@pierrelebel wrote:
toff3 - you may want to review your table for accuracy. Comparing $ 20.60 and $10.46 and coming to the conclusion that the difference represents a 97% decrease is a mathematical impossibility.
It should also be noted that, from the inception of "Light Packet" rates several years ago, that rate has always been substantially lower than the equivalent letterpost rate (USA and international). It is nothing new.
Pierre, I don't mean to be picayune, but your second statement above struck me as not accurate and not my recall of my usual experience in shipping. Since I ship a lot of items that are in the 50-250 gm weight categories, I sometimes choose to use lettermail where the rate is significantly lower for a particular weight class (most of my items fall into the "oversize" lettermail category).
I checked my Canada Post price table that was effective Feb. 2013, and indeed many of the rates for lettermail to the US and internationally were lower than the Light Packet rates for that weight class. I recall this was also the case in 2012.
For example, oversize lettermail to the US up to 100g was $2.20, whereas Light Packet was $2.65 -- not a great difference. However, in the next weight class -- up to 200g, the lettermail rate was $3.80 and the LtPkt rate $5.53. This is significant enough that I often choose to use lettermail for items falling into that weight range. However, the spread reverses for parcels up to 250g, where the lettermail cost was $7.60 and the LtPkt still $5.53.
Above that weight, items 251-500g, lettermail was $7.60, LtPkt was either $5.53 (up to 250g) or $8.89 (up to 500g). So in those weight ranges, I did have to be careful to choose the right service.
This holds true for international as well (or at least in 2013). For items of 101-200g for instance, the lettermail rate was $7.60, the Light Packet rate $10.00 (which actually went up to 250gm, a considerable savings over the lettermail rate of $15.20 for 200g.
The real problem is that lettermail weight classes differ from Light Packet, so it's impossible to say that Light Packet is always cheaper across the board. It's a tricky business, and you really have to be on your toes to pick the best rate for a given parcel, assuming we're only discussing parcels under 500g and up to the maximum 38x27x2cm size.
I take advantage of this system by picking up a few dollars here and there through the use of lettermail and applying those savings to "subsidize" the Light Packet rates where lettermail would be more expensive. It's worked out well so far, but I'm going to have to print out and study the new CP rate table for the US and int'l very carefully.
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