eBay

hockey-card-inserts · ‎03-01-2024

I am in Ontario, Canada. Seller of hockey cards for almost 25 years. NEVER have i had an oversized bubble mailer $3.25 cdn Canada to USA ever sent back if it met the oversized dimensions. They now want us CDN sellers to send this as small packet rate, no tracking either. I am so **bleep**- I called C.P. and lady had no answers. i called my local Shoppers P.O. outlet, where I send my mail and she said they are sending back all mail to USA in a bubble envelope so we can pay the $9.95 cdn to send it as a small packet, even though the dimensions fall under oversized rate. FYI- the cards i sell are cheap, almost always under $10.00 people in US will not pay $10.00 cdn for s/h for one or two cheapy cards; esp. if no tracking. They really do want to put us out of business. I will try to send a card or 2 in a letter envelope, without a hard top loader- and use a thinner/lighter less thick card saver instead, and wrap it in a letter sized plain paper.

38e_avenue · ‎07-30-2024

Got a surpise today. A private letter, not connected to my Ebay business at all, containing 3 magazines sent to friend in the US, was returned today. Nothing was sold or purchased.

I contacted the CP CS Chat, explained the situation, and the postage (11.99 / US oversized letter) has been reimbursed to me.

Someone here has already mentioned, there are some overdiligent CP workers in MTL area. 🙄

fergua3 · ‎07-30-2024

problem is, if you resend them they may get returned to you again...

marnotom! · ‎07-31-2024

@38e_avenue wrote:

Got a surprise today. A private letter, not connected to my eBay business at all, containing 3 magazines sent to friend in the US, was returned today. Nothing was sold or purchased.

The magazines were sold and bought and sold and bought when they were first issued. They’re still considered merchandise. They didn’t miraculously turn into documents just because you weren’t the entity that sold them.

On the customs form you can indicate that the shipment has no commercial value or is a gift.

fergua3 · ‎07-31-2024

you can say the same thing about a birthday card. It's not a document either. Does that mean you should have to pay package rates and fill out an electronic customs form to send a birthday card to a friend in the US or abroad?

Bottom line is that these are items that are 100% paper, of no commercial value that qualify in size and weight for letter post. No reason they should not be able to be sent letter post.

fh991586 · ‎07-31-2024

If you wrote a message within [or minimally signed] the birthday card, it becomes a document.

brettjet38 · ‎07-31-2024

EVEN "Gifts" need a completed customs form

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/information/app/cdc?execution=e1s1

Customs form

Save time when shipping internationally by completing your customs declaration online.

Fill out this form for each package you're sending outside Canada. You'll receive a barcode that can be scanned at the post office to streamline shipping label creation, payment and drop-off.

Note: To save more time, create and pay for shipping labels from your home or office. Try Ship Online now

Complete your customs form

Sender details

Sender name

Address

Enter address manually

Recipient details

Recipient nameSelect your destination

Address

Enter address manually

Phone number

Extension (optional)

Package declaration

What is the reason for sending or exporting?

Gift

Sale

Commercial Sample

Document

Return/Repair/Warranty Other (specify)

What if the package cannot be delivered?

Select the action to be taken if the package cannot be delivered due to issues such as recipient refusal or an invalid address.

Return it to me (I accept all return shipping charges) Dispose of it (I understand the carrier will treat this package as abandoned)

Itemized list of package contents

List each unique item type in your package, along with its quantity and unit value. Be as detailed and accurate as possible.

Description (Max. 25 characters)

QuantityValue of individual item ($ CAD)

If unsure, use market price or replacement cost

Declared value

+ Add item (Add up to 5 more items)

Total declared value

marnotom! · ‎07-31-2024

@fergua3 wrote:

you can say the same thing about a birthday card. It's not a document either. Does that mean you should have to pay package rates and fill out an electronic customs form to send a birthday card to a friend in the US or abroad?

Bottom line is that these are items that are 100% paper, of no commercial value that qualify in size and weight for letter post. No reason they should not be able to be sent letter post.

If you’re going to argue in that vein, why not include postcards as well? Or the paper used in letters? Those had to be purchased, too.

As @fh991586 points out, it’s also the use of the medium that defines if it’s a document, although electronic documents--e.g. information stored on USB drives--don't make the cut, apparently.

38e_avenue · ‎07-31-2024

@fergua3 wrote:
problem is, if you resend them they may get returned to you again...

