Shipping to Canada uninsured. Why no tracking info from Canada?

canadacolornut

The routine is to fill out a customs declaration form and the USPS gives the package a number that you
can access on their web site. Fine. It shows that the package was sent from, blah, blah, blah on x date;
showing that the item was shipped.

The person who receives the item in Canada. Do they not have to sign for it and if so, why is that information
not available to the shipper?

Please help on this you have experience with it.

I have a $300 item out there with proof that it was shipped, buyer says he never received it and I have no
proof that he got there. Hence, Paypal will likely refund his money and the buyer will end up with the
item and my money with no recourse.

I appreciate any comments, advice. Otherwise I can longer ship to Canada and that's pretty silly when
I'm selling Canadian material.

Many thanks......

ajaan

How was it shipped? He has to sign for it if it's shipped by Registered Mail and it will show up as delivered on the USPS website. If you just sent it First Class, you're out of luck.

Also note, it's not unusual for package to Canada to take 3-5 weeks to get there.

JamesMurray

It's why a lot of ebayers do not ship to Canada , there is no delivery confirmation or registered mail(signature)service.

mrpotatoheadd

$300 item = online signature confirmation required by PayPal. Even though there's a customs form on the package, you won't get online SC with it.

<< <i>I have a $300 item out there with proof that it was shipped, buyer says he never received it and I have no proof that he got there. Hence, Paypal will likely refund his money and the buyer will end up with the item and my money with no recourse. >>

If you don't have proof it got there, you don't really know the buyer will end up with both the item and the money, do you? Just sayin...

Muygrandeoso

<< <i>How was it shipped? He has to sign for it if it's shipped by Registered Mail and it will show up as delivered on the USPS website. If you just sent it First Class, you're out of luck.

Also note, it's not unusual for package to Canada to take 3-5 weeks to get there. >>



I have never understood why shipping to/from Canada is so slow. I recently purchased lots from Russia and Canada on the same day. The lot from Canada took two weeks longer to get to me.....Not the sellers fault...Canada Post is always slow IME

Chris

canadacolornut

Learning something here.

Please keep the comments coming and thanks.....

Pokermandude

I live in Canada and have received many packages from the States. For lower value items people tend to ship via some airmail method for just a few bucks that provides a "tracking number". However, the tracking number for this method is essentially useless. Putting it in at the USPS site just shows the first step or two (such as Acceptance at post office, Entering customs). But never any info after that. It's as if Canada post doesn't or can't scan the item once it's out of customs, and treats it like regular lettermail.

Here's one I recently received that had this kind of tracking number, $1.49 was the price they paid to ship it. Even after it's been delivered, it still shows no update past the very first step on its way to me, not even a note on any other stops between LA and Canada customs.

LC100982880US
USPS
Acceptance, 2011-03-02, 15:05:00, LOS ANGELES, CA, 90009

For higher value items I'm pretty sure I've received packages (with a $13-20 shipping cost) sent USPS that has required a signature at the post office in order for me to collect.

wybrit

Customs forms only provide scant proof that you shipped. If you ship over $250 of material, you will need real tracking and signature. That stinks, because you're talking a lot of money to ship that way.

How long ago was the package shipped? Your buyer should be waiting upwards of 6 weeks, thanks to customs.


I have never understood why shipping to/from Canada is so slow.

Because they, along with the UK, have the worst Customs system in the "free world." At least that's one of the reasons for packages being slow on the outbound from the US.


Recently, I had a package arrive from the UK after being in the postal system for over 3 months. I did get my money back after about 6 weeks, but I sent the coin back to the seller (didn't turn out to be what I wanted).

JamesMurray

Pokermandude , i think you might be right about the signature mail , like Wybrit says though the cost is pretty high. Being from the UK living in the US i send and recieve a lot of parcels regularly.Mailing from the US it's been normal for my parcels to arrive in around one week.Parcels coming from the UK always take much much longer.Over a month at times , on doing some investigation it's not the Royal mail to blame nor UK customs , its been US customs every single time.Ive had parcels sit at NY for weeks.

ajaan

<< <i>For higher value items I'm pretty sure I've received packages (with a $13-20 shipping cost) sent USPS that has required a signature at the post office in order for me to collect. >>


This is Registered Mail I mentioned in my first post.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>This is Registered Mail I mentioned in my first post. >>

That still wouldn't help the OP, as there is no online signature confirmation with international registered mail service.

jt88

If you have tracking number you can call USPS asked them to track it. For international registered mail sometimes you don't get the delivered info because other century may not enter the info so you have to ask USPS to track it for you. USPS will fax the request to other country’s post office for info. I am sure you will get the result. It happened to me couple times.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>USPS will fax the request to other country’s post office for info. >>

This isn't enough to satisfy a PayPal claim, however.

