WHAT'S WITH THE HIGH SHIPPING RATES FROM US?

[thebarterersdog]

I'm sure it's on a board somewhere but why have all the shipping gone up drastically by US sellers? Just saw an item lot 3.99 item, 59.99 shipping.... it was jewelry and not a lot of it.

[zeetoner]

Prices on USPS have gone up quite a bit - you can try to go to the USPS web site and check the shipping price and then email the customer-

Of course Canada Post prices are crazy to USA and across Canada - I have switched to Fedex and UPS for Canada and I use USPS with a forwarder in Montreal for USA -

Anyone interested in discounted Fedex - Priority and overnite - discounts of 50% or more off the list price are available

[Anonymous]

It has nothing to do with prices on USPS have gone up, it is sellers being excessive with shipping costs.  One item for $40.00, very light, the seller is asking $75.00 to ship it!!   Other item like a 5x7 photo, he wants $29.95 to ship it to Canada.

It seems that when USPS prices have gone up, all of sudden, many sellers are going nuts with shipping costs for Canada.  I was told by a few of the US sellers that USPS "insisted" that they use Priority Mail or Empress Mail (the most expensive mail service) to ship to Canada and those sellers actually didn't knew that there are other mail service that are reasonable! 

USPS is becoming more despeared (spelling?) and want way more $$$ as they are going broke.  As far as I am concerned, tough luck to USPS.  But it will hurt many small sellers and I am sure that we will be seeing more and more less buying from Canadians on U.S. eBay.

It is backfiring at eBay for allow it.  eBay could have worked with USPS and Canada Post to get a real good deal but NO, eBay just wanted more $$$ from final value fees on shipping costs.  If I am a CEO of eBay, I would do that and it will generate way a lot of more businesses  and lots of $$$$$$$$$$$$$ than ever but eBay don't see it that way because they have too much dollar signs in their eyes to see pass them!  More likely they don't have common of sense in businesswise.  I suspect that the higher people at eBay are really very young people still with wet behind ears and are trying to think they can control us by establish those insane policies, requirements, etc., etc.  It is backfiring at them at full force.

And with eBucks removed from the Canadians!!  eBay is going to see way much less buying from Canadians up the coming months, that is for sure.

[trapline2877]

i have the same concerns with shipping to Canada,i was on site and saw a plastic sign for 9.95 and 29.99 shipping what is going on i think that people are using the shipping charge to make more money on cheap items,ebay should limit shipping for anything weighing less than 2 pounds or so but i think ebay has to step in and do something to lower shipping charges.

[brandeentertainment]

Ebay's FVF is fair but I just hate it being on the shipping ... Rates from many US sellers I found were because they didn't know any better.. I had one seller asking like $21 to ship I checked everything out and got back to them and they shipped for just over $8 because the seller had no clue...

I am the same with internatinal buyers other the the US ... In my case shipping to the UK price caqn jump almost $20 for the weight being over by just 1 gram so I list super high shipping to the UK and those who ask usually pay less .. I mean I just don't have time to weigh 500 items a week ...

I wish I did I am sure I could make a lot more but i don't have the time...

My US sales have increased abpout 40% this year compared to last so I'm not complaining

[bstr1006]

I use to love the deals on ebay but  now the shipping has become a cash grab. I just came from walmart and you can save $100.00 on most of the items listed online, so you got to ask your self what the point of online shopping.

[recped]

US sellers charge a lot for shipping to Canada because 50% of all shipments result in INR claims, half of those are because Canada Post is useless and the other half is because most Canadians are thieves........

While none of this is actually true is is sometimes the perception. In order to protect themselves they add a huge handling fee and/or require shipping  by overnight door to door courier.

USPS rates for First Class up to 9oz did go up by a HUGE amount but that was almost a year ago, most of the time it's as previously stated......sellers don't have a clue!

[Anonymous]

Just saw the annoucement that USPS is offering the eBay sellers in USA up to 37% discount starting this month until December 31.  Wonder if they offer the discount postage rates to us??  I would!!

[recped]

TRS sellers get that discount already, the recent thing was just a one time offer to all US Sellers. While they advertise UP TO 37%, that's not the actual discount for most services. Still it's often close to 20% but there are other postage providers in the US that you can use to get the same or better discounts.

If you wonder if US sellers would pass this on, I doubt it and I see no reason why they should given that it's only a short term discount. For TRS sellers who consistently get the discount, well they pass along a portion to be competitive but there's no reason why they should not pocket some or all of it. Sellers are here to make money, what 's the point of working to get an extra discount if you just pass it along to your buyers with no perceptible marketing advantage. Would $12 shipping really be that much attractive than $14 shipping?

[femmefan1946]

Just saw the annoucement that USPS is offering the eBay sellers in USA up to 37% discount starting this month until December 31.  Wonder if they offer the discount postage rates to us??  I would!!

Are you shipping from the USA? USPS is the American Post Office.

Paypal shipping gives Canadian sellers up to 20% off some Canada Post services.

VentureOne gives all Canadians about a 5% discount on services.

I buy discount postage from a family member in the business, so I'm not real up on current postal discounts.

