CANADA POST INCREASE/COSTS are No Longer Affordable to eBay Sellers

[sugarbaby2011]

I would like to comment on the new Canada Post Shipping changes effective January 14, 2013.

eBay Canada Sellers will slowly faze out selling due to the changes implemented by our friendly, unionized Canada Post.

After doing the research, it appears USPS postal service & Royal Mail service are the cheapest postal services when it concerns sending small items with weights under 100 grams.

Canadian sellers who ship anything 100 grams and under, are forced to use Small Packets Air USA & Small Packets International which have an automatic cost starting at $7.60 & up. Gone now is the Light Weight Packet Service all together at an affordable cost of $3.00. Gone now is the $100. automatic insurance Small Packets provided up until this new change.

The new change Canada Post is boasting about. What a crock of ka ka.  To Tracket with automatic insurance starts at a lovely $13.00 for a package of 0-100 grams .

Has Canada Post actually lost profit, or is this about Canada Post wanting to rub shoulders with ???? Someone can fill in the blanks.

Seriously?

Thanks to Canada Post, eBay Sellers can count on even a greater difficulty selling items online.

eBay should then turn around and thank Canada Post for the cause of decrease in annual percentage sales volumne overall.

What a wonderful corporate decision!

[mommandadd]

I think the big businesses will weather the increases just fine.

It's us small fry that are getting squeezed out.

Selling items that are small and inexpensive just won't be profitable so sellers just won't sell small and inexpensive items.

Of course if you live close to the US border you can drive across and use USPS. When the parcel falls within the small packet class it can be cheaper to use USPS to ship to Canada then to use CanadaPost and ship within Canada. 

[postit4me]

I was just checking your feedback and listings,  your location seems to be in UK, USA (many locations ), north pole and Manitoba. Hard to tell if you use Canada Post?

The current listings are sporadic in postage for example you have a beautiful C collar for girls for 50.00 but will sent Lettermail! I would never put anything where the high speed machines could eat it up. Several state 20.00 in postage when expedited parcel is so much cheaper.

Your items are way to fragile and by the way beautiful to ship anything less than expedited parcel even if it does not have the weigh. If I ordered from you I would want those items secured in a box not a bubble package.

Everyone is always comparing USPS to Canada Post. Well here is something many forget the USPS are also unionized and have the approximate same wage but better pension and benefits than Canada Post ( see their web sites ) USPS drowning in red ink to the tune of BILLIONS of dollars lost and their taxpayers on the hook. Canada Post gave their APOC and PSAC unions plus 23 directors and the CEO bonuses on October 7, 2012 see web. This means they made money and knew it because it is against the postal act for them to go into debt. Canada Post financed their mega projects via employees pension fund and now they say they it is deficient. All this information is on the web.

For anyone who wishes cheaper rates from Canada Post contact your MP and tell them to change the postal act and you as a taxpayer wish to assume the debt for cheaper postage rates like USPS and the Americas. I'll bet no one calls;-)

[mommandadd]

I think one factor folks forget is volume.

As nations, Canada and the US are about the same size area wise but the US population is about 7 times the size of Canada.

So Americans get economies of scale that can't be reproduced in Canada.

Other nations with similar or smaller populations are much smaller in size so, again, they have a price advantage.

[herrbingo]

exactly

[misarec]

I got item from UK.(paid less $100)

Seller sent it  to Canada by registered letter for $15 

I need to return item( found defective) and was shocked at Canada Post with new rate for registered letter of 130 gr -almost $50!!!X-(

I refuse to pay and left. Lost my money on item.

Canada Post will never get my money for "service" like that!

Now can not list my items on E-bay due for CRAZY fees from greedy Canada Post!

Shame on you Canada!

[cumos55]

Maybe we should start a discussion entitled

The high cost of gasoline drives up the cost of postage charged by Canada Post.

Today's cost is about $1.30 a litre    which is about $5.85 a gallon.

But I do have a memory of gas discounted to 45 cents a gallon in Lethbridge in 1971

I remember driving from Edmonton to Winnipeg on $15.00 worth of gasoline.... 1971 Datson 510  I paid $2,000 for it.... brand new

Today I still drive a small car... last fill was about $45... Paid $18,000 for a 2009 Chevy Aveo.

