canada post shipping small packet to the us

[canabeans99]

Hi all canadian eBayers! I am back selling on eBay after some thought about the higher fees and then the extremely high canada post fees. I thought I should be able to manage the FVF here, then what Paypay takes. I think eBay is taking too much at 10% , but I thought the bigger problem is the FVF on the shipping cost?.....There are so many thoughts going round my head that I will just show an example . I sold an item, that was under 200 gm, thought I would give free shipping , work it into the buy price and at least save the FVF on shipping cost. so, here is is $120.00 USD buy it now-- I reduced this item to bring in a sale.Normally sells @ $190.00 minus FVF 10% - $12.00 USD Paypal - $4.74 USD Canada Post - $14.02 USD ($17.87 CAD) Under 200 gm to the US total fees + ship -$30..00 USD (rounding) My total $90.00 USD I recall when I was selling in 2000 or so, and I realize that prices change in so many years, but small packet from Canada to the US, at under 500 gm, was about $5.00 CAD with $1.50 or so to add a signature instead of tracking.Now it appears that under 1 kg, and even if you are at 100 gms, very small, it will be $17.00 CAD and up.The very light , under 500 gm, is $7.87 , with No tracking , no signature. I know I have been out of touch for a while but I certainly cannot sell like this with the fees, and if I visible add the shipping cost eBay now take a FVF on our shipping cost. mmmmmm I think there may be something wrong here, such as charging a FVF for something that is a fee, not a retail/wholesale cost, It would be like charging interest on top of interest fee...? That may be illegal in Canada.eBay is a company and the FVF may be charged only on the cost of the item.FVF on the shipping fee??? That is not acceptable and most likely illegal when it involves a financial instituet. We should all be able to sell an item, add the shipping cost, and I mean the actual shipping cost, not an inflated one , and keep ALL the fee for the shipping, no FVF involved here! None of us can compete with USPS low rates when Canada Post charges so much higher. My little 150 gm package cost $17.87 CAD to go to somewhere near washington, and it took 4 weeks to get there, for almost $18.00 . I apologize for the long rant but There seems to be fees everywhere and eBay was originally supposed to be a safe place to buy and sell with fees that were to help keep all of us safe.It appears now to be fees upon fees , especially when it means taking the new fee right out of the shipping fee.Who does that....oops ya, that would be eBay now :o( Illegally by financial bills and laws.

[ypdc_dennis]

Wall of text broken up a bit ...

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canabeans99 wrote:
I am back selling on eBay after some thought about the higher fees and then the extremely high canada post fees.

I thought I should be able to manage the FVF here, then what Paypay takes. I think eBay is taking too much at 10% , but I thought the bigger problem is the FVF on the shipping cost?.....

I sold an item, that was under 200 gm, thought I would give free shipping , work it into the buy price and at least save the FVF on shipping cost.

I recall when I was selling in 2000 or so, and I realize that prices change in so many years, but small packet from Canada to the US, at under 500 gm, was about $5.00 CAD with $1.50 or so to add a signature instead of tracking.

Now it appears that under 1 kg, and even if you are at 100 gms, very small, it will be $17.00 CAD and up. The very light, under 500 gm, is $7.87 , with No tracking , no signature. I know I have been out of touch for a while but I certainly cannot sell like this with the fees, and if I visible add the shipping cost eBay now take a FVF on our shipping cost. mmmmmm I think there may be something wrong here, such as charging a FVF for something that is a fee, not a retail/wholesale cost,

None of us can compete with USPS low rates when Canada Post charges so much higher. My little 150 gm package cost $17.87 CAD to go to somewhere near washington, and it took 4 weeks to get there, for almost $18.00 ...

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You've be out of touch for a very long time if you were not aware of the shipping FVF. eBay added that back in 2011 to (a) eliminate those who had a low selling price with high shipping to avoid fees and (b) encourage sellers to offer "free" shipping -- the old way penalized sellers with "free" shipping.

FVF on shipping is not illegal. Painful to the pocket book, but not illegal. And not unique, over on the A-river selling platform it's 15% on total purchase price including shipping.

Canada Post did a major revamp to shipping to the USA back in 2014 with elimination of the inexpensive USA Small Packet Surface and dropping insurance coverage on Small Packet completely.

Know your shipping costs before listing to see whether it is worthwhile.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

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Canada Post to the USA

Postage discounts: Available through eBay/PayPal (discounts for tracked packet and expedited parcel) or using the free Solutions for Small Business (formerly VentureOne) card and buying online at Canada Post (discounts for small packet, tracked packet and expedited parcel)

Lettermail - documents, max 2cm thick, stamp rate shown.

Light Packet - max 2cm thick, no insurance, no tracking.

Small Packet (air) - no thickness limit, no insurance, no tracking. Does have a bar code, which you can get an

originate scan -- acceptable proof for 3rd party insurance companies.

Tracked Packet - $100 insurance, tracking, discount available. Over the counter base rate shown. Online discounts available.

2017 rates for light weight items to the USA (expedited not shown)

000-030g ..  1.20 lettermail under 5 mm
031-050g ..  1.80 lettermail under 5 mm

051-100g ..  2.95 O/S lettermail
101-200g ..  5.15 O/S lettermail
000-200g ..  6.84 Light Packet

201-300g ..  8.60 Light Packet
000-250g ..  8.61 Small Packet (Air)

201-500g .. 10.30 O/S lettermail
251-500g .. 11.29 Small Packet (Air)
301-500g .. 11.75 Light Packet
000-250g .. 15.42 Tracked Packet
251-500g .. 16.71 Tracked Packet

501g-1kg .. 16.82 Small Packet (Air)
501g-1kg .. 18.92 Tracked Packet

...

