PayPal / Canada Post New Version:No more Light Packet International offered

[soal6351]

With this new version (where you have to input your Canada Post Account Number), no more "Light Packet International" is offered. Will it be the same for "Light Packet USA"?. For International, rate goes from $10.10 to $10.27 but for USA, it's $6.84 to $8.61!!! What's the catch?

[hlmacdon]

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@jt-libra wrote:

Can anyone confirm that Light Packet U.S.A. is still available at the postal outlet counters?  It's gone from PayPal and also from the Canada Post website.  Someone mentioned earlier that it was available on the CP calculator, but I just checked and it isn't.

This is crazy.  I ship 90% of my items by light packet U.S. and a $2.00 increase to ship by Small Packet Air without any warning and with no time to adjust listings is outrageous!!

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It should still be available at the post offices. Everything I'm seeing points to paypal needing to fix their api call or get light packet added to whatever account they are using to request the rate, one of the two is broken. The Canada Post developer forum doesn't have any updates indicating any change to the service and usually if there is a significant change like a service being dropped or changed the api docs will be updated to reflect this.

[sylviebee]

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@jt-libra wrote:

Can anyone confirm that Light Packet U.S.A. is still available at the postal outlet counters?  It's gone from PayPal and also from the Canada Post website.  Someone mentioned earlier that it was available on the CP calculator, but I just checked and it isn't.

This is crazy.  I ship 90% of my items by light packet U.S. and a $2.00 increase to ship by Small Packet Air without any warning and with no time to adjust listings is outrageous!!

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It is available on PP shipping but sometimes you have to start from scratch.  It's just a temporary glitch.

It's a nuisance but a temporary one I'm sure.

It would be nice if the folks at eBay.ca would step in and put a little pressure on so these things get cleared up a little faster.

Putting pressure on PP shipping to fix shipping issues would be a much easier task than offering new shipping services.

eBay.ca :  Don't fix what's not broken, but please work a little at getting issues resolved.

[jt-libra]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

I know as much as you do but I just checked again and still see light packet on the CP calculator.  

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s5

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I do see it there now, but I didn't last night.  Even though it shows up, if you try to print a label through Canada Post's electronic shipping tool or their new Snap Ship, Small Packet Air automatically pops up .... there is no option for Light Packet.

PayPal also is still not showing Light Packet.

I've already paid for a website so I may spend my summer trying to get it up and running.  It will make me so happy not to have to pay eBay a couple of hundred dollars a month, to get very little in return.

[jt-libra]

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@sylviebee wrote:

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@jt-libra wrote:

Can anyone confirm that Light Packet U.S.A. is still available at the postal outlet counters?  It's gone from PayPal and also from the Canada Post website.  Someone mentioned earlier that it was available on the CP calculator, but I just checked and it isn't.

This is crazy.  I ship 90% of my items by light packet U.S. and a $2.00 increase to ship by Small Packet Air without any warning and with no time to adjust listings is outrageous!!

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It is available on PP shipping but sometimes you have to start from scratch.  It's just a temporary glitch. 

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Sylvie, I'm not sure what you mean by starting from scratch.  The only thing I see is the buyer's name under Completed, and Print Shipping Label.

[sylviebee]

Sometimes when you've tried to use Light Packets on PP and it doesn't show up as an option, you just have to start again and it eventually shows up.

It's not gone and nothing has changed other than the glitch where Light Packets doesn't show up every time.  Just keep trying.

[carter-dress*casual]

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@sylviebee wrote:

Sometimes when you've tried to use Light Packets on PP and it doesn't show up as an option, you just have to start again and it eventually shows up.

It's not gone and nothing has changed other than the glitch where Light Packets doesn't show up every time.  Just keep trying.

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Okay .... I'll keep trying. It's a good thing that it's a long weekend, so we can try for thee more days before mail goes out.  It's strange, though, that it didn't show up when I tried to purchase the label through the Canada Post website but maybe it never was available on their site.

[jt-libra]

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@carter-dress*casual wrote:

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@sylviebee wrote:

Sometimes when you've tried to use Light Packets on PP and it doesn't show up as an option, you just have to start again and it eventually shows up.

It's not gone and nothing has changed other than the glitch where Light Packets doesn't show up every time.  Just keep trying.

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Okay .... I'll keep trying. It's a good thing that it's a long weekend, so we can try for thee more days before mail goes out.  It's strange, though, that it didn't show up when I tried to purchase the label through the Canada Post website but maybe it never was available on their site.

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Sorry, Sylvie, the above post was from me (jt-libra).  The other one is an account I considered using to sell clothing items and then changed my mind.  I'm jumping around from browser to browser trying to print light packet labels.

