eBay

norbkman · ‎06-01-2022

Been on ebay for over 20 years. Live in Ontario and shipped a small paperback ( 160g ) to BC the other day. Cost me over $21. Today I shipped an 800g book from postal code P0J to Ontario postal code L1B ( not that far away ) and is was $21.21. Added to this, sales are tanking out right out. They say Canada Post fuel surcharge is going up as well. Ready to throw in the towel......

dinomitesales · ‎06-02-2022

Yes, the reason the prices are so high these days (well, higher than normal) is the fuel surcharge. It's currently at 31% for domestic shipments, so basically all the shipping rates have increased by 31% over what they were a couple years ago. And it's going up to 36% on June 6th.

Take a look at the flat-rate options on offer from Canada Post as they aren't impacted by the fuel surcharges. I would imagine that both of the items in your examples would have fit in a small Flat Rate Box which goes anywhere in the country for $18.49 (+tax) - not a huge savings, but every bit helps. Also take a look at NetParcel (available through PayPal) - I often get better rates through there if I send my parcel via UPS.

doc_scribe · ‎06-02-2022

Depending on the size/weight and destination of your items, XPressPost prepaid Regional envelopes can also be a surprisingly competitive alternative: Search | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

femmefan1946 · ‎06-02-2022

FWIW p if your paperback is under 500gr and 2cm thick, it can go Lettermail within Canada.

That would only cost $5.47 .

The 800gr book has to go Parcel Rate so we're stuck with those prices.

And yes the fuel surcharge is surging. (Sorry)

You can't buy a LetterMail label online, but you can buy prepaid labels at the PO. Just ask for "stamps".

For smaller items I include the cost of shipping in my price and advertise Free Shipping.

I also put those books on dot COM .

Buy in loonies sell in USD.

For heavier or thicker books I use Calculated Shipping, and list on dotCA where that is possible.

byto253 · ‎06-02-2022

If you are in Montreal or Toronto, and I would guess Vancouver, there are services to bring shipments across the border and allow you to use USPS Media rates.

Unfortunately Chitchats Express, which much better coverage, no longer offers media mail.

flipistics · ‎06-02-2022

I'm now switching from calculated shipping on things like books (that won't fit lettermail) to just assuming it'll go in the flat rate boxes. Since I'm in a more rural location, in a few days it will be the cheaper option for almost all sales that aren't going to somewhere like Toronto or Montreal. I may look into getting some regional small flat rate bubble mailers too. People in a big city can probably use services like Stallion Express for cheaper domestic rates, but that doesn't help people further away.

I'm mostly focusing on trying to sell lettermail items right now in my media store, and my main store is being severely neglected. Sales have really tanked recently though, and even watchers have almost completely disappeared. I don't think this will be the new norm, but it's likely going to be a couple of rough months until things hopefully start improving.

billybee99 · ‎06-03-2022

The prices are ridiculous. I had a small box that weighed 300 grams to Whistler from NB and it cost $28 tax in. I can ship a parcel to Hawaii cheaper than in my own country.

dobo5250 · ‎06-03-2022

with the new increases in ebay and postal rates i am now at 51% cost to sell goods rate over last 30 days - and with the new postal rates coming in few days i understand i will need to add another 3-4 % to that so it will be 54% to sell on this site--yeps- and with the cost goods to sell going up- in that financial picture-- reconfirms my accountant's analysis was -- that i earn about $2.75 per hour clear -- that i invest in time and money into this site --

when it gets to 60%- (again the only thing saving me is my depreciation at tax time and that is only marginal) against my other investments l have -- i think that will be it --- when it gets to ebay&postal costs getting tup to 60 %-- what is your overall analysis of work to payment ratio???-- or are you like me i keep thinking things will improve----they have to don't they???????

doker bohm

mrdutch1001 · ‎06-03-2022

It depends on what you sell...not everyone goes out and buys up stock/inventory to re-sell...

I have bought and sold a wide variety of items since a teenager and throughout my life.

Now I sell what I have collected over the past 55 years....

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎06-03-2022

Stock up on flat rate boxes.

You can buy them in packs of 12 off of the Canada Post website. Assuming you have the cash flow, there is no downside to stocking up and locking your rate in. I guess if you expect the price of fuel to go back down, there would be a downside, but I don't think anybod expects that to happen anytime soon.

If you have a Costco membership, you can also purchase rolls of Canada Post P-Stamps at 5 percent off. Assuming you pay for your postage in pesrson at the counter, you can use these as currency instead of cash. Additionally, if you sign up for the Canada Post Small Business program (anybody can sign up, you don't have to have a business number), you can get an additional discount.

5 percent doesn't sound like a lot, but if you are doing even a low volume of sales, you can easily end up paying low 5 figures a year on parcel postage. So that's a savings of $500 for every 10k you spend on parcels. It's only probably not worth doing if you don't already line up at the post office. I print a lot of my postage at home and drop items in Canada Post boxes, so for me, lining up at Canada Post multiple times a week would be a huge time sink.

flipistics · ‎06-03-2022

@billybee99 wrote:
The prices are ridiculous. I had a small box that weighed 300 grams to Whistler from NB and it cost $28 tax in. I can ship a parcel to Hawaii cheaper than in my own country.

