eBay

leogexx · ‎02-13-2012

Recently I sold some items on ebay (I try this once a year usually) and with the shipping costs by Canada Post and the ebay fees ,it really doesn't seem to be worth the time and effort to sell on ebay unless you have small envelope sized items or items you know will fetch a decent price. I find the high cost of Canadian shipping scares customers away or really effects the selling price . I have even had a customer (long time ago ) give me a negative for what the canadapost rates were.

queenpalmer · ‎09-20-2012

konkolski---what will your answer be if the border guards ask if you are bringing anything into the States with you? Let us hear about their actions after you say yes and they say "Thank you please pull over to that area over there".

woodrows-toys · ‎09-28-2012

It is not illegal to go across the border to ship stuff you sold on ebay. But there may or may not be some red tape (paperwork) involved depending on the item, the value and the border agent.

My biggest problem has been shipping INSIDE Canada. If it does not fit through a letter slot (2cm) them it is considered a parcel and thus the rate goes sky high. Most of my customers are in Ontario and I am in Alberta. For years my customers did not like the rates and blamed ME. Minimum charge to Ontario is $12.20 and the buyers would give me low DSR's and even neg feedback and here I was LOSING money ! The only solution (and not a perfect one) was to INCLUDE the shipping in the price and call it FREE shipping. Yep, Canada Post is really doing a number on me

bb_cool_stuff · ‎09-28-2012

Sounds like you are experimenting with what works best for you.

Adding the shipping to your product price & offering Free or Reduced shipping rates seem to work for a lot of us. Competing with USPS & Canada Post Rates shipping east takes some experimentation.

You'll find a way to make it work for you.

pocomocomputing · ‎09-28-2012

It is not illegal to go across the border to ship stuff you sold on ebay. But there may or may not be some red tape (paperwork) involved depending on the item, the value and the border agent.

My biggest problem has been shipping INSIDE Canada. If it does not fit through a letter slot (2cm) them it is considered a parcel and thus the rate goes sky high. Most of my customers are in Ontario and I am in Alberta. For years my customers did not like the rates and blamed ME. Minimum charge to Ontario is $12.20 and the buyers would give me low DSR's and even neg feedback and here I was LOSING money ! The only solution (and not a perfect one) was to INCLUDE the shipping in the price and call it FREE shipping. Yep, Canada Post is really doing a number on me

If you use PayPal shipping, you get a 20-25% discount for Expedited Parcel. I pay 9.66 from Vancouver to Montreal. This is for up to .75 kg. (I Just checked with PayPal shipnow feature.)

Regular rate at the post office is $12.23 for Expedited parcel with Venture One Card. (I just checked with Find A Rate at Canada Post with 5% savings feature turned on).

The difference id $2.57 in savings using PayPal Shipping.

Rates are high in Canada but you can minimize the cost of Parcels using PayPal shipping.

For Lettermail items that will fit the 2 cm slot, consider using discount postage (old mint stamps from stamp collections being sold for postage value at a discount). You can get discount postage from eBay stamp sellers at different savings or from a web site in Kingston, Ontario at 35% off. So $1.29 in postage for 100 grams Lettermail within Canada will cost you $0.90 saving 29 cents roughly.

Anonymous · ‎09-29-2012

You have to wonder how does Amazon.ca/com manage to offer cheaper shipping costs and deliver much faster. I often get my parcels 1-3 days even they are not Expedited or XpressPost. However I noticed that all my packages/parcels has the Amazon logo and it makes me wonder does Amazon has a deal with Canada Post and USPS that if they see the Amazon logo, they get to be delivered more faster??

That is causing a lot of problems for us as sellers on eBay especially when those who ordered from Amazon, expect the same service like faster mail delivery as Amazon which is not possible.

Just wonder?? Anyone who work at Amazon knew about it??

brandeentertainment · ‎09-29-2012

I think Ebay ruins the Canada post experience LOL......

I mean really I can ship my DVD to the USA ...another Country for $2-$4 if I did not sell on here would I complain NOOOOOOOOOO but I do sell on here so I do comlain...

I ship a movie 3 provinces away 2-3 days of driving ... I pay $1-$3 and it get there in about 5-7 days ... To me that is an awesome deal but because of ebay and US having much cheaper postal service it strikes people as expensive..

I mean really somethings are just not meant to be sold online .. I would never Sell something with weight for 30lbs and a value of $20 and expect cheap shipping... Items like that are for yard sales and flee markets.

Thank ebay for ruining my Canada post Experience LMAO

bb_cool_stuff · ‎09-29-2012

" I mean somethings are just not meant to be sold online...."

So true. We have all experienced the same problem when we were Newbies.

Experiment with shipping rates, increase the product price if possible, offer free or discounted shipping rates & check your competitors completed listings. A great guage & will help you decide if your product is worth selling.

