eIS and the Lettermail "Problem"

[ecgt]

For years a large part of our business model has relied on shipping items such as DVDs, certain video games, comic books, CDs and other items that are eligible for Lettermail within Canada. Said items would be shipped  using Tracked Packet to the USA or Internationally.

The Lettermail method of shipping within Canada is extremely cost effective to the extent that many items are only competitive when shipped via Lettermail. 

Since eIS uses the domestic shipping on file when an international buyer places an order, we now have a problem. The eIS program requires that we use a trackable method. Lettermail is non-trackable. More than a third of our items only offer Lettermail as the domestic option.

We were enrolled in the eIS program on October 9 and made our first sale this morning (a Blu-ray). Unfortunately, the item in question offers Lettermail as the domestic shipping option. We charged $6 for Lettermail in this case. All of the tracked shipping methods available to us generally cost $18 or more for an item of this size.

We aren't willing to eat that cost, so we decided to cancel the transaction. This is not something we want to do because if we start cancelling transactions over and over it could lead to an account suspension.

We decided to check the eBay Shipping Label prices for the item before cancelling the transaction and were met with a potentially good surprise.

Shipping the Blu-ray from Halifax to the Mississauga hub via eIS is only $8 for Canada Post Expedited Parcel with eBay Shipping Labels for the item in question (in this case a parcel weighing 200 g in a 22 cm x 16 cm x 12 cm box). Knowing this, we are going to eat the $2 and give this a shot.

We checked to see what it would cost to ship a record using a record mailer (600 g in a 33 cm x 33 cm x 4 cm box) and the Canada Post Expedited Parcel price came up as $9.

The UPS prices were also less than expected, but were several dollars more than the Canada Post options in the tests we did.

If this is accurate, then it suggests that eBay and Canada Post (as well as UPS) have made deals on cheaper shipping to the hub and haven't made an announcement as of yet.

We realize that we are among the earliest invitees to the program. Has anyone else had a sale via eIS yet? If so, what is your experience in terms of shipping prices to the hub using eBay Shipping Labels?

[reallynicestamps]

Sounds like the US border services have come to the same conclusion as CBSA.

It costs the taxpayer more to assess and collect import fees on low value imports than can possibly be collected. 

Making for an effective de minimus of $100 or so.               

It was one of the problems with the GSP. Because they were a private company they were charged with collection and assessment and penalized if they were not. But the public servants were not only more sensible than the politicians that set the de minimus too low, but were not about to penalize their colleagues. 

Using Lettermail to send "goods" internationally is not allowed under the Universal Postal Union rules. It's allowed domestically. 

I've been sending a lot of birthday cards recently.

[luke@ebay]

Hi there @ecgt:

You are able to ship to the eIS hub with whatever domestic shipping option you have offered for your item, including lettermail. That said, we do strongly recommend using a tracked service (and uploading that tracking) to ensure you're fully benefitting from the protections available and minimizing any risks for your item. 

[nostalgicaftertaste]

I think so, too, yes. 

Somewhat related to this point: I noticed that for an eIS sale I made, I received a phone notification saying the item sold for ~$38 as though the buyer paid for shipping on top of the base price of $23. But again, I only received funds for the base price.

[reallynicestamps]

Halifax seems to accept a lot more items for lettermail when I just put them in the outside boxes and not taking them into the post office itself.

Yep. 

The carrier empties the box into their big sack.

It goes to the terminal.

And assembly lines.

The only human eyes from there on are looking for the postal code until  the carrier puts it in their sack for delivery to the customer's house. 

[reallynicestamps]

@nostalgicaftertaste 

Our fees are charged on the buyer's full payment, including shipping and tax.

However with international sales our shipping fee is based on our cheapest domestic shipping fee. 

"If you offer 1-day or international shipping as well as a cheaper or free option (like domestic shipping), the total amount of the sale is calculated based on the cheapest domestic option you offer. If you only offer 1-day or international shipping but no cheaper option like domestic shipping, the total amount of the sale is calculated based on the service the buyer chooses."

[marnotom!]

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@easoss wrote:

I don't understand why eBay couldn't have set up an EIS hub in Calgary or Vancouver. The program in very GTA centric.

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Maybe they will if the volume of merchandise coming out of western Canada is great enough to justify the costs of a second hub, but for now Mississauga is pretty much considered the centre of the universe when it comes to international shipping and logistics in Canada.  I suspect anything sent to a hub in western Canada would just end up being forwarded to a bigger hub after processing, anyway.  I wouldn't be surprised if some if not most of gets sent to the eIS Canadian hub is just fired down to Illinois afterwards, even if it isn't US-bound.

For what it's worth, I've received a couple of non-eBay items from China that were sent to Mississauga before making their way to me on Vancouver Island.  They were likely part of a consolidated shipment.

[marnotom!]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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Regarding the quickly posted concern about Canadian sellers who use letter for shipping in Canada being the default when something now is going to the hub, because they didn't have a way to address they just stated continue sending to hub via letter and take your chances. (Pretty sure eIS in the USA requires tracked service.) They couldn't be bothered to figure out a workaround to give Canadian sellers full protection. 

