Canadians: Ask me about Canada Post and shipping - I work there!

[#1]

On top of my "real" job and my etsy shops, I also work part-time at a Canada Post outlet, for 4 years now. I'm very knowledgeable about all things related to shipping. I can be your resident expert! Ask away and I will do my best to answer clearly.

jackie ♥

Here's the original post from a forum thread I started before etsy did the shut-down to teams :( It describes CP's rate increases for 2011, which took effect on January 17th.

Like clockwork, Canada Post is raising their rates as of January 17th. I work at the post office part-time so I thought I would give my fellow Canadians a head's up. Here's a link to the complete list of new rates including all the price tables you could ever want (a very helpful sleep aid for insomniacs!).

http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/prices/ (click on the red "new prices" button)

I'm not sure how bad the increase is for domestic and US Expedited parcel rates, but here are the new Lettermail, Oversize Lettermail, Light Packet, and Small Packet rates.

Lettermail (max 24.5 X 15.6 X .5cm):
Canada >>
0.59 (0-30g)
1.03 (31-50g)
USA >>
1.03 (0-30g)
1.25 (31-50g)
International >>
1.75 (0-30g)
2.50 (31-50g)

Oversize Lettermail (max 38 X 27 X 2cm):
Canada >>
1.25 (0-100g)
2.06 (101-200g)
2.85 (201-300g)
3.25 (301-400g)
3.50 (401-500g)
USA >> (printed matter only)
2.06 (0-100g)
3.60 (101-200g)
7.20 (201-500g)
International >> (printed matter only)
4.10 (0-100g)
7.20 (101-200g)
14.40 (201-500g)

Light Packet (max 38 X 27 X 2cm):
USA >> 4% increase over 2010
2.36 (0-100g)
4.92 (101-250g)
7.91 (251-500g)
International >> 3.5% increase over 2010!
4.60 (0-100g)
9.25 (101-250g)
15.80 (251-500g)

Small Packet (max L + W + H = 90cm)
USA >> 7.5% increase over 2010!
Surface 5.85 (0-250g)
Airmail 7.46
Surface 8.35 (251-500g)
Airmail 9.90
Surface 12.41 (501g-1kg)
Airmail 15.36
International >> (rates vary according to the country.. please see zone and rate tables through the link above. Amounts below are for shipments to the United Kingdom, zone 02 - surface rates are 10% higher than 2010, airmail rates are 8% higher, except in the 1-2kg category)
Surface 6.54 (0-250g)
Airmail 8.53
Surface 8.95 (251-500g)
Airmail 17.06
Surface 15.02 (501g-1kg)
Airmail 33.45
Surface 21.07 (1-2kg)
Airmail 50.26

I don't know about you, but I am really bummed about this. Increases of 7 and 10% are really going to hurt!

Convo me if you have any questions.
(Posted at 2:55 am, January 3, 2011 EST)

[cindylouwho2]

Interesting Beth - thank you for posting that. Things that come to me through Richmond are more delayed than those coming through Winnipeg lately, i have noticed.

[WireExpressions]

Does anyone here have a link to where I can find duty rates by HS code? I'm trying to import some supplies. www.dutycalculator.com does not have all the tariff codes listed, and I'm not paying them to look it up for me. Is there anywhere I can find that info? Thanks!

[WireExpressions]

Quote Jacquie: "Many of us have discussed our inconsistent experiences when calling the CP helpline. The rule of thumb we always suggest is, call several times if you're not happy with the answer they give you, or if they don't sound confident in what they're saying. All CP reps are NOT created equal. The good ones do exist, but sometimes you have to call multiple times to get one on the line."

I'm currently well into 4 months of MULTIPLE phone calls to CP to get a refund (still no resolution!). It's true, you have to call multiple times to get anything accomplished and expect to be transferred a few times. I have finally gotten a rep that has personally taken upon himself to see my credit go through...and even he is having trouble. It is a no wonder CP is having difficulties...it's a gong show over there! I've found that I need to keep detailed notes of each conversation, and request at the beginning of the phone call that the person I am speaking with look up my file. Otherwise they make assumptions, and before I know it I've been transferred to 3 different departments and still no one has a clue! Just wanted to share my experience. Keep good notes...I hope that's helpful!

[JacquieVintage]

Wire Expressions,

I don't know of a handy link for calculating import duties. But here's a couple of pages from the CBSA. The first is a guide on importing (see section 8 relating to calculating duties), and the second is the the entire tariff schedule with pdf downloads.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/guide-eng.html#s3
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2014/html/tblmod-eng.html

[WireExpressions]

Thanks Jacquie! Not a magic formula, but it was exactly what I was looking for on CBSA and other places and couldn't find it! This is the best team! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!

[WestCoastModern]

Duties and taxes can be calculated from the CP Find a Rate page.

[WestCoastModern]

Actually you can go straight to it here http://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/personal/findARate?execution=e1s8

[Former_Member]

Anybody know if Canada Post outlets are open tomorrow (Easter Monday)?

[cindylouwho2]

outlets may be open depending on the individual stores' schedules. Canada Post offices are closed, however.

I am not mailing til Tuesday because I don't want my stuff hanging out in a bin at a convenience store for 48 hours.

