Hi futuretech_liquidations,
So where's my apple? 😉 Sorry, I couldn't resist. In all seriousness, I'm glad I can be of help and I can understand that you might be skeptical at first. I'll do my best to be useful on the boards.
First, I agree with you that Canadians have an extra hurdle to overcome when it comes to Shipping DSRs, both cost and time, especially when shipping to Americans. I believe it is possible for Canadians to win out, but the winning formula may be different for every seller, it may take time to crack it and it's going to require eBay Canada and sellers to work together on it.
The reason I believe it's do-able is two-fold:
1. As of September 07 (I'd love to get more current stats), the top 10% of Canadian and US sellers (meaning, the 10 percent with the highest DSRs) have identical DSRs in Shipping Time (4.9) and Shipping & Handling Charges (4.8). Despite the challenges, the top 10% of Canadian sellers have figured out how to stay competitive with their US counterparts on shipping.
2. US sellers with the highest Shipping & Handling Charges DSRs do not necessarily offer free shipping. This was something I heard on the Executive Q&A webcast, and it really caught my attention. How do they do it?
futuretech_liquidations, you're already doing a lot of things I'd recommend sellers start doing - surveying users, experimenting with different shipping methods and calling buyers to get further feedback. The email you send with shipping service times is also a great education opportunity. The more Canadian sellers that do this, the better.
eBay needs to educate all users about Canada Post services and products too ... we're looking at beefing up education on the site to better explain shipping services and costs in Canada.
Tossing out another idea ... someone in the office here got a call from their car salesman after they bought a new car. The salesman gave my colleague the heads up that a survey would be coming his way - could he please give him 5 stars across the board if he was happy with the experience? I thought that was bold, but it also works in certain circumstances. Might be worth a try.
Another thought - I had a great transaction with a US seller the other day. She went the extra mile for me on a non-shipping related issue. I gave the seller all fives, even though it took her seven days to mail my package. Why? I loved her service focus and I wanted to thank her with the best possible rating. I believe that's part of the answer to my point 2 above - the guys who are charging to ship are winning over the free shipping guys because the overall experience is so good that their customers are delighted.
On Canada Post ... I hear you on the Expedited Shipping. We have asked them on many occasions to please change the name - no luck yet, but we aren't giving up.
On flat rate box ... we are working on it actively, but these things take a frightening amount of time to bring to market. My colleague Lilybean works full time on shipping, partnering with Canada Post and busting hump (can I say that on here?) to get the services and products you need to be more successful. Lilybean is on the job and he never gives up.
OK ... I'm off shortly for the weekend and have Monday off because of the Family Day holiday. I'll be back next week. Thanks to everyone for the participation in this thread - I appreciate the effort to keep it constructive.
Happy weekend,
Miriam