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@lotzofuniquegoodies, there's no eIS protection on tracked shipments that don't make it to the hub.  That has to be sorted out between the seller and their shipping provider.  eIS's protections only kick in when the item is scanned as accepted at the hub and eIS takes responsibility for the item's transit.

Presumably, eIS would refund its share of the shipping charges in a situation where the item--tracked or untracked--doesn't make it to the hub when the system is prompted by an INR claim.  The rest of the refund would come from the seller.

[jtg204]

"Because I opted out at the beginning have yet to receive a second invite to use"

You might need to check the shipping preferences page instead of waiting for an invite or message.

I was opted out, and didn't receive any message that I could enrol when I could.

When another group reported being added, I checked the shipping page and seen this:

After a couple days it changed to 'Enrol' link instead of 'Opt out processing', which instantly enrols you with no confirmation step if you click it (I was curious to see the next step).

Opting out again, puts you back on 'Opt out processing' for a day or two until it turns to 'enrol' link again.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@jtg204 wrote:

"Because I opted out at the beginning have yet to receive a second invite to use"

You might need to check the shipping preferences page instead of waiting for an invite or message.

I was opted out, and didn't receive any message that I could enrol when I could.

When another group reported being added, I checked the shipping page and seen this:

After a couple days it changed to 'Enrol' link instead of 'Opt out processing', which instantly enrols you with no confirmation step if you click it (I was curious to see the next step).

Opting out again, puts you back on 'Opt out processing' for a day or two until it turns to 'enrol' link again.

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@jtg204 

Double checked my settings on multiple occasions and option is still MIA. There's nothing there about opted out. Checked to see if it was in business policies and not there either.

[rainbow71113]

my package to Lithuania has been delivered, ordered Oct 9th delivered Oct 21st. Not too bad, I do get faster deliveries to European countries closer to Halifax -like the UK, France & Germany but it's nice to see that one delivered to a country I normally would not send to. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@rainbow71113 wrote:

my package to Lithuania has been delivered, ordered Oct 9th delivered Oct 21st. Not too bad, I do get faster deliveries to European countries closer to Halifax -like the UK, France & Germany but it's nice to see that one delivered to a country I normally would not send to. 

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@rainbow71113 

How was the eis cost compared to just sending tracked with cp?

[reallynicestamps]

@rainbow71113 

Both cost to you as seller and cost to buyer which may include import fees?

And are the import fees a line item, only seen by the buyer,  or are they included with the shipping charged to the buyer

[reallynicestamps]

Where is the shipping preferences page?

[jtg204]

I get there from "Overview" then a link in Shortcuts to Site Preferences, and then Shipping Preferences is just under Business Policies (in my screen shot).  There will be a section at the top if you can enrol or are enroled,  or missing if it hasn't rolled out to you yet.

[jtg204]

Just some more information I found today...the show recipient address and packing slip only shows me a postal code and country (maybe different countries are different), but for full destination address I have to go to the order details page and select "View tax invoice" from the 'More actions v' menu.

[rainbow71113]

not sure what you are wanting but here is the transaction info-it's showing the higher shipping charge which is getting refunded approx $9 ( see previous post)

What your buyer paid

Subtotal

C $179.99

Shipping

C $12.00

VAT*

C $40.32

Order total**

C $232.31

What you earned

Order total

C $232.31

eBay collected from buyer

VAT

-C $40.32

Selling costs

Transaction fees

-C $25.47

Shipping label

-C $24.92

Order earnings

C $141.60

[rainbow71113]

everyone-I found this https://www.ebay.ca/sellercentre/shipping/ebay-international-shipping

and in it, it says

"Buyers will be able to choose between eBay International Shipping or your existing shipping policy. The shipping price first shown to buyers in your listing page and search results will be the less costly of the two options. Buyers then have the ability to choose between your existing shipping policy and eBay International Shipping as they check out. "

so that last order I got to Arizona had chosen the option for the hub and then decided it was going to take too long...so in the info it doesn't say how much more time is tacked onto the shipment when it is going to the US via the hub....might be faster due to clearance on the border but also might be slower because of the "middle man" meaning the hub processing time. 

[rainbow71113]

also I noticed on my hub orders that they have the number  866-540-3229-haven't tried it so don't know if anyone answers or not

[reallynicestamps]

@jtg204 

Thanks for the guidance. I'm not enrolled.

And it looks as if stamps are not eligible in any case.

[reallynicestamps]

Buyers will be able to choose between eBay International Shipping or your existing shipping policy.

So the BUYER controls how we ship?
That's a big change.

The shipping price first shown to buyers in your listing page and search results will be the less costly of the two options.

Good PR, but a shock when the import fees are charged on the doorstep.

And leaving the Seller liable for the Trump Tariff, whatever it is that day. 

Buyers then have the ability to choose between your existing shipping policy and eBay International Shipping as they check out. "

Personally I would not give the buyer a choice.

Because we are already seeing reports of US buyers refusing to pay the Trump Tariff and either returning the item or the Seller being charged a foreign tax by the shipper.