eBay

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎01-03-2025

Canada Post lettermail rates are set to rise significantly this month. One way to counter that is to purchase discount stamps before the rates go up. For those of you stocking up on discount stamps, be careful where you buy them from. Always buy them from a long standing stamp dealer.

Counterfeit Stamps Exist

You need to be sure that you buy from a reputable source to avoid counterfeit stamps. Over the last few years, there has been an increase in counterfeit stamp websites. They are usually advertised on Facebook or Google. If you google "discount Canada Post stamps", there is a reasonable chance you might find a website selling counterfeit stamps. There have also been some available on eBay. It would be very easy for someone to get burned.

Legitimate Discount Postage Can Save Your eBay Store Money

For those unaware, you can buy discount (legitimate, not counterfeit) postage like P-Stamps or small denomination stamps directly from stamp dealers. eBay "lettermail" sellers do this to increase their margins. Depending on how much time you want to spend putting together smaller denominations of postage, you can get stamps for anywhere from 20 percent to 40 percent off of the face value. The caveat is that you usually need to order a large quantity.

The reason these are available is because people collect stamps. When they sell their collections of bulk unused postage to dealers, there simply aren't enough buyers at face value for more common stamps. So it makes more sense for dealers to sell the stamps in bulk to businesses for below face value.

In Short:

-Be very careful if you buy discount postage. Counterfeit stamps are a big problem right now. The websites can look very legitimate.

-If you can find a stamp dealer with a valid reputation (some have been around for decades, are incorporated in Canada, etc), you can save a significant amount on lettermail through buying bulk discount postage.

This is more of a PSA, so I won't link to any websites. Assuming it is allowed, don't let that stop you from shouting out legitimate stamp dealers if there is one you use that could save other sellers money on postage.

440snojet · ‎01-07-2025

That makes more sense. Thanks for the info. I can see how that makes it a grey area then. Since some employees might allow the unpaid difference and others may not.

ricarmic · ‎01-07-2025

@reallynicestamps

Here is a link to the "collector version" of the "over the counter current rate" of $1.15

https://store.canadapost-postescanada.ca/store-boutique/en/401421119/p/from-far-and-wide-part-4-coil...

These are the "coils" they put on if you buy one stamp for a letter at the counter.....

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎01-07-2025

You're correct.

I sometimes make the mistake of assuming everybody here is registered for GST.

Most platforms have HST/GST so it's all relative, but I suppose some discount postage sellers who are smaller or more on the hobbyist end of things might not have to charge it.

dinomitesales · ‎01-07-2025

@reallynicestamps wrote:
@dinomitesales
Can you show a current stamp with a face value of $1.15?
I have never seen any advertised at either the PO or the outlet I usually go to.
The counter clerks either tear one off a strip of preprinted P stamps or print out a label.
I don't know what the label says because I have never bought or received one. (Hmmm. Note to collectors, these labels may actually be a rarity.)

I can definitely take a photo next time I'm at work, but I see someone posted a link to the collector's strip above which shows an image of the stamp. Note that they specifically call out in that listing that it's "FOR COLLECTORS" only because it's not intended to be sold in booklets or coils, only individually.

Here's a photo I had taken previously showing the two stamps prior to the May 2024 price increase, so any photo I take would look the same it would just have the $1.15 stamp in place of the $1.07 stamp lol.

The clerks absolutely should not be tearing off a "P" stamp from a roll and applying it in place of a $1.15 stamp. This is most definitely not allowed and should be reported immediately. They're basically selling 99 cent stamps for $1.15 and pocketing the remainder.

galaxyshop62 · ‎01-09-2025

Is this another raise ? They already went up a few months ago

reallynicestamps · ‎01-09-2025

Thank you . I stand corrected.

It does make good public relations sense that the price on the receipt/stamp match the price that the buyer pays.

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎01-09-2025

I believe the defense of the raise is that it is more of an adjustment to reflect the actual cost of postage, since the previous price was kept in place for multiple years. So the glass half-full way to look at it would be that we received discount postage for many years.

It's a massive increase all at once. Also, anything above 100g is quickly approaching the cost of alternate carriers like Stallion, who can ship parcels to most major cities for about $7.

Discount postage and buying thousands of P-stamps before the rate increase is the only thing keeping the heavier lettermail attractive for me compared to discount carriers.

(I understand, not every sell has access to Stallion, and rural areas would still require lettermail.)

If there is another raise in January 2026, I think we are going to see a lot of "lettermail sellers" cease operating or scale back. When I look at some sellers, and do the math in my head about the fees, and what their input costs must be, a lot of listings I see already don't make much sense to me. There are people who appear to be operating to make a profit (not just selling their personal items) who sell things for $10 w/free shipping that will cost almost $5 in postage and supplies, and another $2 in fees. I know how long it takes to list things, pack things, etc. Even if they have a fantastic source, where they are getting items for under $1, the economy of scale needed to make a reasonable profit on your time (let's say minimum wage or higher, which is a low bar) just isn't there. I don't think these sellers will outright disappear, but I think we will see lettermail sellers stock less and less.

