With the current Canada Post strike, we've seen another large delay. however,
it's gotten me thinking. at some point in the future, say a year or so from
now I'm thinking about testing out changing things up in terms of no longer
offering lettermail as an option (it would be a "short" test before any
long-term decisions are made), and instead only offering parcels. I'll try
to explain my thought process of the pros and cons below and I am curious about
additional input.
Pros of Lettermail:
Cheap, commonplace, and familiar
Cons of Lettermail:
Have to worry about "frequent" Canada Post strikes
No Tracking. which in this day and age is a "rare" thing and buyers who
normally shop on pretty much any other website from Amazon to Shoppers Drug Mart
would expect tracking as a general thing. even eBay has been starting a "low
cost" tracking option within Canada at a similar $5-$7 price point while
trying to pivot away from untracked shipments.
Delivery can take anywhere from 1 day to 3-4 weeks. the stated timeline for "lettermail"
on the Canada Post website, based on years of experience (and the website saying
it is no guarantee) of 4 business days max is not accurate in the slightest for
oversized lettermail which Lego is sent through (tho it may be accurate for standard
letters)
you dont know if a package is lost or just delayed until it has been well over
a month
Tho truly lost packages are rare, the times it does happen can be troublesome
for buyers especially if there is no tracking to confirm it or not, in theory,
you could offer both lettermail and parcel, but bricklink will always default
to the cheaper option (lettermail) and most buyers would too, thinking there
is no difference aside from tracking (and yes, many buyers even in Canada dont
know much/anything about shipping in Canada, I've lost count on how many
times over the years I've received messages asking about where the tracking
is for lettermail orders and such)
a con from the seller's POV is that untracked shipments' "arrival"
is purely at the confirmation of buyers. 99.99%+ of them and good and honest
but some will force Paypal claims and/or NSS if the package doesn't arrive
within their "view" of how long it should take, which if you dont have
tracking they will win 100% of cases they file both on bricklink and Paypal/Bank
(I had one of those recently where every few days after the order was shipped
they messaged asking where it was and then filed an NSS and would have filled
a Paypal claim even tho it had been only 14 business days) tho to be fair, this
is a "rare" thing with at most only 1/500-1000 lettermail orders "never
arriving" (please dont confuse this with me not taking responsibility for
lost shipments, I do take full responsibility for lost shipments and offered
a timeline for when it would be considered lost and a refund given to said buyer
but that was ignored)
having to frequently buy stamps, it can be done online but unless you order only
a few each time, you then have to sign for every package, which in my case, those
people arrive while I'm still asleep as I work late so my parents have to
sign for said packages. you can buy them in person but there are several things
to consider. 1 is cash flow. yes, you can buy $5,000 of stamps in 1 go and not
have to buy more for a while but that is lots of money tied up. the alternative
is buying a few hundred $ each time but then you have to make frequent trips,
based on my travels to ship orders out, it would be a 30+ min detour each time
to go to the nearest post office, wait in line (those lines frequently get very
long), and then get back to home/next destination. for those curious, I usually
ship lettermail orders out at a post office box, not the post office, and parcels
are shipped at a "drop and go" location at a convenience store. yes,
I know that half an hour and such isn't that much or anything but if the
alternative is several clicks to add exactly what you need to your shipping account's
credit balance then I thought it best to also consider it, tho compared to other
points, this is the more "petty" reason which most probably won't
relate to.
Pros of parcel:
Full Tracking which is standard practice for most sites
Fast Delivery time of usually sub 1 week
Lost packages can be easily confirmed so refunds can be sent
Dont have to worry about "frequent" Canada Post strikes (aside from remote/PO
Box orders which only make up a very small % of orders)
a pro from the seller's POV is a massive increase in seller protection as
now all shipments are tracked
Cons of parcel:
Costs More
If I went this route I would likely also increase the store's Minimum buy
so that to people, it feel more "normal" to pay the slight increase in
shipping costs. For reference, I suspect that if I did this then I would change
from my current $2.49-$3.99 lettermail and $10 parcel costs to something starting
around $6-$7 for tracked orders. An increase of potentially $2-$4.50 for what
would normally be shipped lettermail and $3-$4 cheaper for what would normally
be shipped parcel.
Curious about people's thoughts, I know that if I did a move like this, it
would 100% lead to at least a small decrease in sales but i believe so long as
the decrease isn't to major that the benefits could outweigh the negative,
but am just curious about everyone's thoughts on it.
Also on a side note, there have been many comments from Canada Post in regards
to "moving away" from letters, this could potentially mean the end to
oversized lettermail so that they can boost their parcel numbers. even if it
doesn't this time, a future strike they go on could mean that.
Great minds think alike! I was thinking something very similar myself, although
more for short term - increasing my minimum order, setting a flat parcel rate
and that’s it. However, I’m still a small shop and growing (at least, I was before
the strike) so the decrease in sales as you mention makes me hesitant for long
term. You are established and in that case, the benefits would outweigh the risk
for your shop in my opinion.
