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 

[marnotom!]

My understanding is that while workers have voted to strike and Canada Post management has been alerted that the potential for job action exists, there hasn’t been an announcement about anything happening on Monday.

https://globalnews.ca/video/10840597/cupw-on-possible-job-action-by-canada-post-workers/amp/

[videotimeplus]

its getting around the 72 hour window before Novermber 3rd too so if they make an announcement it will have to be quite soon.

[mrdutch1001]

I will cross that bridge when I need to=when I physically see( and not from panic reading material such as this thread or heresay), that mail is NOT going to move at all...then and only then will I address the need for action...

[femmefan1946]

If the workers go out, they will likely be using the disruptive 24 hour rotating strikes that have been reasonably successful in  the past.

Shipments will slow but will not stop. 

Traffic through Mississauga will be most effected, and that could be the center for walkouts.

If management goes on strike, they will lock out everyone and shipping will stop. They did that the last time.

[videotimeplus]

What would be helpful to sellers would be if CP outlined what sort of strike could be coming so that people wouldn't have to speculate and plan around uncertainties. 72 hours is not a lot of notice. 

[marnotom!]

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@videotimeplus wrote:

What would be helpful to sellers would be if CP outlined what sort of strike could be coming so that people wouldn't have to speculate and plan around uncertainties. 72 hours is not a lot of notice. 

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That would certainly be a very Canadian approach to job action. 😁

Strikes and job action are first and foremost mechanisms to make matters as difficult as possible for the employer or management. Part of that involves the element of surprise or as close to a surprise as possible.

[recped]

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@videotimeplus wrote:

What would be helpful to sellers would be if CP outlined what sort of strike could be coming so that people wouldn't have to speculate and plan around uncertainties. 72 hours is not a lot of notice. 

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Canada Post can't tell you what CUPW is planning, I doubt even CUPW know exactly what is going to happen until it happens.

The most recent offer from Canada Post was submitted to the union YESTERDAY, nobody knows what will happen until CUPW responds. Even if they reject the latest offer CUPW is the party that will decide what form of action they will take.

Here are the options.....

• CUPW accepts the latest offer
• Continue negotiations
• Rotating strikes starting next week
• Full strike starting next week
• Lockout by management
• Legislated back to work

[flipistics]

I've put my stores on time away. I don't really have any other shipping options where I live (unless I'm willing to drive about 80km each way to drop packages off with UPS).  In spite of living 2 mins off the Trans-Canada, shipping companies seem to believe it's too remote to schedule pickups 🙄.

I feel like things will probably happen fairly quickly. Canada Post isn't going to want this to drag out because they won't want to lose all of the holiday business. I suspect they'll be pretty quick to initiate a lockout to try to force a resolution before December.  I could be wrong though.

I plan to use the time to get my books caught up and get a bunch of new listings done so when the strike is over, I can hopefully make up for some of the lost business.

[needsmorerobots]

Until it happens where everything stops and no packages are moving, I won't do anything.

Once things stop moving, I'll close my store and keep adding to my listings until service resumes.

[brettjet38]

...so much ado, about nothing & I will do nothing as nothing will stop getting delivered.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

There is a short window to alter things, but even for people who weren't following the Canada Post negotiations, eBay sent out a message about the strike last week and put a disclaimer above the shipping page basically saying don't use Canada Post because they might strike.

So there has been a lot of notice. That doesn't mean it's not a hassle. I don't blame any casual sellers for being caught off guard if they don't visit eBay everyday and had something sell. I get that I am in a bit of a bubble being someone who ships things on eBay daily.

[morepleaseshop]

Can someone please chime in on shipping cross border with UPS and Fedex? That info would be useful regardless of the strike, but even more so now. I stayed away from them because I was afraid of customers getting charged with customs and other fees that are not mentioned and being angry at me. Also, how good they are with delivering to the door? What about apartments and gated communities? I mean, how likely it is that they might require a a customer to come to UPS location for pick up and they don't have one near them?

I guess I'm asking, if I ship with UPS, what do I need to worry about?

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

You have to be sure that you use calculated shipping because the shipping rates for UPS can vary wildly compared to Canada Post. They have a very high surcharge for some rural areas. For example, a package that costs $15 to most cities might cost $100 to a random rural area. 

Buyers should not be charged brokerage fees if you print the label directly on eBay because eBay already collects the tax. Someone else might be able to confirm this. 

As far as picking up a package, if you use a shipping calculator and set your shipping method to UPS standard, it will say in your listing that UPS is the carrier of choice. So a buyer knows what they are getting into. In general, UPS will leave a package at the door (usually with a photo) and make a reasonable attempt to deliver to a buzz number in an apartment. 

You need to make sure you block PO Boxes in your shipping restrictions. It is included in the shipping policy page where you choose which countries you block. UPS cannot ship to PO Boxes. If you don't block them, eBay may let them checkout anyways. 

