@reallynicestamps wrote:
I gather this is actually a rollback of a temporary price increase, but I don't recall the details.
The price of a stamp is less important, in my opinion, to eBay sellers and to Canada Post, than the cost of parcels, which is not governed by Parliament.
I hope that Canada Post sees the advantage of allowing customers to add Confirmation of Delivery (which is NOT tracking, btw, but is much cheaper) to any shipment. Including letters and Light Packets.
Parcels already have a barcode, although it may be for bookkeeping rather than tracing, and the carrier already has a barcode reader, so implementation requires mostly will and some training.
The price rollback is due to the end of the temporary increase that was approved following the US financial crisis. First class package will also see a small drop for 1-3 ounce. The price differences for anyone with commercial rates are not much to shout about but it is nice to see pricing going down for a change.
Delivery confirmation requires negotiated reciprocal rate agreements between countries. It's a subject that the UPU is apparently going to be discussing near end of the year in annual meetings. The cheapest service level (epacket) that would be somewhat equivalent to light packet remains fairly inaccessible for small sellers in the US and is more targeted at volume located closer to the major air cargo terminals that handle international mailing. The savings come from the presort labor that the PQW offering epacket perform. Instead of USPS doing the sorting they just get bundles of packages presorted. You typically need to ship anywhere from 30-50 packages per mailing, delivering to the PQW (akin to the GSP for comparison sake).
There is a concerted push to eliminate registered mail as a service for tracking small parcel shipments so it will be interesting to see how things shape up. I would look to the US for guidance as they are pushing UPU members to adopt the same systems they are using, and USPS raised rates considerably on those programs this year. Canada Post was literally begging volume accounts for international business as of a few years ago so I imagine volumes will continue to be a hindrance in getting competitive pricing. Not holding my breath.
