Curious about the Canada Shipping Thing???

thedutymon

Evening,

I am curious if anybody is hearing or reading about any major backlash with the doubling of shipping rates to Canada a couple weeks ago. I stopped all sales to anywhere except US, it was only about %10-%15 of my business but what with January being slow as He!! anyway, I am definitly feeling it.

Isn't there a point where Retailer and E-Bay sellers ect. draw the line and just throw in the towel with certain location based sales? (Like I did)

This has got to be affecting small retail commerce between US/Canada and Mexico as well? Other places too?

Any thoughts, heard any backlash?

Thanks

Neil

nightcrawler

You might consider adding a note to your listings about international shipping costs, and require foreign bidders to request an exemption. I've dealt with a few sellers who do that.

edit: I'm sure that's probably a pain in the ass though.

Mapleleaf

I'm in Canada and I always wonder why sellers won't ship here. Why would you elect to limit your business even if it's only 10-15% of your sales?

Just let your Canadian customers know that costs have gone up and then let them decide if they want to buy or not but it makes no sense to pre-emptively cut them off.

As a side note, I sell a few things on ebay once in a while and I often subsidize the shipping on sales as it is expensive to ship within Canada. It is still better than getting a lower price for my items - especially hockey cards!

zurbs17

Am in Canada as well and I also don't understand why you wouldn't just up your shipping rates to Canada and let Canadian shoppers make the decision. You should be able to put in a different shipping rates for different countries. I charge more for European buyers and let them make the decision and I still do a fair bit of business with people in Europe.

As for someone saying shipping rates within Canada are expensive, I can ship one regular size card in a bubble envelope (envelope cost $.08) for 64 cents. Two cards is $1.10 and 3-20 cards is $1.34. I don't consider that expensive.

swartz1

Do people still ship to foreign countries?

illinifan912

i do and its all because of stamps.com

jay0791

I have never had a problem shipping to canada. only once buying.
However due to PP policy w/o the required registered mail its easy to get burned.

who wants to pay $20 shipping for a $20 item

byronscott4ever

For small-time sellers like me, there's also the fact that when you ship to Canada, you have to fill out a form and as far as I know, I have to stand in line to mail them out instead of using the automated machines.

zurbs17

When shipping from Canada to the US, I only have to fill out a form if shipping 3 or more cards in one envelope. I pick up these blank forms in bulk, fill them out paste them on and just drop off at post office. Never wait in line.

bigdogparty

I allow shipping to Canada and other countries but always ship by weight. unless it is cards, I will only ship Priority Mail. The buyer can see the cost on their end and make the determination if they want to buy. I have recently sold some non sports collectables to Canada with no problems. When paying for postage through Ebay, they even let you print the customs form online so all you have to do is stick it in a USPS window sticker envelope and turn it in.

JMDVM

<< <i>I have never had a problem shipping to canada. only once buying.
However due to PP policy w/o the required registered mail its easy to get burned.

who wants to pay $20 shipping for a $20 item >>



Exactly. And then there is always the request to declare a lesser value on the customs form so the Canadian buyer can pay less duty. Debating on listing a Gretzky RC PSA 8, but I'm paranoid about safely shipping a card of that value .

Beezer12

I've been buying on ebay for over 10 years with well over a 1000 purchases from the US and find no difference from buying within Canada. Frankly, it seems an odd business plan if dealing in hockey in particular if one confines sales to the US. As for shipping, I look at what is being charged, if it's not posted I ask in advance and then I factor that into my bidding. No biggie and no reason I can see there to stop sales to Canada because we may or may not choose to bid or buy due to postage costs. If it's shipped as per Paypal policy the seller is protected the same as for domestic sales for what that's worth. As for the customs and sale tax angle (duty isn't charged for trading cards, common misconception), a seller can also put whatever they want on a custom form, it's their choice. As I buyer I should have no influence over that and in my pesonal experience the majority of sellers I've dealt with do it without being asked. I've just assumed they are savvy and consider it customer service i guess.

frankhardy

<< <i>I have never had a problem shipping to canada. only once buying.
However due to PP policy w/o the required registered mail its easy to get burned.

who wants to pay $20 shipping for a $20 item >>





Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. You are the winner of the best post of this thread.

That is exactly why I do not ship to Canada. Until Ebay/Paypal gets the delivery confirmation thing worked out to where it doesn't cost so much to ship that way in order to be covered, I will not ship there. I just had a request from Canada this week and I had to turn him down.

Statman

I used to sell a lot of hockey and there was no way that I could get rid of foreign customers. I sell other sports more now, but I'll still ship worldwide - I just use calculated shipping for everything outside. I just sold some hockey boxes for $25 total the other day and the shipping was $54 - person paid right away. I've got to believe they could get 1990/91 Upper Deck hockey cheaper than paying that shipping, but as long as they pay that's fine with me.

Now, with $54 shipping having to pay 8-10% of that to Ebay does hurt the bottom line a little.

TonyC

I went through my listings and changed my intl. rates from flat to calculated.

Some items I offer intl. shipping on, some I do not; it basically depends on whether I think the item has much of a likelihood of drawing intl. interest. Additionally, I don't offer intl. shipping on more expensive items unless I require USPS Express Mail International.

Being forced to go to the post office to submit the customs form for an intl. order is a huge deterrent for many US eBay sellers. I HATE doing it, but I do it because I have to.

