Hello folks! Happy Mother's Day. I promise not to post anything else about this after responding to the kind dinomitesales. @lotzofuniquegoodies post has garnered 2065 views in a week so thank you to you Lotz as well for your topic.
Hi @dinomitesales
Thank you for addressing me directly this time around and thank you for a pleasant debate. With your previous dealer employee experience you're only one with insider's knowledge. Your input is greatly appreciated! In less than 1 week Lotz's post has topped 2064 views and is likely a record setting topic. That said it's interesting how few comments are being posted. 2064 views and only 129 comments. I think it's because this impacts us all differently.
If stamps, coins, trading cards and comics were my niche I'd be concerned. Let's look at comics. Because of this I listed my first comic yesterday for $24.97. Two more today for $17.97 and $624.97. Frankly I'd rather stick with music (no pun intended) but I need some teeth. I'm not suggesting listing coins, stamps, comics and trading cards is easy. I respect all of our eBay veterans which is why I've done my research. These items require knowledge to list on eBay. As someone whose been in the music business and a music teacher since 1969 I can attest that there are a lot, a lot! of very fast learners out there. For example today within minutes I rec'd an offer of $475.00 for a Fantastic Four comic that's been in my closet for 50 years. I declined. The offer was one tooth short...
The Debate ( For Newcomers this is "windy". I'll try to caption things . If you don't want to read the retoric just read the captions..)
"If other businesses, organizations, and Canadians would like to have immediate access to a similar service then I'm sure they're welcome to negotiate terms with Canada Post as well, however I doubt their volume (or lack thereof, rather) would get them very far."
Response: In your previous post to his one you stated Canada Post has offered eBay a "volume discount" as they do with lots of other companies. I cannot agree that this is an isolated "normal volume discount" and here is why.
As a retired retail store owner my experience with volume discounts is extensive. To recieve one you need to purchase a large volume of a product that already exists. Expedited Lite is brand new & between eBay & CPC. It did not exist when this partnership started. Canada Post could not have offered a "volume discount" If something doesn't exist there can be no discount. No other company would have had the chance to participate. So that would make it make it a monopoly. That siad Canada Post could have offered eBay an "Introductory Discount". They would then have to offer that to all businesses to avoid a conflict of interest.
"they are introducing a limited number of 'Expedited Lite' parcels into the mail stream from all points in Canada. After a while they can run the numbers to see if they're losing money on these parcels, and if so, how much they need to increase the rate to make it viable, while also scaling it up. Or maybe they'll realize that the prices were more than enough, and can then either decrease the rates (or increase the weight threshold) to make the service even more attractive. This is just standard business practice."
Response: I addressed this before. Canada Post has run parcels across Canada for 155 years. They have a track record with Regular Parcel, Expedited Lite, and many other services including owning Purolator. Using today's technology and the countries brightest minds they shouldn't need *viability tests at this point in the game. If they wanted a trial run they could have used a government agency to avoid a conflict of interest.
"Companies like Shippo are more than welcome to approach Canada Post for a similar deal or access to 'Expedited Lite' service themselves. The Canadian market is just a small portion of Shippo's business so I doubt they even really cared, but maybe now that eBay is taking some of their business away they might look into it. Who knows."
Response: Thank you for bringing up Shippo. Some may think they don't count as they are not Canadian. There are also the side industries like Shipsurance being left behind. also Americans. I'll get to that. On the domestic side you omitted Fedex, UPS, and CanPar who all will have to compete with cross Canada $8 tracked shipping. There's the good folks down at the UPS store who would feel the pinch. Forget Purolator CPC owns them. This is not just about labels. There are all the small businesses that rely on Expedited Parcel and Standard Parcel to make a living. How will they compete with Expedited Lite "Only Available On Ebay"?
"Personally, I am unlikely to use the service much myself as untracked Lettermail is still cheaper"
Response: Thank you. You just hit the nail on the head. My May 9 post was
"Basically "Expedited Light" is designed purely to get people who use lettermail to stop using lettermail."
and that is why we are here today. The math is simple;
eBay Final Value fees on Lettermail = 0%
" " " " Expedited Lite = approx 12.5%
Some fees will be lost when sellers shift to Ex Lt. Marginal. Only on domestic shipments under 200 grams.
This is not about field testing a new mail service. This is about getting merchandise out of lettermail for profit. As you said, "no one is talking". It's a bed time story. A dream. There are no facts.
However this IS a HUGE opportunity for sellers to take advantage of the situation. List as many items as you can that qualify! This is a great shipping deal! Canada Post wants you to list. eBay wants you to list.
Oh, hello? sorry folks I have to take this call....
Hello? Hello? who's calling please? On no, it's other platforms, couriers and related businesses. Some are domestic and some international all calling Canada Post up for a "volume discount"!
I hope I'm wrong. Hello?... What? ...I'm not picking up. I need dental work. I need this opportunity.
I'm not picking up... Go away! Wait... I can hear their typewriters clacking away...
Best to ignore them as long as I can! List, list, list!. List more comics, stamps, coins and trading cards.. This is too good to be true! Don't look a gift horse in the mouth! Make hay while the sun shines. How many more old man slogans can this guy come up with? LOL...
To be clear I like eBay. I don't make any money but I like that it keeps me connected to the global music industry. eBay goes a long way to help us seniors weed through the rigors of getting old. eBay helps young people navigate the high cost of education. eBay helps single mom's and single dad's put food on family's tables. Canada needs this service. I support Expedited Lite, Canada Post and eBay. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt with respect. I don't think this monopoly was intentional. I just don't think they thought this completely through. I don't want this to go away but typewriters are clacking so take advantage of it because there is actually one fact.
One bonified FACT that could turn this gift into a bad dream...
*Canada's economy is not created domestically. We rely on foreign business to survive. There is something called the "Competition Act". I know nothing about it except what I hear on the news. Canadians are spending millions of tax dollars in court unravelling attempted mergers like Shaw, Rogers, Bell,Telus, Air Canada and on and on. You can decide for yourself if it has relevance. Thank you @dinomitesales for this chat with an old f**t. I have comics to list...
1. This Act may be cited as the Competition Act.
R.S., 1985, c. C-34, s. 1R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 19
PART I
Purpose and Interpretation
Purpose
Marginal note:Purpose of Act
1.1 The purpose of this Act is to maintain and encourage competition in Canada in order to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy, in order to expand opportunities for Canadian participation in world markets while at the same time recognizing the role of foreign competition in Canada, in order to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises have an equitable opportunity to participate in the Canadian economy and in order to provide consumers with competitive prices and product choices.
R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 19
BMerTmWU1!~~_7.JPG "lotzofuniquegoodies"){kind=avatar}
