Anyone know Canada Post Small Business Levels? Also can you use Shippo without home printing?

[msau4301]

My home printer recently stopped working (I need a maintenance box which I have ordered) so for 3 - 5 days (at least) I will not have use of printer for printing my shipping/postage labels. 

I typically use Shippo and didn't realize how much I had actually been saving until I went to take a package in and do it at the counter yesterday. I do have a Small Business Account card but I am at level one and the discount is only 5%. I was shocked to find out that sending a small package with Tracked Package USA (which I do several times a month) had cost $11.83 a few days before with Shippo was $19.57 at CP even with my 5% discount. A $7 difference seems like a lot (and makes me appreciate Shippo!) 

Two questions, One at what amount of shipments/sales with Canada Post directly do you get to the next level discount (and is that 10%) and Two for anyone familiar with Shippo is there a way I can purchase my label with Shippo WITHOUT printing it at home (like getting a QR code or something?) I did that for my customs form.

I do have a couple of the pre-paid boxes should I need them but they are too big for a Barbie doll and don't work for US shipments of course. I want to save them for a larger combined order or something.

Just wondering with a couple of pending shipments trying to decide if I wait for my printer part which is still not shipped or go to post office directly again and pay the higher amount. 

I do not have a lot of shipments, my sales here for September have been 15 items (12 of which were to US, other 3 to Canada) a large switch to what it was happening back in May & June (I took the summer off to spend with the kids before they're done school for good!) The loss of Canadian sales over couple of months I'm chalking up to the addition of the tax (some people aren't used to yet) and the postage costs - my items are inexpensive but over envelope size. I am a collector myself so am mostly selling off excess items so my family doesn't drown here with all my stuff! Thanks in advance for any advice/tips!

[pjcdn2005]

I don't know if you can print a QR code at Shippo so can't help you with that.  I have alway found that the convenience of having a printer is worth the expense of the printer, ink etc. 

The percentages for small business are at the following link.
https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/business/small-business/shipping-discounts.page?ecid=s...

 You can click on US and international near the Center and 'next' on the right to see the next Level.  But note the percentage is an 'up to %' so doesn't give you accurate information. As far as uising your small business account at the post office, the way that I understand it, the discount doesn't go past the level one rates if you buy your label at the post office. 

When you compare the $11.83 rate to the $19.57 rate, are you sure that you aren't comparing small packet and tracked packet?  AFAIK the US TP rate has not been below $12 for quite a while so I think that must have been small packet.    I've haven't seen a level 1 online discount as high as $7 dollars for US TP.  

I don't know if the  CP promo for October will be available this year but if it is and you can't print an online label through Snapship, you may not be able to take advantage of it.  Usually it is for one free domestic parcel on each Tuesday in October. 

[msau4301]

Thanks PJ, it looks like my volume would never be enough to even get to level 2 (but thanks for the link, I tried finding this myself and couldn't!)

As for the $11.83 Tracked Packet rate that really was Tracked Package (with the LE....numbers they always use) and full tracking. I had been anticipating rate increases on September 12th and was shocked when I saw the rate (at least for Tracked Package US) was less (in early September and previous it had been $14.51). I figured it was something to do with fuel surcharges which were supposed to have gone down. I might have thought the $11.83 was somehow a mistake but I had three packages Sept. 12 and 14 all at that lower rate.

I do agree with you it is worth the ink (and in this case part cost) to print at home. When I get my printer up and running I will be very curious to see the Tracked Package USA rate! Since there's no mail today anyways I'll just wait and decide what to do tomorrow. Thanks for responding!

[recped]

Produce your labels in the normal fashion except save them as a PDF file and then find somebody with a working printer to print the PDF's. You could use staples or any copy shop, a friend, library etc.

[dinomitesales]

I don't believe there's any way to produce a QR code to print a shipping label through Shippo, but that functionality should be available through SnapShip, and you'll get the same discount on SnapShip as you would with Shippo.

And as @pjcdn2005 said, even with a SFSB account with a base Level 1 discount, there is a separate Level 1 discount when buying at the counter vs. buying online. In some cases it can be quite a difference.

At the moment, for a Tracked Packet USA item under 100 grams (and before the fuel surcharge is factored in) the Lvl 1 counter price is $13.05, while the Lvl 1 online price is $8.53. That's more than 30% savings just for printing your labels at home.