[rose-dee]

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@carter-dress*casual wrote:

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@sylviebee wrote:

Sometimes when you've tried to use Light Packets on PP and it doesn't show up as an option, you just have to start again and it eventually shows up.

It's not gone and nothing has changed other than the glitch where Light Packets doesn't show up every time.  Just keep trying.

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Okay .... I'll keep trying. It's a good thing that it's a long weekend, so we can try for thee more days before mail goes out.  It's strange, though, that it didn't show up when I tried to purchase the label through the Canada Post website but maybe it never was available on their site.

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I tried at least half a dozen times earlier this week, and never could get Light Packet to show up.  Back out, sign out, start from the beginning on eBay, nothing made any difference.  

I did -- on one occasion -- manage to get a Light Packet label to print by going in directly from the Paypal transaction details.  Since there's no eBay discount on Light Packet anyway, that may be something you'd want to try. 

In any case, this seems to be a random issue, so if you find you can't access Light Packet by using the link within Paypal (from the Paypal transaction details), rather than waste your valuable time trying over and over again, I'd suggest either using the Canada Post website (there never has been any Light Packet there, so you'll pay more for Small Packet), or putting stamps on the parcel and taking it to the P.O.  This is what I ended up doing a couple of days ago after spending nearly half an hour trying over and over again to get my label to print. 

[jt-libra]

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@rose-dee wrote:

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I tried at least half a dozen times earlier this week, and never could get Light Packet to show up.  Back out, sign out, start from the beginning on eBay, nothing made any difference.  

I did -- on one occasion -- manage to get a Light Packet label to print by going in directly from the Paypal transaction details.  Since there's no eBay discount on Light Packet anyway, that may be something you'd want to try. 

In any case, this seems to be a random issue, so if you find you can't access Light Packet by using the link within Paypal (from the Paypal transaction details), rather than waste your valuable time trying over and over again, I'd suggest either using the Canada Post website (there never has been any Light Packet there, so you'll pay more for Small Packet), or putting stamps on the parcel and taking it to the P.O.  This is what I ended up doing a couple of days ago after spending nearly half an hour trying over and over again to get my label to print. 

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I guess that's what I'll have to do.  I presume that we have to go back to using those little custom slips that we fill out manually and stick on the envelope.  I haven't used them in years but I may have a couple lying around and I'm sure the postal outlet has some.  They're so messy looking, I hate to use them, but we may have no choice.

BTW, I called PayPal, talked to a what seemed a very nice, very polite CSR who said he had just returned from a couple of days off and had heard about this problem.  "Let me confer with my colleague and I'll get right back to you", he said.  After a few minutes, I found myself transferred to eBay; he didn't even have the courtesy to say he was doing that.  Anyway, I remained on hold for a little while and then hung up.  I don't have an afternoon to waste waiting to talk to them.

[jt-libra]

From Tyler @ebay.com earlier this month:

Re: Introducing the new Pinks, and restoring the weekly chat session.

Howdy everyone -

Really excited to get to work with you and help out where I can.

I'll be spending time regularly on the boards, both responding and doing some tidying up of old/zombie threads.

On a personal level, I've been with eBay for a little over 4 years, and have worked support for that time. I enjoy Korean food, video games and Netflix (currently bingeing the Great British Baking Show - why can't Martha get a break?!).

Looking forward to working with you!

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Tyler, the absence or removal of the Light Packet option on the PayPal shipping platform is a major issue right now.  It would be appreciated if you could tell us what you know.  Thanks.

[jt-libra]

Howdy everyone -

Really excited to get to work with you and help out where I can.

I'll be spending time regularly on the boards, both responding and doing some tidying up of old/zombie threads.

On a personal level, I've been with eBay for a little over 4 years, and have worked support for that time. I enjoy Korean food, video games and Netflix (currently bingeing the Great British Baking Show - why can't Martha get a break?!).

Looking forward to working with you!

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Tyler, the absence or removal of the Light Packet option on the PayPal shipping platform is a major issue right now.  It would be appreciated if you could tell us what you know.  Thanks.

[sylviebee]

Tyler, the absence or removal of the Light Packet option on the PayPal shipping platform is a major issue right now.  It would be appreciated if you could tell us what you know.  Thanks.

YES.  In the past when we've had issues with PP shipping sellers have contacted eBay and PP over and over and it's still taken months to correct.

(Remember when we couldn't print Expedited labels for months? How frustrating was that?)

Since eBay.ca reps are now here regularly hopefully they'll help us out.  No need for a new shipping service.   Please, Just keep PP shipping running smoothly instead.

[pjcdn2005]

I know that eBay reps have told PP about various problems in the past and the problem still took months to get fixed or are still not fixed.  Ebay doesn't seem to have much pull when it comes to getting shopping label problems fixed.

