eBay

magical-deals · ‎06-10-2005

is anyone getting a discount on air mail rates? i mail a lot of stuff overseas and it's all airmail but no discount, they say they never give discounts on airmail, not even an automation discount

imagi.nation · ‎06-10-2005

If I remember correctly, you can get discounts on Small Packet Airmail US and International, but you have to ship a minimum of 50,000 pieces a year. I'm about 49,000 pieces under that so I'm sure not planning on getting that discount any time soon!

Cheers,
Ernie.

magical-deals · ‎06-11-2005

WOW..that's like 136 pieces of airmail every day for 365 days a year..why is the threshold so high? so nobody here is getting international airmail discounts?

imagi.nation · ‎06-11-2005

I've found the source of my "50,000" pieces quote. Here is a link to a Canada Town Square workshop held not too long ago with a rep from Canada Post. It's a long thread, but if you scan quickly and read only those posts by "canadapost2" (which actually start on page 2) you can get all the pertinent info and save a lot of time.

http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jspa?threadID=100024407&start=0

Cheers,
Ernie

vesivus · ‎06-11-2005

I have personally investigated getting a better rate and have talked to 3 separate Canada Post reps.

The level ***is*** 50,000 SMALL PACKET packages. The rationalization given to me is that we are still considered a small business by Canada Post's standards, and that the rates offered on Small Packets are already at very low margin (ahem), so to offer any more of a discount, we'd need to generate huge volumes (ie: Mid to Large business). Amazon would probably qualify, as would Chapters, and maybe those Interwood Direct (mail-order TV) businesses etc. Other than that... who the heck can ship 50,000 packages over the border or overseas a year without selling anything and everything? Ouch.

I did the math. Cheapest small packet: $3.95 x 50,000 = ~$200,000 SPENT at Canada Post each year.

They want you to spend around a quarter of a million dollars per year before they'll even think about giving you a discount -- and I bet it'll be something like 2%.

:P

John

tegcont · ‎06-11-2005

Hello,

I thought I would mention the Canada Post Venture One program. Go to: www.canadapost.ca/ventureone . It is only a 5% discount, but also allows you to ship expidited parcel. Expidited gives you a tracking # and up to $100 free insurance.
Hope that helps.
UPS also offers a small business program. Discounts vary on how much you ship per week. UPS is more expensive, but with the discount it is sometimes an option.

Tim
www.internetpeddler.com

javax.swing · ‎06-11-2005

Tim,

Venture One is for "regular" sellers. We PowerSellers have automatic contract rates that at their LOWEST level give us 30-40% off counter rates...

The contract rates don't apply to Small Packet though, nor does Venture One.

graysonac · ‎06-11-2005

So we can't stack the Venture One with the Powerseller rate.. bummer.

Do folks find that the Powerseller rate makes Expedited Parcel or Xpresspost viable instead of Small Packet for USA shipments? I do about 80% of my business shipping small packet to the US ($5.60CDN), and Expedited with V1 is about $2 more than that. It's already impossible to compete with the cheap US-US or US-Canada shipping rates that US sellers can offer 😞

javax.swing · ‎06-12-2005

The discount for Bronze/Silver to the USA is Level 1 which is the same as Venture One. You need to be Gold or higher to get discounts to the USA.

graysonac · ‎06-13-2005

Javax, what is 30-40% discount applicable for?

javax.swing · ‎06-13-2005

Parcels within Canada.

graysonac · ‎06-13-2005

Ahh, ok. Well, that certainly helps compete with US sellers on shipping. At 30% off, it'd only be about twice as much shipping for a fellow Canuck to buy my most common products.

The sad thing is, I'm not kidding 😞

javax.swing · ‎06-13-2005

So negotiate your own contract with a courier.

labstud · ‎06-15-2005

There is no discount on ALL what is considered small packages .I heard that same comment that they are not doing much money on those... No kidding. most of the time delivered by postman, they are very likely the most rewarding.The only thing that is much better with small packages category is that reach destination faster.(especially airmail)

curiopete · ‎06-16-2005

Hiya folks.

It appears that my sales were high enough to qualify me as a PS. So, here I am, checking it out.

I received a welcome kit in the mail. On the "PowerSeller Program Benefits card", it mentions "Canada Post Shipping Discouints" of "10-15% off counter rates" (at every level), and when I check the PowerSeller pages, there is no mention of these advertised discounts; anywhere.

So, I ended up here, wondering if anyone knows about this.

Pete

javax.swing · ‎06-16-2005

It's there.

http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jspa?messageID=300388670

Happy reading. Plus, it's a little more than 10-15%.

curiopete · ‎06-17-2005

I am sorry to say this, but, it is not there.

Do you have a link?

javax.swing · ‎06-17-2005

It's the eleventh post in the entire thread. My link to the thread was bad, here's the one that starts you at the beginning:

http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jspa?threadID=100017834&start=0

curiopete · ‎06-19-2005

What I am having trouble with, is not your posts, but the link to "fill out the form".

You quote:
"You go to the PowerSeller homepage, click the link, fill out the form. CP secure e-mails you your information in a few days, and you're off to the races"

Just exactly where is this "link"?

headhoncho99 · ‎06-19-2005

Click the link in post #11 in the link that javex.swing provided - that link in #11 takes you to the Canada Post page where you sign up. Though I did it from the Power Seller Portal page.