Should I wait until April 1st to list with calculated shipping and other shipping questions

[hocotatefreight]

Hi again.  🙂

I'm looking to list high end jeans, a few trendy pieces of clothing/shoes, perfume, DVDs, new cosmetics etc  The DVDs will have calculated shipping to encourage purchasing more than one.  The perfume, I just send for free because it's usually a specific scent people are searching for and it's a larger purchase.  the high end jeans too will go for free as will most everything but DVDs. 

My questions are:

1) Are there parcel shipping changes coming in April?  I did look it up awhile back and found info only on letter mail changes coming in April, but who knows what I might have missed.  And, if there are changes, will they be applied to running auctions or just ones listed after the change date?

2)  How do you deal with calculated vs free shipping options?  I get that most here sell either car parts, or stamps or books etc.  So, one model might work for all or most of your items.  Unlike me, where I could be selling all of those things heh plus the stuff I've mentioned already.

[darnedcats]

As far as I can see, all price changes on March 31, pertain to letter mail.  A bigger concern to me, are the customs changes effective April 7th.  Could be a real hastle.

[ypdc_dennis]

The parcel price changes took place in January, the March 31 changes are all for lettermail.

The stamp rates starting March 31:

Canada
30g  - 0.85
50g  - 1.20
100g - 1.80
200g - 2.95
300g - 4.10
400g - 4.70
500g - 5.05

USA
30g  - 1.20
50g  - 1.80
100g - 2.95
200g - 5.15
500g - 10.30

International
30g  - 2.50
50g  - 3.60
100g - 5.90
200g - 10.30
500g - 20.60

-.-

[hocotatefreight]

Thank you darnedcats and ypdc_dennis!  Now to google the customs changes...

[hocotatefreight]

Are these the changes you are referring to?

http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/assets/pdf/business/international_requirements_package_content_2014_...

New international requirements regarding
package content and other customs
information
Overview of Changes
Effective
April 7, 2014 unless otherwise stated
New international requirements regarding package content & customs information
(posted March 3, 2014)
 This overview is a Notice of the changes which affect the services you or an authorized user of your Agreement with Canada Post use.  The following services are affected by the
new international requirements regarding package content and other customs information:
•Xpresspost
™
–USA
•Expedited Parcel
™
–USA
•Xpresspost
™
–International
•International Parcel
–Air & Surface
*
ExcludingPrepaid envelopes.Note: Small Packet™, Tracked Packet ™, Light Packet
™, Priority™Worldwideare not affected at this time.
Summary
In order to comply with new requirements from international security and trade regulators, effective April 7, Canadian shippers will be required to provide information (sender, recipient, content details and reason for export) about their shipments to some destinations
outside of Canada in electronic format prior to their items arriving at the destination country. Canada Post will be responsible for collecting and electronically transmitting package content and other customs information for U.S. and international-bound shipments in advance of the parcel arriving at the destination country. Canada Post and many other postal administrations, such as the United States, Denmark and Belgium, currently exchange this data electronically with their counterparts to expedite clearance and minimize security risks.
For additional details on these changes, please refer to the 2013 Parcel Services Customer Guide, Amendment No. 2 at canadapost.ca/customerguides