Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

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AuctionBytes Blog
News and insight focusing on
ecommerce and the online auction industry
by Ina Steiner, Editor of AuctionBytes.com

May 15, 2008

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

By: Ina Steiner

Thu May 15 2008 13:31:38

From the press release: Canada Post and eBay Canada today announced the launch of a Flat Rate Box for eBay sellers in response to growing demand for a simple, convenient and environmentally sound shipping solution for items bought and sold on eBay.ca. The new eBay and Canada Post co-branded Flat Rate Box, designed for new and casual eBay sellers, is available exclusively through eBay. Shipped using Canada Post's Expedited Parcel(TM) or Expedited Parcel(TM)-USA ground parcel service, the Flat Rate Box allows users to send items at three convenient flat rates: Regional C$9.99 and National C$12.99 (for shipments within Canada), and USA C$17.99 (for shipments to the United States). The Flat Rate Box is being offered at introductory discounted flat rates for the first three months: $8.99 Regional; $11.49 National; and $15.99 USA.

Canadian sellers, tell us what you think!

Update 5/17/08: I had some questions about the number of Flat-Rate boxes you could get and use. eBay Canada's Erin Sufrin kindly responded on Friday afternoon.

AuctionBytes: Is there a maximum number of Flat-Rate box shipments a seller can make at a time?

eBay Canada: There is no maximum.

AuctionBytes: If they wanted to purchase 50 bundles of 3 at one time, could they?

eBay Canada: There is a maximum of 3 Flat Rate Box bundles (nine boxes) per order. However, a user may make multiple orders per day. Note that Selling Manager caps the maximum number of bundles per 10 days at 50 bundles.

AuctionBytes: And is there a maximum number of labels they can print out in a day?

eBay Canada: No maximum.

Comments (18) | Permalink

Readers Comments

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Ina

Thu May 15 14:18:37 2008

The devil is in the details - these are not like the USPS Priority Mail boxes. You pay $1.95 for a bundle of 3 Flat Rate boxes, with a maximum order of 3 bundles (nine boxes). Question in to eBay about the maximum number of flat-rates you can mail in a day.

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Ted

Thu May 15 15:59:04 2008

Well, since you have to PAY for them, I wonder how much of it greedy feebay gets. I wouldn't be a BIT suprised since it's a joint deal.

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Ming the Merciless

Thu May 15 18:02:31 2008

Sellers should consider covering up the ebay logo on any co-branded box.

The ebay logo should receive as little as exposure as possible as a theft deterrent and to express your opinion about ebay.

Many US sellers have found that co branded boxes might as well have signs on them that say "STEAL ME."

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Kal

Thu May 15 18:36:01 2008

''Many US sellers have found that co branded boxes might as well have signs on them that say ''STEAL ME.''

Precisely the reason I don't use them.

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Ina

Thu May 15 20:45:27 2008

I've heard that before, but Amazon puts its logo on their boxes. And what about packages from LL Bean, etc.?

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Henrietta

Thu May 15 21:56:56 2008

Shippers should be aware that Canadian Post Expedited is anything but expedited. A package mailed from Alberta to Hawaii went via Missisauga ONT. Look it up. The Small Packet USA Air is often a better bet for price and four times as fast.

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Ming the Merciless

Thu May 15 23:31:39 2008

@Ina

Somehow I don't think the prospect of stealing something with the Amazon logo and finding a book entitled "The History of Lace Curtains" or an LL Bean plaid flannel shirt that might not even fit quite as alluring as the prospect of a computer, ipod, mobile, Playstation, et. al.

Thieves who are looking for new personal possessions or to fence simply find ebay branded boxes *potentially* more profitable because they perceive the merchandise inside to be more valuable or easier to turn sincere there's a good possibility the box contains an electronic item.

Of all the things I've bought on ebay the years, only one Priority Mail package arrived with the ebay logo.

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: recped

Thu May 15 23:49:23 2008

It's junk! Unless you are selling rocks (and small rocks at that).

Unless you can get very close to the paltry maximum weight limit and/or shipping to obscure region of the Canadian Arctic it's almost pointless.

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: disgrunt

Fri May 16 00:00:34 2008

The usual BS from Canada Post, a big promotion for a tiny discount on a lame service. How about speeding up letter-mail to the U.S., so I don't have to tell my customers their item should (hopefully) arrive in 1 to 3 weeks?

