eBay

treasure.hunter.d · ‎01-27-2015

I just printed my first Expedited Post to the USAshipping doc since the increase and the average increase may be 1.8% but that small amount is hiding the fact that most services increased almost nothing while Expedited to the USA got slammed with a huge increase.

I called Canada Post general customer service and no one there knew the exact increase but I just saw a counter rate of $25 CDN for a parcel when a a parcel of slightly larger dimensions and 3X the weight (similar destination) was $21 before the increase.

I'm calling Canada Post again tomorrow to get the real number from someone but I suggest that folks check any items they have listed with Expedited Post to make sure you're not way under charging at this point.

If this is as bad as it looks right now it's going to be devastating!

thD

treasure.hunter.d · ‎01-27-2015

Have gone back and re-run the numbers of some shipments paid for during December.

The increases for a random 3 expedited shipments ran from 10-13%

The biggest increases are going to be seen for any packages that are light but that you still want to ship via expedited. A .6kg package costs the same to ship now as a 1.5kg package in the same sized box. That's absolutely ridiculous!

Honestly I don't know what i am going to do. I can't absorb another 10% or higher for shipping and customers have already proved that they won't pay the increased rates when I tried to ease upwards my rates just a little previously.

This is a nightmare!

pocomocomputing · ‎01-27-2015

Expedited Parcel USA changed the way they calculate Volumetric Weight in the Jan postal increases. VW is used to override actual weight of a package and charge for the space the package takes for lighter items in larger boxes.

Old way to calculate VW

VW = L (cm) x W (cm) x H (cm) / 6000

New way is

VW = L (cm) x W (cm) x H (cm) / 5000

So the VW weight will be used more and can push up items in weight table by 1-2-3 positions or more.

Most couriers used the 5000 number for years international shipments and Canada Post switched to it. CP is looking for any ways to up rates and this is one of them.

There was an announcement of this change on the CP website. It was also posted in a couple of forum topics by me as a heads up.

It affects all Parcel services that use Volumetric Weight (Expedited parcel USA, Xpresspost USA & International). It does not affect parcel services in Canada as they still use the 600 number. So Regular Parcel and Expedited Parcel Canada are not affected.

cumos55 · ‎01-27-2015

Correction

600 number

should be

6000 number

treasure.hunter.d · ‎01-27-2015

@pocomocomputing wrote:
Expedited Parcel USA changed the way they calculate Volumetric Weight in the Jan postal increases. VW is used to override actual weight of a package and charge for the space the package takes for lighter items in larger boxes.

Old way to calculate VW

VW = L (cm) x W (cm) x H (cm) / 6000

New way is

VW = L (cm) x W (cm) x H (cm) / 5000

So the VW weight will be used more and can push up items in weight table by 1-2-3 positions or more.

Most couriers used the 5000 number for years international shipments and Canada Post switched to it. CP is looking for any ways to up rates and this is one of them.

There was an announcement of this change on the CP website. It was also posted in a couple of forum topics by me as a heads up.

It affects all Parcel services that use Volumetric Weight (Expedited parcel USA, Xpresspost USA & International). It does not affect parcel services in Canada as they still use the 600 number. So Regular Parcel and Expedited Parcel Canada are not affected.

All well and good, perhaps I missed the info as I'm not in the forums all that much really.

The fact remains that the increase is outrageous and Canada Post announcing a 1.8% AVERAGE increase is complete garbage when Expedited is seing increases over 10%

reallynicestamps · ‎01-27-2015

How does that compare with Tracked Package USA for price and services?

treasure.hunter.d · ‎01-28-2015

@reallynicestamps wrote:
How does that compare with Tracked Package USA for price and services?

Tracked Packet tops out at 1kg (for USA, 2kg for International) so anything over that or over 90cm in combined dimensions must go Expedited. Under 500 grams Tracked Packet will run you about $15CDN and over 500grams but under the 1kg is roughly $17.40. There doesn't seem to have been much change in those rates. Until this latest increase, if you wanted to send something via Expedited but it was les than 1kg you could do it for between $19-$20 but not anymore because of this cube weight nonsense. Tracked packet also does not consistantly or reliably fullfil the 3-4 business day delivery time that is stated on Ebay.com for Expedited shipping so you can't advertise Expedited and use Tracked Packet, you have to pay the extra for Expedited.

Tracked Packet is really nothing more than Expedited renamed from the last increase. They raised the rates on Expedited, situated Tracked packet slightly lower and said here you go, a cheaper service with tracking. It was a scam for the most part but given the necessity of tracking now on Ebay...Basically in the lasy year or so, between Ebay's changing policies and Canada Post increases I am now paying $17.40 to ship something that used to cost me $11-$12.

The bottom line is that there is absolutely no reasonable way for Canada POst to justify an increase of over 10% for this parcel service. It is out and out gouging because there is no oversite to stop them.

With every increase the amount of items that i can sell and ship from Canada to the USA decreases. I'm already subsidizing shipping to try and compete with US sellers. I can't absorb this new increase and past experience has shown me that buyers are unwilling on Ebay to pay higher shipping costs as they are quite comfortable and used to what they pay US sellers.

I honestly don't know what I am going to do this time around. There was nothing in any of the Canada POst announcements or info to lead you to believe that we were going to se any increases of this magnitude and in fact, they went out of their way to obfuscate the truth about the size of the increase.

This may well be the straw that breaks the camel's back for me. Another CDN small business driven under by an out of control union that has forced the burden of unreasonable wages/benefits/pensions on to the backs of a small guy who simply cannot afford to shoulder that burden.