[save up to 61% on Canada Post Tracked Packet™– USA]---Anyone Know What's Up After Dec 31?
Summary: The discussion centers around concerns about the Canadian eBay sellers losing the Canada Post Tracked Packet USA discounted rates starting January 1, 2024, which currently provide significant competitive shipping advantages. intimewithmusic initiates the conversation, wondering about the future of these rates, given they allow sellers to offer affordable tracked shipping to the US, essential for seller competitiveness and customer expectations. lotzofuniquegoodies responds, noting the difficulties of adjusting shipping options frequently for short-term offers and raising concerns about the lack of similar offers for shipping to Canada from the US. reallynicestamps and mrdutch1001 discuss the benefits and limitations of tracked versus untracked shipping, considering the potential claims and customer behavior. joywillnotstop inquires about ways to communicate with decision-makers, emphasizing the importance of these discounts for Canadian small businesses, while others share insights on rates comparison with other platforms like Etsy. Eventually, news breaks that the promotional rates have been extended to March 30, 2024, bringing relief to the concerned sellers.
Hi folks,
Does anyone know what happens to Tr Pkt USA rates on January 1, 2024?
Will eBay Canada sellers lose the only competitive shipping feature ever?
Merry Christmas!
Current eBay Promo ending Dec 31
["For a limited time, save up to 61% on Canada Post Tracked Packet™– USA
US buyers are accustomed to and expect tracked shipping for their online purchases - even lower-value ones. To enable Canadian sellers an affordable tracked service to the US, eBay has partnered with Canada Post to offer specially reduced rates on Tracked Packet™– USA for shipments up to two kilograms.
This special promotion is available to all Canadian eBay sellers purchasing on eBay Labels until December 31, 2023.
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ilikehockeyjerseys
·2 years agoIt is nice to see this extended. I feel spoiled by not having to make a weekly trip to Chit Chats.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years ago@ilikehockeyjerseys
After speaking to another seller that used Net Parcel and UPS (In the past) they noted that discounted rates are better with NP. With my recent Canadian orders UPS vs CP has displayed higher by a few bucks. Will check and advise if it's the same for anything going to USA. Still unable to check rates with The eBay Calculator. Fedex - Not active. UPS - Does not display. (Shippo was also offering discounted rates for Canadian users. Unsure of the level.)
-Lotz
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years ago@intimewithmusic
@reallynicestamps
@byto253
@regs43
An FYI to one and all. The USA tracked service has been extended to March 2024
While this promotion was initially slated to end on December 31, 2023, to thank sellers for an excellent year, we are pleased to announce that it has been extended to March 30, 2024, at 11:59pm ET.
https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Announcements/eBay-Canada-is-extending-its-promotional-rates-for-southbound/ba-p/502811
-Lotz
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years ago@regs43
When I do spot a new announcement on ca I usually am shocked. Saw it entirely by accident!!
-Lotz
regs43
·2 years agoI would have never seen it as I don't even go to that section lol, should have been sent to our meesages or an email? aka inform the masses? ebays communication is severly lacking
marnotom!
·2 years agoIt’s near the top of the Community home page.
regs43
·2 years agoI have the seller community section of this board bookmarked, usually only place I check in and I am not observant in general lol! an email or a message to affected sellers accounts would be a much better way then an announmcemt on a community board that MOST people likely dont even know exists (if were being honest lol)
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years ago@regs43
@marnotom!
Just for the sheer entertainment value I do random comparisons between the 2 sites in the case something shows up on dot com that may be potentially applicable to ca. There ofen is a major lag when/if things do show up or they were never proofed to confirm links were amended so they work on ca. Same scenarios can be in play for major glitches. eBay Canada?....Ohhhh, what the heck!!!
https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Announcements/bg-p/Announcements
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/bg-p/Announcements
marnotom!
