eBay

ypdc_dennis · ‎12-15-2017

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/assets/pdf/business/parcelRate_2018_OoC_en.pdf

Highlights:

1. Light Packet dies. Small Packet and Tracked Packet get an additional 0-100g price range to help compensate.

2. Expedited Parcel (Canada) gets a volumetric change. Starting January 15 the divisor will be 5000 instead of 6000. This will push some parcel sizes into a higher price range. Regular parcel will remain unchanged with a 6000 divisor. So for some sizes Regular Parcel may be a better price than a discounted Expedited Parcel price.

3. Domestic prices will be up about 4% and the rest of the world up around 1.2%

4. Manual Small Packet labels will be phased out -- bar codes will be required (even if they are not tracked).

Actual 2018 parcel rates still to be released.

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More: https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/kb/details.page?article=service_and_price_ch

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momcqueen · ‎01-20-2018

So, for as long as I can remember, Regular Parcel cost the same as or more than Expedited Parcel.

Now, Expedited is coming up as costlier. Is this due to the 10 per cent fuel surcharge, or the shift in volumetric calculations?

It annoys me heartily. I almost feel like picking Regular Parcel to be spiteful. It's as if Canada Post is sticking it to its biggest customers -- sellers -- with this price recalculation.

pjcdn2005 · ‎01-20-2018

Both expedited and regular parcel used the denominator (not sure if that is the correct word) of 6000 to figure out dimensional weight. Regular parcel is still 6000 but expedited is 5000. Most smaller parcels should cost less for expedited.

Both services have a fuel charge so that wouldn't account for the difference.

momcqueen · ‎01-20-2018

Is the rate of fuel surcharge the same for both?

My parcel is not what I would consider huge: 22 x 17 x 12 cm and 567 g.

The cost given to me through both Shippo and Canada Post quotes the same in that Regular Parcel is less than Expedited by about a dollar. And this is for something travelling only within my own province, and not to a remote or particularly rural location.

momcqueen · ‎01-20-2018

Or has something gotten messed up with our ebay discounts? The Shippo cost was exactly the same as the Canada Post Tier 1 quote. Didn't we used to get an 18 per cent reduction on over-the-counter through ebay? Why do I feel like something shifted here? I print domestic labels all the time and this feels like it's costing me more than it should. Or maybe I just haven't been paying attention.

ypdc_dennis · ‎01-21-2018

@momcqueen wrote:
Is the rate of fuel surcharge the same for both?
My parcel is not what I would consider huge: 22 x 17 x 12 cm and 567 g.

Fuel surcharge is a percentage of the base cost and same percentage is used for regular and expedited in Canada.

The price difference is caused by the dimensional weight divisor change for 2018.

Regular: (22x17x12)/6000 = 0.748 so still (just barely) fits the first weight step of 0-750g.

Expedited: (22x17x12)/5000 = 0.898 so pushed up to the weight step of 751-1000g.

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ypdc_dennis · ‎01-21-2018

@momcqueen wrote:
Or has something gotten messed up with our ebay discounts? The Shippo cost was exactly the same as the Canada Post Tier 1 quote. Didn't we used to get an 18 per cent reduction on over-the-counter through ebay? ...

The 18% was back in 2016.

eBay via Shippo had an extra 6% off your Solutions for Small Business rate for Expedited Parcel (Canada) in 2017. I just checked a sample parcel and it's unchanged and still 6% off for 2018.

Regular parcel gets no discount.

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Shippo should only have been the same only for Regular parcel compared to the Canada Post calculator. It should be 94% of the calculator's Expedited parcel rate.

