What to do about buyers that don't understand lettermail?

[teenytrinkets]

I've been selling for a long time, and this is a new one. Buyer's item was shipped o/s lettermail a week ago. Could take up to 2 weeks to arrive since it's from one end of the country to the other. Buyer wants tracking. Tried to explain no tracking. They didn't understand and asked the post office, who told them there should be a receipt and that is traceable. (WTH?). There's been a few back and forths already with me trying to explain lettermail and how it's untraceable. I'm not sure if this person is being scammy for a INR refund without a claim, or truly has no idea how lettermail works - even after multiple attempts to explain and a photo of the envelope with an o/s stamp. Has anyone ever encountered such confusion over lettermail before?

[recped]

In the current world of ecommerce it's VERY rare for orders to be shipped without tracking.

That said I use O/S for at least half of my Canadian orders (cd, cassette 7" vinyl) and I can't remember the last time I had a buyer concerned about the lack of tracking.

It might be that you are using a generic shipping method (economy) while my listings actually state Canada Post lettermail.

"Could take up to 2 weeks"

Really? You are not far from the main postal depot in Richmond, lettermail should never take more than 4 or 5 days unless it's going to a truly remote location.

[reallynicestamps]

Your customer was mistaken. Whether or not the postal clerk was mistaken is questionable.

One of the reasons I like to send members to the eBay Chat reps is that they get a transcript they can review to see if what they heard and what they were told match.

You can Register lettermail at the PO counter for $10.75. This can't be done online. This can be cheaper domestically than parcel rates for items under 500 gr and 2cm.

But today I noticed that my Registered Letter was going for$12.15* (plus fuel fee and tax) while the Expedited Lite rate was $9.78.

I have to look into that now.

*Because I have a LOT of mint postage, that $12.15 face may cost me less using my stock of postage than the label. YMMV.

[flipistics]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

You can Register lettermail at the PO counter for $10.75. This can't be done online. This can be cheaper domestically than parcel rates for items under 500 gr and 2cm.

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You can register lettermail online.

[38e_avenue]

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@flipistics wrote:

You can register lettermail online.

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Where? 

[ypdc_dennis]

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@flipistics wrote:

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

You can Register lettermail at the PO counter... This can't be done online. This can be cheaper domestically than parcel rates for items under 500 gr and 2cm.

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You can register lettermail online.

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Only for those who have an agreement with Canada Post. And the prepaid registered has a weight limit of 200g versus 500g at the counter.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

.. today I noticed that my Registered Letter was going for$12.15* (plus fuel fee and tax) while the Expedited Lite rate was $9.78.

I have to look into that now.

*Because I have a LOT of mint postage, that $12.15 face may cost me less using my stock of postage than the label. YMMV.

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Registered is currently lettermail cost + $10.50 + sales tax (no tax if you only use stamps). No fuel fee.

The time to really start looking will be January when the lettermail cost goes up 25%  -- the gap with expedited lite will get a lot bigger.

...

Back on topic: make sure the Buyer know that the envelope will come with their regular mail.

[flipistics]

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@38e_avenue wrote:

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@flipistics wrote:

You can register lettermail online.

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Where? 

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EST Online (Canada Post Electronic Mailing Tools). When you input the info there's a box you can tick for registered. You then slap a sticker on it (which I think are free from the post office) that has the tracking number.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

You don't need to go into a Post Office to register lettermail. 

You can get the stickers with unique tracking numbers from the Canada Post online store for free. I assume that a Post Office could also give you a handful if you asked. 

So long as you put the correct face value on the envelope and drop it in a mail box, it will be activated when it is scanned. 

Of course, if you were using registered lettermail for significant reasons you may want to bring it in to get scanned, but for a typical eBay sale you're usually good dropping something in the mail box. You will usually get a processing scan the same night. Sometimes if you're unlucky you will not get a scan until it hits the destination sorting facility, but that is uncommon. 

[38e_avenue]

But who would use that? I shipped today a little "registered" package to Ontario and paid just 7 dollars.

A registered letter would costs 13 dollars. 

The same with international shipments - Tracked Packet is now much cheaper, than a registered letter (16 vs. 23 dollars).   

[brettjet38]

What to do about buyers that don't understand lettermail?

They understand and will claim not received if needed...

You are the one who should be using Canada Post Expedited Lite and Tracked Packet - USA. which are still cheaper than registered mail!

You do not want to charge real shipping rates to your customer, so you use Lettermail!

Make sure your cookie jar insurance is topped up you may be using it.

[reallynicestamps]

I looked on the Canada Post website and found these services :

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/support/kb/sending/sending-faq/how-to-prepare-register...

Thank you for that information.

I gather that I have to pay Canada Post for the labels (well, duh!) plus the postage.

At the moment, having a great deal of mint postage on hand, it is cheaper for me to use those stamps, purchased at deep discounts, than to pay for labels. But that's my good fortune.

I don't use Registration for US or overseas shipping, it is not consistently tracked and the newer tracked services are reasonably priced compared with other Western postal systems.

[flipistics]

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@38e_avenue wrote:

But who would use that? I shipped today a little "registered" package to Ontario and paid just 7 dollars.

A registered letter would costs 13 dollars. 

The same with international shipments - Tracked Packet is now much cheaper, than a registered letter (16 vs. 23 dollars).   

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It can definitely be useful on thin items that are 200 - 500 grams and high enough value that you want the tracking. It can also be useful for items going to an airstage location where the cheap expedited lite rates may not apply.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

I am not suggesting that it is better than Expedited Lite. Someone was asking about Registered Lettermail.

With that said, it is a useful tool to have in your toolkit. There are some areas where Expedited Lite will cost $15-$25. If you have discount stamps, either through retail (Costco or Rexall) or through working with a dealer, Registered Lettermail is going to be cheaper.

The point being, it's good to keep the labels on hand because it prevents a situation where you have to wait in line at the Post Office to register a package. 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Hello,

Your order was shipped on (date) to the following address:

(Address)

You selected Economy Shipping at checkout. The expected delivery date shown when you checked out was (expected delivery date from order page). 

Economy Shipping is fulfilled by Canada Post Lettermail. Unfortunately, Lettermail does not include tracking. With that said, it is very reliable and most orders arrive within a week or two.

Your latest expected delivery date is (latest expected delivery date from the order page). While this represents an unlikely worst case scenario, if your order has not arrived by that date please contact me so that I can assist you. 

Thank you for choosing to shop with me.

Regards,

Mr.LettermailShipper

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That sort of stock message usually resolves the issue because it gives the person a clear and objective resolution. That being, if my package doesn't arrive by x date, I can contact the seller again. Most people simply don't understand lettermail, and eBay's shipping details page isn't designed to be clear with lettermail in mind. 

You can't reasonably expect the average buyer to understand shipping methods like a full time seller. The average buyer doesn't live or die by eBay. They likely googled for the item, or decided they wanted something that isn't easily found on Amazon or at retail. As other people said, no tracking is not common in this day and age outside of eBay sellers or Amazon sellers who use merchant fulfillment. Even then, Amazon does a good job at obfuscating the lack of tracking.

People are afraid to straight up mention that there is no tracking, because they think a person might decide to open a false INR after they receive the item. I'll put it this way. Your average person is not going to do that. A person who would do that is going to notice that there are stamps on the package.