The real kicker is that it's probably considerably cheaper for people located in foreign countries to send the same package to the door of your buyer than it is for you.

marnotom! · ‎06-03-2022

@flipistics wrote:
The real kicker is that it's probably considerably cheaper for people located in foreign countries to send the same package to the door of your buyer than it is for you.

If it is cheaper, you're not looking at an equivalent service, though. The international shipment would probably ship as a Small Packet, which may or may not having tracking and insurance the way a domestic parcel would and might be handled in the letter post stream rather than the parcel post stream.

electronicsextraordinaire · ‎06-03-2022

" If it is cheaper, you're not looking at an equivalent service, though. The international shipment would probably ship as a Small Packet, which may or may not having tracking and insurance the way a domestic parcel would and might be handled in the letter post stream rather than the parcel post stream."

huh? Regular Parcel is untracked and uninsured unless you spend extra. It doesn't cost $20 for Canada Post to scan at delivery (which is all we really care about) and to cover the cost when they lose it themselves.

marnotom! · ‎06-04-2022

@electronicsextraordinaire wrote:

huh? Regular Parcel is untracked and uninsured unless you spend extra. It doesn't cost $20 for Canada Post to scan at delivery (which is all we really care about) and to cover the cost when they lose it themselves.

I think most Canadian eBay sellers would be part of Canada Post's Solutions for Small Business program and would send their "bottom tier" domestic parcels by Expedited Parcel, which has tracking/delivery confirmation and $100 insurance included. Doesn't cost much more than Regular Parcel.

dinomitesales · ‎06-04-2022

@electronicsextraordinaire wrote:
huh? Regular Parcel is untracked and uninsured unless you spend extra. It doesn't cost $20 for Canada Post to scan at delivery (which is all we really care about) and to cover the cost when they lose it themselves.

Just a point of clarification - Regular Parcel does include full tracking by default.

Occasionally the overall price of Regular Parcel can be a tad less than Expedited because of the way that taxes work, but the free $100 insurance and money-back guaranteed delivery included with Expedited are almost always worth spending those extra cents on.

davidjmoon · ‎06-05-2022

Actually, the reason for the high cost in this case, is due to the shipping method that you chose. If you were to use a non-padded envelope, keeping the package thin enough to fit through a standard mail slot, than you can ship as "over-sized letter mail", which would save a fortune. The only disadvantage, is that it does not come with tracking. However, as long as the value is $20 or less, the increased sales generated from offering lower shipping costs should outweigh the risk of getting a dishonest buyer who denies delivery.

I sell a lot of trading cards, and I offer delivery within Canada at $4.99 untracked, or $14.99 with tracking. Letter mail usually costs a little over $2, but the extra couple of dollars is to make up for the risk of shipping without tracking. That being said, I rarely have any issues with dishonest buyers claiming they didn't receive, when they did. Ask at the Post Office what the maximum weight allowed for "Over-sized letter mail", that way you know which magazines you are able to offer customers this type of shipping options on, that way you don't accidently charge the lower rate, only to get to the Post Office and find out that it's too heavy, and you have to cover the difference to ship "Expedited".

Finally, not sure if you have one already or not, but while at the Post Office, ask them for an application for their "Business solutions" program. It's free and in addition to getting you discounts on their shipping supplies, it gives you discounts on local shipping, as well as International shipping. It's not a huge discount, but every little bit helps. It allows me to offer my Canadian buyers "Expedited" shipping, with faster delivery, insurance & tracking, all for the same price as "Standard" shipping would cost them. Just another thing to make your listings a little more enticing. Hope you can find something helpful in what I've said. Good luck, stay safe & God Bless, David James Moon.

alant3048 · ‎06-06-2022

How is it that most selers seem to be able to sell a roll of pennies and use ECONOMY shipping at 4 to 5 dollars, but if I try to do that the shipping calculator tells me that I have to pay $22.00. A roll of pennies is 2 cm in diameter, so getting it through the post Office's sizing slot is iffy. Is there something I don't know? Ebay is ABSOLUTELY NO HELP. Do you just put on the postage as if the envelope was 1.9 cm thick and hope nobody at Canada Post catches it? I can buy a flat rate box that would hold a whole mint box worth of pennies for what Canada Post is charging for one small padded envelope.

marnotom! · ‎06-06-2022

One listing I checked stated "ships flat" in the description.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-06-2022

@electronicsextraordinaire

Regular Parcel is a tracked service.

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/personal/sending/parcels/compare-services-canada/regul...

You may be thinking of Small Packet USA, which is not tracked, although USPS and/or eBay occasionally do treat these as tracked.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-06-2022

but if I try to do that the shipping calculator tells me that I have to pay $22.00.

You cannot print a label for LetterMail.

You have to either take it to the PO or use stamps and drop it in the nearest mailbox.

Why would you use a padded envelope for a roll of pennies? That just makes it thicker.

Poly envelopes are much thinner and are very difficult to tear open.

Remember though that your "letters" are going through machinery which will spit them out if they are too thick, a process that can easily tear a kraft envelope.