Ship ebay item to Canada

[gr8fl4porsche]

Potential buyer asked this question about one of my items for sale.

1st class international shipping cost to canada v0g 1m0 ?

Shipping very light small box from St. Louis.

Anyone know what the last 2 words are all about?

[Rick Lee]

Looks like a postal code, but I don't know the ones in Canada.

[dhoward]

Kaslo, BC

[imcarthur]

Yup. Postal code. Same as your zip. We use alternating letters & numbers. Mine is M1T 1T5

Ian

[creaturecat]

send it USPS.
Otherwise, Canucks get absolutely totally screwed.

[legion]

Originally Posted by creaturecat

send it USPS.
Otherwise, Canucks get absolutely totally screwed.

It's a balancing act.

If you send it USPS, the buyer could claim that they never recieved the item and you have no recourse. Meanwhile, the package could be stuck in customs (you would never know) or you just have a dishonest buyer.

If you send it FedEx or UPS, you can actually track the package, but the delivee gets charged fees.

Me? I won't sell outside the U.S.. Too much of a headache.

[Christien]

Do NOT send it UPS - costs $100 to cross the border vs. $8 regular mail. Send it air mail - decent price and trackable, so you know where it is.

[legion]

So why do you guys get screwed so bad when sent something UPS? I'm assuming the governemnt collects the fee and not UPS.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Thanks for the info - my auctions state US only but since this item is relatively inexpensive I might send it up north.

[Christien]

All items entering the country have to clear customs, which the shipping companies refer to as brokering. I guess they're acting as a broker at the customs house. They all charge a different amount, most just a small service charge for the time they pay the guy to fill out a form and wait in line. Canada Post charges $8 (last time I checked), Fedex I think charges $25, but UPS has been known for years to be really greedy and charge $80. Might even be higher now. It has nothing to do with tax, it's just a service charge for filling out forms and paying duty and taxes for you at the border.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Clearing customs is the buyer's responsibility I presume?

[andrew15]

Originally Posted by legion

So why do you guys get screwed so bad when sent something UPS? I'm assuming the governemnt collects the fee and not UPS.

Nope - As much as you like to blame the government it's actually UPS charging a crazy expensive 'brokerage' fee.

It seems to be a random amount - in the past I've had a $40 item with a $75 bbrokerage fee as well as a $500 item with a $25 fee.

As a heads up - if it gets shipped by any air optionwith UPS (1 day, 2 day, etc) the brokerage fee is included in the price (still have to pay duties and taxes though)

Regards,
Andrew M

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by legion

It's a balancing act.

If you send it USPS, the buyer could claim that they never recieved the item and you have no recourse. Meanwhile, the package could be stuck in customs (you would never know) or you just have a dishonest buyer.

If you send it FedEx or UPS, you can actually track the package, but the delivee gets charged fees.

I've tracked dozens of USPS packages.

Originally Posted by legion

Me? I won't sell outside the U.S.. Too much of a headache.

I hear this 50% of the time I try buying from the US. What's the headache? Postal code instead of a zip code, and one quick form. In my experience, most of the peole who *think* it's a hassle, haven't actually shipped to Canada. They just assume it's complicated.

I've shipped car parts all across Canada, the US and Europe. It doesn't take me any more time to send an engine head to Utah as it does to send it Moncton, NB.

[legion]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

I've tracked dozens of USPS packages.

In my experience, the USPS tracking system does not update at all until three weeks after the package is delivered.

Originally Posted by notfarnow

I hear this 50% of the time I try buying from the US. What's the headache? Postal code instead of a zip code, and one quick form. In my experience, most of the peole who *think* it's a hassle, haven't actually shipped to Canada. They just assume it's complicated.

I've shipped car parts all across Canada, the US and Europe. It doesn't take me any more time to send an engine head to Utah as it does to send it Moncton, NB.

