Shippo! Charging USD instead of CAD

[sporting_pro]

For all those who are trying out shippo, is there an option for them to bill in CAD instead of USD?

Simply put, i created a label last night and it gave me CAD amounts. I chose the $9.25CAD option.

However, after I created the label, in the unbilled tab, it shows a $6.99USD pending transaction instead of $9.25. While this might be roughly the same as $9.25 CAD, it screws up my accounting since it will only take money out of my account once it reaches a certain threshold or 7 days, versus with Paypal, it was itemized to each label I created.

[momcqueen]

I wondered the reason we were required to sign up using ebay.com instead of ebay.ca and this might be it.

If shippo bills in USD, I'm not using it. I don't need to pay USD conversion fees on labels bought for Canadian buyers from a Canadian postal service as a Canadian seller with no USA ties. 

Regrettably, I can't test it myself yet. Since I created my Shippo account, the orders that were placed with me were not ones I would fulfill using Shippo but instead domestic lettermail or directly from Canada Post via Snap Ship.

It will be interesting to learn if it was a glitch or one that will be an ongoing problem. 

[sporting_pro]

I asked Shippo and got this response. (Got to admit, great customer service, sent an email at 10:25PM EST and got something back in 15 minutes)

Seems like is an API issue with the displaying of unbilled transactions, however the final amount billed to your paypal/credit card is in CAD.

I don't know if there's still a currency converter or something that happens when the invoice is generated, but I will update everyone when they send the invoice to my CC! 

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Amanda J. (Shippo)

Jun 22, 7:42 PM PDT

Hey -----,

Thanks for reaching out, and sorry about the confusion with this!

The rate you will see on the Shipments tab for your shipments in Shippo will be in the local currency - CAD. However, Shippo's back-end stores invoice items in USD.  This means that on your billing tab in the "Unbilled items" section, as well as on the actual invoice itself generated in Shippo, you will see the charges in USD. 

While I understand this is confusing, I do want to assure you that this will not affect anything related to the currency that you are invoiced (or charged) in. 

The invoice that you will download from the billing tab will show each invoice item (e.g. label) in USD; however, the total at the bottom of that invoice will be in the local currency - CAD. Also, the charge to your Paypal account will be in CAD.

Again, I'm sorry for any confusion this may have caused, and hope this alleviates some of your concerns. If you have any further questions, do let me know!

Thanks,

[momcqueen]

Well, that's reassuring.

[femmefan1946]

The invoice that you will download from the billing tab will show each invoice item (e.g. label) in USD; however, the total at the bottom of that invoice will be in the local currency - CAD. Also, the charge to your Paypal account will be in CAD.

Uh huh.

But foreign exchange rates are constantly changing. Daily if not hourly.

There is bound to be slippage.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:
... But foreign exchange rates are constantly changing. Daily if not hourly.

There is bound to be slippage.

---

It depends on whether the exchange is fixed (and stored) at time of sale.

Something eBay already does for it's conversions -- except for eBay fees they use an exchange rate based on when the listing went active (or when the GTC was renewed).

-..-

[qottie]

Hi all,

I wanted to clarify a few points that have come up in this thread.  As far as I know, there is not exchange rate involved in the transaction at all, but I am confirming that is the case.  The way I understand it, if you buy a label for $9.25 CAD, you should be charged $9.25 CAD.  That rate should not fluctuate in any way.

There may be an issue with Unbilled showing USD instead of CAD, so I am contacting Shippo to get that resolved.  If there is any exchange rate fluctuation, it would be converting your CAD cost to USD in the Unbilled page, but that is not the amount you would be charged. There should be no slippage at all in the cost of your label.

Let me confirm this behaviour and get back to you shortly, but if this is not the current behaviour, we will work with Shippo to fix it.

[momcqueen]

Reassuring. Thank you.

[qottie · Accepted solution]

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@qottie wrote:

Hi all,

I wanted to clarify a few points that have come up in this thread.  As far as I know, there is not exchange rate involved in the transaction at all, but I am confirming that is the case.  The way I understand it, if you buy a label for $9.25 CAD, you should be charged $9.25 CAD.  That rate should not fluctuate in any way.

There may be an issue with Unbilled showing USD instead of CAD, so I am contacting Shippo to get that resolved.  If there is any exchange rate fluctuation, it would be converting your CAD cost to USD in the Unbilled page, but that is not the amount you would be charged. There should be no slippage at all in the cost of your label.

Let me confirm this behaviour and get back to you shortly, but if this is not the current behaviour, we will work with Shippo to fix it.

---

All,

I have just confirmed with Shippo that the USD amount showing in "Unbilled" is just a display issue.  When you buy shipping in CAD, you will be charged in CAD, so no exchange rate is involved.  That page displays the amount in USD since the platform was initially built for US carriers, but the USD amount is a converted amount based on the CAD rate (which does not change once you bought the label).

