Canada post ruins the ebay experience

[leogexx]

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.

[pjcdn2005]

I shop a LOT on ebay,. and as soon as i find out the item in bidding on is within canada ,most times i cancel my bid., its very expensive for shipping, i may bid on a cheap item and it will zoom to big money to get said item..

It would be a good idea to look at the shipping cost before you bid, not after.

As BB said, I think you will find that shipping from the U.S. is becoming more expensive as well.

[bluerosie_blue]

After being away from Ebay for a bit, I discovered when I returned that Canada Post no longer offers Small Packet options from Canada to other Canadians.  It is still available for the US.  That means that you either send non-trackable, or you pay $15.95 for even the smallest trackable package.  I can't imagine anyone wanting to pay $15.95 plus overhead charge for a magazine, tshirt or other small item.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do?

[bb_cool_stuff]

I found increasing the item price & lowering the shipping price to compete with US Sellers & USPS rates has worked for me.

In my category US Sellers have increased their shipping prices the last four weeks since the USPS increases came into play.

This could be an advantage for Canadian Sellers. Hope so.

[pjcdn2005]

After being away from Ebay for a bit, I discovered when I returned that Canada Post no longer offers Small Packet options from Canada to other Canadians.  It is still available for the US.  That means that you either send non-trackable, or you pay $15.95 for even the smallest trackable package.  I can't imagine anyone wanting to pay $15.95 plus overhead charge for a magazine, tshirt or other small item.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do?

As long as I have been selling there has never been a small packet service within Canada. For items that are under 2 cm thick you can send as an oversize letter within Canada and it looks like you are doing that now. No, it doesn't have delivery confirmation but I find that very few packages ever get lost so lettermail works great for lower priced items.

You can use expedited parcel and then use paypal shipping to receive an approximate 20% discount. It still isn't cheap but the discount does help.

It sounds like you might think that small packet to the US has delivery confirmation but it does not have insurance or delivery confirmation.

[bluerosie_blue]

I've been using the Small Packet option in Canada for many years.  It is only recenlty that Canada Post announced here on Ebay that they were doing away with it.  I also confirmed that at the post office recently.  Although it didn't provide delivery confirmation, if the parcel were lost it was insured to $100 for the contents.  All you had to do was submit a claim to Canada Post.  I had that happen just before the option was removed.  

[bluerosie_blue]

Thank you, I will try that.

[pjcdn2005]

I've been using the Small Packet option in Canada for many years.  It is only recenlty that Canada Post announced here on Ebay that they were doing away with it. 

Yes there have been changes that were recently announced on ebay. The changes were that small packet surface to the U.S. was deleted and that insurance would no longer be available with small packet air USA or international.

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/201301.shtml#2013-01-03090758

There were price increases for mail service within Canada but no services were deleted.

[heidibeccamunz]

I agree completely, our shipping rates in Canada are ridiculous.  I have also received negative feedback for shipping , when basically I paid the customer for my merchandise as the shipping costs exceeded shipping charged as well as the item cost.  I find shipping to the US is not as bad via Canada post, but to ship domestically the prices are crazy.  It looks bad for us when US seller seem to ship for so cheap, I wonder how they are able to do that!

[nuvistors]

Blame the postal union for the obscene raises they demand

[kashka]

Could be they needed some more cash for the bonuses paid out to the 7,402 employees last year. I guess, by corporate logic, there should be bonuses for having the company go in the red for the first time in 16 years.

http://www.thestar.com/business/2012/10/06/canada_post_pays_bonuses_to_7402_employees_despite_financial_losses.html

[nuvistors]

Could be they needed some more cash for the bonuses paid out to the 7,402 employees last year. I guess, by corporate logic, there should be bonuses for having the company go in the red for the first time in 16 years.

http://www.thestar.com/business/2012/10/06/canada_post_pays_bonuses_to_7402_employees_despite_financial_losses.html

The union members received a bonus between 3 a 4 percent in addition  to their salaries.

Most working people in Canada received no bonus in addition to little or no raises.  In fact some wages were even reduced as the postal union wages were increased.

[kashka]

I'd like to see the numbers of what the CEO and the knobs at the top got for bonuses.From what I understand the 3% to 4 % were bonuses paid out to the union members in 2011 and according to the article it wasn't paid out this year.

"This year Canada Post, however, did not pay a corporate team incentive, which is paid across-the-board to all 56,000 employees, if certain goals are met in the previous year, such as safety and customer service improvements as well as financial benchmarks. Its base amount ranges from 3 to 4 per cent, depending on the union, but can be adjusted up or down accordingly."

