Has Anyone Else Noticed Yet About Shipping Rates?

[roadripper905]

Hey everyone,

I have noticed over the past week that the shipping rates when creating a label through Paypal/ebay are the identical rates as Canada Post.

BUT, Paypal/ebay shows a "Small Business Rate".  Which is false!  As a regular customer with Canada Post (not Venture 1) the shipping rate will be identical.

This is false advertising, how can I go about reporting this without contacting them via phone.  Last time I did that, it was a 49 minutes conversation that charged me over $25 on my cell phone ~ I will NOT be experiencing that again.

I now feel helpless and taken advantage of.

I appreciate all the ebay offers to us as far as our market, but when they charge us our fees, FVF and Shipping, plus Paypal fees and then entice us with "Small Business Rate", does not cut the cheese for me and it is false advertising.

I PDF'd the pages for referencing.

Anyone else notice this at all???

Thnx :~)

[nonstopchatter]

No discount at the counter with venture one card unless its a trackable service.  That means no discount on Small Packet or Light Packet US or International.

[toff3]

Roadripper,

If you read my message, I didn't quite agree that eBay/PayPal is practicing false advertising but there is no doubt in my mind that when they call a postage rate that's the same for all customers a Small Business Rate they are misleading their clients.

As a matter of fact, a couple of years ago I complained to Vicenzo or Kalvin (I can't remember which) about this very point but of course he didn't address the issue (or pretended not to understand).

Contrary to PJ's assertion, Canada Post, on their Find-a-rate site, has never called any rate a Small Business Rate. They simply show a rate for Personal customers and a rate for Business Customers (aka VentureOne cardholders). These may or may not differ.

At the end of the day, I don't think it's worth getting worked up about. There are far more serious issues with the eBay shipping calculator, which as fas I'm concerned, is a total crock.

Tom

[roadripper905]

I do agree with everyone here who states that this is not a 'major' concern.  Yes Tom, the shipping calculator is a joke and that could use more attention to it rather than my OP.

But really, ebay has become so finite with their rules, regulations and stipulations that if they want perfection from us sellers then they too should provided perfection with their site and affliliated sites.

Perhaps its my OCD and my narrow minded vision only to see black and white.  I do understand that we all human.

If they want to monopolize us and make it look good - make it good and honest.  I personally hate stupid little unjust things like this.  One of my pet peeves I suppose?:|

Anyway - on with a more important topic I suppose like the banning of plastic bags in Toronto lol.

[2006balla]

I have noticed a small increase in the after discount price when using the paypal generate shipping label option with canada post. I mostly ship local about 3lb and seems like the after tax price have went up about 50 cents.



Never bothered to check how it was calculated or what % discount it was using. I'll start watching that to see if it's the same as the rates posted on canada post's site.



On a side note, has anybody tried getting an account with Canada Post with a 20-25% discount by telling them that you are getting the same using ebay/paypal ship tool to see if they can match?

[pocomocomputing]

If you are using Expedited Parcel, the rates change each month with adjustments to the fuel surcharge. It is not a constant price but a variable price. And it has gone done sometimes when fuel went down in price but it is rare to happen.

Most likely that is the reason for your price increase you saw.

The current month of June, the fuel surcharge went up 0.5% to 13.75% from 13.25% on June 4th. Over the past 4 months, it went up 1.25%

June 13.75%

May 13.25%

April 13.00%

Mar 12.50%

Here is the current rate, click on table in the page for history of past three months

http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/aboutus/news/fuel/default.jsf

[toff3]

The fuel surcharges listed by Pocomo apply to Express shipments, which, fortunately, do not include Expedited Parcels. The current fuel surcharge for the latter is a mere 8.75%. It was 7.50% in March, when the price of gas, in Ontario at least, was about the same as it is today. Go figure. 

The current fuel surcharge for Priority Worldwide shipments is nearly double, 16.50%. I guess Canada Post's fleet of jets or rocketships carrying PW mail around the world must use some special high-octane fuel like the Formula 1 race cars do.

As far as I know, Canada Post is the only postal administration in the world to levy a fuel surcharge on regular mail.

Another cash grab by Canada's "most trusted institution".

Tom

[pocomocomputing]

Oops, I misread the table as Expedited being Express and should know better. I had the page bookmarked and had not looked into the fuel surcharges in a long time.