·2 years agoGiven how little traffic there is on these discussion boards (especially when compared to the .com ones), I don't find it onerous to go straight to the Community home page.
https://community.ebay.ca
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoHappy happy happy happy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-5w_ISkn1M
intimewithmusic
OP2 years agoHa ha. You crack me up @reallynicestamps
Thank you @lotzofuniquegoodies for discovering this.
I hope in March eBay communicates better about this so those of us who sell to the USA can prepare in advance. If I know for sure what's going on I could stop sweating bullets and promote the low shipping rates in a sale or ? to let my customers know on March 30 the fun is over. A month ahead would be swell wouldn't it?
Golly gee gosh... kick sand.
Merry Ho ho to all!
msau4301
·2 years agoGreat news, thanks for spotting it!
joywillnotstop
·2 years agoAmazing news, thank you so much for sharing!!
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoNo.
Canada Post would have to coordinate their own Flat Rate boxes with USPS Flat Rate boxes.
And remember that we only ship directly to the USA, or anywhere, because of the Universal Postal Union, which coordinates international postal systems.
And part of that is that every postal system is paying every other postal system to deliver the mail which was paid for in the origination country.
Which is why China, when it was still paying as a "developing" country although it was the world's second largest economy, was able to ship so cheaply to the West. (That stopped after UPU members basically put Chinese mail on a "work to order" basis until they agreed to pay more.)
Another problem would be that the USPS still has Trump appointee DeJoy as Postmaster General, a guy who detests the public postal system and has strong investments in private couriers. Most of the Board are also still Trump appointees. So there would not be much encouragement from the top.
But I agree, having a USPS/Canada Post series of Flat Rate Boxes would really encourage cross-border small business shipping.
byto253
·2 years agoStill impressed that USPS has kept it together so well with all political junk. That is IMHO anways, I am very happy with how things flow through the systems. Of course there are occasional weird trackjing things, but overall it works very well.
intimewithmusic
OP2 years agoThanks. I didn't know any of that.
In 2018 a seller in Japan was selling music supplies all free shipping.
I ordered one guitar pick for 79 cents/free shipping.
It came quickly from Tokyo in a large manilla envelope. the stamp said NIPPON 150. the envelope had a proper cn22 on the front with a declaration of $1. My pick was inside. I felt bad because there was also a thank you note. I also found this card inside...
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoAt the moment the yen is about one cent Cdn. So 150 yen would be about $1.42. (You would pay $2.71 Cdn for the same service.)
And Japan is considered a "first world" economy so Nippon Post is paying about the same to have their mail delivered here as we pay to have our mail delivered there.
regs43
·2 years agoIs anyone seeing a LIMITED time banner anymore for the shipping promo? I havent seen one for a few days now, it used to say soemthing in regards to the promo ending Dec 31. I only see these 2 now
"
GOOD NEWS! You can now make your listings more appealing by offering buyers eBay discounted shipping rates. Learn more or Edit shipping settings.
You're responsible for checking that your item can be sent within Canada. Please check the latest information and restrictions for Canada Post, FedEx and UPS."
intimewithmusic
OP2 years agoI hope that's good thing!
The link on the right hand side of this page still says it ends Dec 31 though.
We can only hope. I wonder if Canada Post has flat rate boxes to the US?
intimewithmusic
OP2 years agoI got this message this morning:
"I would love to buy this jacket now [$85] and will pay for shipping! I live in the US in miami florida, could you allow it to ship here. Once again i’ll be sure to pay for shipping. Thank you!!"
Huh? I ship half my stuff to Florida. Why am I getting this? I check the listing...Shipping set to Tr Pk USA. Sure enuf buyer sees "Contact seller to see if they ship to you"
Check dimensions... Package is 1.4kg 45 x 29x 17. Hmmm... 45 plus 29 plus 17 is ....scratch head... 91 cms.
{Krapp}. Change to Expedited. Now Buyer sees "Shipping $47." {Krapp}. Msg buyer.
