For CD's the postal rates are going up Jan 13 2025

[musicyouneed]

Providing Canada post is back to work by then.  I just checked and the rate is going up from $3.19 to $4.29 for 100 to 200 grams and from $4.44 to $5.98 for 200 to 300 grams on Jan 13, 2025.  That is a 35% increase.  So make sure you adjust your business policies, that is a big jump, plus you will be paying more in tax too. 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

If you have a predictable volume, it might be a good idea to buy a substantial amount of P stamps before the price increase. If you do not want to use a discount postage reseller, you could always buy in bulk at Costco. They sell P stamps for 5 percent off. That would be $94 dollars per $100 instead of $137. That is a significant difference. For high volume lettermail sellers who use a few thousand stamps a year, stocking up early could save you thousands. 

[flipistics]

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@musicyouneed wrote:

Providing Canada post is back to work by then.  I just checked and the rate is going up from $3.19 to $4.29 for 100 to 200 grams and from $4.44 to $5.98 for 200 to 300 grams on Jan 13, 2025.  That is a 35% increase.  So make sure you adjust your business policies, that is a big jump, plus you will be paying more in tax too. 

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Here's the link for anyone wondering:

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/doc/en/support/LM-01-2025-e.pdf

IMO Canada Post is doing this wrong. Most of their cost is labour which is primarily a fixed cost. They need to be charging more for the base cost and having less of a scale as the weight increases.  Treat all letters equally and start them at $2 for up to 100g. Add something like 50 cents per each additional hundred grams up to 1kg.

Since CP has a monopoly on lettermail, they should also be looking at boosting the lettermail volume. Increasing the allowed thickness to 3cm would be a good start. Adding a partially tracked option for an extra $1 or $2 would also make sense to boost revenue (like what the USPS did with the eBay standard envelope), except make it an option on all letters for a SMALL fee. Tracking would only be between post offices and would be automatic.

As for taxes on it, if you're a business you can get a GST/HST number (and/or provincial number) which basically eliminates that as a concern.

[fergua3]

CP charges for lettermail what the gov't says they can charge.   They don't have control of the pricing, only for packages.

In my view, the rate increase should be delayed by an amount equal to the length of the strike.  Selllers have missed out for weeks now on the lower rates.  The strike is 100% not our fault and we have (will have) suffered enough from it.

[flipistics]

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@fergua3 wrote:

CP charges for lettermail what the gov't says they can charge.   They don't have control of the pricing, only for packages.

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Right, but they make the proposals to the government which then decides whether or not to okay them.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Yes, GST registration is very important. This is good advice. 

If someone only sells on platforms like eBay/Etsy)Amazon, etc - there is no downside to registering because those platforms charge the GST regardless.

So it's not like before where not registering was a competitive advantage on eBay because you didn't have to charge the tax and thus your products could be cheaper. There is no downside now. Not registering is throwing away money.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@flipistics wrote:

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@musicyouneed wrote:

Providing Canada post is back to work by then.  I just checked and the rate is going up from $3.19 to $4.29 for 100 to 200 grams and from $4.44 to $5.98 for 200 to 300 grams on Jan 13, 2025.  That is a 35% increase.  So make sure you adjust your business policies, that is a big jump, plus you will be paying more in tax too. 

---

Here's the link for anyone wondering:

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/doc/en/support/LM-01-2025-e.pdf

IMO Canada Post is doing this wrong. Most of their cost is labour which is primarily a fixed cost. They need to be charging more for the base cost and having less of a scale as the weight increases.  Treat all letters equally and start them at $2 for up to 100g. Add something like 50 cents per each additional hundred grams up to 1kg.

Since CP has a monopoly on lettermail, they should also be looking at boosting the lettermail volume. Increasing the allowed thickness to 3cm would be a good start. Adding a partially tracked option for an extra $1 or $2 would also make sense to boost revenue (like what the USPS did with the eBay standard envelope), except make it an option on all letters for a SMALL fee. Tracking would only be between post offices and would be automatic.

As for taxes on it, if you're a business you can get a GST/HST number (and/or provincial number) which basically eliminates that as a concern.

