Hey eBay - we need a new Canadian shipping logistics model NOW

[cottagewoman]

The U.S. and China are the leading sources of online purchases by Canadians. Canada is at 1/40th of that volume, behind Germany and Japan. Before Liberation Day e-commerce purchases by Canadians was estimated to hit 109 billion by 2029.

Canada Post is a gamble going forward and their pricing is prohibitive to enable micro and small businesses to compete. No wonder a high percentage of eBay sales on .ca go to the US when shipping a 250g item costs a bit under 7.00 via Canada Post to Florida but shipping to a rural Canadian address costs at least twice as much with a tracked shipping service.

There is a new game across the country of courrier services that are much more affordable, and some serve rural areas. This isn't 2018 any more - we need your help, as Canadian sellers who NEED to sell domestically with possible upcoming changes to US import policies, to make our own market viable. Canada Post cannot be the only solution you offer your sellers.

Front end resellers of the courrier services (like Stallion Express) could be enlisted to manage interfaces to the eBay API to bring on board purchasing labels on the eBay platform.

As well models of local drop-off points with retailer storefronts, etc, much like the European courrier services work, need to be developed so the process can work for all Canadians. First steps could be to use the front end drop off points of companies like Stallion.

The world is rapidly changing - you're footing as an e-commerce platform is shifting under you like quicksand. Help us out, and we'll help you out.

[cottagewoman]

As well, companies like Stallion Express need to be leveraged for affordable international shipping destinations. As the US market disappears to us sellers, we need to be able to be competitive in the global stage.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

This is spot on. 

Some sort of direct integration with Stallion could be a game changer if eBay used their volume to make deals with more mainstream drop spots. An example I made in previous posts is how I can drop an Amazon return at Circle K (convenient store in my city with locations everywhere).

[mrdutch1001]

"I can drop an Amazon return at Circle K (convenient store in my city with locations everywhere)."

and???

I can have and have had Amazon returns picked up at my door. Now THAT is a convenience!

[cottagewoman]

This is exactly my point. Amazon takes each market it enters seriously - they aren't the leader in ecommerce by using a model from the last decade. Yes they do much of their own fulfillment and leverage the FBA program for 3rd party sellers, but you don't need warehouses to bring speedy affordable shipping anymore. You need intelligence and an overview of what is available in each market for delivery logistics. eBay needs to come ahead a decade in Canada and fast.  Recently in Quebec Amazon closed ALL of its warehouses and distribution centers.  Did they stop selling in Quebec or move everything through CP?  Nope - they're using all the various courriers to move the product within about the same delivery times.  From warehouses outside the province.  Nobody is happy about it believe me, but they had a plan and are still doing business in Quebec.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@ilikehockeyjerseys wrote:

This is spot on. 

Some sort of direct integration with Stallion could be a game changer if eBay used their volume to make deals with more mainstream drop spots. An example I made in previous posts is how I can drop an Amazon return at Circle K (convenient store in my city with locations everywhere).

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@ilikehockeyjerseys 

Stallion currently has approximately 20 locations (drop points) accross Canada. It would require major added infrastucture to make this work. That would mean the will and investment plus staffing for pick ups and drop offs. Circle K has 2100 (only 20 in Calgary - my closest is not convenient) stores  across Canada and would have to have the staff to operate and have the space to hold shipments securely. Might work fine in a large city but not so well in rural setting. Canada has approx. 5200 communities. Remove multiple locations and that lowers the 2100 locations substantially.

This is why reliable deliveries and pick ups in some parts of Canada are challenging. Canada has the monopoly and the infrastructure....for now. Are you thinking of drop spots for sellers but nothing in the way of pick ups for customers? Canada to USA & Internationally. For something like that to work it would need to be a comprehensive package arrangement.

[cottagewoman]

Get eBay and someone like Stallion to start working out solutions - delivery should be to the door whenever possible, drop off locations for sellers (UK courriers have drop spots all over the country, not just big chain stores but corner groceries, etc). ICS/dragonfly Courrier serves 90% of Canadian addresses for delivery. If lil ol me can see possibilities, why can't eBay? My initial post was just suggestions not solutions. You would think a company like eBay with their worldwide reach could solve this kind of problem.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@cottagewoman wrote:

Get eBay and someone like Stallion to start working out solutions - delivery should be to the door whenever possible, drop off locations for sellers (UK courriers have drop spots all over the country, not just big chain stores but corner groceries, etc). ICS/dragonfly Courrier serves 90% of Canadian addresses for delivery. If lil ol me can see possibilities, why can't eBay? My initial post was just suggestions not solutions. You would think a company like eBay with their worldwide reach could solve this kind of problem.

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20 years ago there were a multitude of choices for shipping in and from Canada. They have all been slowly merged over time. Unfortunately this hasn't improved the situation. Competition tends to bring down price. Less competition causes it to go up. That is what we see and have now. Also what happens when you have to put all your eggs in 1 basket.  