Things change... We have made personal adjustments...

and in response to Canada Post's annual  postal change... As Canadian eBay sellers we have made adjustments  for the last 10 years, and will continue for the next 10 years... and more...

The biggest adjustment... What we sell...

Changes will keep on coming.

And some day our society will be hit for the biggest change of all

NO MORE FOSSIL FUEL!!!

Perhaps we will go back to being an Agrarian Society based on live, and not mechanical horsepower...

Big cities will die....  and small self-sufficient farms will be the norm...

Sailing ships... Clipper ships... back to the 1800's

Then who will be complaining.

Mail delivery... Pony Express at a $1000 a letter...perhaps

or no more paper mail... electronic mail as email.

I could keep on going...

but the reality is that many things have and will continue to change

Learn to use Canada Post in an effective manner

and if the cost is prohibitive for a certain type of inventory....

The answer is clear....

Sell elsewhere or sell something different on eBay

I am already looking towards a time when even I with my books will have to change... two years, 5 years and perhaps 10 years into the future.

What may save me is the fact that the price of books... the good quality, relatively few available books...  continues to rise.... with the cost of postage...

I do what I do because I can.... and if I cannot continue selling on eBay, I will retire

[femmefan1946]

I was able to ship an item less than 500g via airmail small packet with $100 in insurance for on average $17.76.  Before the rate change I shipped a package to switzerland for that very price.  After the rate change, the only option I have to ship with insurance is Tracked packet, at a cost of $44.68, with a venture one discount

So. How many Small Packet Air parcels were you losing annually? How often did you have to collect on the insurance?

If you had even one in 100, does it make any sense to charge your customers double the previous shipping amount? \

I have two possible suggestions.

With $45 shipping costs, your number of overseas customers will plummet. Cut your losses by Blocking overseas sales. The idea is that you will also be preventing low DSRs and poor feedback for high shipping costs.

Or, add a small amount (do some arithmetic to figure out how much) to every Shipping and Handling fee, to cover your costs for “lost” packages. If you ship 100 parcels at $30 including price and shipping, and lose one, you would need to add  less than 50 cents to every S&H charge to more than cover your refunds.

[coulect]

Ever since the Canada Post new postal rates came into effect my sales on Ebay have evaporated. I am wondering if any other sellers are experiencing the same problems? Who is going to pay $25.00 for an item when the postage can cost $20.00?
I think the people at Ebay and Paypal 'dropped the ball' when negotiating with Canada Post.
Lewis

[coulect]

I have found an insurer who will insure a Canada Post small packet upto $1000.00 for $1.50 per hundred. I have started using this service.

[maggiebvintage2010]

Pierre - that brochure has been replaced by T455161(13-02) with increases for Light Packet service.

USA is now $2.65/$5.53/$8.89, with tax on the $2.65 making it $2.99.

International Light Packet rates also increased on the February brochure, now at $5.20 up to 100g/$10.00 for 101g to 250g/$17.75 for 251-500g.

[synetech]

The recent increases are indeed horrible. It is no longer financially feasible for anyone who is not rich to buy things on eBay. I know I certainly cannot afford to buy anything here anymore because the current shipping rates are frequently higher than the cost of the items I buy.

What’s confusing is that the USPS web site indicates that there are indeed cheaper options available (e.g., Media Mail for $2.53), yet everything now shows shipping prices to be a minimum of $10. I used to have to only pay $3-$5 when buying things from within North America, so paying a minimum of double is not going to work.

Even more confusing is that it costs just as much, and sometimes even more to ship something within Canada. Why would it cost $10-$20 to ship a DVD case two towns over‽ I could walk or take the bus there to pick it up for less!

Yet more baffling is that items from China are still available with free shipping. Why is it that items from the other side of the planet can arrive for free (and still have dirt-cheap prices for the items themselves), yet items here in N.A. cost so much and cost even more to ship just a couple of hundred mi/km? ?:|

There is definitely something seriously wrong with the system. I understand the USPS is losing money (I have not heard the same of CanadaPost), and I understand that people don’t mail letters and paper documents as much as before because of the Internet, but that’s a poor excuse. People still ship physical goods at least as much as before and in fact much more so than ever before, thanks to the Internet and sites like eBay. Moving physical items around is a business that will never go away (at least not until Star Trek transporters/replicators are invented). If they are losing money, then they are doing something really wrong.

