International Parcel Air

[around_again_records]

Hi everyone: It's been awhile, but I have a question

When I try to calculate shipping at the Canada Post website for a parcel 35 x 35 x 10 cm weighing 3.5 kg. to ship to China,  I get prices for:

Priority

Xpress Post

International Parcel Surface

I'm wondering why International Parcel Air does not show up. Priority is out of the question. Xpress Post sounds good but still pretty expensive & I won't send halfway around the world by Surface.

When I look at International Parcel Air, it looks like it should be a choice. The dimensions are within spec as is the weight and I'm sure at some point in my research I saw China on the list.

I've come across this before when researching postal rates, but I didn't actually have a shipment so I didn't worry about it too much.

Does anyone know what the deal is with International Parcel Air and why it doesn't show up most of the time when.

I'm going to the Post Office later today or tomorrow to ask them, but you guys/girls are usually a lot quicker and more informed

Wendy

[around_again_records]

I thought of that. I would have needed  4 - 2 kg parcels at $60.87 each Small Packet International.  Xpress post worked out to $244.75 for a a 10 kg parcel. Pretty much the same cost and Xpress post has insurance and tracking so bottom line they were both too expensive but Xpress was the better service.

[cumos55]

Insurance.... Tracking.... and .....signature confirmation if over $325  Canadian dollars

Signature confirmation is required if the total cost  of item plus shipping is over $325 Canadian dollars.

Also  parcel must be packed  for breakables ....   The size of the parcel could become more important than the weight.

Xpresspost international to China has signature confirmation as an option.

[cumos55]

Some options are not offered with Paypal/eBay shipping.

Membership with Ventureone, Canada Post  adds some saving to the cost of Xpresspost, International Parcel......

Delivery to China with Xpresspost  is guaranteed... 10 business days ..... within a certain time period.... and if that does not occur... you get a  refund of the total cost of postage....

[around_again_records]

Signature confirmation is required if the total cost  of item plus shipping is over $325 Canadian dollars

Is that an eBay rule? What if you don't get signature confirmation?

Some options are not offered with Paypal/eBay shipping.

Xpress post was offered. I usually check at Canada Post "Find a Rate" first and then go to Paypal for my labels. So far I haven't run into anything that was not offered with Paypal, but I've only used Expedited (within Canada) Small Packet USA and International and Now International Xpress

Membership with Ventureone, Canada Post  adds some saving to the cost of Xpresspost, International Parcel......

I do have the Venture One card but Paypal discounts are better. There was a discount on Xpress post with Paypal. I used it to pay for some extra insurance and a signature confirmation. I don't usually worry about 1 record. I'll take the risk, but these were all kind of expensive records so I was nervous.

Delivery to China with Xpresspost  is guaranteed... 10 business days ..... within a certain time period.... and if that does not occur... you get a  refund of the total cost of postage....

Hmmmm, that's interesting, I will have to check that out. I've seen different ETAs on Express. When they scanned it at the Post Office they told me 9 days. I'll have to look up that guaranteed part.

Thanks for the information

[around_again_records]

Some options are not offered with Paypal/eBay shipping.

Xpress post was offered. I usually check at Canada Post "Find a Rate" first and then go to Paypal for my labels. So far I haven't run into anything that was not offered with Paypal, but I've only used Expedited (within Canada) Small Packet USA and International and Now International Xpress

Membership with Ventureone, Canada Post  adds some saving to the cost of Xpresspost, International Parcel......

I do have the Venture One card but Paypal discounts are better. There was a discount on Xpress post with Paypal. I used it to pay for some extra insurance and a signature confirmation. I don't usually worry about 1 record. I'll take the risk, but these were all kind of expensive records so I was nervous.

Delivery to China with Xpresspost  is guaranteed... 10 business days ..... within a certain time period.... and if that does not occur... you get a  refund of the total cost of postage....

Hmmmm, that's interesting, I will have to check that out. I've seen different ETAs on Express. When they scanned it at the Post Office they told me 9 days. I'll have to look up that guaranteed part.

Thanks for the information

[mr.elmwood]

Signature confirmation is ONLY required in the event of a dispute.