I also had a NSS filed recently where the buyer only waited the bare minimum
to file it, and Canada Post’s lettermail just doesn’t make it across the country
in 7 days. I was forced to refund without the proof since there was no tracking,
and the buyer stopped communicating. Shipping only tracked orders would eliminate
the possibility of buyers getting a refund and the order too.
Ideally lettermail will be privatized at some point, maybe the strike will go
on long enough that the union puts Canada Post out of business! Then there would
be faster, cheaper options for small packages. With the availability of competitive
parcel shipping right now though, it’s not such a jump in rate that most buyers
would avoid it. I think it’s more so setting a higher minimum in case of having
to absorb a small percentage above the flat rate sometimes, that would be the
deterrent.
I see that Canadian Sylvain, owner of the largest Canadian shop, is shipping
parcel at $4.00 base rate with a $10 minimum. Maybe that shop, or other larger
sellers will chime in on how this has gone for them.
In Shipping, Nubs_Select writes:
With the current Canada Post strike, we've seen another large delay. however,
it's gotten me thinking. at some point in the future, say a year or so from
now I'm thinking about testing out changing things up in terms of no longer
offering lettermail as an option (it would be a "short" test before any
long-term decisions are made), and instead only offering parcels. I'll try
to explain my thought process of the pros and cons below and I am curious about
additional input…
Curious about people's thoughts, I know that if I did a move like this, it
would 100% lead to at least a small decrease in sales but i believe so long as
the decrease isn't to major that the benefits could outweigh the negative,
but am just curious about everyone's thoughts on it…
I was thinking something very similar myself, although
more for short term - increasing my minimum order, setting a flat parcel rate
and that’s it. However, I’m still a small shop and growing (at least, I was before
the strike) so the decrease in sales as you mention makes me hesitant for long
term. You are established and in that case, the benefits would outweigh the risk
for your shop in my opinion.
mhm, it would be interesting to see how that could play out
I also had a NSS filed recently where the buyer only waited the bare minimum
to file it, and Canada Post’s lettermail just doesn’t make it across the country
in 7 days. I was forced to refund without the proof since there was no tracking,
and the buyer stopped communicating. Shipping only tracked orders would eliminate
the possibility of buyers getting a refund and the order too.
sorry to hear
Ideally lettermail will be privatized at some point, maybe the strike will go
on long enough that the union puts Canada Post out of business! Then there would
be faster, cheaper options for small packages. With the availability of competitive
parcel shipping right now though, it’s not such a jump in rate that most buyers
would avoid it. I think it’s more so setting a higher minimum in case of having
to absorb a small percentage above the flat rate sometimes, that would be the
deterrent.
interesting, I think that makes sense
I see that Canadian Sylvain, owner of the largest Canadian shop, is shipping
parcel at $4.00 base rate with a $10 minimum. Maybe that shop, or other larger
sellers will chime in on how this has gone for them.
i cant say I've heard of any tracked options at $4 so if i had to guess,
they are probably working part of the cost into the item prices. but yes, that
would be interesting to see how that's working for them, in the USA it seems
there are quite a few stores that have "free shipping over $X" and such
so even if you took a little hit on shipping, so long as the orders were over
a certain threshold it could still work out possibly. if/when i go thru with
this test ill be sure to (unless i forget 😅) keep things posted in the forum
for those curious. but ill wait until the store levels out again once i start
getting lots of figures/figure parts listed again. ill probably wait until i
pass either 15k or 20k lots post purge
With the current Canada Post strike, we've seen another large delay. however,
it's gotten me thinking.
Me too, unfortunately received this e-mail today, from Delivengo (a subsidiary
of French Post) that won't ship to Canada anymore, starting immediately and
until it's resolved apparently
Hoping it won't be too long, would have to correct 12 Shipping Methods in
our shop (plus the fact I guess it's ennoying in your Country especially
before Xmas).
Google translated:
Dear Delivengo customer,
Our partner Canada Post informs us that the strike action of the Canadian Union
of Postal Workers (CUPW) that began on November 15th, is continuing.
At the request of our partner, we must temporarily suspend all shipments to Canada.
As a result, we are now closing the Canada destination on Delivengo. It is therefore
no longer possible for you to generate shipping labels to this destination.
At present, we lack visibility on the resumption of activity. We will update
the situation as soon as we have new information.
Hoping it won't be too long, would have to correct 12 Shipping Methods in
our shop (plus the fact I guess it's ennoying in your Country especially
before Xmas).
i wouldn't be hopeful, meditation was just called off as the union side never
responded to the Crown Corporation for multiple days. the government also says
arbitration and a back to work mandate are off the table wouldn't surprise
me if it lasts till the new year
With the current Canada Post strike, we've seen another large delay. however,
it's gotten me thinking.
