Expedited Lite for Canadian Sellers using eBay Labels

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

This just showed up hot off the presses.

https://www.ebay.ca/sellercentre/shipping/ebay-labels/canada-post-expedited-lite?mkevt=1&mkpid=2&ems...

Only available on eBay Labels: Ship small. Save big.

Package specifications

Ship with an envelope or a small parcel that meets the following criteria:

• Weighs no more than 200 grams

• No one dimension exceeds 41 cm (16.1”)

• Maximum volume (L x W x H) of up to 3,220 cubic centimeters

YAYYYYYY!!!!!

-Lotz

[daisydaisy999]

good point! I don't sell many things that this lite rate would apply to so I just directly changed a couple of listings to offer this service as an experiment but should I get a glut of light stuff I will definately keep that in mind, thanks!

[daisydaisy999]

Just an entertaining (?) update on my foray into Expedited Lite! I sent my package on the 28th going from Toronto to BC - according to ebay estimation the customer should have received it by June 9 - of course they haven't.

According to tracking today on June 14, the package made it to Edmonton on June 2 and there is no further update beyond that. If you go to CP tracking it does say it is still in transit, doesn't say where but does say it is expected to show up by June 19th. According to the CP website the delivery standard is June 16th which just seems crazy pants to me - it has never taken that long to send something from Toronto to BC, I mean it takes a bit longer then other places but not 16 business days for heaven's sake!

Luckily the customer hasn't complained yet but he would be well within his rights considering that eBay told him to expect it on the 9th. What I would like to know is where is eBay getting that date from, this is going to be a problem if this is a consistent problem... at this point I feel like I would have been better off just sending it lettermail, they would have it by now! On the plus side it looks like I will be getting my money back from Canada Post for not meeting the delivery standard...

[flipistics]

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@daisydaisy999 wrote:

On the plus side it looks like I will be getting my money back from Canada Post for not meeting the delivery standard...

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Please let us know how that goes. I don't think you can do it through Canada Post directly. I suspect it has to be done through eBay. There's several of us here that are very curious to find out what actually happens in this scenario.

[daisydaisy999]

oh interesting, I hadn't thought about that - but really eBay is the shipping broker not the sender so I think I should be able to still claim directly using the form for a postage refund (fingers crossed) - if it has to go through eBay I will probably just forget it, I can imagine what kind of nightmare that would be!

[lucitabby]

There are a lot of wild fires around the Edmonton area.

[msau4301]

lucitabby has a very good point, the delay could be because of the wildfires and eBay did have a seller protection article posted. Here is part of it:

Wildfires and the ensuing air quality concerns have impacted shipments into and out of several communities across Canada. We are closely monitoring the situation and will provide eBay sellers with additional support and protection of seller ratings during this time. 

As a seller, you do not need to worry about service disruptions caused by these events impacting your seller rating. If your business is impacted, eBay will automatically protect your seller performance rating, including:

• Your late shipment rate
• Your valid tracking upload rate
• “Item not received” requests due to late delivery as long as you uploaded tracking and the shipment received a scan from the carrier before the request was opened
• Defects resulting from transactions you canceled for being out of stock or unable to fulfill the order

Additionally, we will remove any neutral or negative feedback left for impacted transactions, as well as Service Metric ratings associated with Item not Received requests.

You do not need to contact Customer Service in order to receive these protections. 

[pjcdn2005]

I'm in Edmonton a couple times a week and though the air is hazy and smoky at times, I don't  think that it is bad enough to affect the mail unless it's headed for some of the commmunties closer to the fires. I don't think it would affect mail to Ontario.

[daisydaisy999]

So good news and bad news: good news is I filed for a postage refund directly through Canada Post and they accepted it - I have always wondered though why they only return the postage and not the tax - if I returned an item to the store I would get my tax back so shouldn't I get it back from a service that wasn't completed...? Anyhow there does not seem to be any issue with filing for the refund yourself even though it was bought through eBay! Bad news is they seen to have entirely lost the package or possibly delivered it without scanning it since I haven't gotten any complaints from the customer.

And I don't think I entirely understand how Expedited Lite is calculated - none of the descriptions of it are clear enough for my liking. From what I can gather is as long as it is under a certain weight and none of the measurements are over a certain length then it is good to go. I was thinking of it as oversized letter mail where something can't be over a certain weight and can't be thicker then 20mm so it fits through that slot thing - but I don't think Lite is the same thing... can anyone clarify it for me?

[reallynicestamps]

Obviously the shipment was late , but for my own clarity, was the June9th date the first or last expected delivery date?

From what I can gather is as long as it is under a certain weight and none of the measurements are over a certain length then it is good to go.

Or like the Prepaid boxes. If it fits, it ships.

[ricarmic]

For the over the counter (aka stamps on the box) kinda folks its 15% off* if under 100g and 10% off* if under 250g including volumetric if larger where volumetric is LxWxH in CM divided by 5000. (I don't know the maximum dimensions off the top of my head, we never hit them with my offerings)

*off the 500g price.