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Marg

Fri May 16 01:02:50 2008

Just some thoughts:

How about giving the size in inches and the weight in pounds!

How come we can't pick them up at the P.O.?

Why only one size?

Will your mailperson pick them up at your house for mailing? (Ha! Ha!)

Why not the same rate wherever something is mailed to in either Canada or the U.S.? It's the same rate to anywhere in England, France, Germany, etc. And it costs the same to mail a letter anywhere in Canada or to the U.S.

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Joe

Fri May 16 02:37:51 2008

This is an absolute joke! They could have at least made these XPRESSPOST !!!
Like Recped said, unless you can fill this box to the maximum weight or you're sending it to a very remote location in Canada, you'd save money sending it in a regular shoe box that you got for free.
The flat rate Priority boxes that the USPS use are TRUE flat rate boxes. The price of shipping the US ones is the same $9.00 regardless where in the USA it gets mailed to. Not to mention they all arrive within 2-3 days. Canada Post's Expedited service is basically "surface delivery" with insurance and tracking, it's still going to take around a week to cross the country and twice as long going to the USA.
I suggest if you live close to the US border and you mail a lot of packages, you charge a $1.00 or $2.00 more per package and drive across the border and mail everything from there once or twice a week. Customers will get their items far quicker and while you're there, you can fill up on the cheaper gas. Sometimes it's even cheaper to mail packages across Canada from the USA than it is from our own country !!!
No kidding, it's true!!!
Plus there's no tax on postage in the US, like there is when mailing within Canada.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a proud Canadian but I'm not made of money like Canada Post is.

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: KPA

Fri May 16 07:22:25 2008

WHAT!!!! No FREE shipping??? I thought eBay was all about FREE shipping these days. Wonder why they couldn't con Canada Post into sending it FREE of charge.

Oh, I know, it is because eBay isn't making any money out of this deal. If they were it would definitely be FREE shipping with a way for Greedbay to nickle and dime Canada Post to death.

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: kj

Fri May 16 07:40:43 2008

How about Flat-Rate for 1 kilo packages?

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Cindy

Fri May 16 08:44:14 2008

You are ABSOLUTELY right, Joe! I live within a half hour's drive from the US border and although it's a pain to have to leave packages open for inspection at the border, the shipping from the US is definitely cheaper, without taxation and much quicker on the delivery.

As an example, a lady in Washington State purchased a dress from me on a Friday which she wanted to wear eight days later at her daughter's wedding. I had to tell her that there was no way in which Canada Post could possibly get the dress to her on time from my location in Quebec all the way across the country to Washington State.

Instead, I took a short drive to Vermont and mailed the dress from there on Saturday. It cost me a fraction of what it would have if I had mailed it from Canada and my customer received it on Tuesday, in plenty of time to confirm that it fit and that it was appropriate to wear as the Mother of the bride at the wedding.

My customer was absolutely THRILLED with the dress. It fit perfectly and one of the colors in it matched the color of the shirt which her husband wore to the wedding.

This transaction involved more effort on my part but I was happy to do it to make my customer that happy with her purchase.

Canada Post has outrageous rates which we, as small eBay sellers, are finding more and more difficult to deal with and still make a living. I feel as though I have to lower my selling price in order to justify a legitimate but high shipping cost. I am confident that the shipping cost I have to charge from Canada is a serious drawback to my sales.

For instance, a 7-lb book will cost anywhere from $20 to $25 to ship through Canada Post within Canada or to the US. If I was living again in the US, as I did for 34 years, I could ship this 7-lb book anywhere in the US for less than $5!

Canada Post has done eBay sellers no favors with this Flat-Rate shipping box scheme. In fact, I see it as merely another means of Canada Post ripping us off. That's what they did, in my opinion, when they created Light Packets. They didn't provide us with anything new there, and certainly nothing less expensive. If you will look, Light Packet is simply another way to say Over-sized Letter Mail.

I could go on and on about Canada Post but I will leave it at this ... As I always say, ''There is a reason it is called Canada Post and the United States Postal SERVICE!''

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Joe

Fri May 16 18:46:49 2008

Cindy, you're bang on. You and I could go on and on on the differences in services between the two. The one thing that Canada Post has over the USPS is they're very quick to resolve insurance claims, but those are so few and far between, it's not that important.