Shippo is working on a plan to fix this - should have an ETA soon.  In the mean time, please be assured that the amount you are shown as a shipping charge when you buy the label, is the charge you will see when it hits your PayPal account.

[momcqueen]

Excellent. That is everything I think we wanted to know about this. 

[blackranda2]

I totally agree. If Shippo is going to bill me in USD I am not using it either. As you say why should we have to pay a conversion fee to convert our Canadian funds to USD for shipping. Updates and more updates. I am so tired of them because it seems almost every time they happen it causes more hassles for sellers and costs us more money.

[thestuffofchris]

I received an e-mail yesterday from Shippo saying that they have heard the feedback and are making changes, including making sure metric units and CAD show by default, and something about improving custom forms.

From what I understand, Shippo isn't actually billing in USD or performing any conversions. The CAD amount shown alongside the USD amount is what you are billed and what you pay. The USD only shows because that's the currency their original platform was set up with.

[qottie]

Hi @blackranda2,

Per my post above, you will not be charged in USD for Canada Post labels on the Shippo platform.  There is a system issue that is showing the CAD amount as converted to USD in the Unbilled part of the platform, but be assured that the charges that come through will be in CAD.  

Shippo is aware of the issue and is currently working on a fix for the Unbilled page, to display the correct value that you will be charged (in CAD).

[blackranda2]

Thanks for clarifying this. So Shippo starts today on eBay. I just finished setting up my account with Shippo but while on their site I noticed something which I was not expecting. It was my understanding that it was going to be free to ship through them but on their site they state there will be a 5 cent charge for each label printed? I mostly just use Light Packet shipping which is soon to be eliminated. I am told Small Packet Air will be offered at a discounted rate on eBay which will make it comparable to Light Packet. So I am going to try one label through Shippo on eBay to see what the cost will be. Then I am going to research to see if Small Packets on the Canada Post site using my Solutions for Small Business account  qualifies for a discount and then compare. Will be interesting to see the results. 

[momcqueen]

There are multiple postage cost-comparison threads created by long-time user ypdc_dennis. If you do a search here you should find them easily.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@blackranda2 wrote:

... So Shippo starts today on eBay. I just finished setting up my account with Shippo but while on their site I noticed something which I was not expecting. It was my understanding that it was going to be free to ship through them but on their site they state there will be a 5 cent charge for each label printed?

---

 The 5 cent charge is for non-eBay labels.  eBay linked labels don't have the charge.

Some cost comparisons (Shippo is on page 2):

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/The-Canada-Post-ebay-paypal-shipping-shell-game/m-p/37587...

[blackranda2]

It is good to know there is no 5 cent charge on eBay. Info about price comparisons was great! Will be printing a shipping label to the US tomorrow morning. Will check out all the options.

Thanks everyone for your help.

[blackranda2]

Hi again. I just printed my first shipping label through Shippo. Although I have a Light Packets ship cost on my listings I had to print a Small Packets shipping label which I was aware would happen. The cost turned out to be a bit less than Light Packets which means I will have edit my shipping cost on all my listings as I use flat rate shipping. I found the set up to print the label through Shippo a bit complicated and also noticed there is no HS code on the label. I thought this was a requirement when shipping from Canada to the US? Does this mean the label I purchased is not any good? Another thing I noticed is there was no way to edit the content description on the label setup. They just used the title of the listing which is not actually an accurate description of the contents. No I don't know if this label can be used or not? I need to ship this package today or it will be delayed until after the holiday. Another thing I noticed is in my sold items this order has not been marked as shipped. And the payment has not come out of my PayPal account yet although it is marked as paid in my Shippo account. Do I manually have to mark it it as shipped? And how do I know if i can ship this order now or not? Wish this whole process was explained better and was less complicated.  If anyone has any advice please let me know asap so I can ship this today.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@blackranda2 wrote:

... noticed there is no HS code on the label. I thought this was a requirement when shipping from Canada to the US? Does this mean the label I purchased is not any good?

---

Your label is good.

But you can add the code by hand to the label if you want to feel more relaxed about it.

As I understand it the HS code is only required on "commercial" shipments.

The USA currently has a $800 import exemption for "an individual person".

-..-

[blackranda2]

Thanks for your quick response. I did add the HS Code just to be safe. The reason I wondered is because when you print a label through PayPal shipping the code had to be there or they would not generate the label. One more question. I have connected Shippo to my PayPal account for sending payment but the payment has not been taken from my account yet. On my Shippo orders page it says the label has been paid for but the for some reason it is also in my Unbilled section in my Shippo account. So will this be updated automatically by Shippo or is there something more I need to do to pay for it? Sorry for so many questions but I find this somewhat confusing.