WELL WHAT IS EVERYBODY DOING ABOUT MONDAY'S STRIKE

[dobo5250]

 what are your plans to get throught he strike -- i will close my store for a couple of days to see what happens - if the mail stops -- like they say - after that ,what carrier are you going to use ??? i need advice which is the best to replace can post till the strike is settled 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

https://www.macdonaldlaurier.ca/files/pdf/MLI_PostOffice_F_web.pdf

Ian Lee has been the go to talking head on the news segments about the strike. They referred to a report he wrote on the future of Canada Post. I was able to track it down. I have yet to read it, but it might be of interest to people here. 

Edit: This may not be the report they keep referring to since it is from 2015, but hey who doesn't like a 36 page PDF before bed. 

[byto253]

As you are only shipping to Canada, Sendle may be a good option for you to check out.   They shipped with ICS courier and pickups are included in the price.  They have also now provide drop-off locations, and have a lot of them in the Toronto area.  The standard account has no cost, so no downside to signing up.  I saw a reference on their site to Canpar so they may have expanded who they use now beyond ICS. 

I have used them in the past and everything went well.  I did have a hiccup with a missed scheduled pickup once and they were easy to reach, got it straightened out and gave me a year account upgrade.  That was early when they were first getting started.  They also had a promo for 10 free shipments, but that has not been repeated for me.   

Here is the chart with their domestic shipping with the rates for a standard free account, and the "Premium" and "Pro" options with a monthly cost.  

https://try.sendle.com/en-ca/pricing

Drop off locations

https://try.sendle.com/en-ca/drop-off-locations

They also ship to the US with pretty competive rates and with the standard account it is a flat rate for anywhere in the US.   Not as good as some Tracked Packet but they do serve areas that do not have a Chitchats or Stallion. 

https://try.sendle.com/en-ca/ship-to-the-united-states

If you are not in a larger center you can check if you have pickup in your postal code here :

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TKH-rqXZLX5OhUh0g3xeCBJ7qv69I-ui5M-KcfLxcr8/edit?gid=6633468...

You can also have a parcel that is in the weight parameter but is bigger than allowed.  The size that can be shipped is generous but worth double checking for very bulky items. 

[morepleaseshop]

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@byto253 wrote:

I use generic shipping terms - standard or economy - to the US.  😎

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Could you please share how to set it up or where to find that option? I saw sellers with this wording and looked into it, but all I have are the very specific carriers’ options. No generic terms even though I have a flat rate shipping to the US. TIA!

For now I increased my handling time and monitor closely for that 72-hour notice (my parcels usually get to the border withing 2 days); and use UPS inside Canada. Hope it's enough...

[byto253]

I use flat rate shipping, which provides the generic options.   I took a look at the options and did not realize that if you use calculated shipping  you do not get the generic options provided with flat rate shipping. 

I list on .com so calculated is not an option.  

[morepleaseshop]

Oh, I see... Mystery solved, it's just not available to me. I list on dot ca and the shipping choices page looks very different, there are no generic shipping options and I thought maybe I missed them somehow.

What a pitty, I would have loved to not advertise any particular service and choose what works best when the item is purchased.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

You can go to account (top left corner on desktop), business policies, shipping policies.

There should be generic options on .ca, I used them. Economy Shipping, etc.

Because Tracked Packet is a fixed price by weight, you don't need a calculator. You just need to know the weight ahead of time so that you can determine what to charge as a flat rate. Tracked Packet is the same regardless of where it is going.

[38e_avenue]

Everything goes as expected. Posted yesterday, reached the US today. 

[morepleaseshop]

Thank you! Will need to explore this. I never went into business policies. It feels terrifying to change all my listings at once and risk screwing them all.

[rob902189]

Not much we can do. I've decided to set my listings on Time Away until they resolve. Most of my listings are trading cards with lettermail stamps so I can't really do anything. It sucks but least it gives me some time to organize my collections.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

You can create a brand new business policy and test it on one listing. You don't need to edit your current shipping policy when you first do it. 

Assuming you are using flat rates, you are going to need to create different business policies for each weight tier of Tracked Packet.

2000g = $19.14

1500g = $15.89

1000g = $12.65

500g = $9.79

250g = $7.98

100g = $7.16

I don't think you need six different flat rate tiers. I might average it out and do 2 or maybe do one tier for items below 500g and 1 tier for items between 501g and 2000g. I might charge $9.99 for anything under 500g and $19.99 for anything between 501g-2000g. 

