eBay

musicyouneed · ‎10-13-2017

Two shipments both sent off the same day Oct 3, USPS cost $2.77 USD and was delivered Oct 7/17 in Kansas from Blaine Washington. The other was sent expedited using the free Tues, would have cost $15 Cdn and it wont be delivered until the 17th. Now how is that for service. What are they using for delivery, donkeys?

momcqueen · ‎10-13-2017

What's the destination postal code to the address in Newfoundland?

Shipping between North Vancouver to anywhere in Newfoundland would be the USPS equivalent of Florida to Alaska. Not to mention a half-dozen other variables that prevent comparing apples to apples.

I'm steering clear of your donkey analogy.

musicyouneed · ‎10-14-2017

I agree that it is on the other side of the country, however, on a regular day someone would have paid $15 to ship it there. With USPS for Vancouver to New York, I drop it off on Friday March 1 and it is delivered Monday March 4.

I sent a few things to Germany and Australia this month and they arrived faster than within Canada, in fact a couple of days ago.

momcqueen · ‎10-14-2017

Vancouver to New York is also not comparable to Vancouver to Bell Island, NF. Travel from Vancouver to New York is travel from one massive, densely-populated urban centre to another.

Did you check your Newfoundland destination on a map?

It's an island, a very small island, on the north-eastern-most tip of one of the most harsh, most secluded, most remote locations in Canada.

The delivery standard is probably minimum 13 business days to that location from yours, period. A courier couldn't get it there faster. No one could.

If it were me, I'd simply be thankful I could use the free service offered by Canada Post that day because the delivery guidelines for domestic lettermail on ebay cap at seven business days for Late Shipment Reports and you'd be getting an auto-late mark for this transaction when the buyer left feedback. As I have long-complained, the calculated shipping estimates do not take into account any remote or northern location at all. And there are many. Canada is huge, and sparsely populated. There are at least one hundred postal codes that exceed eight business days from any urban centre in Canada. I've counted. It is not Canada Post's fault that people live in all the furthest reaches of the country and to expect that mail from Bell Island, Newfoundland could be delivered to Vancouver in the same time as it takes to go from Toronto to Calgary is unrealistic.

recped · ‎10-14-2017

USPS First Class is an AIR service, Expedited from CP is a GROUND service and more comparable to USPS Parcel Select.

North Van to Bell Island is over 7,000km and would take an absolute minimum of 5 transit days (not including local processing at either end), Blaine to Kansas City is a 5 hour flight.

A comparable USPS routing would be Parcel Select or Media Mail from Bangor Maine to Maui Hawaii. For that USPS give a delivery estimate of about 16 days.

Even LA to Bangor Maine via ground is a 10 day estimate using USPS Ground service.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

amcdc79 · ‎10-14-2017

At least CPC is not using wagon trains, ans speaking of trains, I wonder if it would be faster using them instead of trucks. Probably not, but I do know, that from Burnaby BC, I can ship faster to London England than London Ontario. A few years ago I shipping an item to the UK on Thursday, it was delivered on Saturday.

So yes, planes do tend to be faster than trucks,lol.

hlmacdon · ‎10-14-2017

USPS has an efficient hub/spoke system with many distribution centers and air cargo efficiently moving product between them. Canada Post on the other hand is extremely inefficient, although understandably so given the lower volumes, population density and geographical size. That being said, as someone who ships several thousand packages a year with USPS I can say they have quite the tick tock efficiency for the most part, whereas Canada Post feels very hit or miss. I like buying Canadian but with USPS I can get things quicker from anywhere in the US than I can within Canada (outside of my home province).

musicyouneed · ‎10-14-2017

Very good explanation. Even sending something from North Vancouver to Nanaimo BC takes 4 days with Canada Post. That to me is unacceptable, but unfortunately I'm stuck with Canada Post for sales within Canada.

