Canadians....DOES IT REALLY COST AN ARM & LEG TO SHIP??

azia

azia

Member
Aug 27, 2006
2,675
5
#1
So I recently sold a purse that weighed just under 1kg. It cost me $75 to ship!!!!!!!!!! I am serious. I charged the buyer $35 and boy do I regret it......even though at the time I thought that sounded high.

The problem is, the purse was worth $550CDN so I had to get signature required because PP doesn't cover if there's no signature when items are over a certain amount and the ONLY method is an independent (Fedex, UPS, etc.) which is what I went with or Canada Post which ONLY does signature confirmation for their Purolator method (which I was quoted for $79CDN).

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me there is a cheaper way to ship something that requires a signature!! I was told even Xpresspost does not have signature option (even if you pay extra)
 
#2
That's RIDONKULOUS!!! You don't have to ship with all that craziness - just ship with Express post so you have full insurance. Canada Post will refund you if anything happens. I know you need all that mumbo jumbo to be covered by paypal but Canada post is really good at covering their clients if anything happens.
 
#4
^ See, it doesn't work that way, though. I'm not concerned about actually losing the bag because insurance is only $1 for every $100 with any of the major shipping providers. It's the fact that the buyer can potentially get the bag, then claim they never got it and when they file a dispute there is a VERY likely chance PP or their card company will side with them because there is no signature confirmation. It's not good enough just to get tracking for items that are more than a certain amount (I believe it's $150 or $200?), you have to make sure you have proof that an actual person has signed for it. :/
 
#5
Yes, if you are shipping overseas, Expresspost is the only option that is insured and requires a signature (which it does, I'm not sure who said it didn't but they're wrong).
If you are shipping to the US, you can do Ground (Expedited). It takes a while but you can insure high value and require a signature on delivery. :yes:
 
#7
stylefly said:
Yes, if you are shipping overseas, Expresspost is the only option that is insured and requires a signature (which it does, I'm not sure who said it didn't but they're wrong).
If you are shipping to the US, you can do Ground (Expedited). It takes a while but you can insure high value and require a signature on delivery. :yes:
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I checked and you get delivery confirmation, but not signature feature and I've been to two separate locations where they told me ONLY Purolator has that feature. :/
 
#10
azia said:
I checked and you get delivery confirmation, but not signature feature and I've been to two separate locations where they told me ONLY Purolator has that feature. :/
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That is NOT TRUE!!! These people need to know better. Just this morning I had an Expresspost parcel delivered to Switzerland and I'm sitting here looking at the signatory name.
 
#11
I but a lot on Ebay and am surprised with how many Americans don't ship to Canada! Especially now that our dollar is so good, we're buying up a storm!

Those that do ship from the US to Canada charge outrageous fees - and often refuse to give a shipping quote until you've actually won the item. For example, I wanted to bid on a bag and the shipping price within the US was $8.00 USD, I e-mailed the seller for the cost to ship to Canada and he replied with $22.00 USD. I wrote him back and said there is no way it could've been so high, he responded by saying the only way he could ship to Canada was to hire a courier to take the parcel to the post office to have it shipped. I didn't bid because this guys was a scammer, obviously.

A lot of people (US & Canada) start an auction low and make up for what they won't get in the purchase price with what they charge for shipping. I can't tell you how many times I've paid $15-25 USD to ship something and it arrives and the postage stamp on the package says $7.00 or something!
 
#12
Anytime you send stuff to Canada from the US using a courier service (Purolator, ect) you get hit with a "brokerage fee". And if you insure stuff, we get hit by customs taxes.

I always use Canada Post. And I always ask sellers if they will send uninsured. I think the insurance is a money grab. You have more of a chance of stuff getting ripped off or "lost" if you put a high value on your parcels. Also, its easy to get a job at a courier here. Its very hard to get a job with Canada Post, they don't just hire anybody.

Stuff sometimes gets held up in customs, but I have never heard of things actually getting lost or stolen within our postal service.
 
#13
Canada Post does not offer a single shipping method to the US with signature. You have to go with a courier, which is ridiculously expensive. You can have signature added to some international destinations but not to the US, and then you are often limited to $100 insurance, which doesn't help either.

Also, I can send the same small package to Florida for half the cost I can send it within my own province. Ridiculous.

Canada post ticks me off and I've expressed my displeasure to them many times.
 
#14
stylefly said:
That is NOT TRUE!!! These people need to know better. Just this morning I had an Expresspost parcel delivered to Switzerland and I'm sitting here looking at the signatory name.
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That's REALLY confusing, because I've also been told time and time again at several Canada Post outlets that only the Purolator option has signature confirmation when shipping overseas!! ARGH!!!
 
#15
That is NOT TRUE!!! These people need to know better. Just this morning I had an Expresspost parcel delivered to Switzerland and I'm sitting here looking at the signatory name.
Click to expand...

bnjj said:
Canada Post does not offer a single shipping method to the US with signature. You have to go with a courier, which is ridiculously expensive. You can have signature added to some international destinations but not to the US, and then you are often limited to $100 insurance, which doesn't help either.

Also, I can send the same small package to Florida for half the cost I can send it within my own province. Ridiculous.

Canada post ticks me off and I've expressed my displeasure to them many times.
Click to expand...

Why they cannot offer signature to the US is beyond me.
 
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