Me too, unfortunately received this e-mail today, from Delivengo (a subsidiary
of French Post) that won't ship to Canada anymore, starting immediately and
until it's resolved apparently
Hoping it won't be too long, would have to correct 12 Shipping Methods in
our shop (plus the fact I guess it's ennoying in your Country especially
before Xmas).
Google translated:
Dear Delivengo customer,
Our partner Canada Post informs us that the strike action of the Canadian Union
of Postal Workers (CUPW) that began on November 15th, is continuing.
At the request of our partner, we must temporarily suspend all shipments to Canada.
As a result, we are now closing the Canada destination on Delivengo. It is therefore
no longer possible for you to generate shipping labels to this destination.
At present, we lack visibility on the resumption of activity. We will update
the situation as soon as we have new information.
We thank you for your understanding.
Have a nice day,
Kind regards,
The Delivengo team.
I don't know about France....But during the last week in Canada I have received
shipments from Austria & denmark. 1 x dhl & 1 x fedex
I've thought about swapping to parcel only for a long time, but I'm in
Northern Ontario and don't have any of the "alternate" shipping companies
that offer decent pricing, so I'm stuck with Canada Post, UPS, and Purolator.
That being said, the thought of not having to Tetris stuff into oversized lettermail
is very tempting, along with all the other benefits you stated above.
Off Topic - For the GST/HST holiday I'm going to follow whatever the Lego
website does. If they charge tax on their 18+ sets then so will I. Same with
their Bricks&Pieces, if they charge tax on loose pieces, then I will as well.
I trust them more than I trust some CRA flunkie on the phone who's probably
more worried about job cuts than accurate advice.
I've thought about swapping to parcel only for a long time, but I'm in
Northern Ontario and don't have any of the "alternate" shipping companies
that offer decent pricing, so I'm stuck with Canada Post, UPS, and Purolator.
That being said, the thought of not having to Tetris stuff into oversized lettermail
is very tempting, along with all the other benefits you stated above.
indeed! the pros/cons are very interesting to consider!
Off Topic - For the GST/HST holiday I'm going to follow whatever the Lego
website does. If they charge tax on their 18+ sets then so will I. Same with
their Bricks&Pieces, if they charge tax on loose pieces, then I will as well.
I trust them more than I trust some CRA flunkie on the phone who's probably
more worried about job cuts than accurate advice.
it will be interesting to see what they do! what makes it more complicated is
that Ontario has now also announced a matching tax holiday so there is more to
research now 😅
I strongly recommend to keep shipping with letter mail:
Lost or claimed lost shipments: I have had 899 orders from Canadians and I say
about 700-750 were sent letter mail. So far:
- one was claimed lost. (Buyer accepted to wait about 2 months.)
- one was claimed lost. Sent him replacements. Buyer informed me he received
it after about 3.5 months.
- one was jammed and torn but CanadaPost repacked it and sent it intact to my
buyer!
- All other 747 others were received.
The point is that based on the very high accuracy of CanadaPost and are buyers
nearly all correct, there is nearly not much risk. I know you have been doing
about the same thing that what I have been doing, but let's review facts:
CP letter mail: $2.2 Cad, up to 100gr
Stallion Ex.: option Uniuni if it exists:
- with insurance: $6.22 Cad, up to ~400gr
- without insurance: $5.81
But UniUni option do not exist for some locations. Then it starts with about
$12 or $13 for me.
If the package is lost, Stallion Express refund you but if it is damaged (like
one I have now) you go through hoops to get some refund. But this doesn't
mean with UniUni, there won't be any issue. Who knows. Tracking says delivered
but buyer claims he did not receive anything.
With some trehsold like $30 Cad for newbies or less-trustable buyers and $50
for established buyers, you are good with letter mail. You can charge extra,
like even $0.2 or $0.5 and you will be covered for the one that is lost for every
200-500 letter mails.
You can also give option of tracking for buyers with some texts: "99.9% of
letter mails are received. In case of non-delivery after 30 days, we can refund
or sent replacements...."
For me, shipping with letter mail is easier. I just write down buyer's address.
Mine is already printed. I attach addresses and one stamp. With Stallion, I have
to fill up online forms, some copy-pastes, size of package,... Very slow.
If I have $25 in my cart and shipping costs in your store is like $3.5, I will
order from you. If it is $7.5-8, I may not.
In Shipping, Nubs_Select writes:
With the current Canada Post strike, we've seen another large delay. however,
it's gotten me thinking. at some point in the future, say a year or so from
now I'm thinking about testing out changing things up in terms of no longer
offering lettermail as an option (it would be a "short" test before any
long-term decisions are made), and instead only offering parcels. I'll try
to explain my thought process of the pros and cons below and I am curious about
additional input.
