Chit Chat Express Shipping....

[towertreasuretrove]

So I had my first experience with Chit Chat Shipping. I finally looked them up after a Canada Post quote for a light but high volume package came out to $35.00. I realized they were nearby(Mississauga) and thought I'd try it. I registered on-line, printed out the label and it cost me only $12.00 CAN to ship USPS First Class with Tracking. Are you kidding me? I thought for sure there is going to be catch or a problem.  The package got there (California!) in 3 days...and the lady and the counter was very nice.  And their online tracking page was much better and more detailed than CP's. So...no more ignoring high volume or heavy items that I know I can resell. If you're lucky enough to be near one....

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Yes, CCE is a good deal to use for larger/heavier sales. I usually use them if I have a shipment where the difference in shipping is $15 or more (so that I can justify the gas and time to drive there).

[teenytrinkets]

I live in the Vancouver area, and I have a ChitChats that's about 30 - 40 mins away.  Gas prices are sooo high here, so it's at least $10 - 15 to make the trip there and back.  So I'd have to have a considerable number of sales to make regular trips financially viable.

I've thought about shipping with ChitChats because I have some VERY heavy magazines and books that are rare - and I could send via media mail in the US, which is quite cheap.  I am not sure how well these items would sell, but I could certainly sell them for a better price shipping USPS - and tracked.

The only thing stopping me from trying it out is that I fear the shipping delays would hurt my seller feedback.  There is no way I can go to ChitChats every day - so shipping delays could be up to 3-4 business days.  Right now I ship same-day or next day, my packages arrive VERY quickly to the US - and my seller feedback reflects that.  Not sure the delays would justify the shipping savings.

Anyone else in the Vancouver area have some feedback on the ChitChats here, and any experience shipping media mail?

[hlmacdon]

If you want to dip your toes, sell them on .com separately (then you can have the appropriate mailing service specified with the correct estimates/customer expectations) and set your handling time to reflect how long you need to buffer for your time to get to CCE. This way you are managing customer expectations as best you can as US buyers tend to heavily look at the estimated delivery dates when making a purchase. Anything more than a 2 business day handling time tends to hurt sales to the US but YMMV depending on the category and relative scarcity of the item.

Most of the feedback about CCE seems pretty positive, just remember to buffer for how long it takes them to process shipments as well. I know in the past they've taken up to a few business days to get product over the border depending on their cutoffs. You need a certain level of volume to make it worthwhile to use a forwarder regularly or simply do the process yourself given transportation costs.

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

I tell all of my buyers that it takes 2-4 weeks for their books to arrive. I know it usually takes less than that. I do set 5 business day handling time because my "real" full time job doesn't allow me to ship fast. I dunno if it hurts my sales because I have been using 5 business days for a long time...

As for actual experience with CCE (I'm in Vancouver as well) I find that US items tend to arrive within 4-7 business days. 1-4 weeks for international.

[fairaday]

Been looking into using Chit Chats and getting ALL the info I can before offering shipping to US.  Will give them a call to ask specifics, but wondering if any of your US buyers have ever been slapped with a customs/taxes bill at the door when you've shipped via Chit Chats? Thanks for your help.

[recped]

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@fairaday wrote:

Been looking into using Chit Chats and getting ALL the info I can before offering shipping to US.  Will give them a call to ask specifics, but wondering if any of your US buyers have ever been slapped with a customs/taxes bill at the door when you've shipped via Chit Chats? Thanks for your help.

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No! It can never happen, US buyers are allowed to import up to US$800 per shipment free of any tax or duty.

ChitChat will not accept any shipments that exceed a value of US$800.

[marnotom!]

Belated happy birthday, two year-old thread!

[kh-leslie]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies.  Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thanks for understanding!