This is the part that makes me laugh..they won't disclose the bonus amounts to upper management because CP needs their talent..So..they are giving them bonuses to stay even though the company lost money for the first time in 16 years..Wow..could you imagine the bonus amounts they would make if they actually made money?

"

In refusing to release bonus amounts, Canada Post cited privacy concerns as well as a section of the law that permits refusal of disclosure because it “contains trade secrets or financial, commercial, scientific or technical information that belongs to, and has consistently been treated as confidential by” the corporation.

“We are in a competitive business that is only getting more competitive,” Hamilton said. “We are not going to provide a road map to our competitors to pluck good talent when we need it the most.”

Hmm..maybe they are not such good talent(considering their track record)??

[alpaak]

I've had no problems with Canada Post until the start of this year.  However, within the past month I've had complaints from two customers about delivery.  One in country buyer did not receive their purchase.  I trusted his word because of his 100% feedback rating.  Another buyer from Florida stated that his small packet was postmarked March 2nd even though I mailed the item on February 25th.

There really is no recourse for me should these screw ups keep on recurring other than offering tracked shipping at a much higher cost.  This would translate to no sales because I sell sports 

cards that in most cases would be of less value than the shipping costs.  Thanks to Canada Post, I may have to stop selling on ebay. 

[mycollectorscabin]

Nick,

I had an issue, where the RPO Clerk applies 13% HST SALES TAX

on 4 letter mail items going to United States total postage was $8.80

When I exposed there was a problem with the transaction.

The clerk replied, I know my duties well, if you don`t like the service

go some else.

I am use to such issues it`s an ongoning problem!         

[maxrothman]

I have the same problem. Canada Post charges are too high for seller to ship outside Canada. I also use to work at Canada Post and can tell you also that if you don't package your item really well the item stands a good chance to get broken. The workers at the plant chuck the items about 10 feet into large metal cages!

[scorps007]

 Very informative post, glad to see I am not alone.

 Like all of my fellow Canucks Canada Post shipping rates make it very difficult to compete, after I have eBay fees, PayPal fees and eating some shipping costs the 'profit' is not much. For many I throw in a flat rate for shipments, few I use the calculator.

 Another issue is I tried to use the calculator on one of my auctions, despite numerous tries including cleaning out browser cache, using another browser it keeps changing the parcel weight from 1.75 lbs to 5.11 lbs... which dramatically increased shipping costs! Finally I just gave up and changed it to flat rate.

 Back to topic, I encourage all to have Canada Post realize what they are doing. Increasing costs, removing insurance for small packet air, crazy costs for tracked pack makes buyers go elsewhere. So, instead of say 10 shipments we have 1... that's a loss in revenue and volume for Canada Post.

 A while back I even took a few shipments across the border, one I had to during the postal strike... the amount I actually saved pretty much filled up my tank! Yes, it is also much cheaper to fill up in the US and it being about 30 minutes from me I may now just go there when I have several shipments.

[scorps007]

 I should also mention I already called in my complaint, letting them know that increasing costs/removing insurance/and rip off track pack pricing is all bad changes, uncompetitive and can only mean even less sales (for them and me). I had them look at it from a buyers view, would you pay more shipping as it is to buy from a Canadian seller or would you save money and go with a US seller? Would you even pay the extra $20 to have it tracked???

 I encourage you all to call or email Canada Post voicing your concerns, and please don't think the next guy will do it... the more complaints they hear the better.

[karatechick1]

Maybe she meant 7 ounces???

[bb_cool_stuff]

If you are running a Legit Business in regards to the CRA, postal costs & losses should not even factor into your equation.

Like Pierre has mentioned for years, find yourself a good accountant with experience in small business, online & mail order sales. You will be amazed at what you can legally write off as a business expense providing you have the receipts.

There are easily found through the Government Sponsored Business Service Centre in your area.

[maggiesfarm1]

There is no doubt that Canada Post rates and policies put Canadian sellers at a disadvantage not only in the global marketplace but also within our own country. One of the things that frustrates me is how an envelope 20mm and under will ship at a letter rate (or light packet to the US), but as soon as it is just a fraction over the 20mm, the full blown parcel rate kicks in.So even though it is still an envelope, it will now cost $9 - $12 to ship within Canada whereas the same envelope coming from the US would basically be half of that cost.

Therefore, I think Canada Post needs to create a similar envelope rate that is priced somewhere in between.  For instance, if your envelope is between 20mm-50mm, it could be shipped at half the parcel price. I believe this improvement would both stimulate business and help Canadians be more competitive in the eBay marketplace.

If this sounds like a good idea to you, please pass it on to Canada Post. And just a thought: I always like to remind Canada Post that eBay transactions probably play a large role in keeping a number of postal systems going in this digital age.