Pros of Lettermail:
Cheap, commonplace, and familiar
Cons of Lettermail:
Have to worry about "frequent" Canada Post strikes
No Tracking. which in this day and age is a "rare" thing and buyers who
normally shop on pretty much any other website from Amazon to Shoppers Drug Mart
would expect tracking as a general thing. even eBay has been starting a "low
cost" tracking option within Canada at a similar $5-$7 price point while
trying to pivot away from untracked shipments.
Delivery can take anywhere from 1 day to 3-4 weeks. the stated timeline for "lettermail"
on the Canada Post website, based on years of experience (and the website saying
it is no guarantee) of 4 business days max is not accurate in the slightest for
oversized lettermail which Lego is sent through (tho it may be accurate for standard
letters)
you dont know if a package is lost or just delayed until it has been well over
a month
Tho truly lost packages are rare, the times it does happen can be troublesome
for buyers especially if there is no tracking to confirm it or not, in theory,
you could offer both lettermail and parcel, but bricklink will always default
to the cheaper option (lettermail) and most buyers would too, thinking there
is no difference aside from tracking (and yes, many buyers even in Canada dont
know much/anything about shipping in Canada, I've lost count on how many
times over the years I've received messages asking about where the tracking
is for lettermail orders and such)
a con from the seller's POV is that untracked shipments' "arrival"
is purely at the confirmation of buyers. 99.99%+ of them and good and honest
but some will force Paypal claims and/or NSS if the package doesn't arrive
within their "view" of how long it should take, which if you dont have
tracking they will win 100% of cases they file both on bricklink and Paypal/Bank
(I had one of those recently where every few days after the order was shipped
they messaged asking where it was and then filed an NSS and would have filled
a Paypal claim even tho it had been only 14 business days) tho to be fair, this
is a "rare" thing with at most only 1/500-1000 lettermail orders "never
arriving" (please dont confuse this with me not taking responsibility for
lost shipments, I do take full responsibility for lost shipments and offered
a timeline for when it would be considered lost and a refund given to said buyer
but that was ignored)
having to frequently buy stamps, it can be done online but unless you order only
a few each time, you then have to sign for every package, which in my case, those
people arrive while I'm still asleep as I work late so my parents have to
sign for said packages. you can buy them in person but there are several things
to consider. 1 is cash flow. yes, you can buy $5,000 of stamps in 1 go and not
have to buy more for a while but that is lots of money tied up. the alternative
is buying a few hundred $ each time but then you have to make frequent trips,
based on my travels to ship orders out, it would be a 30+ min detour each time
to go to the nearest post office, wait in line (those lines frequently get very
long), and then get back to home/next destination. for those curious, I usually
ship lettermail orders out at a post office box, not the post office, and parcels
are shipped at a "drop and go" location at a convenience store. yes,
I know that half an hour and such isn't that much or anything but if the
alternative is several clicks to add exactly what you need to your shipping account's
credit balance then I thought it best to also consider it, tho compared to other
points, this is the more "petty" reason which most probably won't
relate to.
Pros of parcel:
Full Tracking which is standard practice for most sites
Fast Delivery time of usually sub 1 week
Lost packages can be easily confirmed so refunds can be sent
Dont have to worry about "frequent" Canada Post strikes (aside from remote/PO
Box orders which only make up a very small % of orders)
a pro from the seller's POV is a massive increase in seller protection as
now all shipments are tracked
Cons of parcel:
Costs More
If I went this route I would likely also increase the store's Minimum buy
so that to people, it feel more "normal" to pay the slight increase in
shipping costs. For reference, I suspect that if I did this then I would change
from my current $2.49-$3.99 lettermail and $10 parcel costs to something starting
around $6-$7 for tracked orders. An increase of potentially $2-$4.50 for what
would normally be shipped lettermail and $3-$4 cheaper for what would normally
be shipped parcel.
Curious about people's thoughts, I know that if I did a move like this, it
would 100% lead to at least a small decrease in sales but i believe so long as
the decrease isn't to major that the benefits could outweigh the negative,
but am just curious about everyone's thoughts on it.
Also on a side note, there have been many comments from Canada Post in regards
to "moving away" from letters, this could potentially mean the end to
oversized lettermail so that they can boost their parcel numbers. even if it
doesn't this time, a future strike they go on could mean that.
I strongly recommend to keep shipping with letter mail:
Lost or claimed lost shipments: I have had 899 orders from Canadians and I say
about 700-750 were sent letter mail. So far:
- one was claimed lost. (Buyer accepted to wait about 2 months.)
- one was claimed lost. Sent him replacements. Buyer informed me he received
it after about 3.5 months.
- one was jammed and torn but CanadaPost repacked it and sent it intact to my
buyer!
- All other 747 others were received.