Get new box 41 x 40 x 8. Now I'm under the Tr Pk 90 cm barrier with 89 cms. Revise listing .... Shipping to Florida now $20.79 (with the current eBay label cost price)
Msgd buyer with the good news.... (Time Lapse=1 hour)
Dead air...
It caused me to think about Canadian clothing sellers everywhere above the 49th parallel who cannot take the advice of eBay For Business who promote "Canadian sellers who can should use dotcom". Jeepers creepers.. Good Griff...grief I mean...burns my bhut... 😞
{We're Psycruhwed ;.}
We can forget about the US market if we lose this discount on December 31.
PS. While writing this post I got another msg from her.
"Perfect will purchase it tonight!! Thank you"
busybeas_books
·2 years agoThe discounted rates are only appled if you have sellected to apply them on your shipping preferences page. Since switching it on I've sold twice as many bigger items as usual. Anyway, my question is what happens if a buyer purchases the item (and pays) on Dec 31 and you don't print out the label until Jan 1? I'm assuming your actual postage charge will be back to the older/higher rate. I've made a big sticky note on the computer to check sales Sunday night (Dec 31) or maybe I should change back from the discounted rates on Dec 30th?
msau4301
·2 years agoThis is a good point! I think I will make sure mine are changed even earlier just in case someone takes a couple of days to pay. I would think if label is purchased after Dec. 31 it would be at the higher amount regardless of when the sale was made.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years ago@msau4301
@busybeas_books
Those kinds of discrepancies probably happen all the time when any time the fuel charge is adjusted and then any tax is applied or even when a scheduled price increase suddenly kicks in. As sellers we never really know it's been changed. In majority of these situations the final cost would go up....almost never down.
-Lotz
-Lotz
intimewithmusic
OP2 years agoMaybe discounted rates could became a store subscription feature?
mrdutch1001
·2 years agoshipping costs are a challenge to all Canadian sellers whether they operate from an eBay store or not...store subscribers already get discounted FVF's...so let's NOT make this shipping discount promo about eBay store subscriptions..shipping discounts need to benefit ALL Canadian sellers...
anyway, not really sure how eBay could work out a deal with Canada Post that would be restricted to store subscribers only...Perks for eBay store subscribers are those as provided and allotted by eBay.
intimewithmusic
OP2 years agoYour point of view would have clarity if your account wasn't ghosted. I don't know if you have a store or not. I don't know if your items are US marketed using TrPkt. Don't even know if you're a seller affected by the rates.
Granted its your choice to conceal your show but it makes it hard to understand where your coming from.
mrdutch1001
·2 years ago" if your account wasn't ghosted. I don't know if you have a store or not. I don't know if your items are US marketed using TrPkt. Don't even know if you're a seller affected by the rates."
Have no idea what you are referencing......I am never logged into .COM because I am NOT a seller on.COM
Have been a seller on eBay for 20 years and my account is just fine...haven't had a store on eBay for over 15 years and yes I sell items on eBay as a casual seller(currently nothing listed), and I ship within Canada & to the USA only; and yes indeed I use Tracked Packet for shipping to the USA...
anything else troubling you about my eligibility and/or qualifications that you seem to think are lacking for me to "be allowed" to discuss or comment on this topic??
joywillnotstop
·2 years ago@lotzofuniquegoodies
@intimewithmusic
I'm new here, so my apologies if there's an obvious answer to this. Just wondering if there is a way to contact the relevant decision maker at eBay Canada to submit our support for making the Canada Post tracked packet discount to the US permanent?
There are so many benefits to Canadian small sellers, US buyers and also eBay (since we can provide better customer service to buyers via offering one-day shipping, lower shipping rates, etc.) For me, it has been life-changing as it saves me 1.5 hours of travel time to drop packages at a cross-border shipper.
Is there a way we can talk to eBay about this directly?
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years ago@joywillnotstop
@devon@ebay
Are you able to address? This has been a major improvement/addition for Canadian sellers to have in their toolbox and is making a major difference in sales.