Didn't take the risk. Shipped today as a small packet .... 🙄

38e_avenue · ‎07-31-2024

@marnotom! wrote:
The magazines were sold and bought and sold and bought when they were first issued.

Well, this magazine was issued by myself 😉 So never sold, never purchased by anyone 😄

38e_avenue · ‎07-31-2024

@fh991586 wrote:
If you wrote a message within [or minimally signed] the birthday card, it becomes a document.

So if you send a blank birthday card, it automatically becomes a marchandise .... 😄

38e_avenue · ‎07-31-2024

@brettjet38 wrote:
EVEN "Gifts" need a completed customs form

The original question was: is it allowed to send a gift, with no value, not sold to the recipient, not purchased by the recipient as a letterpost? The size/weight were OK (paid 11.99 for an oversized US Letterpost).

What do you mean by merchandise?

The noun merchandise refers to things that can be bought or sold, like the merchandise that's for sale at your local record shop, or the merchandise sold by sidewalk vendors in a big city. When you go into a store, you're surrounded by merchandise, whether it's food, clothing, or books.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎07-31-2024

@38e_avenue wrote:
@marnotom! wrote:
The magazines were sold and bought and sold and bought when they were first issued.
Well, this magazine was issued by myself 😉 So never sold, never purchased by anyone 😄

@38e_avenue

@fergua3

It's same silly kerfuffle with no charge samples with any kind of actual commercial value.

"You'll need a commercial invoice for any goods crossing the border, including things with little or no commercial value, like samples and items being sold online. "

"For most mail-order shipments, the only paperwork needed is a standard business invoice. Companies should indicate the amount the customer paid for the goods, in either U.S. or Canadian dollars. If goods are shipped on a no-charge basis (samples or demos), the company must indicate the retail value of the shipment." Aug 3, 2022

"The buyer may want you to state a lower value to reduce their obligation for duty payment, but that is incorrect from the perspective of the U.S. government's regulations as well as the regulations of the buyer's country.

If the products being shipped are indeed samples, then have the packaging and the packing marked with an indication that the goods are for testing and sample purposes, not intended for resale. If the sample has been compromised in any way to ensure that the product will not be resold in the market of the customer, then the value is nominal or zero. One example is a t-shirt that has been slit up the front or back, so it cannot be worn."

Where that reason for export factors in down at the bottom of eBay Labels :

a) Commercial Sample

b)Document...Printed Matter - (With Commerical Value)

c)Sale of Goods

d)Repair or Warranty (A normal commerical invoice would explain and break down the costs/value)

e)Other - (Personally never tested other so unsure how it behaves within eBay) With Fedex, UPS etc it lets you explain what the actual other is. Where gift would kick in.

***************************

Unfortunately when eBay "created" eBay labels they dummied it down forgetting many of the standard legal requirements....additional boxes for commerical shipments and in turn for courier shipments.

-Lotz

dinomitesales · ‎08-01-2024

I agree with others here - just because it wasn't something you "sold" doesn't mean it's something that can be sent via International Letter-post. These were rightfully returned - if you have sent them in the past then you've gotten lucky. As for the refund: either you weren't entirely truthful with the Canada Post rep regarding the contents; you were dealing with a rep that doesn't know the rules all that well; or they just gave you a courtesy refund.

Just ask yourself: Is this a letter? Or, when packaged does it look like a regular letter?

In both cases, the answer is "No". A magazine is not a letter (never mind three magazines). And why would a letter need to go in a bubble envelope? Clearly not a letter. Should be sent as a parcel.

You might have gotten away with it had they been sent individually in just a regular Kraft envelope - I'm not saying this is the correct way of doing it, but they would have been less suspicious of the package as a whole.

fergua3 · ‎08-02-2024

well, letter post allows up to 500g. Not too many 500g letters out there, so clearly they had other things in mind for being shipped this way. And letter post allows pictures to be sent and a magazine is full of those. I understand what the letter of the law is in this matter, but that doesn't make it reasonable.....lots of dumb rules exist.

My beef is not with the Customs form that needs to be filled out, it's with the fact that you have to pay up to 2 1/2 times as much for shipping something that is exactly the same size and weight, just because it's being reclassified, ie named something different. There is no justification for that.

mrdutch1001 · ‎08-02-2024

remember when there was actually a "book" rate with Canada Post back in the day? times change,postal classifications change... even if we don't want to change with them!

Accept,adapt,adjust and carry on!

C'est la vie!

Que sera, sera!