[mr.elmwood]

Further, I just checked. I was right.2k and under and there is an air option. Over 2k and that goes away.

[cumos55]

Signature confirmation is ONLY required in the event of a dispute.

Buyer files a dispute  and seller goes back and purchases signature confirmation.

Could not resist  looking at it this way...

Saturday morning and my mind is already working overtime.....

[mr.elmwood]

Cumos, yer a better person than I. I won't even work undertime.

[toff3]

Around-again,

I'm not sure why we're now discussing a 10 kg parcel when the subject of the OP was a 3.5 kg parcel.

Anyway, your observation that 4 Small Packets Air, without insurance, delivery guarantees, tracking or DC, cost about the same as one Xpresspost parcel, with all those features, illustrate my point exactly, that is Canada Post's Small Packet rates are overpriced.

If you were in the US, you could have sent that 3.5 kg parcel to China by USPS Priority Mail Xpresspost International (3-5 biz days) for US$87.00 or by Priority Mail International (6-10 days) for US$65.55. Note that you have a choice of two air services. For a 10 kg parcel with the same dimensions (35 x 35 x 10), the USPS prices are $168.65 and $109.80; Canada Post's prices are C$235.92 (Xpresspost) and C$133.56 (International Parcel Surface; note more than the USPS PMI air rate) - and those are the only choices CP gives you.

Tom

[around_again_records]

Tom: The original parcel for 22 records would have been 10 kg. I posted about the 3.5 kg because I was desperately trying to find a less expensive method for the 8 records that the customer wanted to keep.

The difference in Canada US prices is insane. Something is wrong somewhere, I hope they soon figure it out and fix it. I know everything is more expensive in Canada, but that's really off.

Thanks for the info, very interesting.

[mr.elmwood]

It has nothing to do with Canada. Any parcel, anywhere, of that weight, crossing a border, goes up a lot.

Try buying 10 kg of space for freight on a domestic aeroplane.

[toff3]

I hope they soon figure it out and fix it.

Around-again,

They can't. It's impossible. As I keep saying ad nauseam, Canada Post operates a business model that is unworkable. It does not work and has not worked for years. The latest proclamation that the phasing-out of doorstep delivery and the raising of domestic stamp prices by 35% will bring financial health is just ludicrous. They're continuing with the same broken business model: cut services and charge more for those that remain.

How can you run a viable business with that model? 

Tom

[around_again_records]

$67.27 more to ship the same parcel via CP as opposed to USPS is enough of a difference for me to think Canada might be able to work out something better.

The way things are going though, I think USPS will probably play catch up to CP not the other way around.

[cumos55]

Every country's postal system is unique.

What Canada Post does... works for Canada

One question I had was in relation to rural delivery.... delivery to each farmstead  will continue....where is already offered

Community mailboxes in an urban situation will work  ... They already have been shown to work....

They are already planning to add a central mail room for my apartment complex... No more delivery to each apartment.

Canada Post bought all of those little delivery trucks  for a reason... We now know ... Why.....

Is it possible that the USPS eventually follows Canada Post's lead..

[cumos55]

Two with the same conclusion posting at the same time....

There have already been discussion between USPS and Canada Post.

The biggest difference is the fact that the USPS is fully government regulated, while Canada Post is intended to be self-sufficient, without any government subsidy.

[toff3]

What Canada Post does... works for Canada

Oh yeah?! You think an operation that loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year works, do you?

The biggest difference is the fact that the USPS is fully government regulated, while Canada Post is intended to be self-sufficient, without any government subsidy

The implication here is that the USPS is subsidized by the US government. You know perfectly well that's not true.

However it's true enough that the US government would never, ever allow the USPS to eliminate doorstep mail delivery, nor, for that matter, would the US people stand for it. 

Tom 

[recped]

---

@cumos55 wrote:

One question I had was in relation to rural delivery.... delivery to each farmstead  will continue....where is already offered

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rural Route delivery? Well it will continue SORT OF, if you have Rural Route delivery TODAY it will continue (till when we don't know). Thing is most Rural Route deliveries were eliminated years ago, those that had RR delivery were given boxes at the nearest PO.

I have RR property which had delivery to the mail box, that service was eliminated in the early/mid 80's.