-Lotz
intimewithmusic
OP2 years ago@joywillnotstop
I'm with you on that and to my knowledge, here in Kelowna we have no access to any cross border shipper. The drive is about 2 hours.
On the eBay for Business Podcst Nov 21 Griff was encouraging Canadians to list on dot com using a cross border address. His podcast partner highlighted the subject by saying 90% of Canadians live on or near the border. I wasn't happy about it. It almost seemed like they were eluding to the instability of eBaydotca. On yesterdays podcast (Nov 28) they back pedaled and said, "Well not every Canadian seller can do that."
With the lack of promotional tools we really need this advantage for our shipping.
mrdutch1001
·2 years agoWhile I may disagree with those stats of 90% of Canadians living on or near the border, I will go so far as to agreeing that .CA is definitely instable/unstable and seemingly of little importance to eBay and should be scrapped, but as long as Canadian sellers do not have the ability to list in CDN on eBay.COM, I for one will NOT list on .COM. Although I have not done any calculations for 2023, in recent years, my eBay buyers have been about 60% USA/40% Canada, but I think that may have evened out more so these days...
intimewithmusic
OP2 years agoI suppose some historians might argue what they're talking about. History hasn't anything to do with selling widgets on eBay. I think they were reading out of a 1935 high school book about farming. Back then winters were winters and "global warming" was just enjoying a Christmas Eve fire in the fireplace. " Canada is all rock a hundred or 200 miles north of the border?"
Sounds like the old "Canadians in igloos" myth.
If someone asked me why Canadians live where they do I'd say, "It's because that's where their relatives lived before they got there..."
I fact checked their comment here;
Where is 90% of Canada's population?
90% of Canadians live within 100 miles (160 km) of the U.S. border. More than 70% of Canadians live below the 49th parallel. Jun 7, 2023
For those interested here is the transcript with what we are talking about highlighted;
Nov 21 eBay For Business Podcast;
[Brian: The next question is from a seller named Paul who posted this on our eBay for Business Podcast Facebook group. I'm hoping to get some clarification. I am in Canada. Being in Canada, we don't have access to programs like EIS or eBay International Shipping or the eBay Standard Envelope. For most of our shipments to the United States. We purchase USPS labels from a across border shipper. We put the USPS label on our shipments, drive to the cross-border Shipper Depot in Canada. They take all the packages to their warehouse in Niagara Falls, New York. We have an address with that company for USA returns. It is a New York address. It is the same location as the warehouse with a unique number for us. Could we use that address as a ship from location address so we can utilize the eBay Standard Envelope option since it is shipping from that address that is the address used to calculate the ship cost? I hope this makes sense. Thanks.
Griff: Well Paul, you'll be happy to learn that the answer from the Shipping team is yes. eBay does allow sellers who are not registered in the United States to use eBay International shipping by using the method that you just outlined that you're and a lot of hundreds of other sellers in Canada are doing as well. The requirements are only that the item must be located in the Us. That means not that when you list it, you may own PO have possession of in Canada. But when you're listing it, you're indicating that the item is gonna be at this address in this warehouse in Niagara, New York. And it also has to be listed on.com or the eBay motor site. It can't be listed on eBay Canada. And you can also, under those criteria, you can use eBay labels on the.com site along with US ship from addresses to purchase eBay Standard Envelope labels.
Brian: And Paul, keep in mind that for returns, as long as the return address on your account is in the US, you'll be able to purchase return labels to. The key is that all of this has to be done on ebay.com, not ebay.ca.
Griff: There was some discussion about whether or not this was allowable. And I think if you think of it as this, no matter where you're located, if you're listing the item on ebay.com and the item is shipping from a US address, then you're covered including shipments that are going through eBay International Shipping
Brian: Or a Shipper Depot.