[rose-dee]

---

@thebarterersdog wrote:

I'm sure it's on a board somewhere but why have all the shipping gone up drastically by US sellers? Just saw an item lot 3.99 item, 59.99 shipping.... it was jewelry and not a lot of it.

---

I've noticed a few of these sort of listings too, in the categories where I've been looking for items.  

My thought was that perhaps the sellers were reluctant to ship to Canada, or unfamiliar with shipping outside the US, and wanted to cover their backs using a premium, tracked service (as they've been told to do by eBay), or they just didn't realize that other, less expensive options existed.  Either way, the result was that I just moved on to the next listing. 

If you see something you really like, you could probably try contacting the seller beforehand and ask if they'd consider using a different shipping method and revising the shipping quote in the listing.  For example a small, inexpensive article such as costume jewelry should be able to be shipped by lettermail in a bubble envelope, or at worst, in a small flat-rate box.  

I just hope that all the complaints around the GSP haven't frightened a lot of US sellers out of shipping to Canada, causing them to avoid any possible risk by using the most expensive shipping service possible (effectively discouraging Canadian buyers). 

[Anonymous]

I am a Canadian seller and use USPS to ship them when I drive down from Canada to USA.  Yes USPS is offering up to 37% discount from last month until December 31 and I am wondering if the US sellers would offer this discounts to Canadian buyers, also to US buyers or just keep the hefty profits to themselves?

Since I noticed this annoucement and I even asked a few of US sellers about it and they were kind enough to reduce their shipping costs, very wise to keep their buyers happy and can keep coming back.  Wish Canada Post would offer too.  As for up to 20%, I don't see that much.

Even Canada Post offers 14% discount on Expedited, it is NOT a real 14%, it is actually less than 10% or more lower!  That is unfair and deception, same when they offered 25% discount on Expedited but the real number of discount was lower than 18% discount the whole time.  So we don't actually get good discounts or deals from Canada Post comparing to USPS!

[dougkelowna]

What a ridiculous thing to generalize about Canadians. Canadians are not theives. FYI Upper Canada was immigrated largely by US citizens fleeing the American civil war. Hard working, resilient, polite, and honest describes most Canadians  If a customer does not receive the item they paid for, what are they supposed to do? Just suck it up and get ripped off?  I recently made a large commerical purchase which I had delivered to Oroville Wa. There was an odd number of boxes, and the few that did not fit on the skids did not arrive. I received 12 of  nthe 14 cases.  I  was eventally  creditied the missing product, however the brokerage fees were calculated on the full amount and I never recouped those losses.  I'm sure the problem lies with the US shipping company. If it helps, I was in business for 10 years and never had asingle package misdelivered or lost by FedEx. Shipments by rail and bus however, was another story.  I suggest you think before you make such insensitive remarks about Canadians.

[pjcdn2005]

Did you read the second paragraph of that post? He is saying that some U.S. sellers perceive that there is going to be a problem with shipping to Canada...actually some U.S. sellers feel that way about shipping anywhere outside of the lower 48 states.

While none of this is actually true is is sometimes the perception. In order to protect themselves they add a huge handling fee and/or require shipping  by overnight door to door courier.

[lady.stark]

---

@rose-dee wrote:
My thought was that perhaps the sellers were reluctant to ship to Canada, or unfamiliar with shipping outside the US, and wanted to cover their backs using a premium, tracked service (as they've been told to do by eBay), or they just didn't realize that other, less expensive options existed.  Either way, the result was that I just moved on to the next listing. 

---

It is either that they are reluctant or they are using GSP without knowing it.

OR

They chose "International" in the shipping choices, but they did not bother to select a different line for Canada. So... the price you see is actually the "international" price (such as for France or Australia). I've seen many sellers who do not realise that USPS charges less for shipments to Canada than to other countries (beside USA of course).

[ypdc_dennis]

NECRO THREAD ALERT:  22 month time jump!

[tallmom67]

You are completely wrong. Go ahead and use a shipping calculator and it will automatically be set at an outrageous price even using the cheapest worldwide saver service.

[pjcdn2005]

Very few U.S. sellers use UPS for sending outside of the U.S.  It's too expensive and the buyer will also be charged a high cost for brokerage fees. They will also be charged duty and taxes which are not always charged if the package was sent by USPS. You would be better off using Priority for your listing. I can't imagine anyone paying almost C$300 for shipping from the U.S. to Canada.

I've also read that the UPS eBay calculator on .com is not always accurate, especially for larger packages.

[eric_153]

I never buy from U S sellers item is 17.99 and the shipping 34.99  what a scam  i bought an item from amazon it was 23.99 and shipping from usps is 5.99 so someone is scamming somewhere.

[hlmacdon]

---

@eric_153 wrote:

I never buy from U S sellers item is 17.99 and the shipping 34.99  what a scam  i bought an item from amazon it was 23.99 and shipping from usps is 5.99 so someone is scamming somewhere.

---

They aren't scamming, they are just defaulting to priority mail international rates (they are that high) thinking that is the only way to get tracking internationally. Many US sellers and private sellers still aren't aware of the e-delcon program which includes delivery confirmation for first class packages to select international countries including Canada.