Pitney Bowes are the ones who set up and fix the PP shipping platform and they don't seem too interested in maintaining it properly.

[sylviebee]

Light Packet has been working all day for me so maybe it's been fixed.  

[jt-libra]

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@sylviebee wrote:

Light Packet has been working all day for me so maybe it's been fixed.  

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You're one of the lucky ones, I guess.  I've tried several times today, using different browsers and different avenues to get there, but no luck!  I guess it's only affecting some users.

[triber]

Not working for me this morning.

[jt-libra]

Would someone who lives in Winnipeg and uses MTS Internet please try to see if they can access Light Packet on PayPal.  It seems that some users in the country can and others can't -- so I'm wondering if it has something to do with the Internet Provider.  Sylviebee said she used it all day yesterday with no problem.

Mind you, since Bell bought out MTS, I've had all sorts of problems with my internet.  In the last couple of months, and almost overnight it changed.  It slowed down considerably; browsers would freeze and stop working; pictures wouldn't show; videos wouldn't play.  Let's say I'm no longer a happy MTS customer.

[lady.stark]

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@sylviebee wrote:

Light Packet has been working all day for me so maybe it's been fixed.  

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Did you have to enter your Canada Post account in the last days?

[jt-libra]

Only once, a few days ago. 

[rose-dee]

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@jt-libra wrote:

Would someone who lives in Winnipeg and uses MTS Internet please try to see if they can access Light Packet on PayPal.  It seems that some users in the country can and others can't -- so I'm wondering if it has something to do with the Internet Provider.  Sylviebee said she used it all day yesterday with no problem.

Mind you, since Bell bought out MTS, I've had all sorts of problems with my internet.  In the last couple of months, and almost overnight it changed.   

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Pardon the pun, but your comment rings a bell.  Somewhere I saw a reference to issues with Bell in the last few days, but I'm sorry I can't recall whether it was on eBay or elsewhere. 

I don't think the Paypal issues are connected with the particular service provider though, judging by the number and variety of sellers who have reported label problems.  I'm in NS, using Eastlink, and I've had numerous problems with Paypal labels over the last week or so. 

What I do know is that one of the eBay Canada reps mentioned that Paypal labels for eBay is being phased out and will be replaced by Shippo.  I wouldn't be surprised if programmers at Paypal are preparing for that, and in the process are "breaking" things that worked previously.  

I think we can only expect more issues in the next couple of weeks until eBay introduces Shippo.  I doubt Paypal will have much inclination to fix these glitches, knowing that they'll soon be out of the eBay label business altogether.  However I think it was Tyler who did say that Paypal is supposed to ensure the label service continues properly right up until the changeover.  We'll see about that ...

[jt-libra]

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@rose-dee wrote:

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@jt-libra wrote:

Would someone who lives in Winnipeg and uses MTS Internet please try to see if they can access Light Packet on PayPal.  It seems that some users in the country can and others can't -- so I'm wondering if it has something to do with the Internet Provider.  Sylviebee said she used it all day yesterday with no problem.

Mind you, since Bell bought out MTS, I've had all sorts of problems with my internet.  In the last couple of months, and almost overnight it changed.   

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Pardon the pun, but your comment rings a bell.  Somewhere I saw a reference to issues with Bell in the last few days, but I'm sorry I can't recall whether it was on eBay or elsewhere.

As a matter of fact, I spoke to an MTS technician this morning (not about the PayPal issue) but about my account which I haven't been able to access for about 10 days, and was told that they finally had to shut down the Bell-MTS server entirely to do some work since it had been causing some problems recently.

I don't think the Paypal issues are connected with the particular service provider though, judging by the number and variety of sellers who have reported label problems.  I'm in NS, using Eastlink, and I've had numerous problems with Paypal labels over the last week or so. 

You're right .... I thought it was unlikely but was the last thing I could think of to discount.

What I do know is that one of the eBay Canada reps mentioned that Paypal labels for eBay is being phased out and will be replaced by Shippo.  I wouldn't be surprised if programmers at Paypal are preparing for that, and in the process are "breaking" things that worked previously.  

I think we can only expect more issues in the next couple of weeks until eBay introduces Shippo.  I doubt Paypal will have much inclination to fix these glitches, knowing that they'll soon be out of the eBay label business altogether.  However I think it was Tyler who did say that Paypal is supposed to ensure the label service continues properly right up until the changeover.  We'll see about that ...

I agree that PayPal isn't too interested in fixing a platform it will soon be giving up.  So we'll all be faced with work-arounds until such time as Shippo is up and running.  Shippo -- sounds like a kid's toy.  Think of how many times the word "PayPal" is used on these Boards and then replace it with Shippo.  Sounds very funny!!

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