Griff: No, no, no. You're getting confused here. These items are located in Niagara, the depot is located in Canada. So they bring the things to the depot and the the depot then brings them to Niagara.
Brian: They bring them. That makes sense because the individual seller's not gonna go bring it to Niagara.
Griff: Right. No, there's a fee involved I think. But these services are provided by different shipping companies. But the seller is indicating they have a pre-arrangement with the company. They have the address in Niagara from which the item is going to be indicated as shipping from where it's located. That's how shipping costs, for example, are determined. So they list the item on ebay.com, they put as a item location and return address that location in Niagara, New York. And then when the item sells, they bring the item to this place a depot in Canada who then transfer the item to this warehouse and it ships from there.
Brian: Good for all of our Canadian listeners to know that if they're not taking advantage of it.
Griff: Yeah, I didn't know this, but did you know that something like 90% or more of the population of Canada is concentrated along the US border?
Brian: I did not know that. And I wouldn't have guessed that it was that high.
Griff: And I was surprised with the reason, 'cause my first thought was, well it's because we do a lot of trade and it's a lot easier to be close to the country you do a lot of trade with. But that's not the reason.
Brian: What's the reason?
Griff: So the reason is a huge piece of Canada, you know, if you look at the map, it goes almost all the way to the North Pole, right?
Brian: Yes.
Griff: A huge piece of Canada, something like a hundred or 200 miles or so above the US border, it's all rock. There's no way to farm it. So it's not tillable farmland. So it was never ripe for settlement.
Brian: So it forces everyone closer to the border.
Griff: Yeah. Where there is tillable land and where you can grow crops. ]
mrdutch1001
·2 years agoguess for Griff & Brian ignorance is bliss, but we Canadians already know that most USA persons never think beyond their own borders, know very little about the world around them and know even less about Canada...
byto253
·2 years agoInteresting that eBay is officially saying it is ok to list as located in the US is you have a service transporting to a US shipping location and a US return address. Always thought that was very questionable as you still need shipping to the US location.
"But the seller is indicating they have a pre-arrangement with the company. They have the address in Niagara from which the item is going to be indicated as shipping from where it's located. That's how shipping costs, for example, are determined. So they list the item on ebay.com, they put as a item location and return address that location in Niagara, New York. And then when the item sells, they bring the item to this place a depot in Canada who then transfer the item to this warehouse and it ships from there.
Brian: Good for all of our Canadian listeners to know that if they're not taking advantage of it."
devon@ebay
Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies! I know that the Shipping team has been working with Canada Post on this and as of now I do not have any updates that can be shared.
femmefan1946
·2 years agoJust wondering if there is a way to contact the relevant decision maker at eBay Canada to submit our support for making the Canada Post tracked packet discount to the US permanent?
Canada Post is a Crown Corporation. The President is Doug Ettinger. He does not have a postal address on their website.
As an old Ottawa hand, I looked up the HQ address on Google Maps.
2701 Riverside Drive
Ottawa ON
K1A 0B1
byto253
·2 years agoGood tip.
Also, the responsible minister for Canada Post is the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility, who is Carla Qualtrough.
You can write to the Minister, and expect a reply that Canada Post as a Crown Corp is independent, yada yada, but letters to the Minister have a domino effect of required actions down the chain and do get noted and registered. I am not sure if this would actually go to Canada Post to draft the response for the Minister, as happens internally with letters about specific areas of operation, but it does help register as an issue of note.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoYou can write to the Minister, and expect a reply that Canada Post as a Crown Corp is independent, yada yada,
Yeah.
Before retiring I was the one who wrote those letters. Not for Canada Post, latterly with Aboriginal (Indian) Affairs, but it is interesting to see how many eyes see those letters before they are actually signed.
mrdutch1001
·2 years agoI receive similar discounted rates on Etsy, so will be watching that platform as well, to see what happens AFTER December 31st.
intimewithmusic
OP2 years agoThanks @reallynicestamps and @lotzofuniquegoodies for your two different responses. This discount allowed me to achieve a 1st time in a decade Top Seller rating. Such a shame if it does go away. The CP Exp Lite helped me a tiny bit in Canada but we aren't much for music memorabilia here.
