U.S. Light Packet

[schtupinator2011]

I'm sure this has been discussed on these boards but how can Canada Post raise the price for light packet this much? I sent out a baseball card today, with tax it cost $3.98. The card weighed 86 grams.

Before, cards depending on wait would range from $1.34 to $2.40. Am I supposed to just raise the prices of cards or post $3.98 shipping?. U.S. buyers might think this is too much.

What is that? like a 50 or 60% increase?

I don't understand!

[007steveb16]

Huh?

The lower tier rate for Light Packet is now $4.28 (tax included) and it used to be $2.99 (tax included), are you sure you're talking about Light Packet?

$1.34 & $2.40 were never Light Packet rates.

[toff3]

how can Canada Post raise the price for light packet this much?

That's an easy one. Except for the domestic basic letter rate, which is (or used to be) regulated, Canada Post can change their prices by any amount they choose and there's nothing and nobody to stop them. No proposed increase in the domestic letter rate has ever been rejected by parliament. Canada Post didn't even bother to seek government approval for the 54% increase in the price of a single stamp effective March 31. They simply announced it.

The question you should be asking is, why does Canada Post oblige you to send your baseball card to USA as a Light Packet rather than a straight letter? After all, you can send it within Canada as a letter. Light Packet is physically (in terms of size and weight limits) identical to Other Letter-post and is transmitted by the same means (air). No other postal system in the world has a Light Packet category with rates that differ from equivalent lettermail.

Canadians seem to accept this state of affairs, although of course the vast majority have never heard of a Light Packet.

I guess Canadians are just being Canadian, i.e. their usual polite self. They hate to rock the boat and always defer to a higher "authority". 

Tom

[femmefan1946]

The only advantage to Light Packet over letter rate is that the seller can print out a Paypal shipping label. The label has a number ad while this is only useful for CPs bookkeeping purposes,it might make sketchey buyers think the item is tracked. Maybe.

I wonder if anybody has had a letter rate item returned to have the "correct' rate paid?  Not ones being handed to a PO clerk, just put into the mailstream at the postbox, since anything in a postbox is being handled as part of a large number of items, not scrutinized by a bored clerk.

[rose-dee]

Yet, depending on what you sell, there are some weight categories of Light Packet that cost less than the equivalent weight for lettermail.  Many of my items fall into those, and the new rate scales will actually save me some money in the 101-150g category.

The other advantage to labels is that it saves some time and effort because the labels are at your fingertips and charges are all recorded and tracked in one easy place by Paypal.  A small consideration perhaps, but if a seller is not in the postage stamp business and not familiar with how or where to buy useable discount stamps, or not willing to find, sort and count stamps for mailing, it can be a time-saver.

Still, from the "big picture" perspective, I agree that 'toff3'has a point in saying Light Packet is an unjustifiable money grab. 

The only rationale I can think of for having two different streams for the same service is that perhaps there is some legal obligation on Canada Post to separate merchandise (commercial items subject to duty, taxes, etc.) and letter mail (documents), which have no commercial value.  Someone who knows more about federal tax law might know if that's the case.

[brandeentertainment]

My postal outlet will not allow me to ship my DVD's lettermail ;(  BOOOOO

I went there one time and 99.9% of the time I shipped light packet but my printer broke so I went to ship them lettermail.. Had a Canada post regional at the store training the new owners and he told them not to allow anything other then letters go in lettermail to the US ...

I asked him how that made any sense .. I can ship them lettermail within Canada but not to the US .. Then I said I am guessing you do not do that within Canada because it would affect your bottom line BIG TIME ... I got a smurk with no response...

[pierrelebel]

"My postal outlet will not allow me to ship my DVD's lettermail"

If you put postage stamps on the envelope/package and drop them in the red mailbox, there is not a darn thing your postal outlet can do about it.

[007steveb16]

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@pierrelebel wrote:

"My postal outlet will not allow me to ship my DVD's lettermail"

If you put postage stamps on the envelope/package and drop them in the red mailbox, there is not a darn thing your postal outlet can do about it.

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But then of course they "could" be returned to you....

[pjcdn2005]

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@007steveb16 wrote:

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@pierrelebel wrote:

"My postal outlet will not allow me to ship my DVD's lettermail"

If you put postage stamps on the envelope/package and drop them in the red mailbox, there is not a darn thing your postal outlet can do about it.

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But then of course they "could" be returned to you....

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Of course they could be but in my experience it is much more likely that they won't be.

[toff3]

The only rationale I can think of for having two different streams for the same service is that perhaps there is some legal obligation on Canada Post to separate merchandise (commercial items subject to duty, taxes, etc.) and letter mail (documents), which have no commercial value.

Rose-dee,

Nice try but there ain't. It is touching how you try to rationalize Canada Post's pricing.  In another thread, you mused that having a foreign country process a Light Packet through customs might cost CP more.

Face it, Rose, you're dealing with Canada Post, who make up the rules as they go along.

Take a look at how the German post office, Deutsche Post, prices International lettermail, which, by UPU rules, includes what Canada Post designate as Letter-post, Light Packets and Small Packets. The scheme is rational, simple and, I think, very fair. All mail, except Printed Papers/Books by Economy (basically surface), is sent by air.  Prices are in euros; currently, 1 euro is worth nearly $1.50 Canadian.

Read it and weep.

Postcard      0.75

Standard letter  (max 0.5 cm thick; max wt  20 g)    0.75

Compact letter  (max 1 cm thick; max wt 50 g)    1.50

Large letter  (max Length + Width + Height  90 cm; max wt 500 g)  3.45

Maxi letter (max L + W + H  90 cm)    up to 1 kg   7.00;  up to 2 kg   17.00

Rates for Printed Papers & Books (max L+W+H 90 cm) sent by air are as above. If sent  Economy (surface):

Up to 500 g   3.00

           1 kg     5.50

           2 kg    11.00

Note that after the end of March to send a letter or card from Canada to Germany will cost more than twice as much as from Germany to Canada.

Tom