eBay

treasure0ut · ‎05-16-2015

Hello Everyone

Can anyone please help me with shipping from Canada (Vancouver) to around the globe. I sell Antiques and my packages comes in different sizes and weight every time. Most of my stuff will be under 500g. New in Canada and these postage charges making me nuts.

Under 0.250g - 1kg Track services whithin Canada: ??

Under 0.250g - 1kg Track services to USA: ??

Under 0.250g - 1kg Track & Sign International: ??

At the moment I am using Canada Post but it looks very expensive for international parcel even for under 0.250g. I will be great if anyone can help me in getting cheap packaging material for small items.

Thanks

pierrelebel · ‎05-16-2015

I looked at your listings (average about $50) and suggest you ship using Canada Post Small Packet to USA and overseas - without tracking.

Requesting tracking is expensive when shipping from Canada and makes your shipping charge excessive for such relatively low priced items.

femmefan1946 · ‎05-17-2015

The purpose of tracking is to protect the seller in case of a false claim of non-delivery.

It is no help if the package really is delayed in the mail.

Since the cost of tracking internationally is so high, as a new seller you might consider some other strategies.

Instead of tracking use self-insurance. This means adding a small amount to every shipping charge and using these 'insurance premiums' to pay yourself in case of a dispute. This is cheaper than tracking. This means you pay yourself instead of some other entity. This means that you understand that most of your customers are going to be honest and will only claim if the item really isn't delivered.
Never use Surface Shipping overseas.
Actually at this point, do not offer international shipping at all. It is complicated and between language problems and import fees, can lead to difficult transactions.
Sell in US dollars instead of Canadian. Americans will be your largest market (and congratulations on using Persian instead of Iranian! You dodged a huge problem there.) and Americans only understand the US dollar. EBay makes this difficult for new sellers.
Build your feedback, which is a measure of trustworthiness, by doing some buying. This will also give you insight into how an eBay buyer sees a transaction.

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2015

According to my research, Canada Post is the least expensive option for international shipments with tracking. I don't encourage offering a service without international tracking, to be honest. You are new to ebay and people will seek to take advantage of that or simply worry that you are not legitimate. Your buyers will be anxious and if something is missing along the way or takes a day too long to arrive, you won't be able to offer a replacement either as your items look to be unique.

Anyone who wants something badly enough will pay for tracking on it. It is better to have a few sales to serious buyers than many to rampant deal-seekers, in my opinion. The deal-seekers will be the first to loudly express negativity if something does not go precisely to their liking. Nothing makes me cringe more than seeing negative feedback left for other sellers on items that sold for 99 cents. Or less.

Another thing to bear in mind is that a courier will ALWAYS collect duty and tariffs on an incoming parcel which can and will increase the overall cost to your buyer. With regular mail, it is sometimes overlooked. You will also need to be very careful to select the proper HS Codes when exporting.

Good luck as you carry forward.

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-17-2015

@treasure0ut wrote:

Can anyone please help me with shipping from Canada (Vancouver) to around the globe. I sell Antiques and my packages comes in different sizes and weight every time. Most of my stuff will be under 500g. New in Canada and these postage charges making me nuts.

Under 0.250g - 1kg Track services within Canada: ??
Under 0.250g - 1kg Track services to USA: ??
Under 0.250g - 1kg Track & Sign International: ??

At the moment I am using Canada Post but it looks very expensive for international parcel even for under 0.250g. I will be great if anyone can help me in getting cheap packaging material for small items.

You need to know (or at least have a good guess) what the size and weight of the parcel will be when you list.

Also remember that many of the tracked services use dimensional surcharges (too big a package will bump it up to a more expensive shipping weight cost).

To Canada:

* under 2cm thick, under 500g -- oversize lettermail, flat rate anywhere in Canada, but no tracking

101-200g .. 2.95
201-300g .. 4.10
301-400g .. 4.70
401-500g .. 5.05

* Expedited parcel bought through paypal is your cheapest shipping option, tracked, includes $100 of insurance, cost varies depending where it goes in Canada. If listing on eBay.CA you can set up variable shipping (need size of package & weight, eBay will calculate and display the shipping cost to the potential buyer)

To USA:

* If you are close to the border you can use a service like bookstotheborder (Vancouver) or chitchatexpress (Toronto) to take your parcel across the border and ship it using USPS domestic rates.

* Light packet (less than 2cm thick) has a "tracking" number on the label (it will only show when the package got scanned at the postal outlet), Small packet (air) has no tracking, Tracked packet does.

000-200g .. 5.00 Light Packet
201-300g .. 7.00 Light Packet
251-500g .. 10.79 Small Packet (Air)
251-500g .. 15.75 Tracked Packet
501g-1kg .. 16.23 Small Packet (Air)
501g-1kg .. 18.19 Tracked Packet

To the rest of the world:

* Unless it's expensive, use small packet (air). It's flat rate, but has no tracking or insurance. Never use small packet (surface), it just takes too long to meet eBay standards.

* For items under 2cm thick, consider light packet for weights under 300g

000-200g .. 7.50 Light Packet
201-300g .. 11.50 Light Packet

maximus7001 · ‎05-19-2015

"

* Light packet (less than 2cm thick) has a "tracking" number on the label (it will only show when the package got scanned at the postal outlet), Small packet (air) has no tracking, Tracked packet does.

000-200g .. 5.00 Light Packet
201-300g .. 7.00 Light Packet
251-500g .. 10.79 Small Packet (Air)
251-500g .. 15.75 Tracked Packet
501g-1kg .. 16.23 Small Packet (Air)
501g-1kg .. 18.19 Tracked Packet"

This got mixed up. The light packet is the one with no "tracking number". Small packet air does have a number but it is useless except to help keep a potential scammer from claiming no delivery since it looks tracked. We use whiteout to cover the words "no delivery scan" to make this more effective.

Small packet air international has a not so useless number. The number will not show up on Canada Post tracking but can show up as delivery confirmation on foreign postal tracking websites in the destination countries. This trick does not work in USA. And again you need to white out the words that can keep it from being scanned on delivery.

Since 2005 we have only had one claim of no delivery and that was to Norway of all places and we know for sure that he got the item because he later sold it and it had the same price tag sticker from a small local Winnipeg store that went under in 1994.