When would be the right time to start shipping?

[lud-4367]

So, they will start collecting mails and parcels from this friday, right? Does that mean the business will be the same as before without delays?  Do you think it's okay to start dropping off mails and parcels from friday? Or maybe I should just wait until january since there are a lot of backlogs and also the people who are eager to ship right away. Furthermore, the news articles say that the union members will appeal the ruling. Does it mean they will start go a strike again? When are you going to start shipping? 

[flipistics]

It's likely there will be delays well into the new year. How long those delays are, your guess is as good as anyone else's.

I'm planning on evaluating how things look on the 24th, both for Canada Post and other couriers. I may open up a few higher priced items that I can send off with other couriers then, and fully open in the new year.  I'll definitely be waiting a good while for lettermail items since there's no tracking or protections on those

I doubt the appeal will go anywhere.

[mrdutch1001]

"Does that mean the business will be the same as before without delays? "

You're kidding,right??!

I suspect there will be delays well into mid-January...

I for one will not be activating any listings before the end of December and I will continue using Purolator if, when,as needed until mid-January. In the meantime, I shall be making adjustments to my listings to accommodate the postal increases that are forthcoming mid-January...

[intimewithmusic]

Hi @lud-4367 Happy Holidays!

   Speaking for myself some processing centres that my items travel through such as Richmond BC still have "agitated" workers.  To avoid funnelling prescious packages through workplace conflicts I'm waiting until Santa arrives.

  With respect to the "appeal" to seek compensation for their percieved infringement of rights the regular negotiations will resume regardlessly in May 2025. It's my understanding, if they file a rights appeal, it won't be heard by the courts for at least a year making it a moot attempt unless they win some financial compenstaion with it. That doesn't move the mail.

   Will there be a postal disruption this coming May? My personal feeling is a resounding YES and  @mrdutch1001  is  wise by continuing to use his alternative carrier. After this long hard burn that lesson has been learned by many. 

Cheers!

[busybeas_books]

I re-started up my store Monday. I just checked a few of my lisings, the larger items going as a package via Canada Post, not the ads/articles that go as lettermail. eBay has put a first-to-second week in February estimated delivery time on them.

[intimewithmusic]

Hi @busybeas_books 

  Wow! Kudos. You were first out of the starting gate!

Do you mind me asking if your items are mostly domestic?

Mine are pretty much all international. 

Thanks

[sin-n-dex]

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@lud-4367 wrote:

So, they will start collecting mails and parcels from this friday, right? Does that mean the business will be the same as before without delays?  Do you think it's okay to start dropping off mails and parcels from friday? Or maybe I should just wait until january since there are a lot of backlogs and also the people who are eager to ship right away. Furthermore, the news articles say that the union members will appeal the ruling. Does it mean they will start go a strike again? When are you going to start shipping? 

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I'm waiting to start shipping within Canada, but I did have an oversized letter going to New Zealand that I dropped off today (with postage on it, before the mad rush tomorrow at the post office).

I think I might wait until Christmas, so another week, then I'll allow shipping in Canada again. If I get an international order that normally goes with Canada Post, I'm still sending those and advising the international buyer of the strike (because they probably don't know).

C.

[darak10]

yesterday. lol

this is comical and didnt surprise me at all, this is how Canada Post runs their shop.

I went in to see yesterday (Tuesday) if they were open to buy some supplies and there was this lady there will like 50 xmas cards.  she did her thing and got out of the way.  I asked the clerk if they were accepting new mail.  She looked at me like I was from planet Xenon.  "Yes", was her basic confused kid answer.

I shared the information online and the news that new mail wasnt being accepted until Thursday.

She again looked at me like I was stupid, saying nothing. 

The lady with the hundred xmas cards was still standing there, turns to me and says "guess you shouldnt believe everything you read", followed by a ridiculously overblown bellow like she was just named comedian of the year somewhere.

I asked the clerk if Canada Post were picking up new mail  today (tuesday), she said yes they were. 

(and yes, they are in a strike position again at the end of May.)

[darak10]

oh yes and when I took everything in today to mail there were no lineups either time I went in. 

[sin-n-dex]

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@darak10 wrote:

yesterday. lol

this is comical and didnt surprise me at all, this is how Canada Post runs their shop.

I went in to see yesterday (Tuesday) if they were open to buy some supplies and there was this lady there will like 50 xmas cards.  she did her thing and got out of the way.  I asked the clerk if they were accepting new mail.  She looked at me like I was from planet Xenon.  "Yes", was her basic confused kid answer.

I shared the information online and the news that new mail wasnt being accepted until Thursday.

She again looked at me like I was stupid, saying nothing. 

The lady with the hundred xmas cards was still standing there, turns to me and says "guess you shouldnt believe everything you read", followed by a ridiculously overblown bellow like she was just named comedian of the year somewhere.

I asked the clerk if Canada Post were picking up new mail  today (tuesday), she said yes they were. 

(and yes, they are in a strike position again at the end of May.)