Alternative shipping: Depending on your location, if there is one nearby, consider a reshipper company for better rates. These are the ones I've heard of (their websites have the details):

chitchatsexpress.com - Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax
dykpost.com - Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary
runninred.com - Winnipeg
stallionexpress.com - Toronto

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[pocomocomputing]

When a Canadian seller sells a item to the USA, it is international shipping, not domestic shipping which is what a USA seller does when they sell within the USA . You cannot compare the two. Compare with a USA seller selling into Canada which would be international shipping.

Canadian eBay sellers seem to think they should get international shipping rates at the same rate as USA eBay seller domestic rates so they can compete.

[recped]

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@pocomocomputing wrote:

When a Canadian seller sells a item to the USA, it is international shipping, not domestic shipping which is what a USA seller does when they sell within the USA . You cannot compare the two. Compare with a USA seller selling into Canada which would be international shipping.

Canadian eBay sellers seem to think they should get international shipping rates at the same rate as USA eBay seller domestic rates so they can compete.

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Yes let's compare that....

USPS First Class Package shipping to Canada

Up to 224 grams - US$9.03 = CA$11.83 ------------ Canada Post Small Packet CA$8.61

225 - 896 grams - US$14.73 = CA$19.30 ------------ Canada Post Small Packet CA$ 11.29 - $16.83

Even Tracked Packet USA CA$15.42 (250g) or CA$18.92 (500g) is cheaper than USPS First Class rates to Canada.

While this is partially due to exchange rate changes which could possibly reverse at any time the current situation is that Canada Post rates to the USA are cheaper than USPS rates to Canada.for comparable weights and service levels.

Even the domestic shipping rates in the USA are much higher than they used to be. Only packages under 1lb are able to get the relatively cheap First Class rates, once you go over 1lb domestic Priority rates compare well with Canadian Expedited rates. A 1 lb Priority package from New York to L.A. using Commercial Plus (best available rate) costs US$7.04 = CA$9.22, a bit cheaper than CP Expedited Toronto to Vancouver but not by that much.

Now if you turn the clock back 5 years or more and/or pick the brief period where the Canadian Dollar was at or above par then it was true that USPS rates were much cheaper than the equivalent Canada Post pricing. It just isn't the case anymore.

[femmefan1946]

Darn it recped-- you're using facts and common sense again!

You know that research isn't allowed!

[femmefan1946]

White space is your friend.

Just hit the Return key now and then.

When you have an item that is under 2cm thick you can use Light Packet/Letter Post for shipping.

These do not have tracking, but you can self-insure (search Cookie Jar Insurance for one of my many rants about this) or insure through a third party like shipinsure.

These don't help directly if you are hit by the occasional Item Not Received dispute, but they do insure against damage in transit and Item Not As Described disputes. And allow you to react before the unhappy buyer goes to eBay and you end up with a Claim and a Defect. 

The advantage of CJI is that you don't pay out anything when there is no problem. So you make money by not spending money.

All package rated shipments are barcoded, but the tracking and delivery confirmation standards vary.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

As you are restarting your eBay business, work out rates for every packaged product. (I use 90210 for USA, although I suppose I should be using 32830 which is Disney World in Florida.)

Yes, it takes a few minutes, and can be vaguely horrifying, but remember your customer is paying the shipping not you.

It's up to you to make your products so appetizing that the shipping cost becomes irrelevant.

[silverstallionstore]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

Darn it recped-- you're using facts and common sense again!

You know that research isn't allowed!

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YES correct!

[canabeans99]

Thank s to all who replied.....I totally forgot I posted that! 

Still trying to sell and give free shopping but Imwill do better at the estimating.Just didn't know the shipping

had changed that much.

Thank you to all who wanted to fly insults and did not.There is more help that usual.THANK YOU!

[pocomocomputing]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

White space is your friend.

Just hit the Return key now and then.

When you have an item that is under 2cm thick you can use Light Packet/Letter Post for shipping.

These do not have tracking, but you can self-insure (search Cookie Jar Insurance for one of my many rants about this) or insure through a third party like shipinsure.

These don't help directly if you are hit by the occasional Item Not Received dispute, but they do insure against damage in transit and Item Not As Described disputes. And allow you to react before the unhappy buyer goes to eBay and you end up with a Claim and a Defect. 

The advantage of CJI is that you don't pay out anything when there is no problem. So you make money by not spending money.

All package rated shipments are barcoded, but the tracking and delivery confirmation standards vary.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

As you are restarting your eBay business, work out rates for every packaged product. (I use 90210 for USA, although I suppose I should be using 32830 which is Disney World in Florida.)

Yes, it takes a few minutes, and can be vaguely horrifying, but remember your customer is paying the shipping not you.

It's up to you to make your products so appetizing that the shipping cost becomes irrelevant.

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Third party shipping insurance companies most often used by Canadian eBay sellers are Insurepost and U-Pic. There is no shipinsure.

Be careful when using a third party insurance because they do exculde what they consider high risk countries as well they do not insure high risk items. Read their terms and conditions before purchasing insurance. You may need to have proof of mailing, that is, a receipt from the post office that it was accepted at the post office to prove that a package was actually mailed.

Post back if you need more information on using third party insurance companies.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@pocomocomputing wrote:
Third party shipping insurance companies most often used by Canadian eBay sellers are Insurepost and U-Pic. There is no shipinsure.

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Side note: Shipsurance runs InsurePost.

You're correct that reading the coverage details is very important.

I find it useful to see what countries I should not be shipping to...