eBay Workshop with Canada Post: Friday, May 27, 1-2 PM ET

[carly@ebay.com]

Please join us on Friday May 27 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 and how you use the various services with your eBay business.

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

[wequick]

only 66 hours to go !!! ...Its almost like waiting for Chrstmas !! ( or a parcel to arrive through Canada Post .. LOL)

Pete

[jakeeangel]

More like waiting for the execution of a heinous child sexual pervert/predator. :^O lol 😉 It's going to be well earned. ]:)

---

[supergroovies]

Regarding the changes to the letterpost regulations on the Canada Post website, which now exclude items other than "paper or other material with the general characteristics of paper." from being sent in letterpost to US and international destinations:




Will Canada Post also refuse to accept letterpost containing other than paper (ie: CDs or DVDs ) entering Canada from the US and International destinations?






We continue to allow items other than paper to be sent as lettermail within Canada. Why are non-paper items now not allowed to be shipped as letterpost to US and to international destinations? These countries continue to allow such items to be shipped in their letterpost/lettermail to Canada. Will we be accepting these?





IMHO, to continue to accept such items as letterpost from outside Canada, while refusing them from Canadians, is discriminatory and provides competition from the US and abroad with unfair advantage over Canadian sellers.

[cafiene]

I would like to know
a) if any enhancements are being considered for the V1 program?
b) why EST never has announcements of system outages?
c) why is insurance allowed to be sold for items it will never be paid out on?
d) why can't all forms of mail be processed and trackable online (instead of having to go to the counter and hope)?

Thanks.

[holoboss]

What is really interesting, as per first posting - the Rep From Canada Post is scheduled tomorrow to have 1 FULL HOUR to answer all these questions, and participate in live discussion. Ha ha, isn't it more than a sufficient time to address all these problems? I think I know what kind of answer we all may expect...

(Lets only hope all postings will be shown to big posses, who are happy about their work and get nice bonuses. Lets hope they will use surplus to improve services {and maybe consult with customers more, to see what people really want changed?}, instead of producing expensive advertising showing unrealistically good services, which actually has nothing to do with the real thing, and is just misleading people about what they get for their money...)
over and out
Derek

[patamon1]

Hi!

I use Canada Post regularly (8-10 packages a week of vintage Star Wars toys) and just started shipping internationally in the last year. I am absolutely stunned at the cost of shipping by SURFACE mail (8 weeks or more) to Europe or the UK for items whose L+W+H is greater than 90cm (ie. not small packets)! This makes me incredibly uncompetitive with Americans when selling large items.

For example .. shipping for a Millenium Falcon to Belgium by SURFACE mail = $82 CAN (AIR is over $100). Americans can ship by insured AIR for about $40 CAN. Why does it cost me DOUBLE??!!?? Why do you call this ECONOMY SURFACE??

Are there any plans to have a cheaper international service for larger packages?

I am very happy with the international small packet airmail as I often have shocked customers in Denmark or the UK when they get their package in 4 days! It's also stunning that I can divide up the parts to a Death Star Playset into three packages, send them each small packet air and pay $15 less than it would cost to send everything in one large box by Economy SURFACE!!

I echo my fellow Canadian sellers' dismay at having to charge other Canadians far more than US customers. A Canadian small packet service is much needed.

Thanks and looking forward to some answers,
Monique (patamon1)

[zak-o-man]

First Thing is that I want to thank you Kim and Canada Post for recognizing that there are issues, and that you are obviously looking at develping some programs that can help your customers.
My questions is this, I have experienced my first lost LARGE package that was to be delivered within Canada using expedited services,(shipping cost of $23 Canadian) and it was scanned in the sorting station close to my buyer. However the person assigned to my trace file is 3 provinces away?? Why would that happen when it would make much more sense for the trace to be done in the sorting station that it was last scanned in?
Also I have been told that it will take 2 weeks for a reply to the trace, do you find this reasonable?
Thank you Kim and I am looking forward to a reply.

[carly@ebay.com]

Hi Everyone,


Happy Friday!

