Getting Ready for Canada Post Strike

[john_koenig99]

So, I spoke today with my trusty CP delivery guy. He delivered my order from Japan (the one that was stuck at Customs in Vancouver for over a week, but it turned out was released and sent forward- not showing in the tracking), and mentioned that the strike is almost a certainty, according to the union.

How's everybody preparing? I went quite cautiously, and decided to take time away as of today. And to monitor the situation day by day, to see how the conflict evolves (and to see what Carney and his combo will do to handle it).

[mrdutch1001]

As stated in another thread, this is the way it goes for me a casual seller wherein this is slow time of year anyway..."As I utilize auction format for my listings vs fixed price format; I am currently allowing my listings to end and am not relisting but this is not due to any possible postal disruptions, but is due to the current issue with the estimated delivery times>eBay has yet to get that fixed so until that problem gets sorted out, I won't relist as extending the handling time, utilizing economy vs standard shipping does not extend the estimated delivery times to an acceptable time frame."

[musicyouneed]

I put myself on time away as of May 12/25.  Last strike I had several stuck in the mail and didn't want to take any chances this time.  I am hoping this gets resolved quickly as I had my best month last month in a while.  

[ricarmic]

I too shut down on the 12th, I was going to shut down June 1 for summer holidays, so I just backed it up a couple weeks and will hope that by September things are stabilzed on several fronts by then!!!!

[dinomitesales]

I switched the shipping policy on all my listings to a "strike specific" shipping policy that uses calculated UPS shipping within Canada and the USA, and buyers in other countries will see "contact seller for shipping options". I also excluded PO Boxes in this shipping policy.

I also added a disclaimer to the top off all my item descriptions saying:

Shipping Update: With a Canada Post strike imminent or occurring, I'm currently using UPS for all orders. If the shipping seems pricey, feel free to message me - there may be cheaper courier options available to your location!

This encourages potential buyers to reach out if the UPS shipping cost seems prohibitive, and I can see if there might be a cheaper option with a different courier not integrated directly with eBay (ICS for example).

I expect sales volume to drop, but at least I can keep selling.

I imagine pretty much all my "Lettermail-eligible" items will sit unsold until the strike is over, but UPS parcel rates through eBay can be comparable to Canada Post parcel rates for many desitinations (mainly large cities and the like).

[cottagewoman]

I created rate tables based on Stallion Express courier availability to each Canadian zone as eBay provided in a spreadsheet with reference postal codes. Turned off PO box, and US/International shipping, so domestic only. Dribbling a bit back onto my .com store of items that are non Chinese and have clear CoO markings which, unfortunately, aren't that many

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

UPS calculated shipping for everything. I will lower the price of items that I can by about $10-$20 to account for the increase in cost. I previously offered free shipping. You NEED to use calculated shipping for UPS because there is no price ceiling to rely on like with Canada Post and flat rate boxes, or Tracked Packet.

My lettermail items are "soft-removed". Meaning, they are still technically available for purchase, but nobody is going to pay an additional $20 for a lettermail tier item. Last time around, I would still get a purchase here or there, because there is less competition and there is the rare person who simply wants to have something even if it makes no sense price wise. My point in keeping the listings up isn't to market to those people, I just find it easier from an organizational standpoint than ending my listings and having to re-list in a month or two if/when this ends.

For anybody using UPS, you may want to pre-emptively sign up for something called "on route pickups". Last time around, UPS stopped picking up orders from people who made on-demand pickups. On route pickups cost me about $8 a week and they still picked up. I don't need pickups this time around, because my inventory has grown substantially and is now held offsite at a "secure" location that is very close to a UPS store. But if I still needed residential pickups, I would bite the bullet and sign up for on route pickups using the UPS website. 

[flipistics]

I turned off PO Boxes and have set my pricing using rate tables based on Sendle's rates.

