Basic Shipping Questions Canada - USA

One of the questions we get asked a lot is about shipping. No not in the 'bitching' sense or complaining about buying from someone and getting hosed on shipping sense but simply "can you explain your shipping charges".

You see a lot of sellers on various venues claim that postal rates have gone up and in Canada that is certainly true. The US had a postal increase but not the increase most sellers claimed. The basic postal rate in the US went up but a lot sellers use a tracking service that we cannot get up here in the great white north where Canada Post seems to stick it to us every year. The tracking service (DELCON) went up to about $7 (this service by Canada Post costs us between $15-$20) but sellers don't have to use it as they claim eBay makes them. It is simply a way to protect their items and payments. All sellers have the option of charging whatever they want for shipping and eBay doesn't have anything to do with it. Okay, so that being said lets remember that both the USA and Canadian postal services are crying poverty and being bankrupt.

Basic shipping rates in Canada for shipments within Canada start at $0.85 for a single stamp and $1.20 for a single US stamp if you use a plain white envelope which we don't do. The simple reason for this plain envelopes go through rollers at the sorting plants and they get bent and turned several times. This doesn't always mean that a card will get damaged but I have seen several arrive where the top loader and card have a wave in them. This is especially bad for sellers in the US who use those stupid flimsy card savers that are about as strong as a cheap business card. Keep in mind that this stamp is only good for 30 grams which may be a single card or three or four older cards.

Basic shipping rates in Canada for shipments within Canada in an over sized bubble mailer start at $1.80 for up to 100 grams and $2.95 for shipments going to the States. This can be two fat cards to about 15 older cards.

Other things to consider are the fact that we pay taxes on these stamps at an extra 13% on top of the stamp price shown. Then add the price of a poly sleeve, top loader and team bag plus the bubble mailer. This gets expensive especially if you have a few of the fatter cards where top loaders cost about sixty cents a piece (no we don't use cardboard instead). For a single National Treasures card for instance shipped in Canada our cost is about $3.10 and to the US it is about $4.40. No we don't charge for tape, time and gas as we think that is just bullshit.

The other thing to remember is that over sized bubble mailers take longer to sort and deliver that a plain envelope. In Canada that can be up to 2 weeks (10 business days) or to the US about 2-4 weeks depending on Customs and the actual buyers location. Some States are out of the normal mailing loop and some areas within some States are not serviced by the postal service daily such as Alaska, APO or rural routes.

I hope this helps explain some of the shipping problems that sellers have and the costs and headaches involved. If you have any questions just ask and we'll try to get answers.