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎08-02-2024

@fergua3 wrote:
well, letter post allows up to 500g. Not too many 500g letters out there, so clearly they had other things in mind for being shipped this way. And letter post allows pictures to be sent and a magazine is full of those. I understand what the letter of the law is in this matter, but that doesn't make it reasonable.....lots of dumb rules exist.

My beef is not with the Customs form that needs to be filled out, it's with the fact that you have to pay up to 2 1/2 times as much for shipping something that is exactly the same size and weight, just because it's being reclassified, ie named something different. There is no justification for that.

@fergua3

@dinomitesales

For me the bizarro/frustrating "feature" built into CP is that it costs 17.50 to send a 450 gram package 200 kms within the same province and a few cents over 16.00 to send that same package to Florida or NY.... 15 x greater distance. Mostly to do with fuel and tax creating the discrepancy for that amount in Canada. As a side note fuel surcharges in the USA are substantially lower and there are no taxes added in the USA on postage.

Sales of goods – All sales of tangible personal property to customers are retail sales and subject to sales tax unless specifically exempted. For example, sales of postage stamps are exempt from sales tax.

-Lotz

38e_avenue · ‎08-02-2024

@fergua3 wrote:
well, letter post allows up to 500g. Not too many 500g letters out there, so clearly they had other things in mind for being shipped this way.

Exactly my thoughts ..... what is 500 g for? Half a kilogram od documents? 😄 Does an envelope packed with 0.5 kg of documents, 38 cm long (!) "look like a letter"? Surely not ... 😃

brettjet38 · ‎08-02-2024

You seem not to want to change with the times and the LAWS, c'est la vie...

You shipped a thing (actually 3 things) using letter post to the USA with no customs form and using GIFT as justification which makes "ZERO" difference.

There are two mail streams

Letters

&

EVERYTHING ELSE

it's been like that for many years, it's just that some refuse to accept those facts and still ship "THINGS" using letter post, it's ILLEGAL

THE END

https://www.upu.int/en/Home

One world. One postal network.

The Universal Postal Union is a United Nations specialized agency and the postal sector's primary forum for international cooperation.

And they DECIDE the RULES not Canada Post

38e_avenue · ‎08-02-2024

Some explanations - it's NOT ME, who decided it can go as a letter. I went to a post office, ASKED if this can go as a letter. "What's inside?". "3 magazines". "No problem". I paid 12 dollars (SP would cost maybe 2 dollars more). So no "illegal activity" from my part. 😃

My original post was meant to be a warning to other sellers, not a complaint. Many people here still use the letterpost to send stuff they sell on Ebay. I also sell some small paper stuff, but I did abandon letterpost many years ago - everything now goes as 100g TP (I pay 7.20 instead of 3.80 - not a big deal, and - additionally - I get tracking).

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎08-02-2024

@38e_avenue wrote:
@fergua3 wrote:
well, letter post allows up to 500g. Not too many 500g letters out there, so clearly they had other things in mind for being shipped this way.
Exactly my thoughts ..... what is 500 g for? Half a kilogram od documents? 😄 Does an envelope packed with 0.5 kg of documents, 38 cm long (!) "look like a letter"? Surely not ... 😃

@38e_avenue

@brettjet38

@fergua3

In days of lore (in feels like 1000 years ago) the post offices made a bulk of their revenue with letter and ad mail. Even large bulky contracts that require a signature can be done in most cases digitally they no longer go by mail. Because now that same mail comes digitally that drop in revenue had to be made up somewhere so it is on the backs of small business owners who don't have access to any of those exception rates. 30 years ago sending a small parcel used to be extremely economical and it didn't even need to be traced back then. It just arrived in a timely manner. In Canada we used to have access to those book rates. We even had expedited lite for a number of years. All services that have been either phased out or merged with other services for the sake of the all mighty bottom line. Welcome to the new world of e-Commerce and big postal!!!

-Lotz

Interesting article on the subject of lower postal rates for authors etc in Canada. Guessing the suggestion didn't go anywhere.

https://morecanada.ca/2021/01/05/6-january-2021-cutting-postal-rates-for-books-good-for-canadian-aut...

A collection of countries/world regions with banned items for import, compliments of Orange Connex. Includes, EU, UK, USA, Canada, AU, NZ, MX, SE Asia etc and items considered paper matter.

https://static.orangeconnex.com/website/file/ProhibitedEN.pdf?1722612150957

So if you happen to have anything radioactive or considered religious of nature get it off your ship list to those applicable countries post haste.