Canada Post Shipping Prices are Getting Brutal!

[norbkman]

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......

[darak10]

yeah, honestly, Id stay far away from selling books over 0.8 in unless they were ultra collectable...I just buy from the giant sellers honestly when im looking for one.  I put a few books up a couple months ago to see if there was any action on them and there largely isnt.  The giant US e commerce sellers own this corner of the market, its pointless even trying to play the game with them.  How can you beat paying 8 dollars canadian including shipping for a used book from FL or MI....I dont know how they make any money on a transaction like that.  But it doesnt matter to me as I benefit.  Canadian postal rates make selling books online extremely cost prohibitive to the point where its pointless, unless you focus on selling books under 0.8 inch so you can ship domestically via lettermail.  

[darak10]

yeah totally...sad but true isnt it.  and the worst part of it is that its just going to continue to get worse.  

[darak10]

my accountant told me she was astounded to see first hand how high fees are when I first gave her the numbers.   Worked well to bring my taxable income down, but Id be much happier to have that money in pocket methinks. 

sadly I dont think they will (improve).  this move to collect GST while I think its long overdue and post July 1 will save me an enormous amount of work (site changes that occurred when MP was brought in made it so difficult to tabulate GST - there was no direct way to calculate it, they simply forgot to add a widget for that in - that it took me on average a couple hours a month on average to tabulate it)  is yet further indication to me anyways that the old wild western frontier of ebay from the 90s to mid 00s is dead and gone.  Its going the way of big business and small fry are essentially being shown the door.  Its over for people who run this out of their back pocket and dont claim their ecommerce income on their taxes.  

I wonder if they will ever end up considering like they did on amazon to allow store owners to sell their 'stores'?  If they go the route of pushing the little guys out, it only makes sense that they allow those folks who are still standing at the end to be able to do this, it should be like selling any branded business, even though it is a bit different in that we are subcontractors in a sense as we pay de facto 'rent' via fees.  A guy renting a stall at a flea market can sell all his stuff to someone else if they want to continue the business in the flea market, i dont see why we should be any different.  My two cents lol.  

[darak10]

Its true, for many countries.  For example, the International Postal Union subsidizes Chinese sellers to allow them to pay a fraction of the actual shipping cost for items sold to international ecommerce buyers.  It was brought about years ago to try to level the playing field for them when they were way behind everyone else but seems like it is not relevant anymore, especially with globalism going the way of the dodo with the EU and UK VAT (both essentially are customs tariffs that discourage international trade, especially on here) 'taxes' on sales and ever increasing shipping costs pushing more and more buyers into the arms of domestic sellers (pre pandemic, the percentage of my buyers who were Canadian hovered consistently year to year around 45%, now, its between 75% - 80%).  Trump tried to kill the subsidy to Chinese sellers in a move during his administration but it got pulled without much of an explanation and then never spoken about again.  

[reallynicestamps]

For example, the International Postal Union subsidizes Chinese sellers to allow them to pay a fraction of the actual shipping cost for items sold to international ecommerce buyers.

You are about six years out of date.

The Universal Postal Union finally persuaded China to give up its status as an underdeveloped nation, and the subsidized postal costs that Uganda and Paraguay etc get, in September 2016.

Which was before Trump took office.

This was brought about by a "work to rule" by Western nations, who basically put those cheap Chinese shipments at the bottom of the barrel when processing mail.
Remember all those complaints from buyers about slow mailing from China ? That was partly the work to rule in effect.  (Another part was more searches for fentanyl and other lethal drugs being smuggled in apparently low value shipments.)

Since then Chinese shipping rates have been going up. They are still low compared to Western rates, but Chinese incomes are less than a third of Canadians.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@darak10 wrote:

yeah, honestly, Id stay far away from selling books over 0.8 in unless they were ultra collectable...I just buy from the giant sellers honestly when im looking for one.  I put a few books up a couple months ago to see if there was any action on them and there largely isnt.  The giant US e commerce sellers own this corner of the market, its pointless even trying to play the game with them.  How can you beat paying 8 dollars canadian including shipping for a used book from FL or MI....I dont know how they make any money on a transaction like that.  But it doesnt matter to me as I benefit.  Canadian postal rates make selling books online extremely cost prohibitive to the point where its pointless, unless you focus on selling books under 0.8 inch so you can ship domestically via lettermail.  

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Pretty soon it will be next to impossible to send anything cheaply FROM Canada. Small (non paid yet) order to QC from AB. Shipping by expedited 29 and change. 7.50 fuel/ 1.40 Tax. Same parcel to Florida....11.74 =1.94 + no tax.  A few days slower for small pkt air to USA. Just doesn't see right. Throw in fees on shipping...All 1 can do is throw hands up in air and sigh!!!

-Lotz

[femmefan1946]

I sell books but I stick to my niche—basically vintage SF/F— which are mostly out of print.
My three best selling author s are utterly unknown outside the field.

