CP Strike

[axe_n_gear_music]

My Canada Post guy today says that his contacts in Toronto are confirming a 99% chance of a strike on this Thursday. So many parcels shipped by CP over the last few days may be held in limbo for however long the strike lasts.

How many of you are putting your stores on vacation mode until we find out on Thursday?

AXE

[moltencore]

Canada Post claims they've lost $100 million so far and that's why they had to lock-out the workers? yah right.

[welcometodorysplace]

While doing an errand this morning I noticed the CP workers out front with their signs before I even had a chance to check up on the strike. I live in Georgetown just outside of Toronto.

Time to put my store on vacation...I actually have to send out a parcel today which sucks it will cost me extra to do so.

[canadabeltbuckles]

Yep, and eBay chose to offer a 5 cent listing day yesterday...  Not a good approach with the 'then' pending postal strike.

If the offer was just on .ca as opposed to .com, I doubt that they had many takers...

I hope this strike doesn't last long, but it doesn't look good...

I can see a decision being handed down relating to 'essential services' possibly, but if and when that happens, it will be too late...

[axe_n_gear_music]

Just signed up with Fedex today. They are way cheaper than CP, have way better delivery standards, and have actual tracking on items to the US and worldwide. If all goes well, in the future I will use CP for lettermail stuff, but that's it. My business and my customers will not wait for CP to do something. When the strike is over, I'm sure there will be more increases to shipping costs with CP, which puts them way over the top even more. They're a post office for mailing letters. That's it.

I like the handy CP/Paypal label printing tool on eBay, but again, it is way too expensive. Plus they charge us for the label in CAD, and the money comes out of our USD in Paypal, so we lose on the exchange, too.

I spent lots of time researching Canpar, Fedex, and UPS, and Fedex was the clear winner, and they really went out of their way to help.

Store....OPEN!

Cheers,

AXE

[welcometodorysplace]

I will have to look into Fedex, I was at UPS and Purolator today each quoted me between $25.00-$26.00 for a parcel that would only cost $10.00 by CP.

I must say that the convenience of Paypal shipping labels and dropping the parcel in the mailbox is a big plus for CP.

[welcometodorysplace]

Fedex would cost $20.00 that's double CP.

[zarzuella]

Courier companies posted  'street price'  is usually quite high.   Better prices are negotiated contingent on volume and package size.

[art-in-the-making]

Just signed up with Fedex today. They are way cheaper than CP

That is contrary to what I am finding. I am finding Fedex ground about double the CP Expedited Parcel price. Are you negotiating with Fedex?

For example, here is the breakdown the Fedex shipping price for sending our most common sized item to Michigan from Montreal: base rate $15.90, clearance entry fee $23.27, fuel surcharge $1.75, declared value $1.80, residential surcharge $2.50.

Total $45.22 (came up to $48 in the end, I think because I added signature req)

Canada Post price $28.61

[axe_n_gear_music]

"Fedex would cost $20.00 that's double CP."

Zarzuella is correct. Our negotiated volume amount got us a great discount from the standard pricing.

In your example, a CP package costing 10 dollars will now cost us $8.50 with Fedex. A 4 foot long box going to Vancouver from Ontario was $50.00 with CP, now will be 38.00 with Fedex. Plus faster service, better tracking, and pickup at my door up to 5 days a week for only 6 dollars for the entire week, no matter how many packages per pickup. Volume discount based on an average of only 15 packages a week. Plus we pay them only once a month by cheque, in Canadian dollars, so no more losing on the exchange rate using CP/Paypal shipping.

So when CP is back up and running, we can still use them for lettermail size items, and pretty much everything else will go by Fedex. I've said it before- CP is only good for mail, ie. letters. That's what they do best. Packages should be sent through a professional courier that specializes in packages. I'm surprised we've lasted this long using CP in such a competitive market, with high customer demands and brutal CP delivery times and bad tracking.

Cheers,

AXE

[welcometodorysplace]

Courier companies posted  'street price'  is usually quite high.   Better prices are negotiated contingent on volume and package size.

How does one go about negotiating a better price?

[welcometodorysplace]

In your example, a CP package costing 10 dollars will now cost us $8.50 with Fedex. A 4 foot long box going to Vancouver from Ontario was $50.00 with CP, now will be 38.00 with Fedex. Plus faster service, better tracking, and pickup at my door up to 5 days a week for only 6 dollars for the entire week, no matter how many packages per pickup. Volume discount based on an average of only 15 packages a week. Plus we pay them only once a month by cheque, in Canadian dollars, so no more losing on the exchange rate using CP/Paypal shipping.

That's great! The parcel I was referring to was .400 kg 33 x 26 cm going to Petaluma CA 94952. How much would it cost for you to send? Posted price for me was $19.77.

Sorry for all the questions, this has definitely been an eye opener for me.

[art-in-the-making]

I presume you need to call them up and ask for a sales rep. tell them your volume and ask what they can do for you. Which we will be doing. As much as I support Canada Post workers.

[godboma]

I have been using Fedex for 1 month now and it is also costing us more than with CP. The lowest cost for Fedex Ground is about 13$ (small package to next town). I was able to get 6$ with CP. I do not have the volume to get the discount. They are charging more for residential delivery. That is not helping to lower the cost.