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momcqueen · ‎01-21-2018

Thank you. I'll see if I can replicate today what I saw with the rates last night. I noticed also when sending an invoice today that costs associated with Air Parcel are defaulting to zero dollars on the Send Invoice and have disappeared altogether from the listings. I smell trouble with either the shipping calculator or Canada Post's function within it.

ypdc_dennis · ‎01-21-2018

@momcqueen wrote:
Thank you. I'll see if I can replicate today what I saw with the rates last night. I noticed also when sending an invoice today that costs associated with Air Parcel are defaulting to zero dollars on the Send Invoice and have disappeared altogether from the listings. I smell trouble with either the shipping calculator or Canada Post's function within it.

Or it could be the Canada post website maintenance that they do on the weekend screwing things up.

rose-dee · ‎01-21-2018

@ypdc_dennis wrote:
What I don't know is if the PayPal and eBay discounts of around 20% will continue after January 15 or if it was a temporary discount by CPC to shift sellers to Small Packet from Light Packet.
Small Packet USA is flat rate. Small Packet International is also flat rate (sort of) -- that varies by region (I think Canada Post divides the world into 9 or 10 zones).

It looks as if the Small Packet USA discounts on Shippo have ended, unless I'm reading the new CPC rates incorrectly. I prepared a parcel today (Jan. 21st) -- only 180gms, in a #5 bubble envelope, so quite small -- and the rate on Shippo for SmPkt USA Air was $8.49 Cdn. I didn't check Paypal rates, but I'd be happy to hear if there is any discount at all on Small Packet USA there.

$8.49 is a pretty shocking shipping charge for such a lightweight parcel, considering I'm still actually charging only $3.75 US to my buyers for shipping these ca. $20 patterns. (I've subsidized my U.S. buyers' shipping for years to keep pace with my U.S. competitors). However, this is not sustainable. I suppose it's unfortunately time to finally increase my flat-rate shipping quotes. Higher item prices or free shipping on these products is not viable, as buyers know exactly what other independent pattern-makers are charging (and they're all in the U.S., lucky for them).

jt-libra · ‎01-21-2018

@rose-dee wrote:

$8.49 is a pretty shocking shipping charge for such a lightweight parcel, considering I'm still actually charging only $3.75 US to my buyers for shipping these ca. $20 patterns. (I've subsidized my U.S. buyers' shipping for years to keep pace with my U.S. competitors). However, this is not sustainable. I suppose it's unfortunately time to finally increase my flat-rate shipping quotes. Higher item prices or free shipping on these products is not viable, as buyers know exactly what other independent pattern-makers are charging (and they're all in the U.S., lucky for them).

This is precisely the way I've been doing business for the last several years, except I charge $3.95 US for small items (DVD's; mascara, lipstick, etc.). When we were getting the discounted Small Packet USA for $7.05, I could still make do. I offer free shipping for these items within Canada which cost me $2.95 so I deduct the equivalent amount from the U.S. shipping cost.

But, with the discount gone, it will be impossible to sell anything if I have to charge U.S. buyers, say, $5.95 to ship a DVD. The items I sell are highly competitive, so Americans have many U.S. sellers to choose from.

I knew this day would come, so I have to re-think how, or where, I sell, or if I continue to sell at all. I haven't been purchasing any new inventory for a while, so I may divest myself of all that I have and try to come up with new ways to supplement my income. Sigh!

dm5519 · ‎01-21-2018

Same story here, most of my items are about 150g, so I would need to charge $7 USD to ship Small Packet. My competitors south of the border can charge as little as $4 to ship domestically.

momcqueen · ‎01-21-2018

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Announcements/Reminder-Canada-Post-rate-changes/ba-p/391965

mrdutch1001 · ‎01-21-2018

I am Not a Shippo user, never signed on with it - I continue to use PayPal integrated with my Canada Post Solutions for Small Business account. Small Packet Rate to USA for over 100 g. and up to 250 g. weight is $8.49 when using PayPal shipping labels.

momcqueen · ‎01-21-2018

I cannot seem to replicate what I thought I saw last night with Shippo being the same price as the CPC website, but I can tell you that with the change to the way postage for Expedited Parcel is tabulated, I am not impressed.