[cindylouwho2]

Jacquie, if you ever get a chance to rewrite an opening post for this thread that I can highlight, the holiday schedule would probably be a good link to include:
http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/aboutus/corporate/holidayschedule.jsf

[Former_Member]

Thanks Cindy, I think that's best as well.

[Former_Member]

I don't have a question, I just want to rant about Canada Post's pricing for Canada vs. US or international shipping.

I use small packet to ship US and international, and expedited parcel within Canada. My baby swaddling blankets are under 250 g so I can ship one to anywhere in the US for $8.03 and all the way to Australia for $10.54, France for $9.37, or Kazakhstan for $11.72.

Today I shipped a blanket from Vancouver to Toronto and it cost me $11.41!!! I just can't believe how much more it costs to ship within my own country. And it just feels so wrong to have my prices higher to ship to my Canadian customers than to people on the other side of the world.

Ok, rant over.

[TigersandDragons]

Yes, but you get tracking for domestic parcels sent by regular parcel or expedited, you would have to pay a lot for a service with tracking to any other country. Also GST or HST is applied to shipping prices within Canada, but not on most items going outside Canada.

Can you package your swaddling blankets flat, maximum 38 X 27 X 2cm?
Because then you can ship within Canada as an oversize Letter for much less than parcel prices.
1-100 $1.80
101-200 $2.95
201-300 $4.10
301-400 $4.70
401-500 $5.05

[TigersandDragons]

The downside is that you cannot buy insurance on Lettermail or get tracking.

[Former_Member]

Those are good points, I just ship so much more outside of Canada using small packet that I don't even think about the tracking anymore. I don't think I can get them to fit the oversize lettermail restrictions. I'm pretty sure I decided it wouldn't work when I first started but I guess I could always try again. It's just always such a shocker when I ship something within Canada and it's so much more than my international shipments. I'm feeling extra cranky about this lately because our dollar is so crappy, just feels like everything is so much more expensive here.

[TigersandDragons]

I was buying supplies from the USA in the late 1990's when our dollar was only worth about .65 cents, so the current rate doesn't seem that bad to me.
But yes prices for most things are lower in the USA (and it's been that way for a loooong time). Keep in mind the USA has 10x the population, thus more buying power.

[KnitsByNat]

I also make it a point to mention that it may be more expensive for shipping in Canada but Expedited usually means 2 day delivery and not a possibility of 2 weeks.

[JacquieVintage · Accepted solution]

UPDATE - CUSTOMS DATA COLLECTION

On page 290 of this thread, I mentioned a new process being implemented at CP outlets. The process will go live on May 20th (currently in test mode at select outlets). Postal clerks will be required to key in item descriptions and values for the international services affected (USA Expedited/Xpresspost and Int'l Xpresspost). At some point, CP will also introduce an online process for shippers, which will generate a "barcode" containing the customs information related to a parcel. The customer brings the printed barcode to the postal outlet where it will be scanned, thereby avoiding the clerk having to type the information into the system. You can see what the online capture form looks like by going here:

www.canadapost.ca/customs

Today I learned that come August, if a customer does not have the customs barcode they will be charged a $2.00 fee (!)

[cindylouwho2]

so, this does not affect light & small packet & can still be done even if you are not buying postage online, correct? Will it be generated automatically if people do choose to buy postage online, or will you still have to enter it separately?

[LeCubicule]

I usually drop off my packages in a street mailbox, even Expedited Parcel and Xpresspost ones, does it mean that I won't be able to do that anymore?

[TigersandDragons]

Joelle, you shouldn't put Xpresspost in a mailbox, because then the time guaranteed is void. It must be scanned at a post office.

[OrchardBerry]

Will this barcode speed up the package going through customs?

[JacquieVintage]

Cindy,
The CP memo only mentions Expedited and Xpresspost. But you never know what's coming down the line. The printing of the customs barcode is an entirely separate process, so it's *possible* one day they will add Small/Light Packet to the list of services affected. And yes, customers who buy postage at an outlet can print it out beforehand to save that $2.00 fee come August. I'm really not sure if it will be generated automatically when buying postage online. If I had to guess I would say no? I would *hope* that they could embed the customs data into the tracking barcode that's already there, so we could avoid the extra step of printing the customs barcode but who knows! Which brings up a question... if they can't embed the information, when you go to the postal outlet to scan your item, will you be charged the $2.00 fee? And to Joelle's question, if you drop your item in a mailbox, what will happen?

CP will be sending outlets a detailed manual on the new process in the coming weeks. I'm not sure if it will contain info about the $2 fee, as it hasn't been officially announced yet. I won't say where I got the information about it, but my source is as reliable as they come.

[JacquieVintage]

Beth,
We can always hope that electronic customs data collection will speed things up. Maybe it will allow customs officials to streamline their flagging process. Fingers crossed on that one.

[JacquieVintage]

Groupon has two good deals today:

$13 for $26 of custom stickers, labels, and decals from Stickeryou.com. Similar to Vistaprint, they have a database of images to choose from or you can upload your own images.

https://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-ca-custom-stickers-labels-and-more-from-stickeryou-1

The 2nd groupon is for a 5kg digital scale for $17.

https://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-ca-digital-kitchen-scale-1