Canada Post workers stay on job

[lotsa.luck]

Only to refuse overtime as contract talks fall short

Someone at Ebay has assumed that the strike starts today and removed Canada Post shipping options.

That decision was premature. They did not know that job action or rotating strikes were an option for the union,

Canada Post shipping options should be returned until a National Strike begins or Canada Post locks them out.

[chicweb]

I agree with you. But ... "an option to lot items together". Where?

Aside from offering combined shipping, I don’t see any actual option on eBay to lot items together.

We can create listings that include multiple items, yes, but we can’t group separate listings together into a "lot" after the fact.

Are you referring to combined shipping here?

[john_koenig99]

The thread is now officlally off-topic. But...

I can see both arguments for or against economy, post stamp letter shipments. One thing to remember is that a lot of sellers in eBay (including me) are not "professional" sellers. We don't have an eBay store.

I chose to ship with tracking because the items I sell are quite rare and collectible. I can't afford losing them and getting no compensation. As a buyer, I sometimes avoid sellers who chose to ship economy, with no tracking.

But I think the option of lettermail shipping is valid for many items, and for sellers who don't want to see their profits going down the drain, considering that eBay fees calculation also include the shipping cost. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

---

@john_koenig99 wrote:

The thread is now officlally off-topic. But...

I can see both arguments for or against economy, post stamp letter shipments. One thing to remember is that a lot of sellers in eBay (including me) are not "professional" sellers. We don't have an eBay store.

I chose to ship with tracking because the items I sell are quite rare and collectible. I can't afford losing them and getting no compensation. As a buyer, I sometimes avoid sellers who chose to ship economy, with no tracking.

But I think the option of lettermail shipping is valid for many items, and for sellers who don't want to see their profits going down the drain, considering that eBay fees calculation also include the shipping cost. 

---

In days of lore in a far off land, a long long time ago buyers "used" to have options when it came to shipping service...That thing called choice. When I bought back then if I purchased something that used a slowish method I was grateful seller gave me the opportunity for cheap postage and I was doing it MY discretion. Taking a chance, 1 might say. Spring forward a number of years, suddenly no tracking or slow delivery is 100% the sellers fault. Hmmmm...Not really. But that is how eBay sees it or buyers in the present day. 

I don't buy nearly the quantity now as I used but if something does take a long time to arrive it takes me awhile before I play the blame game with seller. I will always miss the fact that sellers are no longer provide choice. Maybe I need fast secure or in others cheap & slow are awesome.I did some recent reviewing of US shipping options. They(ebay USA) has tons of highly discounted options for shipping domestically. But very very limited number of choices for shipping internationally including Canada. Discounts available are in the 2, 3, 4 % range. Nothing like what we have to ship there. To get back on topic (token segway), eBay has been very slow when they have the negotiating power when it comes to international shipping and/or aligning with other couriers. They are out there. They just needed to do the legwork.

[flipistics]

---

@dinomitesales wrote:

---

---

This is a horrible take. It should never be removed - it's a cost-effective and reliable method of shipping that is utilized by many sellers.

Why would I spend $8 shipping something Expedited Lite when I can ship it for $1-2 with stamps, and in 99% of cases it arrives promptly and trouble-free? Not to mention the fact that that $8 shipping method can't reach anyone in a remote community. In the majority of cases that "Economy Shipping" Lettermail shipment is going to be delivered even faster than the Expedited Lite shipment.

As someone that utilizes the services available to me as an eBay seller in order to provide the best prices for my customers (i.e. Lettermail) I'm actually kind of offended - I'm not a "professional" seller because I don't utilize what you deem as a "professional shipping method"? Ridiculous.

And how would preventing Canadian eBay sellers to use Lettermail have any impact on the Canada Post labour dispute? Do you think the only people using Lettermail are eBay seller or something? The vast majority of people utilizing Lettermail are (non mail-order) businesses, not eBay sellers.

