eBay Workshop with Canada Post: Thursday, August 25, 1:00-2:00 PM ET

[carly@ebay.com]

Please join us on Thursday, August 25, from 1-2 PM ET for a workshop with Canada Post. Kim from Canada Post will be here to answer all of your questions about Canada Post letterpost service and what the regulations are for using this type of service.

If you are not able to attend, you can leave your questions here 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

[sly*cat]

The effect on high shipping costs in comparison to international and US sellers costs has and will continue to play a large part of the success or downfall of any canadian business that ships items of low value. For every dollar lost in sales to a foreign competitor the canadian seller loses the profit and makes their business less viable. The cost of lost sales goes further for every hundred dollars of net profit lost to a competitor costs the Canadian federal government a minimum of $17.00 in lost tax revenue as well as the revenue lost to the province governments. That in turn means that funds for necessary programs have to come from somewhere else. It also affect the businesses a canadian seller supports day to day for ever dollar in sales they loose means sales lost to their suppliers. The ripple effect is huge. Small business and home business are the back bone of our economy!!

[rose_productions]

What really gets me upset is, I am an auction services provider. My business only makes 20% commission on sold items. When Canada post can not track or locate a lost item - I have to refund the full price amount plus the shipping! Do the math. It means taking a huge loss every time and that every time is far too frequent to trust Canada post any more.

Anybody else loose over $5000.00 in refunded sales/shipping charges last year due to poor shipping/handling by Canada Post?

[sly*cat]

Truthfully I ship out between 6000-7500 packages a year using Canada post. 90% to the US, 8% internationally and 2 % within Canada. Each year they lose maybe a dozen parcels a year. I can not complain about the loses are reliability of the Postal system. Up until last year They had never lost a package and only one was damaged. So Canada Post is not all bad in my view.

[rose_productions]

If you pay with your Paypal Debitcard for Canada post shipping and Canada Post messes up, can you file for a refund with Paypal for the shipping charges paid to Canada Post?

Just like a credit card chargeback?

[tryingtotidy]

Please Canada Post help us out.
Please do not change the rules about OTHER letterpost Sept 19. I trade pins, and other small items with people in the US. I will no longer be able to do this once small packet rates kick in. I do NOT have the financing to pay that much!
Please make an economical way to track package to the US and abroad!
Why is Canada post the most expensive out there? I've used Royal post and Swiss post before (take a page out of their books, as their service is fantastic!) and their prices are dwarfed by yours.
I know CP will probably never lower a rate, but please add more varied services that we can utilize for a reasonable rate!
(sorry about my spelling everyone!)

[twigs*n*berries]

I too will make a business decision........I will start shipping once a week from the US. It too is worth my time and effort. I spend approx $3,000 a month on postage. Canada Post can make it's business decisions and I will make mine. Over the last 3 years Public School populations in British Columbia have declined by 34,000 students. (Statistics posted on the BC stats can website). Parents just got sick & tired of fighting with the union and just VERY QUIETLY VOTED WITH THEIR FEET. I will do the same QUIET VOTING with my ACTIONS.
So long Canada Post ....you will not be missed!
Galina
twigs*n*berries

[rose_productions]

Amen fellow PowerSeller!

[cafiene]

The town I live in has one post office- the one place where I can pick up my mail and parcels. I can always drive the 20 minutes if I absolutely must to mail an item. I would like to know why my PO is closed on Saturdays now. The official reason is that there wasn't enough demand for the half day Saturday service we had. I don't think that is the case, as many people here work out of town, and would have no way to pick up their counter items, unless they make arrangements with someone who is available and in town during business hours. Unless it fits in my little mailbox, I can't get it without alot of hassle, and they only hold it for so long before it gets sent back.

[dosdivasproductions]

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY THERE IS NO INSURANCE FOR BREAKAGE. I WRAP WELL AND THEN BY THE TIME MY ITEMS ARRIVE THEY LOOK LIKE THEY WERE THROWN AROUND BY A GORILLA - THEN IF THERE IS BREAKAGE I HAVE NO RECOURSE

[rose_productions]

A great question dosdivasproductions!

I too have had to refund many buyers due to breakage. I worked as a shipper for many years and know how to pack things well. I really believe US Customs can't re-pack worth a crap.

It doesn't hurt either when your Canada Post driver shows up for a pick up and litterally THROWS your parcels to the back of the van! I saw it with my own eyes and asked him not to throw them and he looked at me like I kicked him in the stomach!