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@flipistics 

The 3 cm idea is a nice thought in principle but not gonna happen. It would involve updating 10's of thousands of community mailboxes and even those gizmos we all have and use. Anything CP considers oversized like big bubble mailers has to be processed by hand. Some can probably be sorted by current equipment but if it can't be read then it will need the human touch. More hands involved, more costs.  I just wish they wouldn't have increased the small prepaid box so fast. If they could have lowered the cost instead and made it more economical, that would have been a great help to many. 

[reallynicestamps]

More important than the slots on the boxes, is that all the machinery would have to be recalibrated.
And some postal sizing is crowd sourced (for want of a better term) by the Universal Postal Union.

I just wish they wouldn't have increased the small prepaid box so fast.

Agreed.

And have it a reasonable shape too. I understand the "coffeemug" shape, but a "book" shape would be useful.

[ypdc_dennis]

The proposed rates for January.  The increase from current rates will be 25%

[rocketscollectibles]

Canada post is gonna crash. With the strike most people figured out alternative options (and better ones). You can ship a box tracked via chitchats for as low as $5. And they wanna charge us $7+ for untracked 2cm 500g lettermail. What a joke

[chicweb]

I'm 100% sure we will see dropoffs appearing in a LOT of places in 2025 for ChitChat.

This is a gold mine for them. If they play their cards well, we might see them around for a very long time.

[mrdutch1001]

Not everyone has the option to use ChitChats>that option only available in those larger cities that have outlets, so users of ChitChats only make up a portion of the total. Not everyone has the option to use Stallion and many of the other alternatives have way higher shipping costs that do not render them a long term solution. There is a huge number of Canadians who rely on Canada Post.

I may agree that Canada Post will have lost a great number of customers, but a large percentage of customers will still be reliant upon Canada Post. There is very little competitive option to lettermail/oversize lettermail for a large percentage of Canada Post users.

[john_koenig99]

I'm not sure if its really a huge number of Canadians that rely on CP. I would think is rather small, unless you have solid statistics to back that up. 

What is true is that their current model is obsolete, and the union is fighting tooth and nail to keep in the the XX century, while the planet is fast and well into the XXI. 

[fh991586]

You don't need solid statistics to back that up (yourself don't provide any as a rebutal). Just check how many outlets Chitchat have and where they are located, while CP is present in every localities, even remote ones.

[teenytrinkets]

Yeah, this is the main factor for me.i have to drive 30 mins round trip to a ChitChats, and my local postal outlets is a few minutes from my house, and I have a red mailbox a short walk away. Time is money. Distance is gas money.

That said, ChitChats is a nice option to have for some larger parcels, and the special trip would pay for itself. But it's not feasible for most as an every day solution.

[teenytrinkets]

There is zero alternative to o/s lettermail with CP. And they know it (that's why they keep increasing the price of lettermail). It's still the cheapest way to ship small, inexpensive items within Canada, and IMO - the best way to maintain a competitive edge.

[teenytrinkets]

Yeah, another reason why it will never happen is they want to discourage the use of lettermail for shipping goods. Increasing the size would have the opposite result. They just need to expand their expedited lite to all customers. After they fix the sizing/volumetric weight bug, that is! Lol

[regs43]

I am using Chit Chats right now, its a 40 min drive one way (becasue the road to get to it is horrid in Ottawa) lol. So 1h20 mins to do that 2 times a week right now. I want sales but when CP is back I would return to them as its 8min walk to the PO lol (plus people don't like the extra postage cost for low value items). Sure the 3.92+tax+fuel with tracking is a great rate to Toronto from here but the 1h-1h20 drive to get that rate, not so much

If the Location was closer to where I work and or open on a weekend when I usually am in the area and not making a special trip then I might consider staying with them full time for some of my shipping

[darak10]

wow, all the customers who complained about shipping prices before are sure going to love this. 

it just keeps getting better and better doesnt it - wonder what the next bomb is going to be. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@darak10 wrote:

wow, all the customers who complained about shipping prices before are sure going to love this. 

it just keeps getting better and better doesnt it - wonder what the next bomb is going to be. 

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@darak10 

Wonder if they will maybe put a temporary freeze on increases under the circumstances or full speed ahead?