[edubb101]

Hello,

Hopefully there will be a solution but if not than I'll be doing what I did during the last strike over the holiday period.  That was simply to take the order and message the buyer if they were ok with waiting once operations resumed.   I had 41 sales during the holiday strike period.  Two canceled and the other 39 were fulfilled once operations resumed with zero issues.  I also shipped right up until the last day before the strike.  I was comfortable with orders being stuck in the system as my handling times were adjusted to reflect the current situation.  Again zero issues.

At the end of the day do what works best for you.

Wishing everyone nothing but the best!  

[bluedaisyclippings]

I've been loading my store as fast as I can. I want to spend the strike revising old listings and creating new ones but I won't be able to unless I keep my store open? I'm thinking starting now, until the strike, I'll keep it open but ask buyers to wait or refund. After the strike starts, if I keep my shipping Canada Post only, then people can't buy because Canada Post will  be removed? Neither FedEx or UPS work for me if the ebay calculator is to be believed. (today $16 to Switzerland vs $77 FedEx the only other option) I fiddled with USA shipping for my usual packages and it was way too expensive also.

[reallynicestamps]

Last winter I just cancelled relists on my About to Close listings and had no problems.

Doing that daily also allowed me to reconsider some of those listings, deleting some, raising prices on others.

I also dropped a lot of Promoted Listings, so they would not get any bump in Search and stopped sending Best Offers until things settled down.

Nov/Dec like May/June is not a busy period for me.

[cottagewoman]

I wish rate tables has 1 more tranche between 0-500g. Some of the courier rates below 500g are about 30-40% less than 1kg.

[flipistics]

---

@cottagewoman wrote:
I wish rate tables has 1 more tranche between 0-500g. Some of the courier rates below 500g are about 30-40% less than 1kg.

---

Better would be to be able to set our own break points.

[byto253]

Back on time away just as I was about to ramp up listings.   I will end the low value stuff that only Canada Post makes feasible, then extend the shipping handling times on everything else so that I can time it to make 1 or 2 trips to a Chitchat drop off spot.  

Also since I will use Chitchats I will only be listing items where the country of origin is obvious.  I have some turntable and audio parts from units that were made in Germany and Japan but the individual items I am selling are not marked as such.  I would include information about the turntable they came from to show the COO but with the hassle Chitchats has had at the border, and the volume surge they will get from a strike I am going to keep it really clean.  I also have plenty of items to list that are clear cut.  

[cottagewoman]

In the same boat with audio component parts - moved them all to the .CA store which now has US shipping off until VP starts again

[transtraders]

Last time I ended or adjusted all items that had CP feasible shipping rates applied (I use flat rates and sell only on .com). Everything else was shipped via UPS through NetParcel for the most part. I also extended my handling time just to give me some more buffer on estimated delivery times, just in case. Also I added a blurb into all my item descriptions to warn customers about the shipping disruption and that most orders would be shipped via UPS.

Its such a headache though, I was hoping our new Prime Minister would get the 2 sides at least talking, so we can get a deal done ASAP, but its not looking good.

[sapphyres-designer-jewellery]

---

@john_koenig99 wrote:

So, I spoke today with my trusty CP delivery guy. He delivered my order from Japan (the one that was stuck at Customs in Vancouver for over a week, but it turned out was released and sent forward- not showing in the tracking), and mentioned that the strike is almost a certainty, according to the union.

How's everybody preparing? I went quite cautiously, and decided to take time away as of today. And to monitor the situation day by day, to see how the conflict evolves (and to see what Carney and his combo will do to handle it).

---

I'm currently on time away while recovering from surgery (but I was reading the forum on my phone, just not up to typing replies).

My partner suggested taking all my Canada Post type items (postcards and stamps) and increase postage to whatever tracked costs (the same cost to mail a coin/token), and if someone buys it, send it tracked with USPS, if someone complains about the price of shipping, explain about the strike (and that shipping will come down when Canada Post is back).

And of course block Canada on the dot com store as well, until this is over. The Canada store (this account) will remain closed until the strike is over.

C.