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)

[SaturdayMorningM]

Does every Canada Post outlet use the blue small packet airmail stickers?

[TigersandDragons]

Catherine All the outlets should have the Blue aimail stickers (unless they run out temporarily and have to order more), but it can vary if the person working at the counter will put the stickers on your parcel/envelope or not. You could ask for a sheet of stickers so you can do it yourself if it's important to you.

[TigersandDragons]

Gina - are those measurements cm? Is the parcel going to the USA?
I'm not sure why Etsy didn't offer expedited as a choice, you'd have to contact them.
I entered in the info. you provided at CP website, guessing it would be cm, and going from Canada to Hawaii, and both tracked and expedited came up.

The CP guide does not provide specific info. on whether Tracked Packet or Expedited are Air services.

Years ago, when there used to be a choice between both Air and Ground to the USA, Expedited USA was a ground service for larger parcels, that included a tracking number but did not have a guaranteed delivery date.
When Tracked Packet was created, it is essentially Expedited for smaller parcels with a $100 insurance limit. However at that point, Small packet Ground was discontinued. So my guess is that for the most part, these are all air services. You'd have to contact CP if you want more info.

[WallCakes]

Thanks Tigersanddragons. Yes the measurements were cm. I've had this happen a few times, where expedited doesn't come up in the list. I've tried backing out then back in and it still doesn't show. It's weird because a different order will show it.

I'm going to put an air mail sticker on it, and assume it's air :)

[ValleyVariety]

Here is some info on January 2019 price changes for Lettermail, with links to the price sheets.

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/kb/details.page?article=service_and_price_ch&cat=sending&cattype=kb...

[littleglamour]

Sigh....perhaps this is just a vent but are there any other Canadian sellers that ship items via lettermail (aka no tracking) and are still getting complaints about items not arriving yet because of the strike? I now have 2 cases against me because of this. These are items sent within Ontario the second week of November...so approaching 4 weeks. I have had my best holiday season here on Etsy in 9 years....and yet a handful of complaints gets me down. Perhaps I am being too sensitive but why can't we all just get along and play nice? :)

Happy holidays to you all and hoping you have had an abundance of sales!

[cindylouwho2]

I am sorry to hear about your cases! I haven't had any yet, but I am in Calgary & most of my things seem to be getting through.

Last I was told (by Etsy, via email, just earlier this year) submitting proof of shipping will close the case, and that includes photos of the package with the address & postage/label on it. If anyone has heard that this has changed, please let us know, as I am still taking photos of every single Canadian order mailed by lettermail. I am getting post office proof for all of my small packets still, by getting the receipt half of the label stamped at the post office, but am considering skipping that & just doing photos for everything.

Congrats on your best holiday season ever!

[littleglamour]

Wow - photos of every Canadian order - do you do that at home or after it has been date stamped at the P.O.? Funny thing is despite the strike I have had more CAD orders than ever.....so that would mean a LOT of photos! How long do you keep the photos? Thanks Cindy - I have always received such great advice from you and this team very the years 🙂

[ValleyVariety]

I haven't heard any different, Cindy. I scan all my letter mail stuff once I put the stamps on. If it's over 5.00 Int'l and I buy postage at the PO, I keep the scan of the envelope and the postal receipt.

For Small Packet, I print a copy of the postage label on the back of my order page. I buy my postage using EST on the Canada Post site. I also get the clerk to date stamp my copy of the label. She also scans it and gives me a receipt, but that only shows the zip code, so I like having the label as well.

If it's busy, I take my chances and just leave my parcels on the counter.

Elizabeth, sorry about your troubles. I put my shop in vac. mode at the beginning of November. I can't be bothered dealing with worries over late parcels and CP backlogs. I know some people don't think there was anything to worry about, but I had enough other stuff on the go that I didn't want to bother.

I just keep all the scans in a folder of Items Shipped, by year. Since people can file chargebacks and complaints for such ridiculously long times, I don't delete them for a long time. I just move last year's into its own folder, to make this year's easier to sort through if need be.

[cindylouwho2]

I use stamps for my Canadian orders so I do the photos at home after all orders are packed - I just stack the Canadian ones up as I go & photograph them all at once at the end right at my desk. (I leave my point & shoot on my desktop case after uploading product photos, so it is always right there for me). I store them on my hard drive & back them up periodically to the portable hard drive. I only started doing this middle of last year when forced to take EP, because Paypal won't accept a photo as proof of anything, so I haven't deleted any yet, but that will be on my list of things to do when I set up my new computer once the rush is over. I guess you'd have to keep them 6 months at least, in cases of chargebacks. I may keep them for a year to be safe.

I haven't had as many Canadian orders lately due to the strike, & more have bought tracking than normal, so usually it is only a few each time I ship; at most, 5-6 photos, which take a few seconds each.

[TigersandDragons]

If you buy postage at the post office for Lettermail, it is possible to have your postal receipt have the postal/zip codes for shipments to Canada and the USA (Lettermail should only be used for paper items to the USA). ...but that's IF the postal clerk is willing to input that. Sometimes they want to save time and just type in that you've purchased 6 Oversized Letters for up to 100 grams for example.

Buying stamps and taking photos will likely save you time in the long run, versus having to stand in line at the post office, and ensure that the clerk inputs each postal code individually....if you have a lot of orders.

