New Developments in Pending Breakup of eBay

[pierrelebel]

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y15/m02/i26/s01

[momcqueen]

As a lowly eBay seller, my concern is how this will affect shipping labels: discounts, tracking et cetera.

[pierrelebel]

I  expect no change for the next many years. 

eBay still contracts Pitney Bowes to administer its postage program while PayPal handles the payments.

[momcqueen]

I hope you're right. Losing the Canada Post discount offered through paypal shipping as well as the upgrade to Expedited would be a hardship for me. 

[msmaggie060]

You can still get your upgrade to expedited with your Venture One card at the post office or online with Canada Post.

[momcqueen]

Thank you. With VentureOne for small business, the discount is five per cent at the counter instead of 18 per cent via paypal shipping, right? It was the last time I looked. Postage is cost-prohibitive and I already subsidize it in many cases, forget adding a handling fee. My volumes don't warrant a special contract with Canada Post and there is no Fed Ex location anywhere near me. 

[pierrelebel]

" instead of 18 per cent via paypal shipping"

Is it really 18 percent still?

Does anyone have the exact discount offered by eBay/PayPal on purchase of postage for different services, domestically and to the USA/overseas?

[widgetc]

Use a venture 1 card and use discount postage from stamp dealers together surplus items and save a lot more than 18%.

[recped]

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@pierrelebel wrote:

" instead of 18 per cent via paypal shipping"

Is it really 18 percent still?

Does anyone have the exact discount offered by eBay/PayPal on purchase of postage for different services, domestically and to the USA/overseas?

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Not sure about the International but for Domestic the discount is an illusion. You get the 5% Venture One plus an extra 3% that you can also get using Canada Post's Electronic Shipping Tools.....ergo...there is no special discount anymore.

The old deal is LONG gone!

[pjcdn2005]

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@recped wrote:

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Not sure about the International but for Domestic the discount is an illusion. You get the 5% Venture One plus an extra 3% that you can also get using Canada Post's Electronic Shipping Tools.....ergo...there is no special discount anymore.

The old deal is LONG gone!

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That would be for regular parcel.  I just did a test on paypal/shipnow for an expedited Canada label. Including the fuel tax but not including the other taxes, the discount worked out to about 17.1%.

Canada Post counter cost $14.61 + .40 fuel tax

Paypal total cost - $12.45

Expedited USA should be about the same and I believe Xpresspost is 8 and 9% depending on whether it is domestic or international.

 edited....I should mention that I was comparing regular parcel on the Canada Post site to expedited on Paypal. I can never figure out how to see an expedited cost on CP and I don't think there is much of a difference??

[rockp5233]

Hi Pierre,

Last time (yesterday) I use it for USA (Expedited) my discount was 18%, Paypal vs CPC office !

[momcqueen]

Ask and ye shall receive. From http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/shipping/useebaylabels.html

When you print shipping labels on eBay, you save on shipping costs:

• Save up to 18% on Canada Post domestic shipments via Expedited Parcel™, Save up to 18% on Canada Post US shipments via Expedited Parcel™-USA.
• Save up to 14% on Canada Post international and US shipments via Tracked Packet™-International and Tracked Packet ™-USA.
• Save 8% on Canada Post domestic shipments via Xpresspost™ and Regular Parcel.
• Save 9% on Canada Post U.S. shipments via Xpresspost™-U.S.A. and international shipments via Xpresspost™-International (Discounts not available on all USA and International Small Packets and Light Packet services). 

Of course, there is zero discount on Small Packets Airmail and any of the discounts above are on the barest of service. I mean, it doesn't discount the fuel tax or oxygen tax or dare-to-exist tax and/or any extra goodies you might choose to add like additional insurance and/or signature confirmation. 

(The link also goes on to quote super discounts for UPS rates and we all know where that headed......) 

[pierrelebel]

Thank you for the information and link.

"Save up to 18% on Canada Post domestic shipments via Expedited Parcel™, Save up to 18% on Canada Post US shipments via Expedited Parcel™-USA."

