hey. Can you help me with this confusing thing about my selling limits?

[vintagetonow2134]

following are two screen shots

here it says I reached my limits for this month

here it says I have 41 left Active

[pjcdn2005]

Where are you seeing the information about the flat rate box?  There were some brought out a couple of years ago but I have no idea if they are still available and when they were brought out, they are available only at a specific number of post offices. Have you checked to see if you can buy them locally?

As a general rule, flat rate boxes are generally more expensive than if you use your own packaging although there are exceptions. Have you checked the CP calculator to see how much it would cost to send that car to someone in your province and to someone farther away?  I suspect that it would cost less than $15 within your province so in that case, not it wouldn't be a good deal.....that's assuming that there is a flat rate box available right now. 

[momcqueen]

There *can* be value in what appears to be nothing more than a beat-up diecast car. But not every beat-up diecast car is created equal. Diecast cars are a whole other world, one in which I’ve only stuck a toe. There are men and women who live and breathe it. But without their deep level of expertise, it’s almost impossible to tell a valuable beat-up diecast from something that should be put out of its misery.

[vintagetonow2134]

how do we even know they are diecast? One of them is Matchbox and the other ones mattel hotwheels. I can't find anything that mentions diecast on them. Forgive me I am clueless on these cars

[vintagetonow2134]

no I used the find a rate only. I will try the calculator too

[pjcdn2005]

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@vintagetonow2134 wrote:
no I used the find a rate only. I will try the calculator too

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They are the same thing. When I referred to the calculator on CP I am referring to find the rate tool. But if you already used the find the rate tool wouldn't you should already know if a flat rate box was a good way to send a small toy so why did you ask here?

Perhaps you should do some research on diecast toys or those type of toys in general before you start selling them.  How much are similar ones selling for on ebay?  You really do need to do some research on the type of things that you want to sell. 

[vintagetonow2134]

yep. I noticed when I went in the site again. But couldn't edit because I got sudden wifi issues. Ok so. I tried the find a rate and it still gives me the standard with 14+ as the cheapest to send it next city. It can't be this high for a 40 minute away city.

[lucitabby]

"how do we even know they are diecast? One of them is Matchbox and the other ones mattel hotwheels. I can't find anything that mentions diecast on them. Forgive me I am clueless on these cars"

What???????  I'm too old for this!

Sell what you know - Know what you sell...!!!!!!!!

That is the best advice

[momcqueen]

"Sell what you know - Know what you sell...!!!!!!!! That is the best advice."

Okay, yes. Probably, this should have been the first piece of advice both given and taken. I sell toys because I KNOW toys and furthermore, I further cull that list of toys to limit it to the product lines with which I am intimately familiar. 

So, let's take a step backwards, constantine. If you cannot recognize that a toy car is a diecast, what DO you know about, what is your passion, what are your hobbies, and where do your interests lay? Makeup? Scarves? Hair doodles? I'd pay top dollar for the right kind of barrette that I cannot find anywhere else, for example. Let's assume it's not vintage catalogues or stamps, or car parts for a 1986 Toyota. Tell us about yourself. Do you play video games? Read romances about vampires and werewolfs? Collect silver-plated thimbles? Did you inherited someone's souvenir spoon collection? 

Sell what you know. 

Doing anything else is asking for trouble. 

[femmefan1946]

it still gives me the standard with 14+ as the cheapest to send it next city. It can't be this high for a 40 minute away city.

Wanna bet?

On the CanadaPost site  I entered the postal code for across the street.

Then 17x10x3cm and 250 grams. That's an average paperback.
My selling price on the book would be $10.

The lowest parcel rate I can find is $11.92. (Regular Parcel).

It would be $14-15 for Ottawa or Newfoundland.

Basically the post office has overhead. They spread that overhead among all the parcels they carry.

That's a fixed cost.

Then they add charges for distance, greater weight, larger dimensions, etc. These are not optional.

And allow the buyer to buy options like Signature Confirmation, tubes, COD,etc. The buyer can decide if these are necessary.

I had an extended metaphor about why MacDonalds offers free refills on drinks, but let's leave that aside.

[momcqueen]

"it still gives me the standard with 14+ as the cheapest to send it next city. It can't be this high for a 40 minute away city."

Oh, but it is. 

It really is.

Really, really is. 

You really, really need to spend some time studying Find a Rate and all the Help Pages Canada Post has to offer. Do yourself a favour and bypass Youtube for that. 

[bassox333]

Everyone suggesting that this person purchase more items before embarking on a selling career gave me a good idea, after reading through all of this and other posts.  Anyone care to wager what the idea was?  LOL.  Starts with B...

[vintagetonow2134]

B? Bargain?

[vintagetonow2134]

I am not doing youtube for that . I Am doing youtube for other things.

But what does "unpackaged" mean in relation to shipping? and why is it 10 bucks?

[vintagetonow2134]

I figured it out. I saw one like mine. Same model and number 372 and it is diecast. It doesn't say it anywhere. But diecast is the material

[momcqueen]

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@vintagetonow2134 wrote:
I figured it out. I saw one like mine. Same model and number 372 and it is diecast. It doesn't say it anywhere. But diecast is the material

---

Of course diecast is the material. Diecast cars are made of alloy castings with plastic components. If you'd looked at any one of my diecast listings, you'd have learned that. 

It's also the Category. What Category did you pick for your diecast cars if not Diecast Vehicles? 

Would you like to hazard a guess as to what 'Unpacked' $10 might mean at a Canada Post postal counter where you buy packing materials and pay for postage? 

[momcqueen]

My point is that NONE of the other things that you think you might be learning on Youtube are anywhere near as important as figuring out how to ship your items to your customers. If you cannot get your items to your customers successfully, you will fail as an online seller on ebay or anywhere else. Period. 

Nothing is more important than that.

Nothing.

Study the Canada Post website. All of it. 

[bassox333]

It doesn't look like this 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcBS823VTbU

This  was a very  inspirational video to watch when thinking about how to better improving our shipping setup.  Hat's off to the talented clerk here! 

[momcqueen]

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@bassox333 wrote:

Everyone suggesting that this person purchase more items before embarking on a selling career gave me a good idea, after reading through all of this and other posts.  Anyone care to wager what the idea was?  LOL.  Starts with B...

---

I'm puzzled so I'll ask: why would you suggest B... as an alternative selling venue in this instance? Is it more forgiving? 

[bassox333]

BBL.  Failure to follow instructions or follow up on any sane reasoning is reason enough for me.  

[vintagetonow2134]

to be fair. I Got this amount. Because since I didn't know how much it weighed exactly. I measure it length width and height. and for weight I put 1 kilogram and it gave me 14+ some gas and 1 other thing total 16. However the little toy that I have "calculated" is small it fits in my palm and I can close it in it. And it's light. Definitely not 1 kilo. But I calculated for 1 kilo. Just to get an approximate idea of what I should expect to pay to ship it. So It should be around 8 minimum. The car is 6.5 long 2.3 wide 1 cm tall if it was 1 kilo It would cost 16 to ship next city. But since it isn't that heavy it might even cost less.

But I also tried for USA and it costs much less even if it is 1 whole kilogram. And I am now thinking. Why is it so much to ship something inside Canada and less outside?

It reminds me my country's airplane companies. Easy to find a ticket for 200 euro to go from Greece to England. And double that to go anywhere within the country. What the heck are they thinking?