OT: Selling on eBay? Be careful sending items to Canada

[tbob]

No, not cards, you're fine there. Yes there will be the standard delay in shipping but otherwise no problem. If you sell anything fairly heavy like a book the postal rates to Canada are astronomic compared to sending items across America. I sold some books on eBay and was shocked (I charged $5.00 for shipping thinking it would be fine) that the three books were $9.90, $9.90and $12.05! Ouch! Well, you live and learn and eat some shipping fees but I thought I would give a shout out here because I know card collectors who sell on ebay often sell other items also. No problems with DVDs but books are killers!

[byrone]

With the US Postal Service running billion dollar deficits, expect even higher rates for all letters and packages soon.

[Anthony S.]

No wonder they mispronounce all those words. They can't afford the postage on quality American books.

[mintacular]

The post office has already proposed a hike of .02 for first class stamps to start in January, assuming there is Congressional? approval. Stll, first class mail offered by USPS is still leaps and bounds cheaper than Fedex or any other competitors...

In terms of Canada, for expensive cards, there is quite a jump needed to protect yourself from $2 to $15 or so as you will need to send Express Mail, the only iron-clad option for any eBay "Item Not Recieved" claim...Apparently Registered Mail is not a slam dunk if a claim against you (and this is $10 or so anyway). Of course, there is no DC to Canada or many other foreign countries b/c when USPS implemented that years ago their foreign offices would routinely drop the ball on this service.

I sold a $300 card on eBay a few weeks ago from Canada from a bidder with 2feedback and after sending it registered (I did not know at that time that this mailing method was no6 100% safe) I got an email from this guy saying he had the wrong address on file...I still don't know exactly what has happened to this card, hopefully the guy got it. What is scary though is that he could say "never got item" and MAY be able to win against me since I sent it registered. He emailed me and when I told him I had registered mail, etc. I think he got scared off. He may have been kicking the tires to see if I had any tracking and then was going to keep the card and get a refund of $300. Who knows.

[FUBAR]

keep the email that says he had the wrong address, that is admitting fault on his part, cover your azz

[JohnH19]

"No wonder they mispronounce all those words. They can't afford the postage on quality American books."

Hmmm...I'm trying to think of words that I have trouble pronouncing.

Hey, Anthony, maybe you had trouble understanding tbob's post. The problem here is that he is having to pay more than he expected for postage to send books. We can certainly afford to pay whatever it costs to get quality American books over the border to us.

[J.McMurry]

MINTACULAR-
Please Send me a PM with the name of that guy if possible, as it sounds like a similar episode I had last winter.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Being Canadian, I have the opposite issue. Canada Post's costs are actually far worse for us to send bulky items down your way. Even domestically it can be a nightmare. I recently shipped a not-so-heavy book within the country and it cost $13.50! Sending that book domestically in the U.S. would have been $4.95 USPS priority (and even cheaper if sent media rate).

[GrayGhost]

I just sold my prized baseball recently to another forum member, and despite registered mail /Insured and customs crap, it got to him fairly fast, and in good shape. Was it cheap to send and hassle free? No, especially to the second part. Maybe I got lucky tho.

I occassionally sell cheap stuff on the Bay too, and hope I don't have to send to Canada, or any foreign land. Just a hassle overall.

[jb217676]

Originally Posted by GrayGhost

I just sold my prized baseball recently to another forum member, and despite registered mail /Insured and customs crap, it got to him fairly fast, and in good shape. Was it cheap to send and hassle free? No, especially to the second part. Maybe I got lucky tho.

I occassionally sell cheap stuff on the Bay too, and hope I don't have to send to Canada, or any foreign land. Just a hassle overall.

Scott, I bet you're talking about me! I did get the ball in a little over a week and was very happy with that. It was also packaged very well. (Nice avatar BTW!) When I buy anything over $100.00 from the States I always offer to pay for insurance and tracking. Costs me a bit more but gives peace of mind to both the buyer and seller and creates good cross-border relations!

[byrone]

Originally Posted by JBirkholm

Being Canadian, I have the opposite issue. Canada Post's costs are actually far worse for us to send bulky items down your way. Even domestically it can be a nightmare. I recently shipped a not-so-heavy book within the country and it cost $13.50! Sending that book domestically in the U.S. would have been $4.95 USPS priority (and even cheaper if sent media rate).

Pretty sure Canada Post has been doing OK financially over tha past few years, in sharp comparison to USPS, which has been bleeding money big time. Americans can expect to see their postal rates skyrocket in the next few years, along with service cuts (i.e.Saturday service).