The old Captain is trying to sell in Canada

[jackscurlock]

Ahoy.

I am trying to find a way to sell my items in Canada and still offer free or low cost shipping from the USA.

The lowest I can find is International First Class Registered and that is about $14.00 which is far too much to ship a silver dollar to you all.

I hate to think what the vintage fishing lures would cost to ship.

So...how can I ship and still have some type of tracking to protect myself and the buyer.

Thanks to all.

captjack

[dmil8030]

Howdy captjack,

Tracking, eh?  Not for the prices you're hoping to find.  And what you need is Delivery Confirmation, not "tracking" per se anyway.  You're right, it's expensive.

So what most American sellers do is 'self insure'.  They add a pinch to the item price and/or shipping cost, over and above the total they want for the item, and save all these little bits in a 'jar'.  You know, 'cookie jar insurance'.  Then on that rare occasion when a dodgy buyer files a false 'Not Received' claim, - they pay themselves out of the jar.

Retailers everywhere do it.  Those high prices in stores, -- we're all paying for shoplifters. X-(  Otherwise to ship small items Priority is beastly expensive for Canadians.  With lower shipping costs, we can go a lot higher in the bidding. 😄 

Another thing you can do, if you're simply not comfortable listing with First Class International to everyone, is wait to see if anyone asks if you will ship for the lower fee.  Make your decision on a case-by-case basis.  Sometimes instinct tells you what's best.

Anyway, it's awfully nice of you to be so considerate of us!  Some don't even bother to sell to Canada at all, never mind wanting to be reasonable about the rates. 🙂

[bookstotheborder]

The Buyer doesn't need any protection---only you.

and FYI-----Registered Mail does not protect you against a Paypal Claim---as it is not ONLINE Viewable

---and the Paypal sSeller Protection only protects you against a claim of non-delivery--nothing else.

With International sales you need to learn to protect yourself and not use Paypal to dictate how you ship

[reallynicestamps]

If your vintage fishing lures are , once packaged, less than 2cm thick and under 500 grams, use Letter/Light Packet mailing.

No tracking, no Delivery Confirmation, no insurance, but fast and relatively cheap (From 61 cents for 30 gr domestic to $14.86 for 500gr. International.)

Then go with the Cookie Jar Insurance for your very occasional loss. You will have fewer losses if you use Light Packet, print it through Paypal, and give your customer the shipping invoice number. Smoke and mirrors, but it discourages cheaters.

For thicker packages , Small Packet includes up to $100 insurance against loss and damage in transit. Again no DC, but

you are covered by Canada Post, and they are quite good about occasional payouts.

If you have a really good sale, it is often worth springing for Expedited service, which is both insured and Delivery Confirmed. If the sale is over $250 (and I hope you get lots of those!) you will need to upgrade to Signature Confirmation. Worth every penny.

And yeah. The newer Expedited/ExpressPost/PriorityPost services have made Registered Mail obsolete. In some countries the word Registered translates as "Steal Me".

[pmdoyle53]

Shipping is very expensive in Canada also or at least I haven't found a cheap way to ship.  I use the Ebay shipping calculator to explore shipping costs to the USA or Canada and it is always around $10.00 - $12.00 to ship which I think is way to expensive but people want tracking numbers an quick delivery so what is a person to do. Yet I see some sellers shipping the same items for $3 - $4 dollars.  I can't figure out shipping for the life of me and don't have the focus to go through piles of information that I cannot make heads or tale of.  Good luck in your adventures Captain...

[femmefan1946]

I disagree, pmdoyle.

Buyers think they want tracking, but what they really want is reassurance of prompt shipping and delivery.

Paypal wants online Confirmation of Delivery.

For your inexpensive thin (2cm) items, look into Light Packet or Letter rate.

Light Packet can be printed through Paypal. It is no better than Letter (no tracking, DC or insurance), but it gives you a shipping invoice number which is meaningless, but reassuring. Give the number to your buyer and he knows that the postage has been purchased and the item probably shipped. Reassuring for the honest buyer and discouraging for the scammer.

For bulkier items, Small Packet USA printed through PP, gives you that invoice number plus up to $100 Canada Post insurance against loss or damage in transit. Again, reassuring and/or discouraging. If you have a loss claim, you refund without questioning the buyer and make the CP insurance claim.

And of course, Expedited printed through PP gives a 20-25% discount from PO counter prices, which is a help.

And it is a worthwhile exercise to check out the actual cost of shipping by USPS within the USA. Not that you can use it, but at least you won't be bullied by buyers claiming that your $9 shipping fee is 10 times higher than your US competitors,

Remember that some of your competitors put part of the shipping cost into the asking price for the item.

[dmil8030]

* The seller, captjack, is American and has posted here, wanting to sell to Canadians from the US.*