High Mail Costs?

[shadowraptor]

I am a Canadian buyer. I buy DVD's from Canadian sellers, with an average mail cost around 5$ C. When I look at the same DVD from a US seller, the postage wanted is usually over 20 bucks! Why such a huge difference? Is US postage that much more than Canada Post? I am trying to expand my buying territory, but just can't handle the high shipping costs. Thanks much.

ShadowRaptor

Winnipeg, MB

[ypdc_dennis]

Inside Canada individual dvds can usually be shipped as oversize lettermail (100g, $2.61 or 200g, $4.29) or if sold on eBay can be sent as Expedited Lite for reasonable cost.

The rules (which changed 7 or 8 years ago) for mailing dvds across a border, exclude using cheap lettermail -- more expensive packet or parcel services are required.  Plus the Canada-USA exchange rate plays a factor in making the shipping be more costly.   

Your best deals are usually when you buy in bulk since the shipping cost per item is usually a lot less expensive than buying just one.  

[mrdutch1001]

" When I look at the same DVD from a US seller, the postage wanted is usually over 20 bucks! .... Is US postage that much more than Canada Post? "....

that really depends on the method of shipping...

Most likely USA sellers are utilizing the eIS shipping which Yes, it is absolutely higher shipping costs because buyers are paying for 2 separate shipping transit processes: the seller ships item to the eBay International shipping hub, and then the item is forwarded by the Hub to the buyer's destination location.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@mrdutch1001 wrote:

...  likely USA sellers are utilizing the eIS shipping which Yes, it is absolutely higher shipping costs because buyers are paying for 2 separate shipping transit processes: the seller ships item to the eBay International shipping hub, and then the item is forwarded by the Hub to the buyer's destination location.

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Not so. Cheap shipping (media mail for dvds) + eIS cheap bulk shipping across border can be less expensive than direct mailing. The only thing eIS "guarantees" is that shipping time will take longer than sending directly. 

[easoss]

US sellers use the global shipping program which is a cash grab and the reason I don't buy anything from the USA.

[marnotom!]

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@easoss wrote:

US sellers use the global shipping program which is a cash grab and the reason I don't buy anything from the USA.

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The Global Shipping Program is still a thing in the UK, but in the US it’s been discontinued and replaced by eBay International Shipping. It’s a cash grab in the sense that eBay hopes it will increase the volume of sales from the US site, but with the costs involved to support the perks sellers receive from it (particularly when it comes to returns and refunds), I doubt it’s making much money for eBay in and of itself.

Besides, last I checked, eBay was still

a business, not a charitable organization.

[ypdc_dennis]

eBay's global shipping program for the USA was shutdown several years ago. It got a semi-replacement with eBay's international shipping option.   There are still many US sellers who do not use it and are willing to do the extra work to ship directly.   

[john_koenig99]

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@ypdc_dennis wrote:

eBay's global shipping program for the USA was shutdown several years ago. It got a semi-replacement with eBay's international shipping option.   There are still many US sellers who do not use it and are willing to do the extra work to ship directly.   

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I am not so sure about that.

In the last couple of years, a lot (if not all) the regular American sellers I've saved in my list switched to eIS. As you mentioned, shipping times get extended a lot, sometimes more than three weeks for items that I used to receive in a week, or less, when they were shipped directly. 

[easoss]

Same **bleep**, different pile. This tells you how long it's been since I bought anything from a US seller.

[reallynicestamps]

You can work out minimum costs here
https://www.usps.com/international/mail-shipping-services.htm

Note that Lettermail is not legally available for "goods" , only for documents.

I use 90210 as a generic zipcode for USA because it is easy to remember.

The eIS program, a Seller Protection program popular with paranoid and xenophopbic US sellers, includes not only shipping but also Canadian duty and sales taxes.  If the item was not made in the USA , those import fees start at $20Cdn/$14USD value.

[marnotom!]

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@easoss wrote:

Same **bleep**, different pile. This tells you how long it's been since I bought anything from a US seller.

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Yup. And I bet shipping costs in general from the US to Canada (or anywhere else) have gone up dramatically since your last purchase from there.

The lowest USPS counter rate for 150 gram envelope containing merchandise bound for Canada is now three nickels shy of US$18. Some sellers who do enough volume can get great deals with mail consolidators and ship for half that price, and then there are some offering great shipping prices to Canada because they ship so infrequently there and haven’t updated their rate(s) because they missed the memo.

[shadowraptor]

By   'extra work', do you mean the 2 minutes it takes to fill out a form? I assume that these sellers are not really interested in selling stuff - sometimes it takes a litttle extra effort to make a sale. Good thing these peple don't sell used cars or they would probably starve 😉

[shadowraptor]

YIKES ! That explains it. Thanks.

[shadowraptor]

I am looking at two listings from two different sellers for the exact same DVD in same condition. The prices for the DVD are within pennies of each other. One sellers wants $6.50 C for mail, and the other one wants $23.90C for the same service. 

So, is one seller being honest here? Is the other seller trying to make more by gouging?

[marnotom!]

What is “the same service” being used? To me, it looks like two different services here, the less expensive one being either lettermail or Expedited Lite, and the more expensive one being Regular Parcel or Expedited Parcel.