Shipping out of Canada is easy, shipping into Canada can be nightmare unless both the buyer and seller understand the process. I have had packages delayed and had the reciever charged surprise fees--which they often want me to cover (I was apparently supposed to mark something I sold as a "gift" and didn't--even though I was never asked to do so). I also think there is a great deal of risk to the seller when you cannot accurately track a packages delivery.

I have a friend who is a used video game reseller and has been screwed multiple times by buyers in Canada who do not understand the customes process.

Really, the problems stem more from uninformed buyers than from the actual customs process.

[Christien]

I've never had a problem tracking anything by USPS/Canada Post. All my Pelican orders come by USPS, and the tracking system is updated every time the package gets scanned, sometimes several times a day.

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by legion

In my experience, the USPS tracking system does not update at all until three weeks after the package is delivered.

Craziest thing I've heard all day!

Originally Posted by legion

Shipping out of Canada is easy, shipping into Canada can be nightmare unless both the buyer and seller understand the process. I have had packages delayed and had the reciever charged surprise fees--which they often want me to cover (I was apparently supposed to mark something I sold as a "gift" and didn't--even though I was never asked to do so).

Well that's just one flakey buyer. Only time I ask to have something marked as a gift is, well, if it's a gift. Seems pretty straighforward.

Originally Posted by legion

I have a friend who is a used video game reseller and has been screwed multiple times by buyers in Canada who do not understand the customes process.

Really, the problems stem more from uninformed buyers than from the actual customs process.

How did the used video game seller get screwed? Did he not get paid? The buyer always ends up paying the brokerage fees, unless the seller agrees to afterwards... which isn't really the same as being "screwed"

Agreed though, many Canadians are unaware that they will get dinged brokerage fees. Once we do know, we usually asked to have items shipped by USPS, then there is no issue.

Again, I don't see what is complicated about it, yet I still encounter sellers who won't ship to Canada. I've had to resort to having items shipped to Pelicans in the US, who in turn ship them to me.

Originally Posted by Christien

I've never had a problem tracking anything by USPS/Canada Post. All my Pelican orders come by USPS, and the tracking system is updated every time the package gets scanned, sometimes several times a day.

Yep!

[t-tom]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

I've tracked dozens of USPS packages.



I hear this 50% of the time I try buying from the US. What's the headache? Postal code instead of a zip code, and one quick form. In my experience, most of the peole who *think* it's a hassle, haven't actually shipped to Canada. They just assume it's complicated.

I've shipped car parts all across Canada, the US and Europe. It doesn't take me any more time to send an engine head to Utah as it does to send it Moncton, NB.

The reason I dont ship much to Canada is I dont want to go stand in line at the post office. I will ship via USPS priority mail to Canada I just wont send items first class. If you ship it via priority mail you can do it all from your computer. It does cost more but I tell my customers up front what the shipping cost is so they can decide.

[t-tom]

Originally Posted by Christien

I've never had a problem tracking anything by USPS/Canada Post. All my Pelican orders come by USPS, and the tracking system is updated every time the package gets scanned, sometimes several times a day.

I ship 400-500 packages a week with USPS Priority mail and their tracking is less that stellar. I would say that 40% of the items I ship never make into the post office tracking system. But they do still get deliverd on time.

[legion]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

How did the used video game seller get screwed? Did he not get paid? The buyer always ends up paying the brokerage fees, unless the seller agrees to afterwards... which isn't really the same as being "screwed"

Buyer filed a complaint with eBay, which pretty much by default, goes in the buyer's favor. As he sent the package USPS, he couldn't produce any documentation if the item was delivered, stuck in customs, or returned. He had to return the buyer's money, and never got the item back. After the fifth time of experiencing this, he stopped shipping to Canada. (Both he and I experience packages saying simply "in route" for months, if they are ever updated, in the USPS tracking system. There is no record of where the package is or has been, and no times. Eventually, the status may be changed to "delivered", but not always.)

Funny thing is, he has a thriving business selling U.S.-spec games in Japan. He ships UPS and has no problems or outrageous expenses.

[Christien]

You do realize that USPS stops tracking the item once it leaves the US, and then Canada Post picks up the tracking, right?