My only concern is that I have read about sellers being charged ridiculous adjustment fees to their UPS and Fedex labels through eBay. Not $1 or $2 here or there like with Canada Post, but $100. It is difficult to gauge how common this is. 

[nhl_automotive]

UPS is a great option if you're not shipping small items like DVDs, often cheaper than Cpost too. Over 2kg to the USA and UPS is the best option. The only thing to be aware of UPS and FedEx will likely jack their rates if Cpost goes on full strike. Something to keep an eye on.

[recped]

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@ilikehockeyjerseys wrote:

Buyers should not be charged brokerage fees if you print the label directly on eBay because eBay already collects the tax. Someone else might be able to confirm this. 

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State sales tax is irrelvant, US Customs does not collect sales tax or care about sales tax regardless of the value.

What matters is that the value is less than US$800, anything under that amount will not have any duty collected nor will it require a formal customs entry so in almost all cases UPS of FedEx will not charge any brokerage fees.

If you are shipping an order with a declared value exceeding US$800 via UPS/FedEx there will be brokerage charges, you can select Free Domicile to have those costs billed to the sender rather than the recipient (I have no idea how it works if UPS/FedEx is obtained via eBay, Free Domocile may not be an option).

Personally I would never use UPS or FedEx via eBay, if there is a problem (lost / damaged) or mystery billing surcharges UPS/FedEX will tell you that only eBay can make a claim while eBay will probably tell you to contact UPS/FedEx.

[morepleaseshop]

Thank you all, very helpful! Just as I expected, the mistery surcharges is the scariest one... I wonder how often it happens...

I'm trying to decide about one parcel right now. I have a flat rate CP to US as a default. and normally my parcels are below 2kg. But this happened to be 90g over, so I'd have to pay for the Expedited. UPS shows twice cheaper for it. I most likely would go with Expedited anyway, but with a possibility of it being stuck somewhere... started to look at other options.

The customer "chose" CP and doesn't know I might change it, is that a bad idea then?

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Can you do anything to shave 90g from the package while still shipping it safely?

If you have a Chit Chats drop spot near you, they are a good option. For example, I shipped a 3KG package via USPS Priority Mail with Signature confirmation and 300 USD of Chit Chats insurance for $31. They also offer USPS Ground Advantage for a bit cheaper.

The only disadvantage is that they don't charge a flat rate like Canada Post does with Tracked Packet. So a 2KG 30x30x30 package might be $15-$20 to New York, but $30+ to a farther state because once they clear the package to the USA, the USPS shipping rates are based on the package being shipped from Niagara Falls.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@flipistics wrote:

I've put my stores on time away. I don't really have any other shipping options where I live (unless I'm willing to drive about 80km each way to drop packages off with UPS).  In spite of living 2 mins off the Trans-Canada, shipping companies seem to believe it's too remote to schedule pickups 🙄.

I feel like things will probably happen fairly quickly. Canada Post isn't going to want this to drag out because they won't want to lose all of the holiday business. I suspect they'll be pretty quick to initiate a lockout to try to force a resolution before December.  I could be wrong though.

I plan to use the time to get my books caught up and get a bunch of new listings done so when the strike is over, I can hopefully make up for some of the lost business.

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@flipistics 

In dropping off my 1 little package (USA Tracked) this morning and speaking to the clerk at my local SD, he passed on that majority of folks dropping off packages have switched to using premium services (paying through the nose) in hopes packages would have a better chance at arriving when required. He said at their depot there has been limited in the way of official details directed as to what to say to customers. For now it just fear/paranoia of the unknown.

-Lotz

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

I agree with people who say that it is very possible we are worrying about nothing, and there won't be a strike, or there will be a rotating strike.

With that said, every eBay seller has a different situation. If I was selling a handful of cheap lettermail orders a week, I wouldn't both and would just throw them in the mail and deal with refunds as needed because the time and cost of a handful of $10 refunds would be less than the cost of researching and implementing new shipping policies.

On the flipside, if someone is selling a handful of $100-$500 type items a day, putting them in via Canada Post this week would be a much worse risk/reward proposition. eBay put that disclaimer up about not using Canada Post for a reason. I assume they aren't going to cover sellers for INRs caused by a strike. 

I do think there if there was ever time for a prolonged lockout, now is it. We live in a very different time from 2011 with all the alternate carriers and shipping services. Along with most people now buying almost everything from Amazon. This is going to be a political issue that barely affects a very large portion of the population, but drastically affects a smaller portion who live in rural or remote areas that are only served by Canada Post. It's not like 2011, where it affected almost everybody to a reasosnable degree.

Canada Post's business model is also extremely flawed and they are losing money hand over fist. I am not arguing for or against the proposition that a service like Canada Post needs to exist for the good of the public regardless of whether it is profitable. I am only pointing out that they have crossed a rubicon where the corporation might see "losing" this negotation as something they simply cannot afford to do, so they have nothing to lose by locking out the union.

So I can see it both ways, but if you go off what has happened historically a prolonged full strike or lockout is less likely.