US Members -- What are you paying to ship to Canada?

JohnnyDrama

JohnnyDrama

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I feel like shipping to Canada is exponentially more expensive. A bubble mailer with even one card in it is $12.25 MINIMUM. Used multiple post offices in my area and they were all the same.

What's it costing other US members to ship across the border? Any idea why costs went up so sharply?
 
I no longer ship to Canada with PayPal - they've changed the interface and I don't think you can ship internationally unless its for a (goods & services) order with a customer supplied international address though I could be wrong about that.

I use stamps.com and it works pretty well - ~9/~9.25USD if it's one or two 35 pt cards with two decoys in a bubble mailer and still under 3/4" thick, if it's more than that or a 180 point card/one touch etc., it's 10.50 to 11.50 USD per shipment until you get over 8 ozs. and it jumps to about $20 USD.

I never ship untracked given the state of the USPS/Canada Post though, so I don't have PWE costs.
 
BrookIsland said:
I no longer ship to Canada with PayPal - they've changed the interface and I don't think you can ship internationally unless its for a (goods & services) order with a customer supplied international address though I could be wrong about that.

I use stamps.com and it works pretty well - ~9/~9.25USD if it's one or two 35 pt cards with two decoys in a bubble mailer and still under 3/4" thick, if it's more than that or a 180 point card/one touch etc., it's 10.50 to 11.50 USD per shipment until you get over 8 ozs. and it jumps to about $20 USD.

I never ship untracked given the state of the USPS/Canada Post though, so I don't have PWE costs.
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I second this and I use stamps.com as well. My postage costs for a typical 4-5 oz. package (up to ~10 regular cards) is just under $8.00 US to most places in Canada. The next jump is to $10US and then to $12US. On ebay, I charge $8 to Canada and cover the costs of the bubble mailer, etc. in the card price.

I've always found this to be cheaper than ebay's international shipping.
 
E-Bay has a new option called eBay Send, cost is $10.00, w/tracking & includes up to $100 insurance. I've used it once & so far so good. Tracking works on E-Bay & USPS, so far Canada Post doesn't recognize the tracking number. USPS shows item cleared customs & in the city I sent to.
 
$3 if the buyer doesn't care about time or tracking. $10.50, which I mark down to $7 if they want tracking. If I do ship to Canada I usually use an alternative website to print shipping and never use the Global Shipping Program.
 
I used to buy rigid envelopes (made of thin cardbaord) which were intended for shipping CDs. If you pay regular postage along with the "non machineable surcharge" (it used to be an extra $1.20 above the first class international stamp price) it SHOULD get through without problem, however many USPS employees don't know that rigid envelopes can go first class w/ non machineable surchage and will send it back. The surcharge prevents the envelope going through the sorting machine and getting crushed in the rollers. It's intended for envelopes that contain something rigid like a photo or wedding invitation that can't be bent, or a key or something with paper clips etc.

something like this:

cd-mailer_grande.jpg
 
Prices went up: First Class Package Service will see an average rate increase of 6.5% in 2021. Commercial Base (online postage) rates will start at $3.01 (previously at $2.74).

The Ebay $10 feature isn't too bad although it goes to a central shjipping center first, so tack on a few extra days. I don't sell low value cards to Canada and for the others, charge $6.50 to $7 . I eat the rest and consider it the cost to ship across the border.
 
I had somebody charge me $12.99 USD for shipping, and the envelope showed up with $2.63 in postage. They had placed a bubble mailer inside a Kraft envelope, and the postage is listed as 'Large Envelope", so maybe that is an option.

When I raised the issue of charging me an extra $10 USD in shipping costs, they advised that "PayPal had deducted an extra $9.00 from their account a few weeks ago and they didn't know why, but that must be it". I don't believe them, but nothing I can do at this point, as the envelope had gotten lost enroute, and didn't arrive until after the cutoff to leave feedback and DSR's. I was hoping that being honest about the card having arrived, despite tracking still showing it as lost would account for something, but I guess not. I will just make sure to never purchase from that seller again.
 
BrookIsland said:
I no longer ship to Canada with PayPal - they've changed the interface and I don't think you can ship internationally unless its for a (goods & services) order with a customer supplied international address though I could be wrong about that.

I use stamps.com and it works pretty well - ~9/~9.25USD if it's one or two 35 pt cards with two decoys in a bubble mailer and still under 3/4" thick, if it's more than that or a 180 point card/one touch etc., it's 10.50 to 11.50 USD per shipment until you get over 8 ozs. and it jumps to about $20 USD.

I never ship untracked given the state of the USPS/Canada Post though, so I don't have PWE costs.
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I've used the FCMI large envelope option through Paypal to ship to Canada many times, mostly with success. This can get a small batch of cards across the border for a few dollars....with a little gamesmanship on the customs form. I just checked and it appears to still be active. It gets hard with large orders, because the package must stay under 3/4" thick. My only worry when I do use this is tracking seems to only go to the border and not all the way to the final destination.

As far as platforms, I've used Paypal shipping the most, since its free to use. Stamps has a lot more options, but I don't do enough volume to justify the monthly cost. I do most of my selling/trading via Twitter and Sportlots, so I haven't dealt with the seller side of eBay for awhile.
 
I shipped some bubble mailers to Canada from the U.S. this morning and the new postal rate for international shipping is $14.25 per mailer. At this point is it even worth selling/trading anymore.
 
Amsfan said:
I shipped some bubble mailers to Canada from the U.S. this morning and the new postal rate for international shipping is $14.25 per mailer. At this point is it even worth selling/trading anymore.
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Not that it makes much of a difference but it's $13.54 on PayPal. It's only worth it if you need tracking, otherwise you can send cards pretty cheap to Canada without tracking shipping First Class International documents.
 
WatchMyBreaks said:
Not that it makes much of a difference but it's $13.54 on PayPal. It's only worth it if you need tracking, otherwise you can send cards pretty cheap to Canada without tracking shipping First Class International documents.
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Exactly. I never pay more than $3 or so to ship a card to Canada.
 
Amsfan said:
I shipped some bubble mailers to Canada from the U.S. this morning and the new postal rate for international shipping is $14.25 per mailer. At this point is it even worth selling/trading anymore.
Click to expand...

Yep, stopped trading for exactly this reason.
 
I ship all my cards in Bubble Envelopes to Canada and abroad. I do not go to the teller. I utilize the Kiosk within the PO.

1 card via teller $8.00-$10.00
1 card via Kiosk $2.60-$3.00
 
mq13 said:
I ship all my cards in Bubble Envelopes to Canada and abroad. I do not go to the teller. I utilize the Kiosk within the PO.

1 card via teller $8.00-$10.00
1 card via Kiosk $2.60-$3.00
Click to expand...

I've tried this route and have it come back with insufficient postage nearly every time. Do you run into this issue?
 
I use to use the Kiosk all the time, but now I just use the Paypal method. Either way I have never had a card returned.
 

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