[flipistics]

I got an interesting email from Canada Post today. Apparently they're starting a promotion until the end of the year for rural-based Solutions for Small Business shippers which gives 20% off the base shipping prices within Canada.

www.canadapost.ca/ruralpromo2022

For anyone who fits the criteria, keep your eyes out for the email. If you don't have an account, now might be the time to think about getting one.

[regs43]

I got the same email. For once living in the boonies help lol!

[clemowbooks]

You should make this a new post.

velvet@ebay   This would be a popular announcement for eBay to make once the parameters have been confirmed.

[maureenr5700]

I'm mostly a buyer the shipping prices have lessened my buying considerably, the import tax US to Canada added to that and believe the government taxes being imposed on eBay & other businesses will virtually put my online shopping to a halt. Usually I have a dozen items in my watch list I'm down to four.

[ricarmic]

Rats doesn't work for us stamps on the box kinda folks 😞 

[dobo5250]

 i agree with you wholehearted-this is not really about ebay but about canada post -- they send me emails every three or fourth days asking to sign up for this forum or that teleconference etc q2--q4 etc etc etc - stop wasting our time this things never have any cost saving things in them thats doesn't cost something else--  give here take there 

just stop all these added things that cost money to put on and just lower the rates to reasonable -maybe at least to just under twice the cost the americans have - i could do with that - my  costs now are about even with the cost of doing business on ebay ---even with the prepaid boxes that really only fit certain items - me thinks they made those boxes not to fit anything normal-- if they made more sized boxs prepaid then that would be ok- smaller squared  type and just a little longer for the med sized one i buy a boat load - and give quantity discounts on those purchases - just stop spending money on things  these forums and such that most people won't attend but are paying for-and open the  slots on those mailboxes so they accept larger items --if people put less than needed on them( the cheaters ) then send them back - they will soon  stop     

[cardconnoisseurs]

Sorry if this sounds rude, but always build 100% or more of the total shipping cost into the price you charge, AFTER fees. IE, if your total postage, materials, and fuel costs are $10, charge the customer $11.75 to account for the ~15% fees.

Sellers "eating" shipping costs is why we have this problem. If everyone charged actual shipping (or worked it into their sale price for "free" shipping, etc), then shipping increases wouldn't mean a thing, as they would hit the entire industry equally. I seriously doubt a $2 increase in shipping is going to deter someone from buying a widget on Ebay. Much more likely that 100% increases in gas prices, and 30+% inflation is. That and the normal Summertime dip. 

[cardconnoisseurs]

Those Flat Rate boxes are a cheat code. I usually keep 2-3 of the small ones around, as they are super convenient as well. The postage is pre-paid, they are tracked and insured, and you can just fill out the to/from and drop them in any mailbox. 

[velvet@ebay]

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@clemowbooks wrote:

You should make this a new post.

velvet@ebay   This would be a popular announcement for eBay to make once the parameters have been confirmed.

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Hi @clemowbooks! I've passed your suggestion on. Thanks!

[msmaggie060]

Well boo to Canada Post! I live in a very rural area and for years I had a postal code with lots of Os and 0s. I still live in the same house on the same road but our little rural PO is too small to sort the mail so Canada Post changed our postal codes and my mail is now sorted at a much larger PO within the GTA. I even have to use the other town's address as my mailing address now! It's too far away for me to ever use it, I use the one in my nearby small village, just a few klms away. I am rural but I guess I'll lose out on any promo!

[cardconnoisseurs]

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@darak10 wrote:

 this move to collect GST while I think its long overdue and post July 1 will save me an enormous amount of work (...) Its going the way of big business and small fry are essentially being shown the door.  Its over for people who run this out of their back pocket and dont claim their ecommerce income on their taxes.  

Ebay changing to collect GST/HST for all sales is the best thing they have done in years for small business. Now it's a level playing field. As someone who has been "above boards" from day one, I have had to compete with the "under the table" morons that pollute the well by operating witout paying any income tax or remitting sales tax. So now those individuals will have the worst of both worlds, as their customers will pay sales tax on items boguht from them, but they won't get the benefit of being able to claim ITC's unless they "come in from the cold" and start paying their fair share. 

The only downside is that we won't get to use the GST/'HST we collect as an interest-free loan as we could before. 

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[teenytrinkets]

Yup! And they're constantly sold out at my local post office - likely because they're cheaper than regular parcel/expedited in most cases!

Stock up now! I'm guessing those prices are going UP!

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Any seller with the cash flow should buy as many flat rate boxes as possible now to lock in their price. It would not surprise me if Canada Post eventually discontinues selling them or raises the flat rate dramatically. Before, they were almost never cheaper. Now, they are almost always either the same price, or cheaper. 

You can buy them online in packs of 12 w/ free shipping. The small $19.99 boxes seem to be where the savings are. 

The incentive for stocking up is the convenience of not having to buy them multiple times, and the guarantee that you will have them if Canada Post discontinues the program or sells out. This comes at the risk and expense of tying up money, when otherwise you could buy labels on demand.