eBay.ca - Help with Shipping, Listing, Fees etc.

[Brasidassp]

I could not find another thread for a similar topic, but apologies if there is one.

I would like to start selling some of my extra sets on Ebay, but am not sure how to tackle shipping.  I'd appreciate any insight from some of the more experienced BP'ers based in Canada.

1) If my Ebay listing is Buy It Now, and I list a single shipping price, and offer shipping to Canada and Continental US, should I pick a price that basically averages the cheapest and most expensive shipping locations?

2) Do most people ship Regular Parcel, or Priority?  If Regular Parcel, I presume you would add tracking.

3) When is it worth it to include insurance?

Any other lessons learned would be greatly appreciated as well.

Looking forward to some feedback!

[redghostx]

I could not find another thread for a similar topic, but apologies if there is one.

I would like to start selling some of my extra sets on Ebay, but am not sure how to tackle shipping.  I'd appreciate any insight from some of the more experienced BP'ers based in Canada.

1) If my Ebay listing is Buy It Now, and I list a single shipping price, and offer shipping to Canada and Continental US, should I pick a price that basically averages the cheapest and most expensive shipping locations?

You can offer different shipping costs for different regions.  Research your package size (including box) and weight and you can check the shipping prices in advance.  You can also offer regular shipping and priority shipping options.

2) Do most people ship Regular Parcel, or Priority?  If Regular Parcel, I presume you would add tracking.

In Canada, most items are best shipped using regular parcel (tracking included).  Some smaller items might have have only a small increase in priority shipping and some items can be shipped faster from Fedex for about the same price.

3) When is it worth it to include insurance?

Insurance can be added to any item but is mandatory for items valued at $250 and above. Any items sold at $750 and above require Signature Confirmation.  These are SELLER protections as if you ship an item at the $250/750 threshold without the necessary insurance, and a buyer indicates that they didn't receive the item, then you will not receive compensation from Paypal.  Fedex includes $100 insurance on any package.

I will sometimes add insurance to lower valued items if I feel that Canada Post or USPS are likely to damage it or I don't want to risk being taken advantage of.

Any other lessons learned would be greatly appreciated as well.

Shipping in Canada sucks.

Looking forward to some feedback!

​

[Sandwraith]

I could not find another thread for a similar topic, but apologies if there is one.

I would like to start selling some of my extra sets on Ebay, but am not sure how to tackle shipping.  I'd appreciate any insight from some of the more experienced BP'ers based in Canada.

1) If my Ebay listing is Buy It Now, and I list a single shipping price, and offer shipping to Canada and Continental US, should I pick a price that basically averages the cheapest and most expensive shipping locations?

2) Do most people ship Regular Parcel, or Priority?  If Regular Parcel, I presume you would add tracking.

3) When is it worth it to include insurance?

Any other lessons learned would be greatly appreciated as well.

Looking forward to some feedback!

​1. Pre-measure and weigh your box. and then use ebays "Calculate - Varies by buyer location" shipping option. This option checks Canada Posts site for you and give the buyer a quote based on the ir postal code and the dimensions you input. I solely use this method so i do not get screwed over somehow. I've never had it calculate incorrectly. It also saves you work from getting quotes for buyers.

2. To my knowledge regular parcel includes tracking already, but i use expedited as it is much faster and the cost difference is minimal. Actually i believe it is the ame price if shipping through paypal? Or that may only be top rated sellers i can't remember. All i know is i pay the regular parcel price on expedited packages. If possible send anything to the US with "Canada Post - Tracked Package" much cheaper than expedited cross border.

3. Insurance is purely based on how you feel about what you are shipping. If you feel that sending that $800 SSD across the country is too risky - insure it. 

Lessons:

Redghost got it right

Aside from that; don't do flat rate shipping, it will cost you if you make a miscalculation.

[Stragus]

When printing postage with Paypal, the Expedited Parcel rate is actually cheaper than the Regular Parcel rate, thanks to an implied small business discount.

[Thumper]

When printing postage with Paypal, the Expedited Parcel rate is actually cheaper than the Regular Parcel rate, thanks to an implied small business discount.

+1... ​BUT... Never put "Expedited Parcel" as text in your listing if you can avoid it, persons see this and assume it's super fast shipping when it's actually not. it's just a real bad name for a service that just takes a different processing line, it's better to use the generic-most postal option if you are using fixed price shipping & chose what ever method you want afterwards (sometimes Regular can be cheaper depending on size/weight & destination but usually Expedited is indeed the best choice)

[MOSKAL]

Hey,

I just had to battle 6 weeks with paypal to get $150 from a sale I did(only got 75%). The buyer said the package was damaged now I always insure every thing  I ship out. If anyway can share on how they prevent getting scammed on ebay as a seller cause its seems buyers have the upper-hand in these disputes. Much appreciated ?

 

[redghostx]

Hey,

I just had to battle 6 weeks with paypal to get $150 from a sale I did(only got 75%). The buyer said the package was damaged now I always insure every thing  I ship out. If anyway can share on how they prevent getting scammed on ebay as a seller cause its seems buyers have the upper-hand in these disputes. Much appreciated ?

 

There is little that you can do if a buyer wants to scam you, unless they have a track record of scamming.