Has anyone here actually verified if the information is accurate.  Are the prices charged really 18% below what Canada Post would charge at the counter or online?

It is not a matter of not trusting eBay but.... we all know they are not very good with numbers.  Does "up to 18%" really mean 18%?  or anywhere from 0% to 18%?

[momcqueen]

It's slightly less than 18 per cent because the tax-for-breathing taxes are not included in the discount. The reduction is over the counter rate for Regular Parcel. For example:

Pretend that I mail a box measuring 22 x 17 x 9 cm with weight 123 g to my next-door-neighbour (returning something her dog left behind on my front lawn) at postal counter Regular Parcel rates and it comes up as $9.27 CAD total. The Base Price is $8.59 and there is a Fuel Surcharge of 24 cents plus 44 cents tax.

If I use PayPal shipping to create the label for my special order, it costs me $7.77 CAD. Including everything. An 18 per cent discount would equal a reduction of $1.67 CAD (from the 9.27-CAD mark) but it's instead $1.50 less than what you'd get as Jo Kool down at the post office. Where does the 17 cents go? Who knows.

In 2012, the advertised discount was, I believe, 24 per cent on domestic Expedited Service from Canada Post. Now that was a noticeable discount. This is still better than a kick in the pants BUT I think paypal should be a big enough player to demand a greater discount from Canada Post. I want a better discount; I pass those savings directly to my buyers so that it looks like I might be competitive with our neighbours to the south. Too lose the discount in the paypal/ebay divorce would be a disaster for me.   

[momcqueen]

Oh, and I forgot... the 'up to' part either takes into account not including the taxes and additional things you might need to add like your signature confirmation OR it reflects that the discount for remote areas of Canada is not as steep. Somehow, whenever I am mailing something to a northern buyer, Newfie or someone in the wilds of BC, the postage they've paid as part of my calculated-to-the-penny amount does not match what is charged to me at paypal when the label is printed. I assume that's hidden in fine print someplace on the Canada Post website as a tax for daring-to-live-someplace-cleaner-than-me-tax. 

To get the domestic postal rates right, I 'use this discount' rate in Shipping Preference settings at '15 per cent lower than counter' and then add a '29 cent handling fee' to each item for domestic orders. By that point, I normally have an exact amount show on my listings. This applies to a single item; there is still some tinkering to be done for multi-item domestic orders but I usually just throw everything else in for free once the base rate is paid. 

[momcqueen]

recped wrote:

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Not sure about the International but for Domestic the discount is an illusion. You get the 5% Venture One plus an extra 3% that you can also get using Canada Post's Electronic Shipping Tools.....ergo...there is no special discount anymore.

The old deal is LONG gone!

I am almost 100 per cent sure that in the last round of postal increases, Canada Post eliminated that three per cent savings because 'everyone prints labels online and it's no longer a big deal' as lame as that sounds. If I have time, I'll dig up the link. 

[recped]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:

@recped wrote:

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Not sure about the International but for Domestic the discount is an illusion. You get the 5% Venture One plus an extra 3% that you can also get using Canada Post's Electronic Shipping Tools.....ergo...there is no special discount anymore.

The old deal is LONG gone!

I am almost 100 per cent sure that in the last round of postal increases, Canada Post eliminated that three per cent savings because 'everyone prints labels online and it's no longer a big deal' as lame as that sounds. If I have time, I'll dig up the link. 

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Yes I see they did! Reduced from 3 to 2% in 2013 and now eliminated completely as of January.

http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/assets/pdf/business/parcel-ra-ooc_en.pdf

[rockp5233]

Pierre... the detailled cost of two last shipments were ;

To zip 74008 (32X32X16 - 1,2 kg) : Paypal $ 25,31 vs Post Office $ 30.26 (16,3 %)

To zip 85338 (32X32X16 - 1,2 kg) : Paypal $ 31.49 vs Post Office $ 31.49 (18,3 %)  

[rockp5233]

Oupssss ;

To zip 85338 (32X32X16 - 1,2 kg) : Paypal $ 25.73 vs Post Office $ 31.49 (18,3 %)