Oh My! Shipping Cost More Than The Item Itself

[greenmangoes]

I just shipped something to BC.  The item is fairly cheap and light so I put the shipping as $10.  It cost me twice that much to ship.  So I made nothing 😞

I was looking around for a announcement that I thought eBay sent out about Zone shipping or something like that - where you can create shipping rates for certain provinces.

Has anyone seen or used it? If so, can I get the link or suggestions on how to do this?

Thanks!

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

Hello Greenmango's. Looking at your items it appears you are charging similar rates for similar type items. Remember, rates are based on final package weight, dimensions of the final packaging, service used/available and distance your items are going. Try to choose the best box for the safest delivery to cut down on your final bill. Rates will vary from point to point and the amount can be substantial.  You may be making a bit on the postage with some items and losing a bit on others. Hopefully, it is balancing out. If you are nervous about postage on some items you can always choose to use the calculator and then your customers will have a better idea of how much shipping will really be. It is your option to add a handling charge if you want to help offset fees and packaging material. Always best to keep the amount your choose reasonable. Personally, for me, flat rate shipping only works if you are shipping very small items that can be mailed using letter rates and meet the Canada Post rules. Opinions on this can & will vary. You can also apply for the Canadapost account that will get you a discount on some of your mailing business. Your choice to keep the savings for yourself or pass it on to your customers.

Regarding zone rates, I believe that will be announced shortly. We will just have to see how that all turns out and if there is any real benefit to sellers or not.

-CM

[reallynicestamps]

I'm actually surprised that an experienced seller like you doesn't already have this bookmarked.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

If your items cannot go Letter Rate, that is if they are over 2 cm thick and 500 grams, you should be using Calculated Shipping and listing here on dotCA.

If you can use Letter rates, you can also list on dotCOM in US dollars, but you will be shipping* from Canada.

It also helps to sign up for the Small Business Solutions card at the PO (or online) which gives us a 5% discount on many services.

You can print your shipping labels at home through Paypal, Shippo or SnapShip. Paypal will take the payment from your PP account, the other two need your credit card.

At the moment all three have the same discounts,but that can change so it is worth watching here (ypdc_dennis usually has the news first).

The discount is about enough to cover most packaging/handling costs.

You can also pay for your labels at the PO counter with discount postage stamps purchased at a greater discount here on eBay. *cough*

*If you are near the border, there are several forwarding companies which will carry your parcels to the nearest USPS office for a small charge. The names most often mentioned are chitchatexpress and redstallion. USPS rates are lower than Canada Post, but watch out for currency exchange.

[momcqueen]

Calculated shipping eliminates the problem of guessing at a suitable flat-rate cost.

Unless, of course, you offer free shipping like I do in which case anything I sent to the Maritimes costs me $20+ which is twice what it costs to ship within my region.

[momcqueen]

Oh, and the bit about zone-based shipping was an announcement for a feature coming later this year or maybe next year. It was part of the Fall Update.

https://pages.ebay.ca/seller-centre/news/seller-updates/2018-fall/service-metrics-and-shipping.html

[momcqueen]

Although in reading this part of the Announcement more closely, it looks like maybe it's a flat-rate tool only. Ebay isn't eliminating Calculated Shipping to do this, are they? @happy_pigeon I'd like to use this to designated which regions are 'free' postage and which are 'discounted only' when others are free. 

[greenmangoes]

There is always something new to learn here reallynicestamps - I always feel like I can never catch up 🙂

Anyway, does calculated shipping work on .com - is that what you are referring to?

Thanks!

[greenmangoes]

Thanks for the link 🙂

[reallynicestamps]

No.

DotCOM uses USPS rates so no Calculated Shipping since those are not available to most Canadian sellers. We must use Flat Rate when we list there.

I list stamps, thin paperback, and sewing patterns on dotCOM (different IDs) at Flat Rate. Actually with Free Shipping, which just means my cost for shipping is included in the asking price.

If you are selling heavy or bulky items, list on dotCA in Canadian dollars and use Calculated Shipping.

Note that if you have a shipping rate to a given country, not only can customers in that country see your listing, but they see the price in their own currency as well as in loonies.

[greenmangoes]

OK I thought so re: the calculated shipping.  I thought it was something I missed that's why you provided that link to Canada Post.

Thanks!

[pjcdn2005]

The .com site already has a rates table but I've never looked at it and my guess is that it can be used for the US only.

Now that we've lost the extra discount that CP used to give to ebay sellers shipping within Canada is super expensive.  If I was to ship a small 200 gram package to someone down the street postage would be $11.73.  If you are in a major center it would likely be less but there probably aren't many places you can ship a Canadian parcel for $10 now.

[ricarmic]

I'm a stamps on the box kinda guy so I print off the rate tables each January. 

The rate tables are in this document:

https://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/prices/default-e.asp?ecid=murl07001139 

(click on the business prices picture to get the PDF document you can then print out the pages that are of use)

And the table to know which rate to use from your postal code comes from clicking on the "canada rate code look-up table" link from the page above

For light but "big" packages, the volumetric is calculated using LenghtxWidthxHeight (all in CM) divided by 5,000 

As was mentioned already you'll have to use flat rate shipping to the USA on .COM

Generally I use one of the higher rates to a given location that normally evens out ok.

And before someone mentions it, despite the fact I'm a stamp guy, I ship stuff up to bankers boxes size boxes flat rate on a regular basis to the USA and internationally.

[happy_pigeon]

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@momcqueen wrote:

Although in reading this part of the Announcement more closely, it looks like maybe it's a flat-rate tool only. Ebay isn't eliminating Calculated Shipping to do this, are they? @happy_pigeon I'd like to use this to designated which regions are 'free' postage and which are 'discounted only' when others are free. 

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Definitely not! You're correct that shipping rate tables are only compatible with flat rate shipping, but calculated shipping is not going anywhere.

The use case you've described above is one of the best ways to use rate tables!

[tinascloset65]

Not an answer but I feel your pain!! I just went to ship a small and light item from ON to AB and the shipping floored me! I had to double check via Find A Rate to see if it was a mistake! $20+ before my discount!! And a strike looming!! It is so hard to stay competitive within Canada, even with the exchange rates for the states, I cannot go any lower. So now to go into my listings and adjust all my domestic shipping rates so that I don't mail my profit margin again. Canadian buyers paying a 25% exchange rate can still get a better deal with 50% less shipping costs!! Ok , mini rant over, time for revisions!!

[tinascloset65]

Oh and the reason I don't use calculated shipping is because I used to use it and buyers using their mobile would get free shipping and be able to pay just for the item and I had to eat the shipping costs myself.

[broinnov0]

EBay shipping has doubled and slow with the eBay international shipping, sales have plummeted and I’m not buying much anymore.
I’m moving my eBay stuff elsewhere as I’m sure eBay are making a lot of money on shipping now. Just one more step into its own grave

[reallynicestamps]

ZOMBIE POST FROM 2018

The problem with zombie posts is that the information may be obsolete and no longer accurate.

[marnotom!]

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@broinnov0 wrote:

EBay shipping has doubled and slow with the eBay international shipping, sales have plummeted and I’m not buying much anymore.

I’m moving my eBay stuff elsewhere as I’m sure eBay are making a lot of money on shipping now. Just one more step into its own grave

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The new eBay International Shipping service has nothing to do with Canadian sellers at present, so there must be another reason why your sales are "plummeting."

By the way, are you aware that Canadian eBay sellers enrolled in Canada Post's Solutions for Small Businesses program now have access to substantial discounts off Canada Post's counter rates?