You have very nice buyers! Unfortunately, it seems as time continues, more and
more refuse to wait . But yes, even so it’s a “rare” thing
The point is that based on the very high accuracy of CanadaPost and are buyers
nearly all correct, there is nearly not much risk. I know you have been doing
about the same thing that what I have been doing, but let's review facts:
CP letter mail: $2.2 Cad, up to 100gr
Stallion Ex.: option Uniuni if it exists:
- with insurance: $6.22 Cad, up to ~400gr
- without insurance: $5.81
But UniUni option do not exist for some locations. Then it starts with about
$12 or $13 for me.
Insurance is in house so we wouldn’t consider that as that cost, uni uni starts
at $5.20, that covers most locations. If they don’t have any option then the
next option starts at roughly $8. Id say 2%-5% of packages cost more then $10
to ship out.
If the package is lost, Stallion Express refund you but if it is damaged (like
one I have now) you go through hoops to get some refund. But this doesn't
mean with UniUni, there won't be any issue. Who knows. Tracking says delivered
but buyer claims he did not receive anything.
If it’s lost, refunds are made in house so that saves the paper work but if
tracking says delivered, and the buyer claim it hasn’t arrived, then checks can
be made with the post office yes, but if it’s marked as delivered then as a seller
I’m covered on PayPal and if the package can’t be located, then it’s on house
insurance if I’m not mistaken
With some trehsold like $30 Cad for newbies or less-trustable buyers and $50
for established buyers, you are good with letter mail. You can charge extra,
like even $0.2 or $0.5 and you will be covered for the one that is lost for every
200-500 letter mails.
Indeed, with that the “cost” is worth it. For me the “cost” is only 1 factor
tho. On the 1 hand you have cheap lettermail but it has no tracking and is slow.
On the other hand you have parcel which costs several $ more but is fast and
has tracking which buyers may prefer (but we will see or not during said test).
You can also give option of tracking for buyers with some texts: "99.9% of
letter mails are received. In case of non-delivery after 30 days, we can refund
or sent replacements...."
Sadly buyers refuse to abide by that and file NSS and/or PayPal claims even within
several weeks
For me, shipping with letter mail is easier. I just write down buyer's address.
Mine is already printed. I attach addresses and one stamp. With Stallion, I have
to fill up online forms, some copy-pastes, size of package,... Very slow.
Fair, but (at least for me) if you weigh out the time of either 1, time spent
to buy stamps printing out lettermail label, applying label, applying stamps.
Versus shipping label where you do 2 clicks to add to your balance then copy
the address, value, contents, and size/weight into the label i think it evens
out somewhat similarly (I have most package size memorized so no measuring is
needed for many packages)
If I have $25 in my cart and shipping costs in your store is like $3.5, I will
order from you. If it is $7.5-8, I may not.
100% fair point.
Great points! And Thankyou for your input, curious to see how this will result
during a test
I strongly recommend to keep shipping with letter mail:
Lost or claimed lost shipments: I have had 899 orders from Canadians and I say
about 700-750 were sent letter mail. So far:
- one was claimed lost. (Buyer accepted to wait about 2 months.)
- one was claimed lost. Sent him replacements. Buyer informed me he received
it after about 3.5 months.
- one was jammed and torn but CanadaPost repacked it and sent it intact to my
buyer!
- All other 747 others were received.
Ah - data! For our shop (we predominantly supply used parts, no sets):
- Shipped 11,403 orders domestically (across multiple platforms) (not counting
local pick-ups - we had 609 of those);
- 9,266 of those were lettermail (81%);
- ONE got lost (and one took 6+ weeks to travel 60km within AB).
While Canada Post sometimes feels like stuff is being shipped by strapping it
onto a pig, when there are no strikes they seem rock solid to me.
I strongly recommend to keep shipping with letter mail:
Lost or claimed lost shipments: I have had 899 orders from Canadians and I say
about 700-750 were sent letter mail. So far:
- one was claimed lost. (Buyer accepted to wait about 2 months.)
- one was claimed lost. Sent him replacements. Buyer informed me he received
it after about 3.5 months.
- one was jammed and torn but CanadaPost repacked it and sent it intact to my
buyer!
- All other 747 others were received.
Ah - data! For our shop (we predominantly supply used parts, no sets):
- Shipped 11,403 orders domestically (across multiple platforms) (not counting
local pick-ups - we had 609 of those);
- 9,266 of those were lettermail (81%);
- ONE got lost (and one took 6+ weeks to travel 60km within AB).
While Canada Post sometimes feels like stuff is being shipped by strapping it
onto a pig, when there are no strikes they seem rock solid to me.
Niek.
only 1 for that many! wow! I've had about 10k lettermail orders across multiple
sites and I've had somewhere between 15-25 that "never arrived".
and I've had dozen(s?) take 3+ weeks to arrive. (on a side note, 609 local
pickups is impressive!) I've also had somewhere between 50-100 people ask
me where the tracking is for their lettermail orders
I strongly recommend to keep shipping with letter mail:
Lost or claimed lost shipments: I have had 899 orders from Canadians and I say
about 700-750 were sent letter mail. So far:
- one was claimed lost. (Buyer accepted to wait about 2 months.)