JamesMurray

Calling the USPS with a foreign tracking number for me was like phoning some kind of asylum , one person says this and that another , they love to forward your call to the "right" dept and don't be surprised to be passed 3 or 4 times ending up back with the person you started with.Some compassionate post office workers will just hang up on you thus putting you out your misery.
They are not above lying to you either.When i told an employee i had the customs house phone number given to me by one of his colleques it was demanded i tell him which dept gave me that number , he had just told me the number wasn't available to USPS employees to give.

jt88

<< <i>

<< <i>USPS will fax the request to other country’s post office for info. >>

This isn't enough to satisfy a PayPal claim, however. >>



You will get the notice from USPS once they know the result.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>USPS will fax the request to other country’s post office for info. >>

This isn't enough to satisfy a PayPal claim, however. >>



You will get the notice from USPS once they know the result. >>

Doesn't matter. For anything over $250, PayPal requires online proof of delivery.

canadacolornut

Thanks for all the helpful comments guys.

I'm revising my shipping information to note that anything valued at over $100 goes
registered mail only to Canada.

Same will be true of Russian where I had to refund.

Paypal does sellers a real disservice when they suck the money out of your account on the basis
of a "no got" complaint from Canada just a couple of weeks after the coin is shipped.

Has anyone ever actually TALKED to those folks? Do they talk or just sling around arbitrary rulings based
on the facts you submit?

Thanks again....

wybrit

Registered Mail will not protect you from PayPal's wrath any more than a Customs Form tracking number will.

canadacolornut

Now I'm confused.

Ajaan said registered is the way to go.

I know you do a lot of overseas shipping, what is your shipping policy to
Canada please Tom?

pmac

Perhaps a phone call to PayPal would solve the shipping to Canada conundrum.

ormandh

There is a risk with any country which you ship to. If they do not receive the coin you are in the same boat. I lost some high dollars coins to Italy, but have sent many coins to Russia with no problems.
You probably should consider global priority to have a better chance of it getting to the desired recipient. That is what I would do. -Dan

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>Ajaan said registered is the way to go. >>

International registered mail does not provide online delivery confirmation as required by PayPal.

<< <i>I'm revising my shipping information to note that anything valued at over $100 goes
registered mail only to Canada.

Same will be true of Russian where I had to refund. >>

International registered mail only provides about $45 of coverage for losses, regardless of the value of the shipment.

ajaan

I have shipped coins to many countries, I have never had a Registered package lost. You can see online if a Registered package was delivered. True, this isn't enough for PayPal but it may be enough for the local law enforcement agencies. If I sent a Registered package to Canada and the USPS said it was delivered and and the buyer says it wasn't, the first thing I would do is tell the buyer I'm going to contact the Canadian Postal Service and the RCMP. I think the package may suddenly be 'found'. I did this one time with a buyer in the UK. Once I told him the date and time it was delivered, he found the package.

To satisfy PayPal the only options I think are Global or Express Priority that cost $21+

Solution? Don't accept PayPal. Or charge more for shipping and explain why you are charging $25-35 for shipping. Then the buyer may choose to pay with an International Money order in US$

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>I have shipped coins to many countries, I have never had a Registered package lost. >>

I have. It took over four months, a bunch of paperwork and at least a half dozen phone calls for the post office to pay me the $40 or so they owed me for the lost $250 package. I don't even want to imagine what it would have been like trying to personally get involved in the claim process in the destination country by contacting law enforcement there.

My solution is to use private third-party insurance (U-PIC). I can ship pretty much however I want, the claim process is simpler by orders of magnitude, and the payoff on claims is much faster.

canadacolornut

I went to the U-PIC site and it looks fairly easy to do.

My question is mainly and ideally. Say you have a shipment valued at $400 to ship to Canada.

1, What shipping method should you use? International Express, Registered?

2. If you insure with U-PIC, what evidence do they require before they pay off the claim? If the
buyer says he never got it and there's no proof of delivery do they just accept the fact that
you sent it and the buyer says he never got it as evidence to pay the claim?

Appreciate your experience on that and thanks

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>My question is mainly and ideally. Say you have a shipment valued at $400 to ship to Canada.

1, What shipping method should you use? International Express, Registered? >>

Depends on the item. If it can go First Class International, that's the way I ship.

<< <i>2. If you insure with U-PIC, what evidence do they require before they pay off the claim? If the buyer says he never got it and there's no proof of delivery do they just accept the fact that you sent it and the buyer says he never got it as evidence to pay the claim? >>

In my experience, yes- they accept the fact the buyer says it didn't arrive.

To be clear, I have an account with U-PIC. I pay 75 cents/$100 insured value to US/Canada, $1.25/$100 insured value internationally, with a $500 max. insured limit. The monthly fee is $20 or whatever my insurance cost is for shipments that month, whichever is greater. If I need to insure a larger valued package, I do it through a one-time purchase on their website. In the time I've used them, I've filed four or five claims, including a lost registered mail shipment to Germany. The claim process is easy, relatively fast and I've never had (unlike with USPS insurance) any hassle getting paid.