As for what eBay is working on behind the scenes is anyone's guess....re: merge with Etsy rumours. Sadly makes 1 wonder how long before eBay gets eaten up and spit out by Amazon. Now there is a delightful thought for the day. 

[cottagewoman]

If eBay could capture 10% of the projected e-commerce spending of Canadians that would mean ~10 billion USD. The way things are going eBay is going to need to find ways to make every domestic market work to their advantage, as the US market is becoming such a hot mess. Do they have the vision to foresee this? Who knows. But at least they could go down fighting and trying - they have a large user base worldwide, leverage it, bring it together. Once all the titans fall, the innovators and inspired hard working entrepreneurs will still be there to pick up the pieces and prosper.

[recped]

I would not want to be involved in anything to do with logistics if eBay is part of the arrangement. They are clueless in that area and it has been demonstrated countless times.

[cottagewoman]

US eBay just resells labels through Pitney Bowes for USPS and has arrangements with FedEx and UPS. I'm suggesting something like those arrangements in Canada but with someone who IS a true logistics provider - that's why I mentioned Stallion which is visible to the end user (seller) - I know there are many other logistics providers working at levels not visible to the general public. The point is that the status quo isn't sustainable with all the eggs in the CP basket as Lotz rightly pointed out. It's flat out stupid to let all of that domestic business go by the wayside and be lost when some deals could be made that will look at taking it seriously, not just relying on the US market to prop up the Canadian seller. Just like the Federal government is looking to bolster both internal and other Intl markets, so should eBay. The writing is hugely scrawled on the wall in shouting chartreuse graffiti that the US market ship is sailing away. Not just for Canada, but for the rest of the world.

[marnotom!]

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@cottagewoman wrote:

You would think a company like eBay with their worldwide reach could solve this kind of problem.

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eBay as a brand may have worldwide reach, but it would be pretty much solely up to eBay Canada to negotiate these sorts of deals, and we’ve figured out by now that the Canadian eBay subsidiary is a backwater operation compared to the US mothership, not to mention eBay subsidiaries based in larger markets such as the UK and Germany.

If we’re going to compare national eBay sites, I’d say Australia would be the most apt comparison. Australia has two-thirds of Canada’s population concentrated in geographically extreme portions of a country just over three-quarters the size of ours. It largely exports primary resources to China and other Asian countries similarly to how many of our main exports are primary resources going to the United States.

Given how we’re still largely viewed globally as “hewers of wood and drawers of water,” I don’t think there’s much we can do to make our non-resource based merchandise stand out, particularly when most Canadian eBay sellers are selling merchandise that was produced elsewhere.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@recped wrote:

I would not want to be involved in anything to do with logistics if eBay is part of the arrangement. They are clueless in that area and it has been demonstrated countless times.

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Sadly that is soooooo true it's scary!!!!

[mrdutch1001]

agreed!...eBayCanada does not put any priority into advancement, logical thinking, fixing things that have been broken for years, so I wouldn't  expect eBay Canada to come through with such a "logical" solution...

[brettjet38]

Nice ideas and thoughts, but we are still waiting for our exceptional increased amount on the MIA shipping supplies coupon for April...

Or

The fixed combined shipping calculator for the Buyers so that they can pay without inflated shipping costs...

[cottagewoman]

All of the IT problems could be solved if eBay would unify their codebase core for all localizations and have an API to do the country specific side for each jurisdiction. Making changes to the Canadian shipping is a matter of working with a partner other than CP to put real solutions in place. That is doable within a realistic timeframe, getting better code working will probably never happen.

[marnotom!]

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@cottagewoman wrote:

The U.S. and China are the leading sources of online purchases by Canadians. Canada is at 1/40th of that volume, behind Germany and Japan. Before Liberation Day e-commerce purchases by Canadians was estimated to hit 109 billion by 2029.

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A big part of the fact that Canada's volume of online purchases is so low comparatively speaking is because there's a far smaller number of Canadian online vendors than there are ones from the US, China, Germany, and Japan.  Less expensive shipping options, while nice, aren't going to fix that.

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@cottagewoman wrote:

Canada Post is a gamble going forward and their pricing is prohibitive to enable micro and small businesses to compete. No wonder a high percentage of eBay sales on .ca go to the US when shipping a 250g item costs a bit under 7.00 via Canada Post to Florida but shipping to a rural Canadian address costs at least twice as much with a tracked shipping service.

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But remember that buyer in Florida might have the option of purchasing from a US seller with cheaper shipping than the Canadian seller.  Why would that buyer go with a Canadian seller instead?

Also consider, an alternative to Canada Post may not do the last mile to that rural address and Canada Post would end up doing it anyway and the rural buyer would have to pay a premium to the alternative carrier for the privilege.