- one was claimed lost. Sent him replacements. Buyer informed me he received
it after about 3.5 months.
- one was jammed and torn but CanadaPost repacked it and sent it intact to my
buyer!
- All other 747 others were received.
Ah - data! For our shop (we predominantly supply used parts, no sets):
- Shipped 11,403 orders domestically (across multiple platforms) (not counting
local pick-ups - we had 609 of those);
- 9,266 of those were lettermail (81%);
- ONE got lost (and one took 6+ weeks to travel 60km within AB).
While Canada Post sometimes feels like stuff is being shipped by strapping it
onto a pig, when there are no strikes they seem rock solid to me.
Niek.
only 1 for that many! wow! I've had about 10k lettermail orders across multiple
sites and I've had somewhere between 15-25 that "never arrived".
and I've had dozen(s?) take 3+ weeks to arrive. (on a side note, 609 local
pickups is impressive!)
Yep, especially to organize the arrival of such a crowd! Must have been complicated...
I strongly recommend to keep shipping with letter mail:
Lost or claimed lost shipments: I have had 899 orders from Canadians and I say
about 700-750 were sent letter mail. So far:
- one was claimed lost. (Buyer accepted to wait about 2 months.)
- one was claimed lost. Sent him replacements. Buyer informed me he received
it after about 3.5 months.
- one was jammed and torn but CanadaPost repacked it and sent it intact to my
buyer!
- All other 747 others were received.
Ah - data! For our shop (we predominantly supply used parts, no sets):
- Shipped 11,403 orders domestically (across multiple platforms) (not counting
local pick-ups - we had 609 of those);
- 9,266 of those were lettermail (81%);
- ONE got lost (and one took 6+ weeks to travel 60km within AB).
While Canada Post sometimes feels like stuff is being shipped by strapping it
onto a pig, when there are no strikes they seem rock solid to me.
Niek.
only 1 for that many! wow! I've had about 10k lettermail orders across multiple
sites and I've had somewhere between 15-25 that "never arrived".
and I've had dozen(s?) take 3+ weeks to arrive. (on a side note, 609 local
pickups is impressive!)
Yep, especially to organize the arrival of such a crowd! Must have been complicated...
Indeed! , and here I was thinking that the weeks I have 3 local pickups
are busy!
I strongly recommend to keep shipping with letter mail:
Lost or claimed lost shipments: I have had 899 orders from Canadians and I say
about 700-750 were sent letter mail. So far:
- one was claimed lost. (Buyer accepted to wait about 2 months.)
- one was claimed lost. Sent him replacements. Buyer informed me he received
it after about 3.5 months.
- one was jammed and torn but CanadaPost repacked it and sent it intact to my
buyer!
- All other 747 others were received.
Ah - data! For our shop (we predominantly supply used parts, no sets):
- Shipped 11,403 orders domestically (across multiple platforms) (not counting
local pick-ups - we had 609 of those);
- 9,266 of those were lettermail (81%);
- ONE got lost (and one took 6+ weeks to travel 60km within AB).
While Canada Post sometimes feels like stuff is being shipped by strapping it
onto a pig, when there are no strikes they seem rock solid to me.
Niek.
only 1 for that many! wow! I've had about 10k lettermail orders across multiple
sites and I've had somewhere between 15-25 that "never arrived".
and I've had dozen(s?) take 3+ weeks to arrive. (on a side note, 609 local
pickups is impressive!) I've also had somewhere between 50-100 people ask
me where the tracking is for their lettermail orders
I get the same questions even though the shipping method name is explicit: "Letter
(without tracking)"
I strongly recommend to keep shipping with letter mail:
Lost or claimed lost shipments: I have had 899 orders from Canadians and I say
about 700-750 were sent letter mail. So far:
- one was claimed lost. (Buyer accepted to wait about 2 months.)
- one was claimed lost. Sent him replacements. Buyer informed me he received
it after about 3.5 months.
- one was jammed and torn but CanadaPost repacked it and sent it intact to my
buyer!
- All other 747 others were received.
Ah - data! For our shop (we predominantly supply used parts, no sets):
- Shipped 11,403 orders domestically (across multiple platforms) (not counting
local pick-ups - we had 609 of those);
- 9,266 of those were lettermail (81%);
- ONE got lost (and one took 6+ weeks to travel 60km within AB).
While Canada Post sometimes feels like stuff is being shipped by strapping it
onto a pig, when there are no strikes they seem rock solid to me.