This was a parcel measuring 24 x 24 x 9 cm and weighing 528 g traveling within Manitoba and not to a remote or rural location, either.

Businesses now pay more to use Expedited than Regular Parcel

ypdc_dennis · ‎01-21-2018

@momcqueen wrote:
"Businesses now pay more to use Expedited than Regular Parcel"

Proper word is "may" pay more. The divisor change makes parcel box sizing more important for shipping in Canada. Lots of packages will see no change. The surprise is why CPC only modified Expedited (unless the reason is that more Expedited parcels are now going by air than truck).

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As for extra cost you have to pay, it depends on whether you consider the delivery guarantee and the $100 of insurance included with Expedited to be worth any money.

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The switch to a smaller divisor was made for USA and International parcels a few years ago, so nothing new there.

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momcqueen · ‎01-21-2018

I'm not shipping big stuff. Here is another example. this time, even the extra Shippo discount doesn't help keep Expedited Parcel less costly than Regular. This was another item at 24 x 24 x 9 cm and 314 g going to urban BC.

momcqueen · ‎01-21-2018

I'm going to have to re-evaluate my use of domestic free shipping, markdowns and lowest Best Offer price I can accept. I used to average out the cost of including free domestic shipping to be a $15-dollar expense with lows of $11 and highs of about $19. That's going to have to shift to embedded cost of $17.50 with the expectation the lowest I'll ever see it is about $14 and the high end at $21 .

And these are among my smallest parcels. It only gets bigger from 24 x 24 x 9 cm with at least 65 per cent of orders.

ypdc_dennis · ‎01-21-2018

@rose-dee wrote:
It looks as if the Small Packet USA discounts on Shippo have ended, unless I'm reading the new CPC rates incorrectly. I prepared a parcel today (Jan. 21st) -- only 180gms, in a #5 bubble envelope, so quite small -- and the rate on Shippo for SmPkt USA Air was $8.49 Cdn. I didn't check Paypal rates, but I'd be happy to hear if there is any discount at all on Small Packet USA there.

The PayPal extra 20% discount ended January 15, while Shippo took took until January 18 to remove it from Small Packet USA and International Small Packet (air). So now Small Packet online is the same cost do matter who you pick.

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Will looks-like-a-document, feels-like-a-document result in Oversize Letterpost use to the USA?

100g - $1.80

200g - $2.95

500g - $5.15

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Will more sellers use border shippers and the USPS for delivery?

ChitChatsExpress (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax)

StallionExpress (Toronto)

RunninRed (Winnipeg)

DYKPost (Calgary, Edmonton)

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Will more sellers modify their listings to bundle their items?

Like shipping two music cds for $8.49 instead of one music cd for $8.49 (101-250g)

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Will some sellers buy discounted postage, and take their stamp covered parcel to their local postal outlet and buy their shipping over- the-counter?

101-250g is $8.78 over-the-counter. If you can get your stamps at 25% off face value, the actual cost drops to $6.59

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femmefan1946 · ‎01-21-2018

@dm5519

Ugh.

But do keep in mind currency exchange.

Your $7Cdn is $5.60 USD. Still a substantial difference of course.

I'm trying to work out how to ship with parcel rates and bar codes and pay with my discounted postage stamps. My brain hurts.

dm5519 · ‎01-22-2018

@femmefan1946 wrote:
@dm5519
Ugh.
But do keep in mind currency exchange.
Your $7Cdn is $5.60 USD. Still a substantial difference of course.

I'm trying to work out how to ship with parcel rates and bar codes and pay with my discounted postage stamps. My brain hurts.

You may have mis-read my post. I charge $7 USD for shipping to my U.S. buyers since Small Packet costs $8.49 CDN for 150g. That's almost twice as much as my U.S. based competition charges ($4 USD) for shipping domestically. Very hard to compete.

Yeah these new rates and rules will require some juggling to make it work.