I also noticed at the local Postal Depot, nearly all the employees were tossing parcels around.

So wrap it up well!

P.S. To Canada Post - bubblewrap isn't free for us sellers.

[rose_productions]

One other note - I had a parcel returned that was broken and there was a BOOT PRINT on the caved in side of the box!

What is going on?

[pompono]

Hi Pompono again,

Tracking number, Other Letters Post, Insurance for lost items only, Small Packets-USA without breakage insurance, etc. What kind of service do you offer? What kind of help do you propose when you leave us without any information after weeks and weeks of waiting to get an answer from your services and I am not talking of the way your personnel deal with our daily problems! Is someone out there in charge of something ?

It seems we are all alone with your bad decisions. Most of us are serious and reliable customers for Canada Post and you seem you make a lot of money "sur notre dos"! No services and no intention to give services as well - it seems.

When someone goes at the Post Office once in a while, usually they don't remember the prices. But we deal with your services on a daily basis and we are the ones you should listen to. Of course, when you are "en colère" you just want to use another service and the other service is in US. Not easy to pass the border once a week and probably the customs won't authorize it! So a monopoly is always a very sad thing! And moving to US is irresponsable! But the real irresponsable is CP. We should need a Gomery Commission on Canada Post - just to make things clear - the Canadian economy would be the winner and everyone in this country would finally believe that being a small business, being honest is worthly! (Hope my English is not too bad, as it is not my mother tongue.)

[rose_productions]

It would be nice if Canada Post had a set of Account Managers for Canadian eBay Sellers. Trying to find someone that will take accountability for their actions at Canada Post is impossible. You never speak to the same person twice.

My UPS account however is totally different. I have an Account Manager I can email or call and they respond within 24 hours. I can order labelopes, boxes, padded envelopes and get re-printed waybills FREE of CHARGE. They are fast and accurate and most of all very friendly.

[ferret-mom]

Trying to find someone that will take accountability for their actions at Canada Post is impossible. You never speak to the same person twice.

Unfortunately, that's standard operating procedure in government. Have you ever tried to get a straight answer out of Revenue Canada? 🙂

[xmlworld]

We have been eBay PowerSellers for about two years. The number one complaint we recieve is the time it takes to ship items to the US. Number two is lost items in the mail, which we simply replace at our cost. We have considered going across the border on a weekly basis and shipping from there. The costs will be lower and delivery will improve. With this new cost change at Canada Post, you have made the decision for us. That will take about $2000 a month out of our local economy and put it into the US. What choice do we have an entrepreneurs? What would you do if you were in our situation?

[rose_productions]

Hats off to all eBay sellers that can cross the border to ship. For me, the border is over 200 kms away.

It would be sweet if eBay came out with their own private shipping service!

[woztiques]

You know it doesnt matter what we say. If Canada Post really cut back the shipping that means they cut back the pay scales of all the people that work for CP the end result is the workers of CP throw a fit and go on strike if things dont go their way. So we get stuck paying high shipping costs or CP takes a cut on what they charge cutting back the payscales of their workers which results in a strike.. which means nothing moves at all.. either way us small business people lose!
Not to mention the countless refunds having to be given to customers because CP doesnt have small packet tracking and Paypal and Ebay both require that. i had a customer tell me she got her item and then turned around and filed a complaint and got her money back.. i lost my money and my merchandise..This has got to stop.. i realize more expensive items have to be send expedited so they can be insured but i have several smaller items that need to go small packet and even though they are low price items they do add up.
So PLEASE get TRACKING on SMALL PACKET

[rose_productions]

So PLEASE get TRACKING on SMALL PACKET

I totally agree!

[tobyshitzu]

Please do not add any additional features that will result in cost increases 🙂 I have no issue at all with the reliability of CP delivery. I'd be quite happy to have an option to opt out of included insurance and receive a small discount for doing so. The last thing I want to be doing is paying more for a tracking number.

[ferret-mom]

The number one complaint we recieve is the time it takes to ship items to the US. Number two is lost items in the mail...

In fairness to Canada Post, there are two postal services involved in cross-border mail transactions. Once the mail has been delivered to the USPS sorting station, Canada Post has very little control over the time it takes for the US posties to sort and deliver it, or the amount of care they take in doing so.

Yes, a tracking option may be one solution for proving to PayPal, and buyers, that the item is indeed in the system, but it won't necessarily help the mail move any faster, and may even slow it down, since each individual piece will have to be scanned.