I'm the only one to blame for my experiences since i bought the product, listed the item & offered too low a price for the product including shipping.

Don't get frustrated, you will find your niche. We all had to. Coming to the boards was the right thing to do. Great advice from many experienced sellers.

bagatelle* · ‎10-01-2012

Totally agree with the general tone of comments on this board about the price of shipping through Canada Post. It seems to me that it is cheaper to ship anywhere in the world than across this country.

But the reason that I wanted to comment was to remind people that when you are shipping your items through Shoppers Drug Mart, or any other outlet that is not a Canada Post Postal Station, you are being charged a service fee that you will not be charged if you take the item to Canada Post itself.

Also, get your Venture 1 card - if you don't already have it.

These things help a little bit - but I am fully expecting a sale I made this morning to be cancelled as it is going to cost the buyer $18 in postage for a handbag that cost $9 to be shipped to Victoria from Toronto.

pocomocomputing · ‎10-01-2012

Totally agree with the general tone of comments on this board about the price of shipping through Canada Post. It seems to me that it is cheaper to ship anywhere in the world than across this country.

But the reason that I wanted to comment was to remind people that when you are shipping your items through Shoppers Drug Mart, or any other outlet that is not a Canada Post Postal Station, you are being charged a service fee that you will not be charged if you take the item to Canada Post itself.

Also, get your Venture 1 card - if you don't already have it.

These things help a little bit - but I am fully expecting a sale I made this morning to be cancelled as it is going to cost the buyer $18 in postage for a handbag that cost $9 to be shipped to Victoria from Toronto.

Not true. Provide proof to back up your statement!

theafkgamer · ‎10-01-2012

Not at all true. Any RPO (Retail Postal Outlet) does not charge extra, and does not even have the ability to charge extra.

I work at one, I would know.

nonstopchatter · ‎10-01-2012

I concur with Nick and I too work at an outlet. There is no additional fee at an RPO.

I had a lady, worked for the local board of education, come into the outlet not long ago, and said that she usually goes right to the post office because they charge less. This particular day she was just in too much of a hurry and decided to pay more for the convenience. I told her that she was mistaken, that RPOs charge the same amount, the computer system is exactly the same. She clearly didn't believe me at all and told me that she read a newspaper article that stated it as fact.

I didn't argue the point but I told her if she had time to try to find the article online and check the facts. Perhaps she had misinterpreted what she read.

Its apparantly a fairly wide spread misconception.

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-02-2012

A couple of years ago there were some hoax emails going around about postal outlets charging more.Some people probably received that email and never found out that they weren't true.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/stamps/postalcenter.asp

pocomocomputing · ‎10-02-2012

Here is the official Canada Post Announcement on pricing:

Email suggesting discrepancy in pricing between Canada Post corporate outlets and private postal outlets is false

Canada Post wishes to alert customers that an email containing misinformation regarding discrepancies in pricing between Canada Post corporate outlets and private postal outlets has resurfaced. It should be known that all 6,000 automated post offices, corporate or dealer, use the same retail point-of-sale system software. This means the system is designed to charge the same rate for the same service and cannot be changed.

http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/aboutus/news/announcements/pricing_discrepancy.jsf

bagatelle* · ‎10-03-2012

The responders to me saying I was wrong in that other outlets charge an added 'service fee' are correct.

After going through all of my receipts I see that it is in fact a GST fee that the Canada Postal Stations DO NOT charge!

nonstopchatter · ‎10-03-2012

bagatelle - Can you give some specifics? What you are saying makes no sense. Since all the outlets AND the Canada Post Offices run on the same computer program, the tax is uniform across the board.

Are you taking into consideration that the tax you pay depends on the location you ship to?

pocomocomputing · ‎10-03-2012

It May be the $5 rule for GST. If your shipping cost is under $5 in postage, GST/HST applies to shipments outside Canada. Over $5, no GST/HST.

However, if you have more than one International package, and the total of all packages shipping internationally exceeds $5, then GST/HST does not apply.

msmaggie060 · ‎10-03-2012

The over $5 no HST rule isn't always known at the Shoppers Drug Mart/Convenience stores. I've had to clue in a lot of people.

dipmicro · ‎10-03-2012

Taxation is convoluted and misconcepted subject.

Take tax free meals under $4 - even members of chains like Timmies or Wendeys give you blank stare if you point that out.

It would not be surprising if there was misunderstanding between CanadaPost and dealers. Just recently someone on this board had issue mailing item to Puerto Rico. And they use same program.

In my old place there was CanadaPost in small convenience store and the owner was making up his own rates and rules, for example refused to send by light packet. We used another CanadaPost 5km away. At first opportunity when SD moved closeby, CanadaPost took the dealership from the crook and gave to SD.