eBay

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎04-11-2022

Not sure how everyone elses experiences have been lately sending or receiving letter mail in Canada but here are 2 of my recent experiences.

Small bubble envelop from Wpg to Calgary...Mailed on a Thursday..Del'd 2 Mondays later. (10 business days)

Oversized letter from Vanc to Calgary...Mailed on a Monday. Del'd 2nd Thursday later. (8 business days)

Hope this isn't the new normal as far as it goes for letter mail. As of late Small pkt air to USA and Internationally has been faster. One experience with a letter to USA was approx 7 business days.

-Lotz

marnotom! · ‎04-11-2022

Canada Post has been issuing all sorts of yellow alerts lately, but slower than usual letter mail within Canada isn't something new to me on Vancouver Island. My credit card bills from Vancouver and central Canada have been taking longer to arrive for several months, for example.

grandmas-great-items · ‎04-11-2022

I don't know. Maybe that's why I have received ZERO ZILCH NADA feedback from all my recent sales. No one has messaged me but no one has left feedback either. Maybe upset it took longer than it should.

I've sent Oversized Lettermail to Sask., BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec in the last month but not sure how long since no feedback. Just sent 2 to someone in Winnipeg today (Technically Saturday dropped off at P.O. but pick up today) so hopefully local will be 2 days max. Blizzard potential coming (30 to 80 cm snow possible) late Tuesday night and Wednesday might shut city down if it hits here.

triber · ‎04-11-2022

Well, I got the fastest feedback today. Checked my computer when I got back from the post office, and got feedback for one of the packages I just mailed!

grandmas-great-items · ‎04-11-2022

Nice...I had that happen a long time ago but I believe it was a new member same day ebay sign up with zero feedback that bought and left feedback right after paying.

grandmas-great-items · ‎04-11-2022

I have been noticing lately when I receive items with multiple stamps that someone has scribbled with a ball point pen on each stamp. Did Canada Post hire a ball point pen scribbler that has to scribble out each stamp? Very time comsuming for each package. Yikes...I sent some packages with 10 stamps. LOL

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎04-11-2022

Two weeks doesn't seem outlandish for lettermail.

You also should consider that if it was an eBay purchase, there is nothing stopping a seller from marking the item as shipped and dropping it off a few days later. I don't do this personally, but it wouldn't surprise me if sellers did this to save time.

The pandemic has been a giant advertising campaign for mail delays. I think buyers are more understanding now than they have ever been. My advice would be to set your shipping method as economy instead of lettermail so that you give the buyer a longer more realistic shipping window. Also, send the buyer a shipping confirmation message (you can just use a pre-made letter that you copy).

I wouldn't worry too much.

canada_goose_whisperer · ‎04-12-2022

Within province seems to be decently quick for me. I've had stuff shipped on a Friday that arrived three days later on Monday. I don't have much info on out-of-province shipments to offer to the discussion, unfortunately.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎04-12-2022

@ilikehockeyjerseys wrote:
Two weeks doesn't seem outlandish for lettermail.

You also should consider that if it was an eBay purchase, there is nothing stopping a seller from marking the item as shipped and dropping it off a few days later. I don't do this personally, but it wouldn't surprise me if sellers did this to save time.

The pandemic has been a giant advertising campaign for mail delays. I think buyers are more understanding now than they have ever been. My advice would be to set your shipping method as economy instead of lettermail so that you give the buyer a longer more realistic shipping window. Also, send the buyer a shipping confirmation message (you can just use a pre-made letter that you copy).

I wouldn't worry too much.

The MB was definitely mailed on the Thursday. Was as a test. They confirmed when it was dropped off that they hadn't missed pickup time. The Vancouver order was placed on the same Thursday. The acknowledgement it had been shipped was received on Monday.

-Lotz

femmefan1946 · ‎04-12-2022

That's been a complaint in the philatelic community for years, at a guess since tagging made it possible for a letter to move across the country without any human eye ever seeing it until the carrier.

She is instructed to make sure the "skips" that were not machine cancelled are not reusable, which would be illegal.

It's more likely when there are a lot of stamps on the package, or a single tiny stamp oddly placed on a large envelope.

Sellers who are having packages processed at the PO counter can ask to have the stamps postmarked and most clerks are happy to do it, if asked nicely.

But if you are dropping your lettermail into the nearest mailbox, you are on your own.

On the third hand, if the customer isn't complaining, I'm not either.

busybeas_books · ‎04-12-2022

My advice would be to set your shipping method as economy instead of lettermail so that you give the buyer a longer more realistic shipping window.

I've been saying my shipping is economy instead of letter mail for over 2 years. In that time I've had 2 buyers ask about the shipping time, which I reply will be a lot faster than posted. Those questions came after they bought the item. A lot of the feedback I've received comments on the items getting there faster than they expected. The un-answerable question though is how many potential buyers did I lose because of the longer (stated, not actual) shipping time.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎04-12-2022

@ilikehockeyjerseys wrote:
Two weeks doesn't seem outlandish for lettermail.

You also should consider that if it was an eBay purchase, there is nothing stopping a seller from marking the item as shipped and dropping it off a few days later. I don't do this personally, but it wouldn't surprise me if sellers did this to save time.