I saw in Auction Byte that Fedex was giving a rebate to eBay sellers to find out after that it is only for US accounts... Hope they will offer it to Canadian in a near future.

I have also looked at the UPS eBay Power Seller discount. You get 25% discount (for 0$ to 649$ business with them per week). But even with that discount, they are way to expensive.

[sheepgal54]

At least you are getting sales, since ebay posted notice to buyers that there will be a delay in getting their items, I have no bids or sales except from Canadians.  So I don't have to ship anything until the strike is over I guess.

[axe_n_gear_music]

Hi Cindy,

Our actual discounts for the first month will not show until we are invoiced for them, so my best guess for the package you are asking about to California would be in the 12 dollar range. Plus their delivery standard is approx 5 business days for ground (7-14 bus. days with CP if we are lucky), and you get proper tracking, not the poor tracking that CP gives you.

I shipped 5 items yesterday for the first time with Fedex, and honestly, their site at Fedex.ca is easy to use, easy to print a shipping label, and is quite user-friendly. If you currently print your labels with CP/Paypal, then the learning curve is quite straight forward. I actually took these packages to my local Fedex center, rather than have them pick them up for the first time, just to be sure everything was right, and they were very friendly, and told me that everything was perfect! So after only one day, I am up and running with them, and have the option to either drop stuff off to them, or have them pick up at my door at my convenience.

One difference is for shipments to the US and International- you just click the check-box for "commercial international" shipping label, and it gives you your label, plus 4 copies of the detailed packing slip that must be included on the package.

With the faster shipping service and better tracking, I am hoping to actually worry a little bit less about "rushing" to get my packages out the door (because CP takes so long/DSR worries, etc), so I may even scale back to three days a week shipping rather than 5 days a week.

Again, once CP is up and running again, I will use them for small letter sized stuff (many of which I offer free shipping on), and use Fedex for the larger or more expensive items.

Obviously, a courier service like Fedex cannot compete with CP on lettermail, so until the strike is over, I will suck up some of the losses on the lettermail stuff, which will be more than offset by the savings I get with Fedex on the larger stuff. This way, my store stays open, I move my product (some of which I am clearing out anyway), and while my competitors are waiting in the wings for CP to end the strike with their stores closed, I am still selling and shipping regularly.

Anyone wishing to contact Fedex and speak to the sales rep for a discounted business account, send me an email at axe.n.gear@sympatico.ca and I will forward you his name/extension number. Keep in mind that their only mandate is that your intentions are to utilize their services regularly with modest volume on a continual basis now AND after the CP strike is over. They will not give you discounted business rates if you use them now and then drop them after CP gets back to work, which really, is only fair. Their goal is to show you that you WILL save money, time in transit, and provide you with better shipping services, so much so that you won't go back to CP anyway (with the exception of lettermail- and they fully understand that).

Cheers,

AXE

[welcometodorysplace]

Wow thanks AXE for all the helpful information, I will definitely contact you for the information in the near future. I am currently looking into one other option through a friend at the moment.

[karas_shinomi]

great info, Axe 😜

I checked and Fedex is the cheapest alternative to CP.

Just one question;  Does Fedex charge a COD for customs brokerage fees like UPS does for cross-border shipping?  It's important to know that, because that kind of thing can get you low DSRs..

[golfing_in_style]

I currently have 17 items stuck in the CP system.I emailed each customer explaining the situation and I'm very pleased to say I had all 17 customers repond and basically say they understood the situation,that it wasn't my fault and they hoped the strike ends soon and to keep them informed (US customers).As I'm sure everyone knows the key is communication during these times.The responses have been a very bright spot in a dismal week.Good luck everyone

[axe_n_gear_music]

Hi Karas...

International/USA shipments under 200 dollars = no duty, anything over that, you have the option when printing your labels - either you pay up front for it with your shipping label, (very low rates, and great for your customer!), or you can use your own broker that would charge you monthly for the duty on your international orders, or have the duty charged COD to your customer, payable on delivery (ok if you show that in your listings).

I pay the duty with Fedex, as it expedites the packages much more efficiently and quickly, and their rates are excellent. A 500 dollar package may cost around 25 bucks for duty, and their shipping is so much cheaper too, so overall the cost is good.

[axe_n_gear_music]

Thursday June 23 update:

Earlier this week, the Conservative government introduced a back-to-work bill ordering mediation and setting wage increases.

Debate was to begin on this today after the CUPW announced Wednesday night talks had deadlocked.

Parliament had been scheduled to recess for the summer today, but the opposition NDP and Liberals said they would prolong debate through the weekend if necessary to allow the talks to resume.

The bill will ultimately pass with the Conservatives' majority, but would then have to be approved by the Senate, where minority Liberals have vowed to slow it down as well.

Sitting on Friday also means parliamentarians will be at work on St-Jean-Baptiste Day, a provincial holiday in Quebec that parallels Canada Day, which the Liberals call entirely inappropriate, so this may slow things up even more.

So it appears that there will not likely be any CP back to work finality until at least sometime next week, and then I understand that another week of full work will be needed to get the high volume of mail sorted and out the doors before they get back on track with any new mail. So it sounds like two more weeks before they actually could return to normal business-as-usual?

AXE