Thanks for coming to the workshop today, I want to introduce Kim from Canada Post,

Please note that Kim will be posting the answers to the previously posted questions within the first few minutes.

Now lets get started

[laird@ebay.com]

Happy Friday All!

Thank you for joining us today. Go Jays!!!

Cheers,
::laird

[canadapost2]

Hello, happy to be here, thanks for all the great questions!

We will try to answer all of them, but if we don't get to all of them we will be back monthly for more workshops.

Please give us a few minutes as we will post some of the answers to questions we have already received.

- Kim:-)

[pukmis]

Hey Carly hey Laird and Kim...
T.G.I.F. it is!!! Now if these black clouds would blow over!!!

You do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy
...until the ice breaks!!! -unknown

[islandchicks]

Hi Carly,

Just wanted to give a big welcome to Kim today ... we look forward to her answers to our questions :-) Many Thanks,

Joanne

[canadapost2]

We received this question from many of you:

Q:
Does Canada Post have any plans for a within-Canada small parcel rate/class of mail? Why is it cheaper to mail to the US than within Canada?


A:
There are no plans to offer a small parcel rate within Canada. Small packets to the US have a reduced rate, due to international postal agreements. We pass the value on. USA Small Packets have 3 price points based on weight up to 1 kg. Weight categories 1-250 g, 250 – 500 g and 500 g – 1 Kg. Price is based on weight not destination.

Thanks to:

able-wizard1957jakeeangelsunset_sports_cards lwhal1 islandchicksrobocanada2004ceel1986 beenie99cdnsln70 allsold10donnamarie420ananof3 doylemystermovie_emporiumalandrigan

[canadapost2]

Here's another question that we got from many of you:

Q: When will the next rate increase occur and could we get an estimate of increases?

A: Next increase is January 16, 2006. Rates are based on the competitive business, so I don’t know the increase. It will be posted on our website at least 30 days prior. We try to offer competitive pricing against other shipping and delivery companies.

Thanks to:

able-wizard1957movie_emporiumholobossjosh46

[canadapost2]

Here's another one:

Q: Is there likely to be a shipping calculator released from CP that can be used similar to the USPS one that can be inserted into your ebay listing?

A: Canada Post and eBay are working together to determine strategies for the future. We hope to make shipping easier for the eBay community.

thanks to:

princess_peach_2004phoebescollectableslwhal1biddingsurgebeenie99cdn

[wequick]

Hi Carly Laird and Kim !
Most questions I wanted to ask have already been asked , so I'll just wait for the replies .

Thanks for taking the time to address these issues

Pete

(P.S. at the same time , would a PINK please tell me if my siggie meets the rules ?)
(click on this siggie to go to my ME page , where you will find all the recipes posted recently on CTS)

[canadapost2]

This one was about media mail in the US:

Q; Will CPC ever offer Media Mail?

A; Media mail differentiates rates for content. Items with a “media” content, e.g. CDs, cassettes, etc. , get a preferred rate. Canada Post rates are determined by the size and weight of the item, as this is what actually drives the delivery cost. This is fair, and is standard industry practice in a very competitive market. We don’t intend to offer content-based rates.

Thanks to:

phoebescollectablesmagicpixiedustskminusislandchicksbeenie99cdn

[canadapost2]

Many of you commented on our retail staff: both at franchise and corporate outlets.

A: I hear you. We at Canada Post are looking to improve hours of operation, as well as the training of the retail staff. This is something that we are working very diligently on currently.

Thanks to: jakeeangeltobyshitzuallsold10tobyshitzuholobosstechgamez

[laird@ebay.com]

Hello,

We've been hearing some very positive feedback from U.S. users about the shipping solutions introduced on eBay.com, especially the ability to print postage and shipping labels through PayPal.

We are working with Canada Post on exploring similar shipping solutions for Canadians on eBay.ca and eBay.com.

Thanks,
::Laird

[canadapost2]

Many of you have asked about adding barcodes to small packets for an extra fee.

A: Small packets are economically priced as they have no barcode. International small packet services are governed by international agreements. If you require a barcoded service, can I suggest Xpresspost?

Thanks to:

skminusmagicpixiedustceel1986 techgamez