Here is the corrected post from that Canada Post link. The percentage increases are still the same.

non-express rates

The current month of June, the fuel surcharge went up 0.5% to 8.75% from 8.25% on June 4th. Over the past 4 months, it went up 1.25%

June 8.75%

May 8.25%

April 8.00%

Mar 7.50%

[lmt.wilson]

I have been on Ebay for many year's , in my humble opinion the s/h rates are getting insane, seems many want to use "Priority"  because of insurance, hell, costs more that the item purchased, I  would gladly wave the insurance and think some should state that " When Mailed with Proof, talk to USPS or Canada Post!

now shop based on S/H charges!

All mail these days is traceable/trackable, look at the buyers/sellers feedback, if sketchy do the priority thing, offer options,  I cannot buy an item for $5,00 if the S/H is $20.00

Just me, a frustrated Ebayer who wants to buy things!!!! 

[piterpater005]

All mail these days is traceable/trackable

This statement is sadly incorrect.  The most affordable options are NOT trackable. 

Within Canada, all parcels are tracked however, you can't ship a parcel for less than about $10 any more, even a small one to yourself is close to that mark.

The cheapest option with tracking to Canada from the US starts at about $18 I believe (although that rate could have gone up).

Cheapest option with tracking to the US from Canada also starts at about $16 or $17.

lmt.....have you figured out that by sorting your search results with price plus shipping amount least first will give you the lowest TOTALS first?  Its a handy way to eliminate the stress of shipping.  You are after all, paying one price.

[Anonymous]

For roadripper or anyone when need to call anyone by phone, don't use cell phone, use landline phone and use the 1-800 or toll free phone number as it will be charged to Canada Post if you call and even for 45 mnutes, it will be all on Canada Post's phone bill! 

Whenever I need to call to make complaints or whatever, I always use the toll-free phone numbers and always have patience as I don't mind if it was taking too long as long it will NOT ding on my phone bill!  I usually have something else to keep me company while I am put on hold, etc.  Smile 😉

Better than on your cell phone bills!! ]:)

[pocomocomputing]

All mail these days is traceable/trackable

This statement is sadly incorrect.  The most affordable options are NOT trackable. 

Within Canada, all parcels are tracked however, you can't ship a parcel for less than about $10 any more, even a small one to yourself is close to that mark.

The cheapest option with tracking to Canada from the US starts at about $18 I believe (although that rate could have gone up).

Cheapest option with tracking to the US from Canada also starts at about $16 or $17.

lmt.....have you figured out that by sorting your search results with price plus shipping amount least first will give you the lowest TOTALS first?  Its a handy way to eliminate the stress of shipping.  You are after all, paying one price.

Use PayPal shipping and get 20-25% off Expedited Parcel Canada and USA. This is significant savings.

Shipping using PayPal shipping discounts for Expedited Parcel Canada from Vancouver to Montreal for a 750 gram small package is under $10. To myself, $6.26.

To the USA, Expedited Parcel is under $15 to many states with PayPal discounts.

For items that go Lettermail within Canada, you use stamps. Consider getting discounted postage stamps at up to 35% off face value. You can also use stamps for USA and International Letter-post, Light Packet and Small Packet and save up to 35% in postage costs.  The trade off in using discounted postage is time versus $$$ saving. It takes more time to fill out the manual CN22 form and put on the stamps.

Google search "discount postage Canada" to find sellers of discount postage in Canada.The seller I use is in Kingston.

So using a combination of PayPal Shipping with 20-25% discount and discounted postage with up to 35% discount lets you ship at the lowest shipping cost possible with Canada Post.

If you are in the Vancouver area, consider shipping with USPS through bookstotheborder. In the Toronto area, consider shipping with USPS through chitchatsexpress. You ship with lower USPS rates and low cost DC and the faster delivery time for USA customers. I do beleive that chitchatsexpress also has flat rate Expedited Parcel shipping across Canada at a lower cost than PayPal shipping.

There are ways to reduce shipping costs.

[pocomocomputing]

To the USA, Expedited Parcel is under $15 to many states with PayPal discounts.

Note that this was for a 500 gram package and maybe a 1 kg package.

Be careful with Expedited Parcel since it use Dimensional Weight.  A package can weight under 1 kg but the box size will make it ship at the 1.5 or 2 kg rate if the dimensions are big.

DW = L (cm) x W (cm) x H (cm) / 6000

Look at how a simple 1 cm increase in a dimension can increase the cost of shipping

Box 1 DW = 30 x 20 x 10 / 6000 = 1.0 kg

Box 2 DW = 30 x 20 x 11 / 6000 = 1.1 kg

So if the item packaged in a box weighs 0.8 kg, you would expect it to ship at the 1 kg rate. For box 1 that is true. The DW is the same as the shipping rate class. For box 2, the DW will override the actual weight and it will ship in the 1.5 kg weight break.