Niek.
only 1 for that many! wow! I've had about 10k lettermail orders across multiple
sites and I've had somewhere between 15-25 that "never arrived".
and I've had dozen(s?) take 3+ weeks to arrive. (on a side note, 609 local
pickups is impressive!) I've also had somewhere between 50-100 people ask
me where the tracking is for their lettermail orders
I get the same questions even though the shipping method name is explicit: "Letter
(without tracking)"
That can be indeed the problem! I never mentioned "letter" or "without
tracking" and nobody has asked me about tracking if I charge $3.5 for letter!
Literally no body so far!
I get the same questions even though the shipping method name is explicit: "Letter
(without tracking)"
That can be indeed the problem! I never mentioned "letter" or "without
tracking" and nobody has asked me about tracking if I charge $3.5 for letter!
Literally no body so far!
Great topic, Nubs! I appreciate the conversation on this. I had been toying with
the idea of moving to a more parcel-based business model, and the current strike
jumpstarted my approach. For me, it was the nuisance of having to invoice each
parcel individually based on the different regional rates, then wait for payment,
etc. So when the strike happened, I implemented $11.99 flat rate shipping. Alas,
even though I am near Vancouver, I don't have a Chit Chats or Stallion location
sufficiently close to be able to take advantage of their rates. I'm using
Sendle, which does daily pick-ups and is super convenient, but I believe that
their competitors are even cheaper.
In response to your discussion points, I think there are two perspectives. From
the seller's point of view, going all-parcel has many advantages, making
it almost a no-brainer. However, I'm also a buyer on BrickLink, and as Sezar
pointed out earlier, if I go to a store and see that my cheapest shipping option
is at or close to $10, and I only need a few parts, then it's almost a non-starter.
If the store has a massive amount of selection to fill my Wanted List and make
it worthwhile, then great. But if not, then I'm moving on. I'd rather
spend that money on buying parts than paying it in shipping.
I have done almost 2,000 orders to date, and can think of only 4 that were lost
in lettermail. Of those 4, 2 were odd situations that may have extenuating circumstances.
Consequently, I think lettermail needs to stay as an option, because the risk
of losing buyers, plus its general reliability, outweighs any benefit of forcing
a move to all-parcel.
In Shipping, Nubs_Select writes:
With the current Canada Post strike, we've seen another large delay. however,
it's gotten me thinking. at some point in the future, say a year or so from
now I'm thinking about testing out changing things up in terms of no longer
offering lettermail as an option (it would be a "short" test before any
long-term decisions are made), and instead only offering parcels. I'll try
to explain my thought process of the pros and cons below and I am curious about
additional input.
Great topic, Nubs! I appreciate the conversation on this. I had been toying with
the idea of moving to a more parcel-based business model, and the current strike
jumpstarted my approach. For me, it was the nuisance of having to invoice each
parcel individually based on the different regional rates, then wait for payment,
etc. So when the strike happened, I implemented $11.99 flat rate shipping. Alas,
even though I am near Vancouver, I don't have a Chit Chats or Stallion location
sufficiently close to be able to take advantage of their rates. I'm using
Sendle, which does daily pick-ups and is super convenient, but I believe that
their competitors are even cheaper.
Thank you for your input! Sorry to hear you dont have a Chit Chats or Stallion
near you, but out of curiosity, since you implemented your parcel-only option,
how has that affected sales? currently, due to the strike, sales across the board
for me are down about 80% so I'm curious how that is relative to your sales
since you implemented the parcel-only option.
In response to your discussion points, I think there are two perspectives. From
the seller's point of view, going all-parcel has many advantages, making
it almost a no-brainer. However, I'm also a buyer on BrickLink, and as Sezar
pointed out earlier, if I go to a store and see that my cheapest shipping option
is at or close to $10, and I only need a few parts, then it's almost a non-starter.
If the store has a massive amount of selection to fill my Wanted List and make
it worthwhile, then great. But if not, then I'm moving on. I'd rather
spend that money on buying parts than paying it in shipping.
100% makes sense, i plan on not starting the test until I get the store back
up to like 20k lots (post purge as im currently purging my old inventory in plans
to update stuff) and im hoping that shipping tracked at the $6-$7 mark might
be reasonable to buyers with that many lots.
I have done almost 2,000 orders to date, and can think of only 4 that were lost
in lettermail. Of those 4, 2 were odd situations that may have extenuating circumstances.
Consequently, I think lettermail needs to stay as an option, because the risk
of losing buyers, plus its general reliability, outweighs any benefit of forcing
a move to all-parcel.
indeed, it is a very useful option in many cases. I'm curious on what the
effects could be
I have no problems with Canada Post except this strike. I print shipping labels
for packages off of the Canada Post Website so switching to a different site
would be no problem either. I have lost a couple of letter mail but they were
overseas. Anything in Canada was just delayed and I have been able to convince
the buyer to wait so far. Post office is walking distance (but winter now).