---

This.  There's nothing wrong with being able to offer it, and for the most part it's fast and trouble free.  What WOULD be nice is if Canada Post followed the lead of Royal Mail and had partial lettermail tracking via a stamp barcode, or perhaps offered a cheap lettermail tracking option like eBay secured in the States with the eBay Standard Envelope.  Those kind of things would help boost lettermail volume at least a little and provide sellers a little more security.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

---

@chicweb wrote:

I agree with you. But ... "an option to lot items together". Where?

Aside from offering combined shipping, I don’t see any actual option on eBay to lot items together.

We can create listings that include multiple items, yes, but we can’t group separate listings together into a "lot" after the fact.

Are you referring to combined shipping here?

---

@chicweb 

3 Years ago or so there used to be more categories that you could list in lots. They have gradually removed them on the ca site. Still more on com. In each listing there was a field for describing and identifying what was in the lot. The field is still there as long as you don't end and use relist or sell similar. When I have tried that will get an error message that the info in field is too long based on current character downgrade. I have to modify or get super creative to complete the listing. I know this because Lotz are/were my little niche. Just extremely more challenging now. (Also super challenging with all the new customs rules in regards to CoO. Everything in a mixed lot may or may not be the same country.)

[marnotom!]

---

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

---

---

In days of lore in a far off land, a long long time ago buyers "used" to have options when it came to shipping service...That thing called choice. When I bought back then if I purchased something that used a slowish method I was grateful seller gave me the opportunity for cheap postage and I was doing it MY discretion. Taking a chance, 1 might say. Spring forward a number of years, suddenly no tracking or slow delivery is 100% the sellers fault. Hmmmm...Not really. But that is how eBay sees it or buyers in the present day. 

---

@lotzofuniquegoodies, you didn't mention that in days of lore, sellers were also able to accept non-reversal paper payments, i.e. carefully concealed cash, money orders, and cheques.  eBay had to move to traceable electronic payments exclusively due to changing buyer expectations and too many instances of buyers sending paper payments only to receive nothing or a bum item and have no recourse.  I think sellers are offering their buyers fewer choices in shipping methods partly because most the choices out there now are impractical to implement or too expensive, and partly because using electronic payments--particularly credit card based ones--practically demand trackable shipping.

Having said that, eBay is still recovering from the gaff it made by not sufficiently making itself distinctive from Amazon when Amazon started courting merchants to its site, and as a result we have buyers (many of whom post to these boards) who buy from this site expecting service levels along the same lines of Amazon, instead of realizing that they're largely buying from "just folks" (or "just folks" with a lot of business clout) who aren't using eBay as a fullfillment site.

Yes, we're getting further off-topic, I realize.

[dinomitesales]

---

@chicweb wrote:

Actually, I kind of agree with them.

If you check most websites out there, even Amazon, shipping usually starts at around $8, unless you're using some kind of subscription gimmick. Businesses use tracked shipping.

That’s what eBay expects from sellers. They offer no protection at all if something goes wrong with Lettermail.

Honestly, I’ve always felt it should never have been an option in the first place. I only use it on eBay because I have to, otherwise, I wouldn’t be competitive with all the sellers offering it. But I’d prefer not to

Even last Christmas, when Canada Post was on strike, many sellers were still offering Lettermail, which I personally found highly unprofessional. Don’t offer something you can’t reliably deliver.

But hey, that’s just my opinion. 😉

---

Businesses should be free to use whatever shipping method they wish. Sellers that utilize untracked economy shipping are aware of the risks and the lack of protections offered through eBay; I'm willing to provide a full refund in the event that a buyer claims an item doesn't arrive (it pretty much never happens). Third-party sellers on Amazon are free to use Lettermail shipping if they wish, based on certain criteria (which pretty much match the reasons why Canadian eBay sellers choose to use Lettermail shipping). Amazon themselves obviously isn't going to use untracked shipping because the cost of shipping things tracked through their privately owned couriers is very low - significantly lower than any shipping options we have available to us.

You acknowledge that you use it yourself because it's the only way to remain competitive, but also say it should be removed? You'd rather make less sales and less profit?