We had a mailman at our building on Friday who had packages for a suite in our building and he would not go and knock on their door, was just leaving a notice in their mail box. I knew they were home, he said he didn't have time. She has a small baby and it would have been a hassle going to pick up the parcel a day or so later.

I think I forced the issue and he went up but I don't know how many times, I have been home and waiting for a parcel and they left a note saying nobody was home.

Total inefficiency. For the amount of time he took to write the notice, put on a sticker, he could have taken the elevator to the 2nd floor. Just lazy.

thestuffofchris · ‎10-14-2017

@musicyouneed wrote:

... I don't know how many times, I have been home and waiting for a parcel and they left a note saying nobody was home.

We used to have this problem, but then we got a new mailperson and deliveries are now actually attempted. It seems to depend on the mailperson.

Although not Canada Post, I recently had a shipment from FedEx safe-dropped, when I was home, without a delivery attempt or the required signature. (I looked at the tracking later and it said it was signed for by "F. FedEx", so I guess the person didn't want to bother writing up a notice so they just safe-dropped it.) To be fair, they did leave it in a genuinely safe spot and I didn't have to go pick it up, so it could have been worse.

momcqueen · ‎10-15-2017

@musicyouneed wrote:
Very good explanation. Even sending something from North Vancouver to Nanaimo BC takes 4 days with Canada Post. That to me is unacceptable, but unfortunately I'm stuck with Canada Post for sales within Canada.

We had a mailman at our building on Friday who had packages for a suite in our building and he would not go and knock on their door, was just leaving a notice in their mail box. I knew they were home, he said he didn't have time. She has a small baby and it would have been a hassle going to pick up the parcel a day or so later.

I think I forced the issue and he went up but I don't know how many times, I have been home and waiting for a parcel and they left a note saying nobody was home.

Total inefficiency. For the amount of time he took to write the notice, put on a sticker, he could have taken the elevator to the 2nd floor. Just lazy.

Did you call the 1-800-number to report this to Canada Post? That is the proper protocol to follow. You could no doubt call in the amount of time it took to post it here.

rose-dee · ‎10-15-2017

@recped wrote:

North Van to Bell Island is over 7,000km and would take an absolute minimum of 5 transit days (not including local processing at either end), Blaine to Kansas City is a 5 hour flight.

I agree, making direct comparisons of any kind between USPS and Canada Post service is unreasonable and unrealistic. The OP is talking about comparing a country with a population 10 times that of Canada's and with a far more inter-connected postal web. USPS can connect those dots fairly evenly north/south as well as east-west in the continental U.S., no doubt making the system far more efficient.

By contrast, there isn't much between places like Edmonton and Whitehorse, or Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay (or Thunder Bay to Winnipeg for that matter), yet Canada Post still manages to provide reliable service between the southern east/west ribbon of our population and far-flung communities. In the U.S. I doubt there are many places that have 500 to 1,000 kms without much in the way of a town. Here in Canada, that scenario is all over the place.

Also, not to forget that, unlike the U.S., we have several very large offshore islands the size of some countries, with spread-out populations of their own (some with a limited highway accessibility), their own geographical challenges (i.e. mountains), and with ferry services that have to be coordinated within Canada Post's scheduling. Just getting to NL is an overnight trip by ferry. Victoria to Port Hardy is a full 2 day drive unless you're crazy.

Oh yes, and then there is winter. I think we ask far too much of Canada Post to expect them to live up to USPS standards.

hlmacdon · ‎10-15-2017

@rose-dee wrote:

I think we ask far too much of Canada Post to expect them to live up to USPS standards.

I think that holds true in terms of the non-metro areas given the very real geographical challenges, but I think Canada Post could certainly do a better job moving items between major cities.

