eBay & Canada Post Workshop: Wednesday, September 28, 1:00-2:00 PM ET

[carly@ebay.com]

Topic: eBay & Canada Post Workshop

Date: Wednesday, September 28, from 1:00 PM -2:00 PM ET

Where: Right here on Canada Town Square

Description: Please join us on Wednesday, September 28, from 1:00-2:00 PM ET for a workshop with Canada Post. Kim from Canada Post will be here to answer all of your questions about Canada Post and how you use the various services with your eBay business.

If you are not able to attend, you can leave your questions here one week in advance of the workshop and they will be answered during the workshop, and you can come back in and check the answers.

Hope you can join us!

Carly

[just*another*borg]

Hi Kim et al. First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude and relief about the recent announcement that Canada Post WILL accept items other than paper in oversize/other letterpost, provided that they meet the size and weight restrictions.


Here's my concern: There are still many postal outlets (both private as well as actual post offices), that do not seem to be operating on the same page. Some locations will tell us that the green CN22 customs stickers have been discontined. Some locations will take a 1 cm thick bubble envelope, charge $1.70 letterpost rate to the U.S., and then affix a white (Small Packet) CN22 customs sticker to the envelope -- claiming that this is the new sticker to be used. This mis-information is going to create serious problems. Letterpost is NOT insurable, yet postal employees are using the Small Packet stickers on letterpost items, which is ultimately going to result in false insurance claims being put through, which may ultimately result in Canada Post saying 'enough is enough, no more goods in letterpost', and then we'll be right back where we started in April of this year.

And then there are many customers who are STILL TO THIS DAY being charged the Small Packet rate for CD's etc.

How can Canada Post ensure that each and every employee or postal outlet up-to-date on the information and rules? It is not the customer's place to stick a memo in the face of a Canada Post employee, and insist that they change their way of doing business.

[zeddosaurus]

Kim,

As of today (22/9/05), the CP website shows that "goods" and CDs/DVDs can't be sent letterpost. If this hasn't changed by the time this workshop is held, when will the website be corrected?

Zeddo

[turnitloud1]

Hi, id sure have a lot of money to give Canada post if they could raise the weight limit of 100g (cost $1 in Canada and $1.70 lettermail to the USA) to 125g. CDs weigh 110-125g. Its just not economical to sell CDs from canada any other way. Its too hard to compete with USA auctions. I think most people are willing to spend around 2$to ship a CD to the USA, which is by far our largest market. anything over 2$ is basicaly giving the product away for nothing. If Canada post want to remove goods from lettermail or not consider raising the weight by 25g they are shooting themself in the foot because they just lost a big market. people cant and wont pay more for a service if its uneconomical. Come on Canada post, every million CDs sold the USA is 1.7 million dollars for you. More would sell if the weight and price was right. any other way you guys get zero $

[thomasj7342]

Hi Kim,
Can you explain us why the Postal Guide still states that no goods are admitted at the letter-post rate.
Thank you for your help

[jakeeangel]

I would like to know about the tracking/delivery confirmation available on the Canada Post site. Why is it not as good as that on the USPS site?

IF I ship something from Canada using tracking, I get a much more detailed status of that delivery through the USPS tracking service. Why is that and when will it be rectified? And on top of that it gives me that info sooner than Canada Post does. I don't get that.

I discussed this with you at eBay Live and you (pretty sure it was you) said that IS something you can work on as you're not responsible at all for the rates. 🙂 I think it's rather shameful that even the USPS tracking system is more effecient than Canada Post's own when the item originated from Canada! 😞 I'm sorry but that doesn't make much sense to me.

---

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

[sask-boy]

I to agree with post #1. It is not the customer's place to have to tell a Canada Post employee what the rate is for a certain type of package and we should not have to monitor and check that it is done right. This said. Guess What? I have to check each and every time. They charge GST when they shouldn't, if computer is down they have to check the guide because they don't know even the basic rate to the US or Overseas, they either don't read e-mails or they are not getting passed on to the front line people that I have to deal with on a daily basis. When it was first announced that Canada Post was no longer going to accept items in letter mail, I knew about it more than two months before our Post Office got any word about it. They finally got notice about August 20th, only 1 month before it was to come in effect.
This by way is a regular Post Office and not a drug store outlet.

LET YOUR PEOPLE KNOW AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNOW.

nuff said.

[vintage-ephemera]

Hello Kim,

Talking about training opportunities for the Canada Post employees, yes all of them they need it. However I would like to mention that most of the post employees from drugtores and groceries stores in Halifax and South NB area, where I had lived are very well trained, they read the manual and are updated with the information. I would like to specially mention Brian in Shoppers Drugart, Mountain Road, he so far is the best and most efficient, well train, always reading, friendly and excellent trainer for the people that work with him. He deserves 5 stars and he is an excellent example for what a Canada Post employee should be.

