How do Canadian sellers offer extremely cheap postage

[jim-jet]

I have noticed as a buyer and seller on Ebay, that prices in postage are going up dramatically. I have come across some Ebay sellers offering Hotwheels for 6 to 10 dollars . The postage cost across the board to any buyer is 2 to 3 dollars.

I cannot understand how they can offer such inexpensive shipping. I understand the car being sold is worth less than half the price that they sell for, but the difference doesn't justify the low cost in postage. To stay with the ebay protection you must provide a tracking number which Canada Post charges you through the nose for. These sellers offer economy postage, no tracking, no insurance for 2 to 3 dollars. 

I cannot get a rate to ship below $15.. Are they using different shipping services? 

I dont understand how this works.

[reallynicestamps]

To stay with the ebay protection you must provide a tracking number

Except that you don't need the protection.

Most people are honest, including most buyers.

You only need the tracking number if the buyer makes a Not Recieved claim.

So sellers use untracked shipping on low value items, especially those they paid very little for.

Most sellers find they have problems with less than one percent of their sales-- annually.

For example, I sell paperback books.

And my usual $9.99USD  price includes the shipping.

I can send most of them for between $3.19 or $5.57  Cdn without *tracking.

And I am buying them between 75c and $1.00Cdn.

$6.57 Cdn is $5.25 USD .

FVF is $1.45USD.

So my costs are somewhere around $6.70 USD-- my profit around $3.00 a title.

I use discounted postage stamps so maybe a tad more.

Not a lot, but enough for me.

Are Hotwheels collectors particularly dishonest? I wouldn't go commando on tracking cell phones or coins or dolls, but books are not a high fraud category.

*Tracking would be three or four times higher.

[jim-jet]

Is Canada post providing your rate information?  I just checked on their site. Regular parcel is 21.04 no coverage or protection of any type. Expedited parcel, with tracking, insurance is the same price. After this there are only higher priced options. Economy postage is not even offered.

I have visited the Canada Post office and contacted their online support. They have both told me there is no economy option and can't explain how anyone can ship at those prices.

Recently they introduced a flate rate box up to a certain weight and size for 15 dollars.

Thanks for your reply.

[marnotom!]

They're shipping the Hot Wheels as oversized letters, not parcels.

[reallynicestamps]

Regular Parcel is a domestic service which includes tracking.

Expedited is not available to customers without a SfSB card- but it is the same price and does offer insurance as well as tracking.

"Economy postage"? Do you mean LetterMail? This is not available online but can be purchased at the PO counter or you can buy prepaid labels (Those are called "stamps" and have been available for a little while now-- since April 23, 1851.)  Stamps can be purchased online, and also at  a discount from eBay sellers.

Flat rate boxes are available in three sizes and can be a good buy, but there are no SfSB discounts on them.

https://store.canadapost-postescanada.ca/store-boutique/en/1015FRB/p/flat-rate-box-pack-of-12

These include tracking and "signature confirmation" although the latter is not exactly as named in these covid times.

https://store.canadapost-postescanada.ca/store-boutique/en/8/c/flat-rate-prepaid-products

There are 10 different prepaid ExpressPost envelopes available with the SfSB discount.

[flipistics]

Most people who ship using "economy shipping" are sending it out lettermail. "Economy shipping" is a generic eBay option that does not correlate to any actual service. They choose "economy shipping" as an option primarily because eBay's estimated delivery times for lettermail are shorter than Canada Post's, and selecting economy shipping gives more time for the item to arrive and prevents item not received claims. Now I have no idea whether they're cheating the lettermail system and sending things out that are a little too thick, or whether they're only shipping very thin ones.

[reallynicestamps]

When we list on another site we have to use Flat Rate shipping, and the naming of shipping services is purposely generic because there are 178 postal systems in the UPU to say nothing of couriers.

Using one of those generic terms allows the seller great flexibility in choosing which service best suits her needs. Two identical shipments could use quite different services based on the seller's needs.

For example, I have a few customers who I will happliy ship to without tracking (Small Packet USA) and others who I feel happier using Expedited USA (tracked and insured), even though it costs me more in postage.

[flipistics]

Lettermail is kind of available online with postal indicia (if you have a SfSB account). You have to print out a sheet for them to sign and can't drop the envelopes in the mailbox, but I find it a LOT easier. No worrying about having the right stamps on hand, and it looks more professional. Canada Post also records it all in your account (as of a month or so ago), so it helps with book keeping too!

[alant3048]

Canada Post has absolutely stupid rates. If I were to sell a roll of pennies (Pennies are 2cm in diameter) in a bubble envelope, then they can't go lettermail for a couple bucks, but have to go at a rate of $21.00!!! For $21.00, I can buy a flat rate box that I could put a hundred rolls into. That being said there are a lot of sellers out there that are shipping using "Economy shipping" which isn't available if the package is over 2 cm thick. Not sure how that works, and I spent a couple hours chatting with an Ebay rep who couldn't tell me how that works either. 

[reallynicestamps]

Pennies may be 2cm in diameter but they are in a roll which adds a couple of mm to their thickness and then in an envelope which adds another mm/cm or so.

That gets the "letter" stuck in the machinery.

Economy Shipping is a generic term that covers whatever the seller wants it to.

Most sellers use it to give them a longer delivery estimate, needed in these days when covid has disrupted the supply chain.

[reallynicestamps]

I don't know why posters are claiming that Regular Parcel is not tracked.

It is.

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/personal/sending/parcels/compare-services-canada/regul...

 

"Use Regular Parcel TM for an economical ground delivery service in Canada. Tracking is available and the delivery status can be checked online."

It is probable that most sellers have an SfSB card and use Expedited instead, because it promises to be a little faster at (usually) the same price, but Regular Parcel is tracked.

There may be some confusion with Small Packet USA which is not tracked, although occasionally but not reliably, USPS and eBay accept the invoice number as a tracking number.