You're more than welcome to stop using it (and apparently save Canada Post in the process[??]); it's only $8 after all - the buyers will be happy to pay that for sub-$10 media and trading cards, right? /s

As others have pointed out, the answer isn’t to eliminate affordable shipping options like Lettermail. Instead, eBay Canada should negotiate a low-cost, competitive service similar to USPS’s ESE offering. Spoiler: that will never happen (we're lucky we got Expedited Lite, and I'm not convinced that service will be a permanent addition).

Sellers advertising Canada Post services (read: not just Lettermail, but any Canada Post service) during a labour dispute is a separate issue entirely, and I agree shouldn't be done.

[ricarmic]

I will say regarding the sometimes said grass is greener "Amazon" option, when I was looking at selling alternatives during the November postal strike, when I looked at Amazon competitor sellers in my (stamp) world, their prices vs "value" were outrageously high compared to what one would pay/sell for here.

I presumed that this is because of the high costs of everything has to be tracked aspect, the very high rate of return for the kind of stuff I would sell, and the 30%ish selling fees. That led me to drop it from options considered at that time, likely not to be revisited in the future either.

Not intended as a dis for Amazon, simply that not all things make sense to sell via that venue.....

[reallynicestamps]

Sellers that utilize untracked economy shipping are aware of the risks and the lack of protections offered through eBay;

Exactly.

Whether we call it "gambling" or "risk management", those of us who choose to use untracked shipping  should be accepting the result of our choices.

We are grownups after all.

when I looked at Amazon competitor sellers in my (stamp) world, their prices vs "value" were outrageously high compared to what one would pay/sell for here.

I don't use Amazon any more, but for the hobby site I cross post to I use tracked shipping even less often than I do here.

And my losses and claims are even lower than here on eBay.

This may of course be category specific.

I wouldn't do it if I were selling dolls or electronics or horse tack, all high fraud categories.

[chicweb]

I use it myself only because competitors do.

If everyone used tracked shipping, we’d all stay competitive. Buyers would adapt, learn to combine shipping, and eventually change their shopping behavior.

But by allowing untracked shipping like lettermail, buyers never feel the need to combine orders... it's already cheap for single items.

[ricarmic]

I do think that buyers are slowly adapting to the reality of the aspect/cost of tracked shipping.

I have been absolutely shocked at how many US folks are buying single items in the $C10 to $C15 range from my .CA listings with an added shipping cost of $C9. - so paying $C20 for the $10 item.

In the "old days" that would never have happened. It does help that I put nice stamps on the packages, but "new" buyers would not know that, which means they're not daunted by the shipping cost.

I'll also emphasise that my (stamp) world is traditionally one of getting maximum value for the $$$ spent, so that is why it surprises me so much. 

[byto253]

Amazing how many lettermail items I have sold to remoter areas in Canada because of lettermail.  It is a great service for Canadian shoppers, and is reliable.  It is also a competitive advantage for Canadian sellers as without lettermail buyers would have to pay parcel rates that are close enough to or greater than buying from out of the country.

As a buyer I spend as much time looking at shipping rates as I do actual items.  I buy a good number of Lego parts from Bricklink to complete sets and minifigs and lettermail is the saving grace that makes it feasible.  

As a seller, it is my decision if I want to ship untracked, knowing full well it is at my risk.  To date the risk has been virtually nil and the benefit to being competitive way greater than the risk.  

[intimewithmusic]

@lotsa.luck 

@byto253 

@ricarmic 

@chicweb 

@reallynicestamps 

@dinomitesales 

@everyone else

Hi Folks

After todays Windows Update my computer is not happening. Lucky you this is short.

Lots of input and a variety of views for sure. Two issues I want to address concerning my note to Devon;

1.  How to do lots, bundles groups etc of items into one listing and why. There is a difference if you sell on eBay dot com. You sellers have "Discount Manager". If you sell on eBay Canada or you don't have a store you need to be more creative. See photo. 

2. With respect to lettermail as we are on the cusp of a decision by the union I 'm going to reserve comment. I want to see what is decided given the devasting even worse financials released for 2024. 

Todays headlines are;

Canada Post reports $1.3B operating loss with declines in both letter and parcel revenue [for 2024]: CBC
Canada Post puts forward ‘final offers’ to union, posts $1.3B loss for 2024 CTV

Lets see what happens. 

Thanks!

IT