Changing Domestic and International Shipping Options
Summary: ckcollectibles24, a Canadian eBay seller, faces challenges as an impending Canada Post strike limits their domestic shipping options. Their listings currently only allow Canada Post for domestic shipping, and they experienced issues with printing shipping labels, leading them to use FedEx at a higher cost. sapphyres-designer-jewellery suggests exploring third-party carriers like Chit Chats, Stallion Express, or DYK Post to avoid inflated costs. byto253 mentions services like Sendle, which offer competitive rates and pick-up services, as alternatives. ckcollectibles24 asks about changing domestic shipping options and learns from sapphyres-designer-jewellery about offering flat-rate shipping to manage costs without committing to specific carriers, allowing for more flexibility during the postal disruption.
I had a package that was being sent out today that was sold to a domestic buyer, and Canada Post was selected. I was unable to print a shipping label for Canada Post and chose to ship it through FedEx as it was the most economical option available. The shipping rate through FedEx was nearly double what the Canada Post rate the buyer paid would have been. Just looking to see if anyone could point me to what I am missing in terms of being able to deselect Canada Post shipping for the time being and only offer alternative carriers so that I am not taking a hit on shipping costs. I am admittedly a fairly new seller on eBay (I have been buying in the platform for years) and have not dealt with this before. Thanks
ckcollectibles24
OP1 year agosapphyres-designer-jewellery
·1 year agoI offer "flat rate shipping" and use an average cost for mailing in Canada (so I might put the price to be the cost to ship to Vancouver, but if the item is shipping to a rural part of Newfoundland I might not have charged enough postage, but if it's Ontario, I'll have a bit left over from paying for postage, so it's the average of where my customers are).
I set it at either "standard" or "economy" shipping and don't commit to a specific service. So I'll update my business policy to whatever the shipping costs, but not commit to how I'm going to ship, it basically will go the cheapest way.
C.
byto253
·1 year agoLooks like a chitchats is in Kitchner, about 45 kms away so you could extend handling times to provide for a 1 day a week drop off.
A better alternative may be Sendle as they have competitive rates and pick up at your door. I checked and they do pick up in Drayton. Basically they are a portal to high volume commercial rates from ICS and other couriers. https://www.sendle.com/
sapphyres-designer-jewellery
·1 year agoThe Chit Chats in Kitchener is at Intelcom, so a third party is going to transport your box of packages to Burlington for processing. (If it's like the former Burlington drop spot back when their head office was elsewhere, you put a batch label on a box, close it up, and drop it off).
There is a Stallion Express branch in Country Hills in Kitchener which I frequent, and Stallion's rates seem to be a bit cheaper than Chit Chats. You can just drop off single packages and not pay a "user fee" for dropping off at a drop spot.
C.
byto253
·1 year agoYes, I use the Intelcom drop off in Ottawa at times. It works well. No Stallion here, so have no experience with them.
For the OP, either in Kitchner is a good haul, which is why I think it would be useful to check into Sendle and have pickup at their location.
sapphyres-designer-jewellery
·1 year agoDo you have access to a Chit Chats or Stallion Express Outlet?
They're partnered with a lot of couriers and won't charge double what Canada Post's rates are.
Do a search to see if either of these outlets have a drop spot near you. There's also DYK Post but I'm not sure what services they offer for domestic shipping.
C.