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

[bookstotheborder]

USPS actually has the same rules regarding insurance as Canada Post---so many USA (and Canadian ebayers who sell used items use 3rd Party insurance. They offer better rates then USPS does (which has VERY VERY VERY expensive postal insurance). And you have to jump through more hoops then a circus lion to get a claim paid

So in order get full compensation for an item that you have sold (and has been damaged or lost)---checkout using one of these companies

D.S.I. / Discount Shipping Insurance
or
www.u-pic.com

Both are good companies, but I think the first one is easier for Canadians to use. There is no charge to open an account with them and you get the better rates when you have an account

[bookstotheborder]

USPS makes you jump through the hoops-----not the 3rd Party companies 🙂

[goodsportalways]

Canada Post policy charging for package rate for small items like CD's, Photographs,etc to US is outrageous.
There is no justification for this. It is just a rip-off.
I contacted the US post office and they agree. The US post office said if an item is under 16 ounces,it doesn't even have to have a customes declaration. The US post office told me to avoid the Canada post rip off ,to get a US post office box in the US and use this as the return address and have a service drop the mail off at a US city across the border. What we Canadians need to do is write our MP's and hopefully they will get rid of the current Canada post management.

[bookstotheborder]

goodsportalways : The person you spoke to at USPS is wrong. If an item is below 16 ounces and IS NOT a letter or a document and is potentially dutiable it REQUIRES a customs declaration.

Yep---USPS employees can be wrong too---just like Canada Post

http://www.usps.com/global/customs.htm#H1

"Letter-post items weighing 16 ounces or more, and all potentially dutiable items regardless of their weight, require the applicable customs forms.

A customs form is not required on the following categories of mail:

Non-dutiable letter-post items that weigh less than 16 ounces.
Non-dutiable letter-post items that weigh 16 ounces or more when they are tendered by a known mailer (tenders volume mailings through a Business Mail Entry Unit or other bulk mail acceptance location; completes a statement of mailing at the time of entry; pays postage through an advance deposit account; and utilizes a permit imprint as an indication of postage payment. International Surface Air Lift and International Priority Airmail customers and federal, state, and local government entities are considered to be "known mailers" for this purpose"

[lizrr]

Id like to know how come it almost always costs more to send packages within Canada(PLUS GST) than it does to send similar or larger size packages to the USA(and NO GST). Also, I couldnt believe it when I tried to send a relatively small (not tiny) but (not abnormally) heavy package to the USA, and I had to take it home to rewrap it in a larger package before it would fit into the Canada Post "System". ?????????????????????????????
Not to be too negative, one good thing I can say about CP is that after several hundred Ebay transactions they have NEVER lost anything on me, and stuff generally does get to its destination acceptably quickly.

[fitz*gilbert]

Exactly how does one "join the workshop"?

[tobyshitzu]

This is the workshop. Come back here and refresh the thread 15 minutes after its supposed to start to see our CP rep pick 10 or so of the easiest to address posts to respond to,

[laplaya29]

I expect by the time she reads through all this, the hour will be long over and nothing will get responded to.

Bill.

[veraproducts]

Why doesn't Canada Post have a parcel weight grid as UPS and Can Par does. Like charges are weight x postal code.

[andy_angieguitar]

Hi Kim, I cannot understand why it cost me over 9 dollars to send a very small item, less than 50 grams to Nova Scotia from Sask, and it only cost me around 4 dollars to send the same item to Florida??? How can Canada Post expect to keep customers. I will now ship items similar to that only to the U.S. and not in Canada. That seems very unfair to Canadian buyers and sellers. Canada Post has really got to get it together and become inline with other postal services worldwide.

A very frustrated consumer feeling ripped off by Canada Post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gifted_glass]

Boy, do we have a question for Canada Post regarding their award winning no hassle 'Borderfree' service. We are interested in setting up a seller's account using US based dropshippers (who only ship within US). We wanted to add a Borderfree checkout template for our Canadian customer's. Seems simple enough: No, because we do not have a US address we are unable to offer Borderfree to Canadian customers-even though products would be shipped from US and the dropshipper only ships to US addresses. Borderfree offers the exact service we required - just not to Canadians. This makes absolutely no sense to me: It makes me mad as hell. Borderfree is a great system, but Canada Post needs to make it accessible to Canadian sellers who ship from 3rd party US wholesalers. It is the only way we will be able to offer these goods to Canadians.

[lifeguard28]

Is there a site where I can get an idea of shipping costs before I list an item. ie.: A list of weights and package sizes and their prices?

Thanks,

Brett

[singingmainecoon]

Hi, I am posting a question. I am new to discussions and not sure how else to post a question. When shipping across the border, I understand that packages showing a Customs Form with a value marked less than $20 pass through Customs without the buyer having to pay Duty. When shipping "used" designer clothes that have the price tag removed how to do determine the Value? Would the value be what the EBay buyer paid for the item or in fact does the used peice of clothing have no commercial value because it is second hand?

[denisegroves]

I recently went into my local post office to obtain prices for auction items I'm selling. I brought the fabric with me & I still found them to be less than helpful. Each of the pieces of fabric was less than 250g and I wanted the prices to ship within Canada, within the USA and outside of North America. I really didn't get any clear answers, can you help ?
Thank you.
denisegroves

[janet_is_my_name]

I live in Montreal, and I live near a few different postal outlets. If I am not home when they deliver a package, it will be redirected to a postal outlet that I have difficulty getting to (I take my bike). I have asked if it could be redirected to the postal outlet that I have an easier time getting to and they refused and I do not get a strait answer why. So now I have to hike over to a sub par outlet. It is located within a little shop, and the staff there does not know what they are doing. The type of service I get at "my postal outlet" is ridiculous. When I go, it is people who I believe have had no formal training with Canada Post. When I go to the one near me I have no problems. The staff there is friendly and knowledgeable (that’s also part of the reason why I’d like to do my business there).

So in short, I have 2 issues at the moment: The redirection of my mail, and the service at the outlet within stores.

[weedsellit4u]

Hi all,
I feel that the best way to get some positive action from all this venting is for all of us to forward this thread to our MP's. You can find your MP's email address at [http://www.parl.gc.ca/]

[tobyshitzu]

Its highly unlikely anyone at an MPs office will even browse this thread at 300 posts(probably 1000 by the time Kim is here, some posts don't exactly make ebayers look like we're someone they should be addressing anyway).

Yes write to your MP/minister/president of CP, stick to the point, keep it short, and be realistic and professional sounding.

[momosworld-usa]

This is our company situation:

Ship average 1500-2000 letterpost monthly.
Price differences are from $1 & $1.70 to now $3.85 - $5.60

If you work out the difference roughly, it calculates to over $99,120.00 a year in increased shipping charges. As it is, we pay about $6,000-$8000 monthly

We are closing our business as we are too far from the border and it wouldnt be worth it.

CanadaPost is going to lose huge on this stupid move from not just us, but thousands of sellers and small business throughout Canada.

[pierrelebel]

"momosworld-usa " - you are registered in the USA???

[wonbyyou]

I'm just one of many, Canada Post not will make profit on.
Ready to start,full time eBay business.
The last 2 years planned and invested in inventory.
Ready to go.... This will not happen if CP not reevaluate
the Letter Mail situation.
That's it...