The pandemic has been a giant advertising campaign for mail delays. I think buyers are more understanding now than they have ever been. My advice would be to set your shipping method as economy instead of lettermail so that you give the buyer a longer more realistic shipping window. Also, send the buyer a shipping confirmation message (you can just use a pre-made letter that you copy).

I wouldn't worry too much.

@busybeas_books

As a side those 2 pieces of mail in OP were incoming. For anything I ship letter mail I do add the extended window for delivery times. As eBay's estimates...That is all they are. eBay provides an estimate (suggested window for) US/Intl Small Packet Air. Canada Post does not and estimates provided are generic when you check using an eBay listing. From past testing it is the same if the item is shipped from Vancouver/Kindersley Sk/Thunder Bay/St John's NL/Toronto. And as of not sure when it is no longer a number of days....It's a date range. Maybe splitting hairs but still not as helpful as having both. And the calculator omits the part about weekends and/or customs can be a factor for anything Intl. (That ONLY shows on front page.)

-Lotz

grandmas-great-items · ‎04-12-2022

Yeah, I can imagine a collector doesn't really want an ink scribble...unless maybe it's a nice artistic doodle maybe? lol

Very rarely see a postmark on anything anymore. I wonder if I should start asking at post office but only when there is no one in line. Postmark is so much nicer than ink scribbles.

Even the machine beats the scribbles...

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎04-12-2022

@femmefan1946

I've seen all ends of the rainbow for stuff arriving. From no cancellation from 1 to several cancellations to tape over the stamps. Silly permanent stamps don't always have the best sticking power. If I remember I ask the clerk to cancel. Proves the day it was dropped off and that all stamps were originally there.

-Lotz

teenytrinkets · ‎04-12-2022

This happens to me periodically and it freaks me out. And then I usually post a message here asking the same thing. My lettermail has been fast lately from Vancouver... but after Christmas and last summer it was BAD. It even had local lettermail take a month... yes a MONTH! Might have been during Covid Surges... not sure. Sometimes I think they hire temp workers that either pilfer stuff or slow down the process considerably.

My best advice with lettermail is always take it to the counter, and always DIVERSIFY! Don't ship everything at once, or with the same post office. It really minimizes risk.

Oh - and I can confirm as a frequent receiver of o/s lettermail, I get 90% of them within a week... even from ON & QC and I have had only 1 envelope go missing (from a trusted sender).

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎04-12-2022

@teenytrinkets wrote:
This happens to me periodically and it freaks me out. And then I usually post a message here asking the same thing. My lettermail has been fast lately from Vancouver... but after Christmas and last summer it was BAD. It even had local lettermail take a month... yes a MONTH! Might have been during Covid Surges... not sure. Sometimes I think they hire temp workers that either pilfer stuff or slow down the process considerably.

My best advice with lettermail is always take it to the counter, and always DIVERSIFY! Don't ship everything at once, or with the same post office. It really minimizes risk.

Oh - and I can confirm as a frequent receiver of o/s lettermail, I get 90% of them within a week... even from ON & QC and I have had only 1 envelope go missing (from a trusted sender).

During Covid one would expect delays and inconsistencies. As things have gotten (somewhat) back to normal one would have thought most of those inconsistencies would have worked their way out. In some cases they have. Others not so much. From personal experience mail does seem to move faster east to west...most of the time vs the other way around.

Adding to the quagmire is that eBay is not insync with the postal servies we rely on. As far as it goes for letter mail/anything untracked, best we can do is drop in mail and cross fingers. Hopefully win more than we lose and customers are understanding.

-Lotz

femmefan1946 · ‎04-13-2022

During Covid one would expect delays and inconsistencies.

And we can't even know for sure where the delay was even on tracked mail which shows where the item has been not where it is.

A small outbreak might not make the national - or even city- news, but still mean that a given postal outlet did not get picked up on Thursday or Friday meaning a shipment purchased on Wednesday night and left at the PO on Thursday before noon, might not start moving until Monday at 3pm.

jorstev-5425 · ‎11-12-2022

Any idea what happens when an item doesn’t show up?? I’m starting to run into that problem. And so far all an eBay associate can tell me is to use tracking. Which isn’t available for lettermail…

flipistics · ‎11-12-2022

@jorstev-5425 wrote:
Any idea what happens when an item doesn’t show up?? I’m starting to run into that problem. And so far all an eBay associate can tell me is to use tracking. Which isn’t available for lettermail…

If it doesn't show up (or they claim it doesn't) you have to refund the buyer the full amount. As a seller, you are responsible for getting the item to the buyer, period. In my experience this almost never happens, so the additional sales you gain should far exceed the odd one you lose. BTW, there IS actually tracking for lettermail (registered mail), but unless it's a higher value order I wouldn't bother. The extra cost just isn't worth it.

Make sure you are using labels that don't peel off. If you try to remove it and it comes off clean, use another brand. If the label clings on for dear life, you should be good 🙂

ricarmic · ‎11-12-2022

@flipistics Just a note, whilst registered has tracking, last I understood eBay (and PAYPAL) don't recognize it formally as counting as tracking. I suspect that if one provided it with the tracking showing delivery in a claim situation it probably would be accepted, (internationally many countries it stops tracking after it leaves Canada). Things may also have changed but that is how I understand it to be and I'm too lazy to go look up the official wording, which sometimes isn't current anyway!