Since the increases, I have practically abandoned eBay (other than the occasional cheap Chinese junk) and started leaning more heavily on local classifieds like Kijiji / eBay Classifieds / Craig’s List / etc. Unfortunately there are many things that cannot be found locally, so I desperately hope that the situation improves and postage rates go back down—then again, look at gas prices; several years ago they skyrocketed and got stuck up there :|.

[pierrelebel]

"Why would it cost $10-$20 to ship a DVD case two towns over‽'

Not all but many of these shipping charges are caused by sellers wanting protection.

If shipping a cd or dvd within Canada by lettermail, it would cost $2.20 (up to 200g).  However sellers are not protected in case of claims by buyers for non-receipt.

If a buyer claims non-receipt, PayPal will refund the full payment to the buyer and take the money back from the seller.  Period, no questions asked.

And that is the problem.

Many sellers want to be protected and, as such, select more expensive shipping methods, offering some protection in case of dispute.

[lovbugshop]

I Agree  😞

[turkkoy]

Thinking to move either to Turkey or to Thailand, because Canada international rates getting too expansive. Any advice please?

[pierrelebel]

"Any advice please?"

Yes.

Get yourself a good camera.  Both countries offer fantastic views both in cities and their countryside.

[femmefan1946]

You might want to reconsider Turkey. Or buy a Kevlar suit.

What? Too soon?

[dalexpress]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one upset by this.

I used to offer international shipping, but now I'll only be offering my services to Canadians. I sure would like to know how China can ship me a package that cost only a few dollars for free that Canada post wants $85 to ship back.

Time to look for 3rd party shipping alternatives.

[pierrelebel]

"...would like to know how China can ship me a package that cost only a few dollars for free..."

Simple. The government of China, through China Post, heavily subsidizes overseas mailing costs to promote Chinese exports. That choice is made by the Chinese government.  You see similar subsidies in other Asian developing countries.

North American taxpayers on the other hand are not willing to pay more taxes to subsidize one retail industry (mail order) over other retailers, more so considering that the mail order (direct marketing) industry handles very little goods produced domestically.

[patrick_the_loner]

IT'S ALL MONEY THESE DAYS I HAVE THEY (POSTAL SERVICES US AS WELL AS CANADA ) WANT IT THEY DON'T CARE IF YOU LOOSE YOUR  BUSINESS OR NOT

IT'S  ALL     MONEY

Patrick the Loner

[cumos55]

There are many things that we as Canadians should know about the Canada Post Corporation..

Canada Post became a Crown Corporation in 1981.

Since 1981  Canada Post  has been run like a corporation, like any other corporation in Canada.

Canada Post is owned by the government/people of Canada....

Like any other corporation Canada Post pays dividends  and pays taxes.

Canada Post is mandated by an act of Parliament to be run on a  self-sustaining financial basis...

This means no deficits  and no government bail-outs if the corporation is losing money.

Canada Post  has  made some big changes...  that have been costly  but were required to provide a better service to the Canadian people.

(1) New sorting facilities....  The new facility in Winnipeg is a model for future facilities and is the envy of many who run a postal service...

(2) Purchase of a fleet of small trucks,  making their delivery personnel very mobile in doing their job...

Input costs continue to rise each year...

Most recently the local cost of gas in Winnipeg became  a few pennies short of $1.40

The cost of postage has gone up over the last 10 years  and will continue to go up as long as input costs keep going up...

Sellers can rant, argue, and even cry  that postal rates are killing their ability to sell on eBay...

and if that is so  then those same sellers must adjust... by either selling elsewhere  or finding inventory that can be sold on eBay using the current postage rates... 

An increased cost of inputs, whether it be Canada Post  or an eBay seller is a part of running a business...

and the cost of postage is only one part of determining whether the selling of a certain type of inventory on eBay is possible.