How much would you pay to ship this package?

[vip-marketplace]

Quick background:

I pay ~10,000$ in shipping fees all through eBay-PayPal and using Canada Post per year.

I'm wondering if I'm getting good prices. For example, how much would it cost you to ship the following package:

From: G6Y 0J9

To: M2P 1V4

Weight: 125g

Size: 20cm x 10 cm x 3 cm

I'm paying:

Shipping cost     $9.88 CAD

Liability Coverage cost   $0.00 CAD

HST        $1.20 CAD

Fuel surcharge  $0.60 CAD

Discount              -$1.26 CAD

Total      $10.42 CAD

Payment method

PayPal balance (CAD)     $10.42 CAD

Thanks!

[pierrelebel]

Have you contacted Canada Post to make a deal with them?  Your volume may warrant it.

PS - In your cost calculation you should not include HST as you get all of it back as ITC when filing your GST/HST return

[vip-marketplace]

Hi Pierre!

Last time I asked about this I was told that since all my shipping purchases were made through e-Bay / PayPal, it was as if I spent 0$... Is there a solution for this?

[pierrelebel]

Yes, deal directly with Canada Post, not PayPal.

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/pages/buserv/default.page?ecid=murl|pdn|jb|35

[vip-marketplace]

Yes but wouldn't I have to copy paste each address parts in Canada Post system?

What kind of savings do you think I could achieve doing this? I thought going through eBay/PayPal we already got eBay's discount... :S

[pierrelebel]

Since I never ever used the PayPal postage labels, I copy/paste mailing addresses to labels for tens of thousands of transactions on eBay over the years.  No big deal.

Is it worth it?

It depends of the discount you can negotiate with Canada Post compared to the discount eBay has negotiated "on your behalf".

I would not guess the answer.  Considering the amount you spend ($10,000 a year) it may be worth your time to seriously look into it.

How much is one hour (or two) of your time worth compared to the potential savings.

[jt-libra]

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@vip-marketplace wrote:

Weight: 125g

Size: 20cm x 10 cm x 3 cm 

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Is it your packaging that brings the item up to 3 cm?  You're an experienced seller so I'm sure you've tried various methods of packaging.  But is there no way you can bring the item down to 2 cm, in which case you could ship lettermail for $1.80 + tax?  However, if it is a costly item, then of course you would want to ship with tracking.

[sylviebee]

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@jt-libra wrote:

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But is there no way you can bring the item down to 2 cm, in which case you could ship lettermail for $1.80 + tax?  However, if it is a costly item, then of course you would want to ship with tracking.

---

A little side-tracked (maybe) but,

This is something that is an ongoing ? for me.    If an item is under 2 cm and light enough to get a better rate via letter mail as opposed to light packets, is there anything stopping us from shipping via the less expensive over-sized letter mail when the item is not paper?

( P.S. to the OP.  I don't think it's unusual for sellers to spend $10,000 and much more / yr. for shipping without discounts in additional to those PP, eBay, and Venture One cards (or whatever they're calling it now) offer to even someone who spends $10/yr. )

[cumos55]

Have you looked at Canada Post Business Solutions.... The new version of Venture One

The more you ship the greater the discount with Business Solutions.

[jt-libra]

---

@sylviebee wrote:

---

A little side-tracked (maybe) but,

This is something that is an ongoing ? for me.    If an item is under 2 cm and light enough to get a better rate via letter mail as opposed to light packets, is there anything stopping us from shipping via the less expensive over-sized letter mail when the item is not paper?

---

Many sellers do and have done so for years.  Some have had items returned; some have not.  But, for the record, Canada Post's website states:

Unacceptable Items

The following items may not be sent as Letter-post (U.S.A. and International):

• small packets
• goods
• film, audio or video recording (diskettes, CD, DVD)
• unsealed self-mailers and envelopes
• items that do not meet the specifications for U.S.A. and International Letter-post
• items prohibited by law or defined as dangerous goods in Canada (see Non-mailable Matter for more information)
• items prohibited by law or defined as dangerous goods in the destination country (see International Destination Listing for more information).

[hlmacdon]

To get rates better than where ebay discounted rates would be at your mailing levels would need to be (and committed to) in the thousands of packages a year. To give you an idea of where volume account mailing levels are, you are talking more like 1000 packages a day. Note that domestic/international mailing volumes are looked at separately.

[sylviebee]

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@jt-libra wrote:

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@sylviebee wrote:

---

A little side-tracked (maybe) but,

This is something that is an ongoing ? for me.    If an item is under 2 cm and light enough to get a better rate via letter mail as opposed to light packets, is there anything stopping us from shipping via the less expensive over-sized letter mail when the item is not paper?

---

Many sellers do and have done so for years.  Some have had items returned; some have not.  But, for the record, Canada Post's website states:

---

Thanks.  My only worry is that they might put this stuff through some sort of machine that breaks some items.   

[sylviebee]

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@cumos55 wrote:

Have you looked at Canada Post Business Solutions.... The new version of Venture One

The more you ship the greater the discount with Business Solutions.

---

No, I haven't looked.  I'm the kind of person who hates reading instructions.  

Is that discount additive over a period of time or does it only apply to the amount shipped during one session?

[pjcdn2005]

It looks like you may be getting the minimum small business discount. When I used your information on CP snap ship the total was $9.54 but only because they have a promo going on now.  I didn't check but I would probably get the same as you on PP

You probably know this but there is now a difference in cost if you start your labels in eBay vs in PP.  If you start from eBay.ca and click on print label you get the eBay discount.  If you go directly to pp and click on print label you get the CP small business discount which costs more unless you are in a higher tier than many of us.

[recped]

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@vip-marketplace wrote:

Quick background:

I pay ~10,000$ in shipping fees all through eBay-PayPal and using Canada Post per year.

I'm wondering if I'm getting good prices. For example, how much would it cost you to ship the following package:

From: G6Y 0J9

To: M2P 1V4

Weight: 125g

Size: 20cm x 10 cm x 3 cm

I'm paying:

Shipping cost     $9.88 CAD

Liability Coverage cost   $0.00 CAD

HST        $1.20 CAD

Fuel surcharge  $0.60 CAD

Discount              -$1.26 CAD

Total      $10.42 CAD

Payment method

PayPal balance (CAD)     $10.42 CAD

Thanks!

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I pay $8.60 for up to 500 grams ($9.60 for 1kg) to any Canadian destination (does not include HST/GST which is refundable) for Expedited.

That's through ChitChat who are a re-seller of services from another re-seller who actually has the Canada Post account.

It adds one extra day for delivery because it has to make a bit of a journey before it gets to Canada Post.

Given that's cheaper than PayPal/eBay and passes through two hands taking a cut you can see that if you have the volume you can get much better discounts dealing directly with Canada Post than you get via PayPal/eBay.

Unfortunately your closest ChitChat office is in Montreal but it's possible you could find a reseller/aggregator in Quebec City who can offer similar pricing.

FYI - If you have substantial volume you might check into Purolator, for retail customers they are usually more expensive than Canada Post but they offer big volume discounts.