Second Part of my comment is that I loved the Online Shipping, yes I have to do a lot of work, but worth it if you live 70 kms away from a Post Office that accepts Credit Card.
Opportunities: 1. Why ONLINE the Commercial Expedited Parcel USA has a better rate than the Expedited Parcel USA, I am used to receive the Small Business rate in a regular post office why the Commercial can not be used if I am a Small Business and get the better rate? They explained to me on the Help Desk line that they would charge the taxes from Customs USA back to me if I use the Commercial Rate. It is that true ?
2. Why ONLINE the Small Packages at the moment of select the service in the second step appears the square for insurance blocked with no value on it, it is that it does not offer the $100 dollars ?
Thanks vintage-ephemera.

[starweb5072]

Hi Kim:

May I ask what Canada Post's rules are on insuring jewellery sent through the mail? I have been told by my Post Office that it has to be appraised by a qualified jeweller, sent Express Post, insured, have a tracking number and a signature required. Is this correct?

Many thousnads of jewellery pieces are sold on eBay a day. Most buyers pay for insurance. Are we wasting our money?

Thank you,

starweb5072

[bookstotheborder]

jakeeangel: I know the answer to that---cause Canada Post piggy-backs (for a fee of course) onto the USPS Delivery Confirmation system, using their software and hardware --so of course the information is available at USPS first--and then the ones that are pertinent to Canada Post are sent there after.

[bookstotheborder]

Kim: what exactly does "Effective immediately and until further notice" mean ?? Does this mean that no goods via Letter Mail will be re-instated at a future date? or does it mean that Small Packet will have more smaller increments??
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200509.shtml#2005-09-14143454

The above Canada Post statement obviously shows that Canada Post is not cancelling the idea---but rethinking how to implement it. How do you predict this will be done??

[jakeeangel]

Ok Books but why is their info more detailed than what is shown on CP? The rep I talked to at eBay Live's Canada breakfast said she would look into it because that is something they could do something about.

Nothing as far as I can see has changed. I'd like to know when it will change.

---

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

[just*another*borg]

RE using EST. It has been mentioned in many places, including right here on CTS by Kim, that parcels prepared using the Online EST can be deposited in the street mailbox, thus saving the sender time and money by avoiding trips to the post office. My question is: How does this work, when the street mailboxes will only accept standard letters? With the push by Canada Post (which started about 20 years ago in 1985 I believe) to install as many "supermailboxes" as possible, how can we take advantage of services when they're not available to everybody equally? I do not have a standard red mail box anywhere in my community. Therefore, I am forced to drive to a postal outlet to mail anything that is not a standard letter. We all pay the same postal rates. Why are we not all given the same services and rights? Why can't the supermailboxes be fitted with a larger opening, the same as the regular red boxes?

[ohwhisht]

Well, it is Sept 26, 1 week after the new policy was to be implemented. One Sept 14th, Kim's announcement of the cancellation of the Sept 19 implementation appeared on ebay's announcement board.

Today, 12 days later, I go to the Staples outlet. They are very good, and go with what I tell them, however, they JUST last week (after the expected implementation date) rec'd the notice from the regular CP office in town. This notice told them of the upcoming changes (which we all know had already been cancelled).

The POST OFFICE in our city is hopeless. They refuse to believe anything I tell them, even when I can show them in black and white in the Postal Guide (re green CN22s). They then spew their misguided tripe to the outlet and totally throw them off.

It's no wonder customers are PO'd and they are all being overcharged, have been for years!

[armando1954cars]

I still want to know why it costs more to send a parcel within Canada than to anywhere else in the world. Most of my business is small parcel and because of the high cost of shipping canadians rarely buy from me and I rarely buy from them. Them amount is usually more than double what it costs to send anywhere else.

[dnc_ont]

I'd like to know when the mail sorters are going to learn to read the difference between TO and FROM on the EST shipping labels.

Yesterday marked the 2nd time in a week that an International Small Packet was deposited and delivered to ME. Which brings me up to about the 10th time this year.

[just*another*borg]

I agree with the above (post 17). The layout on the EST labels needs to be changed. It doesn't take a specialist to realize that the way the information is laid out, as well as the

teeny tiny font used for the addresses

makes it very difficult to read. But surely anybody who works for Canada Post should be able to recognize the difference between TO and FROM. This mistake has happened to me, once. I had to go through the entire process of re-shipping through EST, and then it was like pulling teeth from a lion to get a refund on the first shipping that was botched up. At the very least, the size of the addresses should be increased dramatically. That should be a simple thing to change.

[ohwhisht]

I agree, those addresses are teensy. I've seen someone say they highlight the TO address. Maybe I'll start doing that also.

[dnc_ont]

Yes, and it's not helped that the printing on the return (FROM) address is slightly larger than the address it's going to!

(At least, this is the case on mine. It looks like it's spaced more, which makes it look larger)

[just*another*borg]

Since I had that one parcel delivered to ME (the FROM address) instead of the receiver (the TO address), I have been hi-lighting the TO address in fluorescent green or orange. I'm sure it has helped, but we shouldn't have to resort to this to ensure our packages get delivered. A grade-8 kid could write a program that lays out the shipping label better than what's there now.