Some of the issues however come down to have a good carrier. When you get a jaded carrier it can tack on extra time to your delivery, whether leaving packages at the depot for another day or leaving a pickup notice when they could have made delivery. I've had some worth their weight in gold, while others won't even bother to make the effort to literally walk across the street from the community mail box to my home to attempt a delivery despite a vehicle in the driveway indicating someone Is home. It says much about the state of Canada Post that I have probably had something like 10-15 carriers over the last few years.

alext3745 · ‎06-14-2018

Canada post is pretty terrible when you compare it to USPS. I avoid them as much as possible when having packages sent to me from America or I’m sending packages to America. Otherwise if it’s a domestic shipment I’ll use Xpresspost from Canada post or UPS.

Shipping rates are also so much better with USPS. I save a bundle using Crossborder Pickups to receive my American shipments or deliver my outgoing shipments to USPS in Niagara Falls. As a bonus shipping is much much cheaper, and clearing customs is nearly instant since CBP trucks the packages across the boarder vs going through the international mail center which is prone to long delays.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-15-2018

Is CrossBorder Pickups a freight forwarder like chitchatexpress and StallionExpress?

We have permission to put together a list of forwarders who will take shipments from Canada to the US and ship them via USPS.

If you have been dealing with CrossBorder for several months (to establish business stability) could you add the location of the company and if possible their website with fees?

marnotom! · ‎06-15-2018

@momcqueen wrote:

The delivery standard is probably minimum 13 business days to that location from yours, period. A courier couldn't get it there faster. No one could.

Couriers probably don't even serve that part of Newfoundland. A package sent with a courier would likely be handed off to Canada Post for the last leg of its journey.

marnotom! · ‎06-15-2018

@musicyouneed wrote:

Even sending something from North Vancouver to Nanaimo BC takes 4 days with Canada Post. That to me is unacceptable, but unfortunately I'm stuck with Canada Post for sales within Canada.

You can get that "something" from North Van to Nanaimo in one or two business days, but you'd have to use Xpresspost for that to happen.

ypdc_dennis · ‎06-15-2018

@reallynicestamps wrote:
Is CrossBorder Pickups a freight forwarder like chitchatsexpress and StallionExpress?

Here's what I found:

crossborderpickups.ca

Company is based in Mississauga, Ontario and appears to work both directions. Company age: did find reviews from 2015, but nothing about them on their website.

...

Imports from the USA (buyer gets a USA address, and Cross Border does the import paperwork and brings into Canada, sort of GSP lite).

...

Takes parcels across the border to remail in the USA.

...

Also has discounted Canada Post shipping in Canada (with strike alternative in place).

-..-

rose-dee · ‎06-16-2018

@alext3745 wrote:
Canada post is pretty terrible when you compare it to USPS. I avoid them as much as possible when having packages sent to me from America or I’m sending packages to America. Otherwise if it’s a domestic shipment I’ll use Xpresspost from Canada post or UPS.

Shipping rates are also so much better with USPS. I save a bundle using Crossborder Pickups to receive my American shipments or deliver my outgoing shipments to USPS in Niagara Falls. As a bonus shipping is much much cheaper, and clearing customs is nearly instant since CBP trucks the packages across the boarder vs going through the international mail center which is prone to long delays.

Well, you're lucky you're in a spot where you can use a cross-border service. However, you should keep in mind when criticizing Canada Post for its rates that our postal service must be a self-sustaining enterprise, i.e. no government input. On the other hand, USPS benefits from government support that allows it to keep rates low. If Americans really had to pay the true cost of a self-supporting postal corporation, the USPS rates and services might be more closely comparable to CPC.

Also, as I said earlier, it's only fair to take into account that CPC is dealing with a far smaller population spread out over far longer distances than in the U.S. Not only that, but the population is distributed in Canada in a different way (basically a long ribbon with points of population and a vast, sparsely populated area to the north). In other words, it doesn't have the criss-crossing network of towns and cities throughout almost the entire land mass that the U.S. has. This network must make postal distribution far easier (and cheaper).

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-16-2018

USPS doesn’t receive money from tax payers so it isn’t subsidized by the government but as you mentioned, Canada Post serves a small population in a huge area. I’m sure that is at least one reason why they are more expensive than USPS.