[cindylouwho2]

Yeah, when my closest outlet was sold just over a year ago, I lost the speedy service. I like the new folks, but they are much slower. Thinking of them punching in 6 oversized lettermails is really painful LOL Plus, if you take photos you can dump things in the mailbox, which I have done when leaving town early in the morning, or when I don't have any small packets paid with Paypal. No lining up!

I am considering doing this most days, since we have a mailbox at the end of the block with 9 am pickup, which my partner can use when he walks the dog at night. The savings in paper & ink will probably cover the odd chargeback on a Paypal small packet. I'd still need to go to the post office to drop tracked items, and to get a stamped receipt for anything that needs to be insured with Insurepost, but we'd still save time each week, and I could switch to shipping every day. (That seems to be helping me this week - I usually ship daily at this time of year to get things out as quickly as possible, so I changed my processing time to one business day, and sales are up 1/3 over last year for December)

[ValleyVariety]

It certainly sounds more practical, Cindy. I go to a small Shoppers Drug outlet where all the ladies know me. If there is a line, I just catch their eye and leave stuff on the side counter. I only get the stamped receipt if it is an Etsy sale, because PayPal and/ or Bonanza don't go for the 'it was sent' stuff.

[KCowie]

Anyone else in Ontario having issues with packages taking weeks to reach you? I have an Ontario supply order that was shipped 4 weeks ago still hasn't shown up (I'm only 2 hrs away from where it was shipped). I bought from a seller within my own city & this is business day #6 and it hasn't shown and one from the US shipped a month ago hasn't made an appearance even. It's going to be expensive to buy supplies and have them shipped with a courier service as I cannot depend on Canada Post at this time.

[ValleyVariety]

Not Canada Post related, but here's another delay. A UPS truck full of parcels caught fire near Revelstoke last night. You can see by the picture that it's a semi, so that's a lot of unhappy business owners, or kids at Christmas.

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-244937-3-.htm#244937

[cindylouwho2]

Here are the new Canada Post rates for the Solutions for Small Business program:
https://www.canadapost.ca/assets/pdf/smb/2019_Parcel_PriceGuide_SFSB_level_1-en.pdf
https://www.canadapost.ca/assets/pdf/smb/2019_Parcel_PriceGuide_SFSB_level_2-en.pdf
https://www.canadapost.ca/assets/pdf/smb/2019_Parcel_PriceGuide_SFSB_level_3-en.pdf
https://www.canadapost.ca/assets/pdf/smb/2019_Parcel_PriceGuide_SFSB_level_4-en.pdf

I don't know what the counter rates & Etsy rates for small packet will be, but Etsy has not previously offered any discount on these services, so probably they will be more than the lowest SFSB tier, with no discount on Etsy vs. the counter rate. Even if you sell almost nothing each year, if you ship via small packet, you will want to look into this, as the rate I have been getting means that even with the 6 cents per label I pay Shippo, a small packet to the US is 58 cents less than Etsy/counter rate, and even the lowest level is still 18 cents less. (You can use CP's Snap Ship for free, as well as PayPal on PayPal sales, if you want to save that 6 cents)

[ValleyVariety]

Thank you, Cindy! I hunted everywhere for that the other day.

Now, I can adjust my shipping profiles BEFORE the date for a change. :)

I quit using the Etsy shipping for Small Pkt. last year, after you mentioned that it was cheaper on the CP site. :) Now, I strictly use the EST on Canada Post. I like it better than Snap Ship, and I like getting those small discounts.

[EightMileVintage]

Has anyone here ever successfully contested a charge that CP has put through their credit card after buying postage on the Snap Ship platform? I have a random 68 cent charge on my credit card that seems to relate to a package I sent a few days earlier with postage purchased via Snap Ship. Since I round up all measurements and weights, there is no way I underestimated.

[TigersandDragons]

I haven't had to do that, but I have to say, is .68 cents worth the time you will spend contesting the charge? If it kept happening, then I would understandably be talking to CP.

[EightMileVintage]

It's the second time it's happened. It bugs me that they can arbitrarily charge my card when I know that my measurements were correct. It's the principle, not the time.

[ValleyVariety]

I haven't. I only use SS in the free October shipping. Otherwise, I always use the EST. I've only ever had one, years ago, that I called in about. The guy basically told me 'it's automatically scanned/lasered/whatever, so it has to be right'. So, that's a NO.

The only other time I had an adjustment, one I KNEW was wrong, was through Etsy labels. There's no way to complain on that though, because they just tell you to contact CP. Thing is, it was a CP box that I bought a pack of from Staples when they were shutting down their post offices. The measurements were right on the label, as well as on the box, yet they claimed it was 'bigger' than I entered.

[EightMileVintage]

What's especially frustrating is that there is no way to even see what the details of the label were on the CP website or to check how much I actually paid for the label. There's also no record of charges to my account. If I had not noticed the small charge on my credit card, I'd never have known.

I used to feel guilty about using Chit Chats for all my US and international sales. This kind of crappy service from CP makes those feelings all go away.

[ValleyVariety]

I thought they showed any changes in your account. I haven't looked lately, so I may be remembering wrong.

I'm not near ChitChats or any other service, but I've never really had any problems with CP. Of course, I guess nothing goes wrong for anyone, until it does.

[TigersandDragons]

Bumping this up since the forums have come back up,  everything is "tumbled", and recent threads before the 2 weeks "pause" are not easy to find.

[ValleyVariety]

I would like to see a new post started and this one closed. 

The OP has not posted in here for years, and so much of the info is outdated anyway.

For newbies to the thread, it would make more sense to start with current info.  What say you?