Anybody here ship with UPS? I've got a question

[cello10]

Hey!

I am looking into shipping with UPS. If there's some people here who use UPS, I'd appreciated any input on the follwing question...

Do your shipments to the US bypass duties? (IE. The $200 per day exemption) or do they get hit?

At the same time, is there anything else you can point out on how UPS might differ from Canada Post in a negative way?

Thanks in advance,
Marcello

[whoscloset]

No shipping service bypasses the exemption. Your customer is going to be hit with the clearance charges regardless of which shipping method you use.

I've used UPS for years now. There are no negs to using it for the U.S. Just make sure you pack very well.

Don't use it for anything in Canada other than major cities. They use VERY unreliable contractors to deliver in out of the way places and your stuff can get stuck for weeks if no one wants to do the run.

[zarzuella]

Monique, don't your customers get upset when they are hit with clearance charges?

[cello10]

Thanks Monique but I am confused...I ship clothing, pretty much all my packages are either a shirt or a jacket and right now none of my customers are hit with duty or clearance charges. Package goes through without anything. Nearly all my packages are under $100 in value, with most even being under $50. So are you saying with UPS they will get hit?

[cello10]

I used Canada post by the way.

[recped]

Presuming we are talking about UPS STANDARD (surface).

If the value of the package is under US$200 there is NO brokerage charge.

For clothing I would contact UPS brokerage services and ask about any special conditions. Clothing/textiles are subject to quotas and other conditions beyond the basics.

It's likely that single shipments to end user consumers are exempt but I don't know (but they would).


At the same time, is there anything else you can point out on how UPS might differ from Canada Post in a negative way?

YES YES YES, their billing system is crap, their billing department are DUMB, I've been using them for 2 years (plus many more in a previous business life) currently my shipping software is in Kilo's but my billing account is in Pounds no matter how I try they can't seem to change it. This means all my shipments are reported as being overweight, billing are revised and then someone manually Makes a correction AND SENDS ME A PAPER CHEQUE TO COVER THE OVER BILLING. So far the best I've been able to do is change my billing period to monthly (direct bank debit) so I only get 12 cheques a year instead of 52.

Service has been ok, nothing lost or damaged but slightly delayed delivery (1 or 2 days) is not uncommon.
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

[whoscloset]

Sorry, I misunderstood the question.

Your customer will not get hit with clearance if it is UNDER $200. Over $200 and it will get hit regardless of the shipping service you use.

[whoscloset]

currently my shipping software is in Kilo's but my billing account is in Pounds

I changed my software to pounds when I first signed up. Much more accurate rates in pounds than kilo's. I don't understand why you don't change your software settings. ?:|

[futuretech_liquidations]

The only issue I had with UPS was their insurance adjusters when it came to claims over $300. They simply dragged things out for so long and demanded alot of paperwork before you would see the cheque.

For smaller claims the process was quick and hassle free.

Surcharges for "out of commericial zone" and "rural locations" were an unpleasant surprise given most of the time we had no advance knowledge that the address we were shipping to was subject to the surcharges so we never billed the customer for it - hence we had to eat a few charges each month.

Overall, the cost factor was not a factor infact in our case we found that our shipping prices went up which had an effect on sales - however the delivery timeframe was good and tracking was excellent.

After a year of using them we switched back to CanadaPOST.

TIM @ FTL

[cello10]

Thanks for the input gals and guys.

So maybe UPS for the US and overseas and Canada Post for Canada?...what do you think?

[itrecovery]

Best savinds:

Canada: Canada Post
US: UPS/Canada Post
Overseas: Canada Post

If you will ship UPS make sure you will talk to sales and get your discount. You can get at least 10% under minimal commitment. Same for CanPost, but their min requerement is 750 parcels per year and they actually checking your performance.

[recped]

I changed my software to pounds when I first signed up. Much more accurate rates in pounds than kilo's. I don't understand why you don't change your software settings. ?:|

I've had several discussion with technical support....seems beyond their capabilities.

Over $200 and it will get hit regardless of the shipping service you use.

If you ship via the Canada Post it would be VERY rare for anything to be charged unless the package is worth several thousand Dollars.

There are a few commodities where you might such as clothing/textiles in bulk quantities.
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

[cello10]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm hoping UPS can at least be a viable option for the US. Lately I have at least 2 lost packages per week in which I have to refund the customer. It's not a big deal because eventually I get my money back through insurance claims, but nevertheless it's a pain and is not good in terms of preserving our reputation.

I think the most frustrating thing Canada Post does is ship my own packages back to me. Every week at least one package gets delivered right back to us instead of going to the customer. We have the customers address much larger and even circle it in black including the "ship to"...but somehow these bozos, even with customs forms and airmail stickers all over the package still send it back to our small return address. I mean how incompetent can they be???

[recped]

I think the most frustrating thing Canada Post does is ship my own packages back to me

This happened to me quite a few times (years ago) although I too thought my labels were clear the fact that it NEVER happened again after I redesigned my labels is a sure indicator that were not clear enough.

Lately I have at least 2 lost packages per week

I don't know your shipping volume but unless it's at least several hundred per week something is not right.
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

[cello10]

We use the invoice/shipping labels with selling manager pro and to be honest they are fine. It's Canada post that is not fine. I've gotten to know the pick up guy from Canada Post at my local outlet and I told him what has been happening and he told me that he himself sent a package express from Montreal to Toronto and it got mailed back to him. He told me that the guys in distribution often are so anxious to go home that they barely look at the packages they are sorting.

You're telling me something is not right! We ship about 100 packages week and growing and I've issued 2 refunds per week for the last three weeks. Hence the reason I am looking into UPS. Like I've said before its no big deal, more of an annoyance, because I get my money back and its Canada Post who has to eat the loss. Also we chose our office/store location partly because our postal outlet is right downstairs from us so it's very handy. But you can get tired of giving a substantial amount of money each year to an outfit who's service is so subpar.

[tea_past_times]

[cipe23]

re the US having a $200.00 limit is enviable. I wish that we Canadians could pressure our government into raising our limit of $20.00 to the $200.00 limit. This limit was enacted in 1976 and has not been updated since. We aer creating a fortune for UPS in Brokerage fees for stuff coming in to Canada. One penny over and they hit you with a $29.95 starting broker fee all to collect 1.70 in taxes for our government. If all industries had to spend $30.00 to make $1.70, where would this world be? Canada needs to be pressured into raising this limit. think of all of the money that would be left in the ebay system going to the sellers instead of to the brokers. regards Nick