If you know all your items are under 2000g, and you don't want to deal with the massive amount of work required to divide your items for flat rates, you could simply charge the same flat rate for all your items based on the heaviest tier of Tracked Packet shipping. In the event someone buys something extremely light, refund them the difference after your label, supplies, fees, etc. Especially if this is going to be a temporary measure during the strike, that would be the easiest way to do it to where you can go back to calculated rates without any hassle. 

[dinomitesales]

Canada Post's latest proposal included an 11.5% increase in wages over 4 years.

CUPWs latest counteroffer is asking for 22% over the next 4 years (and a compounded total of 23.79%). In addition to a bunch of other things.

They seem so far apart on this that I don't see how any agreement is going to be reached.

No 72 hour notice yet - interesting to see how this will play out. From what I've gathered the majority of letter carriers are not happy with the union and the way they've been handling all this.

Canada Post is telling post offices: business as usual. If you go to a post office and they are refusing parcels or letters they are actively going against the wishes of Canada Post and should be reported.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Edit: delete.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Looks like it works exactly the same as eBay's best offer system.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Something of note if you are still using Canada Post for tracked shipping.

For packages that I shipped last week, almost none of them were scanned at my local processing facility. I deposit almost all my packages in a red street mailbox. 99 percent of the time, they receive a processing scan that same night.

Every once in a while, a package will not get scanned at the local sorting facility and will instead receive a scan a few days later when it hits the destination sort facility. This is very uncommon, but does happen.

While it might be a coincidence, the last few packages I sent have not received scans. This isn't a big deal, but it is something to keep an eye on since customers might be more antsy than usual about tracking if they are worried about a strike. If you send something to BC or AB, it may take almost a week before it receives a scan.

I have no doubt that they are moving through the system normally, but it's something to be aware of in case you have customers who worry about tracking, or wrongly assume you did not drop off their package quickly because the scanning did not activate for a week. It might only be my local sorting facility. 

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Mine was fine. Mailed Monday morning, scanned at Richmond BC at 3pm, being forwarded to US at 8pm, reached LA today.

[dinomitesales]

I have had zero issues or slowdowns with mailing or scans so far (knock on wood) but I always bring my parcels to the post office to get an acceptance scan.

CUPW's latest announcement is about them holding solidarity rallies across the country. So they are unlikely to announce a strike until those are over. There's also a federal holiday coming up on Monday, and the workers won't get paid for it if they don't work on Tuesday, so I would put Wednesday as the earliest possible strike date, but who knows.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

The packages aren't slowed down, they simply don't seem to be getting scanned at my local processing depot, but otherwise are moving normally. 

It is a small enough sample size that it could be a coincidence. But I figured it was worth sharing in case any other sellers (or their customers) encounter similar issues and are worried that their package is stalled, which it isn't. 

[regs43]

I don't look at tracking on anything I send out, I ship and forget about it.

But i have noticed since Late September an uptick in people messaging me about their lettermail not arriving yet etc.

One person in Alberta I mailed something around August 20th took 6 weeks to arrive

A regular whos in Ontario (same as me) has had Multiple of my bubble mailers to him have taken 3 weeks to arrive, usually my stuff gets to him about 2-3 days (mailed betten October 5-12th)

A person in BC informed me that soemthing took 4 weeks to arrive the other day. I have another one who informed me they havent recieved it yet, so waiting to see what happens with that one.

Luckily no cases yet, people have messaged. My general rule though if you open a case on lettermail your blocked from buying from me again as I have no way to know if your lying and would rather not deal with you again either way lol

I extended my handling time to 5 days from 2, about a week ago.I may up that to 10days honestly as we enter Christmas Rush (it doesnt seem to be affecting my salves volume the longer handling time as I have 22 orders today which is about 50% more then usual lol)

I have a good mix or return customers and new ones and will continue to play Russian Roulette in Canada for now lol.

[teenytrinkets]

I have also had at least 3 parcels miss scans (QC and ON... none on BC) late Oct/ early Nov. These are all purchases.

I've put myself on Time Away until this is resolved. It's not worth the headache.

[stringers_books_and_collectibles]

Heads up: Monday is a holiday for Canada Post. So if you are planning to use them tomorrow, be aware that a strike or lockout provides for a 72 hour notice. So, a parcel sent out Friday could be stuck in the mail for a while if something happens tomorrow (72 hours would be Saturday, Sunday and Monday - 72 hours notice is continuous and not 3 business days).