MooseDog

<< <i>Being forced to go to the post office to submit the customs form for an intl. order is a huge deterrent for many US eBay sellers. I HATE doing it, but I do it because I have to. >>



This is SO not true any more...

You can use the USPS.com web site to pay and print your customs labels and postage, tape or affix (if you use labels) and drop off at the counter or drop in the mailbox. This is the equivalent of "metered" postage. No need to stand in line at all. At my local post offices here, there is usually an unmanned counter where you can place your parcel if it doesn't fit in the mailbox. Heck, most people don't know this, but if you have metered postage you can even just go to the loading dock and drop your stuff off there. I often have a full USPS tub or two of outgoing, and from talking to the sorters at the loading dock (they are usually friendlier since they don't deal with the public) found out the last truck goes out at 6:30pm, a full 1 1/2 hours after the PO closes so I can still get stuff out that same day after the PO closes (I also pre-sort by mail type to make it easier for the sorters).

For $4.99 to $15.99 per month you can subscribe to Stamps.com or Endicia.com and print all your postage online. For higher volume shippers each has some features that might make the cost worthwhile.

I ship almost every day and ship worldwide.

TonyC

<< <i>

<< <i>Being forced to go to the post office to submit the customs form for an intl. order is a huge deterrent for many US eBay sellers. I HATE doing it, but I do it because I have to. >>



This is SO not true any more...

You can use the USPS.com web site to pay and print your customs labels and postage, tape or affix (if you use labels) and drop off at the counter or drop in the mailbox. This is the equivalent of "metered" postage. No need to stand in line at all. At my local post offices here, there is usually an unmanned counter where you can place your parcel if it doesn't fit in the mailbox. Heck, most people don't know this, but if you have metered postage you can even just go to the loading dock and drop your stuff off there. I often have a full USPS tub or two of outgoing, and from talking to the sorters at the loading dock (they are usually friendlier since they don't deal with the public) found out the last truck goes out at 6:30pm, a full 1 1/2 hours after the PO closes so I can still get stuff out that same day after the PO closes (I also pre-sort by mail type to make it easier for the sorters).

For $4.99 to $15.99 per month you can subscribe to Stamps.com or Endicia.com and print all your postage online. For higher volume shippers each has some features that might make the cost worthwhile.

I ship almost every day and ship worldwide. >>



Are you sure that you can put the customs label on the package and just drop it in a mailbox, NOT go to the post office? I've always been told that I need to physically bring it to the counter and have someone stamp the customs form.

Mapleleaf

<< <i>

<< <i>I have never had a problem shipping to canada. only once buying.
However due to PP policy w/o the required registered mail its easy to get burned.

who wants to pay $20 shipping for a $20 item >>



Exactly. And then there is always the request to declare a lesser value on the customs form so the Canadian buyer can pay less duty. Debating on listing a Gretzky RC PSA 8, but I'm paranoid about safely shipping a card of that value . >>



Can't you get insurance to cover the value when shipping the Gretzky?

thedutymon

<< <i>

Are you sure that you can put the customs label on the package and just drop it in a mailbox, NOT go to the post office? I've always been told that I need to physically bring it to the counter and have someone stamp the customs form. >>



If you use E-Bay/Paypal shipping, you fill out the Customs on line, it becomes part of the shipping label and you just sign it, no need to stand in line a get scanned. Just hand over with all the rest and they all get scanned.

Neil

thedutymon

Morning,

Thanks for all the comments, I may go in and edit all my listings to have calculated Intl. Shipping charges to certain countries and see how that works out.

Thanks

Neil

KbKards

Qualifying for PayPal seller protection is key in determining how much US sellers should be charging to ship to Canada. If US sellers ship within the US they know they need to have a minimum of USPS Tracking on packages under $250, and Signature Confirmation on everything $250 and over. If you don't follow PayPal's rules for this you'll inevitably have false claims filed against you and your money taken away. To ship to Canada figure out the service levels that PayPal requires for less than $250 shipments, and for those of $250 and greater value, then add whatever you need for handling and insurance. List the two figures as your shipping charge to Canada and don't get talked into making exceptions before or after the sale. Some people will read, understand, and choose to buy or not buy based on the total listed delivered cost. Some people will read, disagree, and demand or suggest you do things differently(cheaper). With the cheaper way you'll lose PayPal's seller protection and be at the mercy of somebody who doesn't want to play by the rules.

msassin

A 3 oz padded envelope to Canada cost me over $7 today (no insurance/dc/etc)....used to cost me closer to $2.

Canadians should be the ones complaining as no one wants to mail to them anymore.

My rant is done

Frozencaribou

The rate hikes are brutal. Basically shipping prices me out of all low end single card purchases and most sets or boxes. Oh well, I guess I'll go play hockey instead.

puckhd27

I just sent a small bubble mailer with a single card and it cost around $7.95 to Canada, a larger bubble mailer with a graded card cost me over $8.00. I also noticed that a med. flat rate box is over $40.00. It used to cost me around $25 for that same flat rate box. I feel this will definitely impact my sales to Canada.

Pete

jay0791

I know the PO lost $16B last year but the factors are debatable.

Does anyone know exactly wht the rates to CAN increased so much? Did CAn po workers get a big contract?

Frozencaribou

<< <i> Does anyone know exactly wht the rates to CAN increased so much? Did CAn po workers get a big contract? >>




I can speculate that the US has lumped Canada in with Europe for the "international rate" because the bureaucrat who made the decision flunked geography at State U. It was a good run, hockey guys. Nice buying from you...