[daisydaisy999]

June 9th was the date that eBay gave as the expected delivery date, June 16th is what Canada Post gave as the expected delivery date, then the 19th and now nowhere to be found... 🙂

[flipistics]

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@daisydaisy999 wrote:

So good news and bad news: good news is I filed for a postage refund directly through Canada Post and they accepted it - I have always wondered though why they only return the postage and not the tax - if I returned an item to the store I would get my tax back so shouldn't I get it back from a service that wasn't completed...? Anyhow there does not seem to be any issue with filing for the refund yourself even though it was bought through eBay! Bad news is they seen to have entirely lost the package or possibly delivered it without scanning it since I haven't gotten any complaints from the customer.

And I don't think I entirely understand how Expedited Lite is calculated - none of the descriptions of it are clear enough for my liking. From what I can gather is as long as it is under a certain weight and none of the measurements are over a certain length then it is good to go. I was thinking of it as oversized letter mail where something can't be over a certain weight and can't be thicker then 20mm so it fits through that slot thing - but I don't think Lite is the same thing... can anyone clarify it for me?

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Did Canada Post refund you directly though, or is the refund going to eBay's account?

For expedited lite it seems that almost anything under 200g should be fine. There is a size limit also, but unless you're shipping something like plush in a poly bag (or maybe a hat?) it's unlikely you'll hit the size issue before you run into the weight limit. I think size starts becoming too large at an 8x6x4 box or 6x6x6 box, which weigh a pretty good chunk of 200g on their own anyway.  eBay has said that it's only for items in the collectible category, but the shipping options seem to be available everywhere as far as I can tell. Who knows if that will be the case permanently or not.

[daisydaisy999]

the message I got back said Canada Post will send me a cheque - no mention of eBay at all...

[recped]

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@daisydaisy999 wrote:

I have always wondered though why they only return the postage and not the tax - if I returned an item to the store I would get my tax back so shouldn't I get it back from a service that wasn't completed...?

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I would guess that they do not refund the tax because it's a commercial transaction where you would have or could have used the tax amount as a refundable ITC on your GST/HST return.

Returning an item to a retail store is a personal transaction, unlikely that an ITC would be available/usable to the average consumer.

[rocketscollectibles]

Any news about CP offering the service outside eBay? Started doing private transactions and it feels dumb from CP to charge $16-24 for the same service that is offered at $6-8 on eBay. Same size same package same distance, but charge 200-300%. There's some robbery here

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@rocketscollectibles wrote:

What about returns? Actually the shipping service is only available on eBay. Does it means that we can ship for $6-8, but a return label of the same distance for the same package would still have to be expedited and cost $16-24? Lack of logic here. It doesnt cost them more to deliver back. 

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@rocketscollectibles 

@dinomitesales 

devon@ebay 

In practice if an item is either refused or undeliverable it should be returned under the same account (either the eBay Labels account or sellers CP account) using the same rating. A wrench gets thrown into that when different countries are involved. 

If the item is opened then there are 2 possible routes to go. Sending a label when that option is available or have the customer purchase postage at their end (within reason/using common sense for choosing a service/NOT packing in a larger box ) and then re-imbursing where applicable. Unfortunately the ball kind of got dropped with this part of the process. Between communication and nothing in place within eBay if the rate ends up being more than the original charge for exchanging funds. Seller is left to a hope and a prayer that this all happens properly and they don't end up with a surprise bill and a major loss on the whole deal. Similar to where a order is refunded for late and then arrives the next day.

-Lotz

Note: From past experience with a Canadian RTS counter rates were used for the return postage charge (Always a slight variance to the original charge). Since the change at CP several months ago counter discounted and SSB account should match. 

[daisydaisy999]

and a follow up- follow up, I did indeed receive a cheque directly for the postage refund! So seems like if you have late Canada Post packages, even if you bought through eBay, go ahead and claim it directly!

[dinomitesales]

I've never had a return for a domestic item that necessitated me sending a return shipping label, so honestly I have no idea how a return would work with Expedited Lite.

If a buyer opens a return request for a domestic item, will eBay provide them with a Canada Post shipping label? That's how it works in the States, doesn't it? If so, theoretically, eBay could issue them an Expedited Lite label to have it returned (but no idea how that would actually work in practice).

If the buyer simply refused the item and it was returned to you via "Return to Sender" methods, then you would almost certainly be charged the counter rates for the return postage.

[flipistics]

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@daisydaisy999 wrote:

and a follow up- follow up, I did indeed receive a cheque directly for the postage refund! So seems like if you have late Canada Post packages, even if you bought through eBay, go ahead and claim it directly!

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This is really good to hear. Thanks for keeping us updated!

[rocketscollectibles]

I had 2 video games to sell and tried to exploit the system by listing them in the trading card category. Just wanted to share that this is not really possible... You indeed can list items in wrong categories, the problem is that the search engine is made to automatically check the most accurate category for the search. In other words, if you search a game with its title, the video game category will be automatically checked. Making your listing invisible... Unless the person uncheck the category that the search engine automatically check. Which nobody will do. Clearly on purpose from ebay. Noticed that after 2 weeks listed without a single view on a game with demand and fairly priced. 

As a trading cards seller i'm very happy with expedited lite. Even in buyer shoes i can get better deals now because most sellers now ask $7 instead of $22 shipping. But not being able to use it for other items that fits lettermail is very frustrating, this cannot be justified. We're getting robbed. If i was a seller selling mainly small items meeting criterias, but not eligible, i would freak out. Canada post must wake up. Sales are slower because of their excessive rates, it's bad for everyone.