Maybe eBay doesn't make a lot from these kind of sellers, but this might be an opportunity for eBay to try and create a solution. Such as a discounted form of lettermail that could be printed using the eBay label service.

Domestic Rates

Domestic Letter	Meter Rates	Postal Indicia	Single Stamps	Book or Coil (per stamp)
*Standard (S/L)*
0-30g	$1.23	$1.24	$1.44	$1.24
30-50g	$1.75	$1.75	$1.75	$1.75
Other (Non-standard and Oversize)
up to 100g	$2.61	$2.61	$2.61	n/a
>100-200g	$4.29	$4.29	$4.29	n/a
>200-300g	$5.98	$5.98	$5.98	n/a
>300-400g	$6.85	$6.85	$6.85	n/a
>400-500g	$7.36	$7.36	$7.36	n/a

galaxyshop62 · ‎01-09-2025

That price increase is actually crazy.

I think the strike had a lot to do with it, even if they were considering it before that.

They keep saying that less lettermails are being sent but won't this make it even worse ? Eventually the credit card companies might charge us a fee to receive our monthly statement like banks do.

The problem with ebay is within the transaction fixed fee for this issue. If you pay 0.40 for a sale over 10$, then shouldn't we pay less for a sale under 5$, yet under 2$ ? Those 2$ sale are the biggest waste of time barely making 10 cents at the end, but you have no choice to fulfill them.

Surely costco takes a bit longer before updating their price on the roll of 100, however I don't see my self buying 1000$ of stamps ahead of time

flipistics · ‎01-09-2025

@ilikehockeyjerseys wrote:
If there is another raise in January 2026, I think we are going to see a lot of "lettermail sellers" cease operating or scale back. When I look at some sellers, and do the math in my head about the fees, and what their input costs must be, a lot of listings I see already don't make much sense to me. There are people who appear to be operating to make a profit (not just selling their personal items) who sell things for $10 w/free shipping that will cost almost $5 in postage and supplies, and another $2 in fees. I know how long it takes to list things, pack things, etc. Even if they have a fantastic source, where they are getting items for under $1, the economy of scale needed to make a reasonable profit on your time (let's say minimum wage or higher, which is a low bar) just isn't there. I don't think these sellers will outright disappear, but I think we will see lettermail sellers stock less and less.

I'm planning to still offer free shipping for some items (at least for now), but will just increase my prices by $2. I absorbed the last one, but not this time.

dinomitesales · ‎01-09-2025

@galaxyshop62 wrote:
Is this another raise ? They already went up a few months ago

They last went up in May 2024 from 92c to 99c, an increase of ~7% across the board.

This upcoming increase will be the second one in 8 months.

If you read the impact statement in the Canada Gazette they state that this increase will not affect the average Canadian all that much (increasing their spending on postage by $2.26 annually based on an average annual expenditure on postage of $11.25), as Lettermail rates have decreased significantly. They claim that it will increase Canada Post's revenue by 516 million dollars (78 million in 2025 alone) and have a net benefit of approximately 25 million dollars over a 10 year period.

With regard to small businesses, this is what they had to say:

"The regulated rate increases are expected to have a modest impact on small businesses who purchase these products to support their business activities. In accordance with privacy laws, Canada Post does not track the letter mail volumes used by small businesses. As such, the Corporation relies on the total number of small business data provided by Statistics Canada to estimate this impact. The total increase in mailing costs for small businesses that use stamps to pay postage is estimated at $42.17 per year, based on an average annual expenditure of $209.59. This is an average amount and could affect some businesses more than others."

Personally, I would consider that value to be pretty low. I'm on the lower end of "small business" (less than 10K in sales) and even I spent about $260 on stamps last year. Obviously, those small businesses that don't send goods via Lettermail are going to spend less on stamps, so that probably brings down the average.

flipistics · ‎01-09-2025

Personally, I would consider that value to be pretty low. I'm on the lower end of "small business" (less than 10K in sales) and even I spent about $260 on stamps last year. Obviously, those small businesses that don't send goods via Lettermail are going to spend less on stamps, so that probably brings down the average.

Yeah, I was just under $1000 last year on lettermail postage and that's low compared to a lot of people.

My biggest complaint is that the largest cost is labour, which is a fixed cost regardless of weight. They should probably increase the base cost more (maybe to $2 with a lower rate for businesses sending out machinable lettermail like statements and bills) and scale the heavier oversize less. If they don't want to do that, then at least track oversized lettermail between post offices which would give shippers some added incentive to keep using it.

They have a monopoly on lettermail. They should be encouraging people to use it more, not drive people away from it.