I should mention that if you do decide to cross the border, there are a few things you should know to help speed things up for yourself.
There is a $10.00 USD user fee when mailing goods across the border that the US border charges (it's for the entire load, not per package) so it's best to either save all your packages and go once or twice a week or do what I do, which is buy the yearly pass and go as often as you want. Another thing most people don't realize is you don't have to cross in the regular line ups, you get to cross in the cargo (commercial) lanes which are WAYYYY quicker. To make things even faster, pre-fill out the manifest sheet of paper prior to leaving your home which you can print out at cbp.gov. When on that site, click on "forms" then print out the 7533 form. You'll need to fill out this form regardless if you have the yearly pass or if you just make a one time day trip so you're better off doing it before you get there. By going through the commercial lane, I'm also able to seal all my packages because they rarely look through them, but always take your tape gun with you just incase they decide to open one or two. Also, take a print out of your payments with you incase they want proof of value.

And here's my bonus trick if you don't have a Nexus pass...
If your family wanted to go for a day trip to the US on say a long weekend where the line ups are huge, fill out the 7533 form, wrap up a cd (or anything you prefer) to make it look like you're mailing it, drive through the much quicker commercial lane, hand the US border the manifest sheet, and get through the border right away. Then unwrap the packaging and throw it away so that when you come back through into Canada, they don't think you just bought it.
Don't forget to fill up your tank while you're there, gas is around 30 cents a litre cheaper.

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Homer

Sun May 18 11:04:22 2008

What is there to fix ? eBay is a great site. It is unequaled as the online market place of choice. Many thanks to Pierre, Meg and John ! Great going !

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Cindy

Sun May 18 12:06:03 2008

Joe ~ I've never been charged a fee at the border for bringing packages across to mail, never even a suggestion from the border guys I have spoken with that there was a fee.

Also, I may have to take exception to what you said about Canada Post being quick to resolve insurance claims. First, Canada Post's insurance only covers loss or rifling, not damage. Their position is that if something gets broken, it's because the mailer did not package it properly, not because a CP employee might have drop-kicked it across the sorting plant. I don't ship anything which is breakable through Canada Post for that reason.

Also, CP makes you wait anywhere from 45 to 75 days after the date of mailing before you can even put in a claim. Then it takes them a minimum of another two weeks - usually more - before they finish their investigation and mail a refund check. That amount of time is longer than what PayPal gives the buyer to file a claim so I am sometimes in a position of having to refund my customer through PayPal and then wait weeks for a reimbursement check from CP.

IMHO, CP's insurance coverage is a joke compared to that of the USPS. (Uh, oh! Here I go again, ragging on Canada Post. If there just wasn't SO MUCH to rag about, eh?) ;-)

Canadian eBay Sellers Get Flat-Rate Shipping Box

by: Joe

Thu May 22 05:58:36 2008

Cindy, trust me, there is a fee for taking packages across the border into the US. You've obviously been very lucky, all I can say is keep doing what you're doing and don't ask any questions at the border and give them the heads up. It's $10.25 USD each trip to mail items or like I said you can buy the year pass for around $200.00 USD. I go so often, that I find the year pass is a better deal, plus I use it all the time just to go into the US for a day trip to avoid the long line-ups.

As far as Canada Post being quick to resolve claims, I do take that statement back because thinking back, it did take quite a while for my international claim to get resolved, but I will say that they never made me feel like I wasn't going to get reimbursed and although I had to fill out the paper work & wait for the claim to go through, I did get the claim approved and was also refunded my shipping fees as well. The funny thing about that claim is a few days after getting the refund, the package was returned to me as "unclaimed" at the Sweden post office, lol.

But the few claims I've filed within Canada were done pretty quickly with no complaints. I did have an issue with a glass neon clock I sold once that arrived broken and did cover it.

One main thing I like about Canada Posts Xpresspost service is their guaranteed delivery, I can't tell you how many times I was given back the price of the Xpresspost pre-paid envelopes because they arrived a day or 2 late. I simply called them up, gave them the tracking # and when they saw that it took 3-4 business days instead of 2, they cut me a check and mailed it out, no questions asked.

Don't get me wrong, I only mail out within Canada when it's cheaper (which isn't very often) otherwise I ship from Washington State.

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