---

I went to a Rexall to mail my one letter and made a comment about them not doing packages until Thursday and the clerk looked at me kind of the same way... Maybe the packages thing means they won't be picking up packages from businesses until Thursday. A small business in my neighbourhood that does mail order told me they have 800 unshipped orders that have to go Canada Post, they said they used Purolator for everything they could ship as soon as possible.

I did believe that they would be in a strike position at the end of May, but was trying to not get too excited about that. Canada Post is sending updates on their negotiations so I'll just pay attention to see what's going on. (And this forum which I found a few days after the strike started turned out to be very helpful... over on the US forum not many people there care that Canada Post was on strike).

C.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

If you're shipping tracked, and you don't have an alternative courier, you should start back up right away. eBay is extending protections to buyers using tracked shipping. So even if an item is delayed, there is no downside. You may want to communicate to your buyer that Canada Post might face delays, just in case they are living under a rock. 

If you're shipping untracked, I would not worry too much because eBay extended the window for lettermail by a very large amount. It appears that with 1 day handling, a buyer sees a shipping window that is 54 days long. That means, they cannot open an INR for almost 2 month. You still need to manage the expectations of buyers, but INRs should not be an issue.

One thing to consider for everybody who ships Lettermail, you should revise your shipping policies. A lot of people here normally use the "Economy Shipping" designation, because the shipping window is more realistic for Lettermail. With eBay extending the shipping window for Canada Post products, Lettermail now offers a longer shipping window. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@ilikehockeyjerseys wrote:

If you're shipping tracked, and you don't have an alternative courier, you should start back up right away. eBay is extending protections to buyers using tracked shipping. So even if an item is delayed, there is no downside. You may want to communicate to your buyer that Canada Post might face delays, just in case they are living under a rock. 

If you're shipping untracked, I would not worry too much because eBay extended the window for lettermail by a very large amount. It appears that with 1 day handling, a buyer sees a shipping window that is 54 days long. That means, they cannot open an INR for almost 2 month. You still need to manage the expectations of buyers, but INRs should not be an issue.

One thing to consider for everybody who ships Lettermail, you should revise your shipping policies. A lot of people here normally use the "Economy Shipping" designation, because the shipping window is more realistic for Lettermail. With eBay extending the shipping window for Canada Post products, Lettermail now offers a longer shipping window. 

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@ilikehockeyjerseys 

In checking a sale I had today....Calgary to Toronto by letter mail Economy shipping is showing delivery window as Dec 23 to Jan 14. 1 day handling time. Same delivery estimate even if you modify the to postal code. In practice/principle the estimate should vary depending on distance.  Except not according to ebay.  System uses the same methodology for parcels. City to City vs Rural to Rural only varies slightly when not always the case. 

[busybeas_books]

My lettermail sales (advert pages and articles) are about 70% USA, 20% Canada and 10% other international. The bigger stuff sales are about 90% USA, 10% Canada. I don't offer other international on them.

[byto253]

LOL.  Is she expecting her Christmas cards to make it before Christmas?

[intimewithmusic]

Thanks.

  I'm close to that ratio too.  I use Exp Lite-Canada/Trk Pkt-USA instead of lettermail for those sizes. The rates are above USPS media mail but it keeps me in the ballgame for my HTF items. If eBay labels go up versus USPS I'll likely switch to lettermail for the lower priced widgets.

[chicweb]

Lettermail to the States? I thought it wasn't allowed? A lot of sellers complained that their items did not go through the custom because of it.

I wouldn't send items lettermail to the States, too risky.

[mrdutch1001]

It isn't allowed...any goods/merchandise sent outside of Canada must have declarations of contents & value as per Canada Post policy ...

There are many sellers who still defy that policy and send their goods/merchandise disguised as lettermail so that they can use the cheaper lettermail postal rates. However, with the increases coming for lettermail, those sellers are not going to find lettermail as cheap anymore, but they will continue to defy the policy...until they find those lettermail items being returned by the postal systems...

[doc_scribe]

Sidebar question: "How do I convert a sale that I cancelled Day 1 of the lockdown into a relist targeting that original Buyer only?

After 2 decades of selling, I should at least have some clue how to do this, but never needing to do so...well...I...just...um...don't.

Cue Homer Simpson "D'oh."

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@doc_scribe 

You're probably going to get several assorted responses on this. I just advise customer that you will be doing specifically for them. Wait for them to respond. Use relist and custom with anything you've modified like shipping or best offer. List adding Custom to title. Then send buyer listing id link to let them know. It can take 5 to 60 mins for listing to show but with id they should be able to immediately access. 

[doc_scribe]

I thought of that Lotz, but since this is a one-off collectible, I want to lock it in for this particular Buyer. I mean, he was exceptionally understanding about my reason for the cancellation, and even left glowing feedback.

Possible wrinkle: this Buyer is in in the U.K. and my reason for cancellation was "something wrong with address."* (the closest match, but could that alone prevent him from re-purchasing using the same address?)

* The $90.00 plus courier costs to the UK!