However,
I would love to have a simpler packing and shipping situation. 'Tetrising'
parts into my homemade cardboard mailers is stressful. Getting back to the customer
and explaining that even though that horse saddle or windscreen is less than
the 2cm it will not arrive intact if I send it lettermail is also inconvenient.
Unfortunately there are few reasonable options even though I thought I lived
in a major city. There is no Stallion or ChitChats and UniUni says its is but
their website is giving me trouble right from the start so I am a little wary.
If anyone has any suggestions I would love to know. My sales are down to 2 local
pick ups (but both are brand new customers )
If there was an option for flat-rate parcel with tracking from one provider -
I would be all for that.
I have no problems with Canada Post except this strike. I print shipping labels
for packages off of the Canada Post Website so switching to a different site
would be no problem either. I have lost a couple of letter mail but they were
overseas. Anything in Canada was just delayed and I have been able to convince
the buyer to wait so far. Post office is walking distance (but winter now).
curious on the lettermail overseas as goods cant be sent via lettermail outside
of Canada (good luck on finding said document tho as last time it took me like
5 hours to find it)
However,
I would love to have a simpler packing and shipping situation. 'Tetrising'
parts into my homemade cardboard mailers is stressful. Getting back to the customer
and explaining that even though that horse saddle or windscreen is less than
the 2cm it will not arrive intact if I send it lettermail is also inconvenient.
pro tip (and this isn't legal advise) but the 2cm limit is not something
that is used as an exact limit (aside from some instore dropoffs). if its slightly
(emphasis on slightly) over, then 999/1000 times you wont have any problems.
Unfortunately there are few reasonable options even though I thought I lived
in a major city. There is no Stallion or ChitChats and UniUni says its is but
their website is giving me trouble right from the start so I am a little wary.
If anyone has any suggestions I would love to know. My sales are down to 2 local
pick ups (but both are brand new customers )
new customers are amazing! stallion and chit chats do have mail in options. if
you for example change it that you ship orders out that would normally be parcel
you can wait till you have like 5 or so then box them up and send them off to
them to get their cheaper rates. Tho, I've never dont this before so I cant
say for certain how good/bad it is form a cost perspective
If there was an option for flat-rate parcel with tracking from one provider -
I would be all for that.
Unfortunately the flat rate offered by Canada post and others is much more expensive
then normal packages so the flat rate would have to be "in house"
Being in rural Manitoba. Canada Post is the only reasonable option for me. With
lettermail being by far my cheapest and most popular shipping method.
My post office is rarely busy so buying stamps takes hardly anytime at all. And
if there is a line up and I'm dropping off packages, I can just go beside
the line leave them on the counter as mine are already paid and ready to go.
I get far more people asking about local pickup than "Where's my package".
But with being rural I can't offer local pickup.
I've refunded maybe 10 lettermail orders over the years and most of them
ended up being return to sender so I got them back in the end.
Last year out of 1328 orders on here 942 were lettermail, ~200 were international.
That means I shipped less parcels in Canada than I did to the US. Granted shipping
to the US is cheaper for me than shipping a parcel in Canada.
I've had 6 orders since reopening 8 days ago, down from 6 a day before the
strike. With UPS being my cheapest option Which is ~$18-$25 depending on location
for both in Canada and to the US.
So for us rural and even just central province dwellers, the post office and
lettermail are generally our best options.
Of course you city folk are better off with all your fancy Chit Chats and Stallion
Expresses . And pizza is way better than mustard.
Being in rural Manitoba. Canada Post is the only reasonable option for me. With
lettermail being by far my cheapest and most popular shipping method.
My post office is rarely busy so buying stamps takes hardly anytime at all. And
if there is a line up and I'm dropping off packages, I can just go beside
the line leave them on the counter as mine are already paid and ready to go.
I get far more people asking about local pickup than "Where's my package".
But with being rural I can't offer local pickup.
I've refunded maybe 10 lettermail orders over the years and most of them
ended up being return to sender so I got them back in the end.
Last year out of 1328 orders on here 942 were lettermail, ~200 were international.
That means I shipped less parcels in Canada than I did to the US. Granted shipping
to the US is cheaper for me than shipping a parcel in Canada.
I've had 6 orders since reopening 8 days ago, down from 6 a day before the
strike. With UPS being my cheapest option Which is ~$18-$25 depending on location
for both in Canada and to the US.
So for us rural and even just central province dwellers, the post office and
lettermail are generally our best options.
Thankyou for sharing! Yeah, without Canada post the already expensive parcel
cost in rural locations gets even higher!
Of course you city folk are better off with all your fancy Chit Chats and Stallion
Expresses . And pizza is way better than mustard.
The big city is pretty cool! here’s to hoping that if/when the Canada
post strike ends, that they will revamp their entire system to have more cheap
parcel options available! pizza!!! 🍕🍕🍕🍕
Canada, Ontario
France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Spain, Comunidad Valenciana
)
. And pizza is way better than mustard.