The EU issues were very crippling for memorabilia as well. They are big music fans. If CP Tr Pkt USA reverts back to standard rates it's going to hurt dot ca sellers who were boosting American sales to offset the troubles in Europe.
This past few months my concern of losing this US disount has been to focus on Canadian sales under 200 grams. This takes me out of my comfort zone into more competitive territory. I suppose you're never too old to learn something new.
I'm hoping one of you will post the Tr Pkt USA discount is permanent!!!
Take that as my Christmas wish....
Thanks!
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoI send most* of my stuff without tracking, because the postal system is very good at its job and because while most people are honest, philatelists are fanatically honest.
It depends on your customer demographic.
If your 'documents' can go LetterPost, you can decide for yourself if they are worth tracking, since the only thing tracking does is tell eBay the shipment was delivered if there is a Claim. How many Claims do you get annually for late deliveries? Or demands for partial refunds because of NAD faults?
Would the occasional false Claim be offset by the savings in using untracked LetterMail for your sheetmusic?
*Most--- because I wasn't born on a turnip truck.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years ago@reallynicestamps
@devon@ebay
90 % of my stuff is parcels. Yayyy FVF's on shipping!!! Strangely I had a late today. Haven't had 1 in years. Bounced around Toronto before leaving on its merry way to be delivered. Customer apparently knows the in and outs of CP. Unsure if there will be problems seeing as eBay owns the account. Wasn't an issue with PayPal/NetParcel/Shippo or CP. Account was under your name.
As far as I can recall damage claims/late delivery issues have never been a concern as how it pertains directly to eBay. Refund customer. Our work is done. Customers gets refunded for a late/delayed, item arrives, no way within eBay to re-bill. Sort of a missed step in the process. Also have discovered that in the rare situation you need to send a second refund. (First over pay on postage...2nd for late claim there is no way for buyer or seller to do on their own.
Anyone process a void recently using eBay Labels. How long did it take to see a refund? Shippo was 7 to 10 days. CP in past was a bit quicker.
-Lotz
PS. Reason being having this current access to US tracked discount is a major miracle for sellers who do most of their business shipping parcels.
mrdutch1001
·2 years agoItems listed by the OP ARE NOT "documents" or Letter and have some good value which REQUIRES customs declaration...and I'd question the risk involved when sending such materials to USA and/or International destinations as "lettermail".
intimewithmusic
OP2 years agoExactly. Thank you for checking!
The >2KG or >4.4 lb category is likely the highest volume category on eBaydotcom regardless of item value. If a seller wants to sell in the US against USPS prices losing this discount makes it nearly impossible.
I can sell a rare $400 Stones t shirt and they don't flinch.
The problem is when I try to sell a $99 1979 rare Trooper t shirt. If shipping it to Florida costs $27 for TP I have a problem. Unfortunately Canada doesn't want Trooper or the BTO or Toronto or any other iconic shirts. They don't even want anything from Bryan.
Sadly, in order to sell vintage rare Canadian band memorabilia it has to go to the States. I did sell a Payolas shirt to Bob Rock's daughter once but he lives in Hawaii.
You can't lick a stamp and slap those into an envelope.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years ago@intimewithmusic
Right now that is looking like a "written in stone" firm date for promo to end. Will continue to show Small Packet Air, Tracked and Expedited where applicable on my listings. It's just too much work to update for limited time only offers. We can cross our fingers, do tetley tea dance and pray to the CP Gods but unsure how much help it will do. Crazier observation it appears US sellers have nothing similar for shipping to Canada/Intl. Almost guaranteed they have that sort of offer before us. Chalk that up as a nice bonus carrot for Canadians for the short term and enjoy it while we can.
-Lotz