issue then a real one.  Having sent 1000s of video games around the world -- toby**bleep**zu

And this ^ is from an experienced seller in a difficult category.

You can't cheat an honest man.--WC Fields

[cumos55]

Sellers adjust based on

(1) What they sell.

(2) The shipping options they choose

(3) Shipping insurance

(4) Where they ship..

and more.....

Experienced sellers with thousands of feedback  have made many adjustments over the years.

---------------------------

My choices...

(1) Ten years ago it was everything except books.

(2) I used to sell a lot of sheet music.... but profit at about a dollar or two per sale  is not too profitable... I did find a lot of valuable sheet music and music books... No more on eBay

(3) Gradually adjusted to the point that today it is books..over 10 years later

Used to ship to Australia/New Zealand...  but then came the impatient buyers and claims --- no more ... the 45 day worriers 

Used to ship to the many European countries bordering the Mediterranean --- impatient, very impatient buyers.... more 45 day wonders

Then came the summer of 2014.... no tracking beyond Montreal  and my two defects... Canada Post cost me.

Now it is Canada and US only... and things are going very well.

Lots of tracking ... except for oversize lettermail

---------------------------------------------

If one wants to sell on eBay...

Each seller has to find a way to adjust.  Canada Post is not the only available option for shipping.

Tracking helps, it does work...

However, many sellers have learned how to ship without tracking.... and deal with those realities..... depends, in part,  on what one sells.....

Each seller has to find their own way of selling on eBay.

and...  Canadian sellers are perhaps the most adaptable to the many possible options available. 

[lady.stark]

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@dutchman48 wrote:

Use shipsurance/insure post private insurance with light packet or small packet. Tracking is not required with them if you use light packet or small packet

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Shipsurance only has annual contracts now. Or if you want to insure a single freight/cargo, they are still doing it.

InsurePost is the one that is insuring packages individually. However, if you use them on Light/Small packets, you will need a proof of acceptance at the Post Office if something happens. What I usually do is print a second label of the shipment I want to insure. I go to the Post Office, bring my package and my extra label and ask the clerk to stamp *my* copy of the label to prove I shipped the same package that day (so he/she can verify that the address and name are the same).

[momcqueen]

I use(d) u-pic for select untraced packages but I never had to proceed with a claim so I don't know how pleasant they are to deal with when it counts. Also, the costs are USD and not CAD. You can buy insurance on one item at a time but you will need to provide proof of purchase AND proof of shipment (available on receipt at the postal counter) if you need to make a claim. 

https://delta.u-pic.com/Order/Order.aspx

Also, they are good at responding to questions if you have them in advance. (In my experience.) 

[pjcdn2005]

Insurepost is shipsurance's sister site and I believe that you can purchase insurance on a one time basis from them.

The postal outlet I go to scans the small packet label and are able to give me a receipt for it showing that it was shipped.  I don't know if all post offices will do that or not but they did tell me that in order to do the receipt they have to enter it as an 'originating' parcel.

For the odd light packet parcel that I get insurance for I do as you do and print the extra label and get it stamped.

[femmefan1946]

I don't use PP labels often anymore, but I used to tape the top half to the parcel, then have the PO staff stamp the lower part. I also wrote the buyer's personal and eBay names on it.

More a reminder to myself than anything else, since proof of shipping is not what is required. Dispute settlement requires proof of delivery.

I do believe that giving the invoice number to the buyer is both a reassurance for the honest buyer and a (toothless) warning to the potential scammer. 

[pjcdn2005]

More a reminder to myself than anything else, since proof of shipping is not what is required.

Yes I realize that proof of delivery is necessary for an item not received dispute.  But I was referring to proof of shipping because that is what an insurance company requires if I were to put in a claim for an item not received.