Canada to US shipping

[gorcoo18]

Hello, I am interested learning what is missing service wise with the current providers ( Chit Chats, Stallion Express etc). I am looking into establishing a competitive business and would like to be able to offer a service that meets as many needs as possible to the community. All assistance is appreciated.

[recped]

The only thing missing from ChitChats is locations.

I don't have any direct experience with the competition but you should understand there are quite a few now (in the GTA at least) and you will need deep pockets if you plan to go up against them.

[mrdutch1001]

Saskatchewan desperately needs something...we have no viable option outside of Canada Post

[reallynicestamps]

There is a chitchat in Vancouver (population  2.463 million) but not in Victoria (748,937 with 367,770 in Victoria alone).

How about Ottawa ? Montreal?

[hlmacdon]

A few suggestions:

•  Aim for next business day entry into the US. Otherwise you won't convert people who do this themselves or are in competitive businesses where shipping times matter. E-manifests only need to be filed an hour before entry so there isn't much excuse for delays I hear about of up to a week to get across the border.
•  Aim for a hub and spoke model with many (company owned) drop off spaces. Pretty easy to combine this with a traditional shipping supplies/mailing model. Not much space is needed, nor is a fancy space. Directing customers to third party drop offs is awkward and unprofessional. Accessibility is usually what prevents people from using services like this.

[perle.2802]

I usually drop my package at a Chit Chats location. However I didn't have time last week to do ao. Chit Chats has a third-party shipping program at great cost in the case you can't drop your packages yourself. I used it last week. I had 3 packages for a total of 2 pounds. I put them in a box and sent that box to Chit Chats via their third party shipping service. That alone cost me 9$. But considering that by using Chit Chats I was saving over 45$ compared to CP, I was glad to pay that 9$.

So if you have consistent sales every week, you should evaluate the possibility to send to Chit Chats 1 or 2 consolidated package per week and if you would save money on your shipping cost by doing that.

[mrdutch1001]

As a low volume seller with a few sales a month even that method would not be economical for me, especially since nearest ChitChats is BC or Ontario...

no such thing as consistent sales for me anymore...that hasn't happened for over 3 years now....

[cottagewoman]

Get out of the way of our business by offering forwarding services for the three major carriers - USPS, FedEx and UPS since ChitChats will be cutting FedEx and UPS for grandfathered accounts next year as well as forcing all label purchases to their platform, cutting off USPS parcel select and USPS Media mail. Oh yeah - office in Montreal for sure!!!! And as stated previously, same day drops into the US would be amazing.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@mrdutch1001 wrote:

As a low volume seller with a few sales a month even that method would not be economical for me, especially since nearest ChitChats is BC or Ontario...

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They also have offices in Calgary and Montreal. Plus a bunch of drop-off locations.

https://chitchats.com/locations

[mrdutch1001]

Since eBay sales died for me 3 years ago, I no longer list any higher value items on eBay so highly doubt the effort involved with what has been suggested is worth pursuing for my items. I might have checked into it, if there were a location in my city but otherwise I don't see the value.

I expect I will be remaining with Canada Post for the duration of my online selling days...

[mrdutch1001]

"Get out of the way of our business by offering forwarding services for the three major carriers - USPS, FedEx and UPS....."

????????????????????????????????????

[cottagewoman]

Changes I've mentioned have already happened in BC for chitChats as discussed here on the boards https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Chit-Chats-Express-no-longer-accepting-eBay-labels-start....

Coming sometime in 2020 for grandfathered accounts from what I've heard.

If you create a new account on their platform now, all the restrictions I mentioned in my post here are in place, including no Media Mail or Parcel Select labels. That in essence kills me selling perfumes (Parcel Select) and being competitive with US sellers on media, books, etc (no Media Mail).

[mrdutch1001]

highly doubt I have anything to worry about then, as majority of any shipping I have done for the past year is for oversize letter rate. For anything other than letter rate, still gets processed via PayPal shipping, as I use PayPal for any needed shipping labels. Unless there were to be something much better than Chitchats come to my city, I just carry on with Canada Post.

[hlmacdon]

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@cottagewoman wrote:
Changes I've mentioned have already happened in BC for chitChats as discussed here on the boards https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Chit-Chats-Express-no-longer-accepting-eBay-labels-start....

Coming sometime in 2020 for grandfathered accounts from what I've heard.

If you create a new account on their platform now, all the restrictions I mentioned in my post here are in place, including no Media Mail or Parcel Select labels. That in essence kills me selling perfumes (Parcel Select) and being competitive with US sellers on media, books, etc (no Media Mail).

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Not sure whey they would drop those as there is no restrictions on those services from an cross border import point of view. Sounds like they are forcing you into service classes where they have a discount in place and maximizing their margins.  If I couldn't use my own shipping account I wouldn't bother with a forwarding service given the cost savings on priority mail and first class package international you can access elsewhere. If you want to compete in the US market every dollar counts and losing a double digit advantage in some cases? Forget it.

[femmefan1946]

I''m not sure how ChitChat got into the freight forwarding business, although they were quite aggressive* about advertising their service when they started out.

Their BC business was based on buying out bookstotheborder who had been in the freight forwarding business for a couple of decades, from a base in Vancouver, which was an excellent location since people are constantly being arrested for wandering across the border at the Vancouver checkpoint.

There are similar businesses in Montreal. I noticed DYK Shipping but I'm in BC and know nothing about them.

*In a polite, Canadian way, of course.

[recped]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

I''m not sure how ChitChat got into the freight forwarding business, although they were quite aggressive* about advertising their service when they started out.

Their BC business was based on buying out bookstotheborder who had been in the freight forwarding business for a couple of decades, from a base in Vancouver, which was an excellent location since people are constantly being arrested for wandering across the border at the Vancouver checkpoint.

There are similar businesses in Montreal. I noticed DYK Shipping but I'm in BC and know nothing about them.

*In a polite, Canadian way, of course.

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The guy who started ChitChats was just a regular eBay seller who got started with the trans-border shipping thing just for his own stuff. After a couple of years he started offering the service to a few other sellers. After a few years of that he started to put more effort into the shipping thing than the eBay selling but just as ChitChats was starting to pick up steam he dropped dead. I believe his kids took over the business at that point and from there they expanded rapidly.

[richardcm]

Derek Nolan was the founder of Chit Chat Express. A search on the internet using "Derek Nolan chit chat" gives

https://chitchats.com/about

https://startupheretoronto.com/type/profiles/chit-chats-arrival-from-accidental-business-to-small-bi...

[travis7s]

Also in SK here. Would love an alternative but Canada Post Small Packet USA is pretty good really. Love the flexibility of flat rate size/weight, its cheap and remarkably fast quite often. Because of this I actually prefer having US sales compared to domestic.

[msmaggie060]

Exactly, I’m still within the GTA but at the North west corner. Too far to get to Chit Chats so would love a drop off point in the Newmarket/Aurora area.

[gorcoope_1]

My understanding is PUDO is going to be accepting shipments to the US & Canada at their 700 PUDOpoints across Canada. If a consortium of sellers got together and said they would use them, I bet they would provide exceptional pricing. They just announced a big partner