So a larger box can cost you shipping $$$. You can check the DW of any box empty, it never changes. Thus you can perhaps choose the smaller box when possible to make sure you do not pay for DW.

Small Packet is a more simple system since it does not use dimensional weight. It uses the weight of the package only and has to fall under the 250 g, 500 g or 1 kg  (or 2 kg Int'l) weight breaks for best rates. Boxes do have to be under the Small Packet maximum dimension rules.

[carguy44]

Poco, I had first hand experience with DW yesterday.  Sold a number of items in the same size and weight range recently. 

However,  there was one exception though,  which was about 2.5 times the dimensions of the other packages,  even though the weight was only about .4 kg heavier than the smaller packages. 

When I invoiced the buyer,  I used the weight only,  but when I went to print out the shipping label,  the light bulb went on.  Using the DW,  the dimensions moved the item into the 8.5kg range (up from 1.3kg).  Bottom line; shipping cost increased from $22 ish to over $43. 

Good thing that I sold the item for a good price,  as I had to absorb the extra cost.  Good lesson to learn though.

[killerfoxx]

Id be really more concerned about my contract with the phone company 😉

[reallynicestamps]

Just because a product is called by two names with no changes in the product, does not make it either illegal or misleading.

If I go to the store and ask for Kleenex and the clerk gives me Scotties- how am I being cheated?

It could be argued that if a person were looking to mail a package to the USA and was thinking "this is a birthday present for my sister" , she might go to the Personal rate card on canadapost.ca. If she were thinking "this goes to that repeat customer in Tucson" she might go to the Business rate card.

She'd get the same price and the same service, but using two names makes it easier for her to find the product she needs.

[mikeyc3001]

I just noticed the increase in shipping this last weekend.

I have been shipping several items using canada post small packet USA Air for boxes under 500g, and it only costs $7.91.  But after this weekend, the price has increased to $10.10 for the same packages.

This is the same price as going to the post office myself.

There are no longer any discounts and no explanations, I will have to increase the shipping costs for all my future items which will obviously decrease the amount of sales.

[piterpater005]

$7.61 is the rate for shipping small packet air under 250g.  $10.10 is the rate for 250-500g.  Could it be that your other parcels were less than 250g?  You don't get a discount on small packet with venture one at the counter and I don't think that you get a discount with paypal either.

[pocomocomputing]

$7.61 is the rate for Small Packet USA Air 0 to 250 grams.

$10.10 is the rate for Small Packet USA Air 251-500 grams.

The rates have not increased since Jan 2012. They will increase in Jan 2013.

You have made some kind of mistake in the weight of your packages.
 

How did you ship? Did you bring to the post office or use PayPal?

[pocomocomputing]

There are no discounts for Small Packet or Light Packet with PayPal shipping.

The seller made a mistake with the weight somehow.

Do you have a postal scale to weigh your items at home to use PayPal shipping?

Did you enter in the correct weight in the eBay Sell Your Item form? Here is a common mistake for new sellers. I assume you are a new seller.

When you use Research Rates in the Sell Your Item form to put in shipping rates, the default weight is 500 grams. So your eBay listing will use Small Packet Air USA 500 grams for calculated shipping. When you go to ship with PayPal and use the correct weight of the item, if it is under 250 grams, it will ship at 250 gram class and look like you got a discount when you did not.

In the Sell Your Item form when you use Research weights, at the end of the list of weight is Custom weight. Use that to research rates.

Or know your Canada Post weight breaks and do not use Research Rates.

Many mistakes with the shipping calculator and rates are due to a misunderstanding of how the Canad Post rates work.

[pocomocomputing]

$7.61 is the rate for Small Packet USA Air 0 to 250 grams.

$10.10 is the rate for Small Packet USA Air 251-500 grams.

The rates have not increased since Jan 2012. They will increase in Jan 2013.

You have made some kind of mistake in the weight of your packages.
 

How did you ship? Did you bring to the post office or use PayPal?

I suppose I should say change instead of increase above for 2013. With the dropping of included $100 insurance and the introduction of the Tracked Packet service, there is a chance that Small Packet Air will not increase and may even decrease.  Unlikely but I guess I cannot say there will be an increase for certain for Small Packet USA Air.