[gregpj]

Hey,

I just had to battle 6 weeks with paypal to get $150 from a sale I did(only got 75%). The buyer said the package was damaged now I always insure every thing  I ship out. If anyway can share on how they prevent getting scammed on ebay as a seller cause its seems buyers have the upper-hand in these disputes. Much appreciated ?

 

If the package was damaged and its insured, they can file a claim with Canada Post to be reimbursed. Remind them that will need to surrender the item.

Also, after they send you pictures of the damaged item AND damaged box it came in, tell them to return it to you at their cost. Once item is received and verified complete, you would then reimburse them their shipping costs.

Basically you are forcing them to get their money back and end up with no product which is likely not what they want. That's the best case scenario I can think of... Always a risk.

[Sandwraith]

Basically you are forcing them to get their money back and end up with no product which is likely not what they want. That's the best case scenario I can think of... Always a risk.

​Exactly. If they are trying to scam you chances are they want the item. Have them return the item, at least this way you get the item back if they are trying a scam.

Of course there are other ways they can try to scam you that i'm sure they'd be happy to return the item... (like if they take bags out, or swap the item entirely).

[Gray2010]

What's the best way to ship 3 polybags to the U.S.?  Should I use a padded envelope?

 

thanks, 

 

john

[massakassa]

What's the best way to ship 3 polybags to the U.S.?  Should I use a padded envelope?

 

thanks, 

 

john

You should be able to fit them all in a large padded envelope, like a size 4, and be able to stay under the 2 cm rule if you make sure the polybags dont overlap much inside the envelope. This way you can send it as USA Light Packet, the cheapest option available for shipping to the US through Canada Post.

[Brasidassp]

When creating a listing on Ebay and offering shipping to the US, there is no option for Tracked Parcel, only Tracked Packet, which has size limitations still rather small.  The next option is Expedited Parcel.  Is that what I should offer?  It was mentioned above not to offer Expedited because the buyer assumes faster shipping than it actual is.  Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

[gregpj]

When creating a listing on Ebay and offering shipping to the US, there is no option for Tracked Parcel, only Tracked Packet, which has size limitations still rather small.  The next option is Expedited Parcel.  Is that what I should offer?  It was mentioned above not to offer Expedited because the buyer assumes faster shipping than it actual is.  Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

​I offer the Expedited Parcel shipping option. The tracking and label identify it as such so I'm not too worried about complaints. If someone complains, eBay will have no choice but to back you as the seller.

Now, what was suggested is that you offer "Standard Int'l Shipping" which is waaaaaay down at the bottom of the shipping options. This doesn't commit you to anything and you can still select Expedited Parcel USA as your shipping service when printing the label through PayPal which is the best price you'll get. You get 8% off the sticker price of shipping via PayPal, 5% via Venture One and no Expedited Parcel option if you're bringing them to the post office and shipping without a Venture One account (or whatever they changed it to).

Edited May 29, 2015 by gregpj

[Kenxxx]

A little off topic but I figured my fine neighbors to the north could help me here... I sell on ebay USA, and just got a purchase from a Canadian buyer, using the GSP... I'm just wondering about how much did they pay?  I mean, if my price was US$88 + $12 shipping = US$100... CDN$ at about $0.80 right now means they paid about CDN$125? .... but what about ebay GSP fees... customs duty... etc?  Can you give me a ballpark on what those might be?  Just curious.

[Sandwraith]

A little off topic but I figured my fine neighbors to the north could help me here... I sell on ebay USA, and just got a purchase from a Canadian buyer, using the GSP... I'm just wondering about how much did they pay?  I mean, if my price was US$88 + $12 shipping = US$100... CDN$ at about $0.80 right now means they paid about CDN$125? .... but what about ebay GSP fees... customs duty... etc?  Can you give me a ballpark on what those might be?  Just curious.

​Never purchased anything from the US with the GSP as it is usually stupid expensive. So i can't give an estimate on the amount, but it was likely too much.

As an example i did a quick search of some sets, and a $20 set has $14 shipping, and the GSP import fees an additional $8. So shipping and the import GSP fees put it at more than this item in particular.

[Migration]

A little off topic but I figured my fine neighbors to the north could help me here... I sell on ebay USA, and just got a purchase from a Canadian buyer, using the GSP... I'm just wondering about how much did they pay?  I mean, if my price was US$88 + $12 shipping = US$100... CDN$ at about $0.80 right now means they paid about CDN$125? .... but what about ebay GSP fees... customs duty... etc?  Can you give me a ballpark on what those might be?  Just curious.

Click on print invoice, you don't have to print it but it will show you what your buyer paid. 

[Kenxxx]

Git it... Invoice says about $130 US total. Thanks!

[Brickson]

Another thing guys, for Canada Post, can I schedule a pickup? I guess I just need to print off a shipping label and get my concierge to give them the package when they come (every day)?

[gregpj]

Another thing guys, for Canada Post, can I schedule a pickup? I guess I just need to print off a shipping label and get my concierge to give them the package when they come (every day)?

Canada Post does not pickup parcels for free - it is based on how many parcels you ship (i.e. how much you're already paying). I live so close to my local post office I've never bothered to look at how much volume I'd need to sell to make it worthwhile.

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/products/details.page?article=parcel_pickup_for_bu

[Zelgazra]

Hey guys, I need some more help with shipping. I've experienced first hand (bricklink orders), and read a bunch on here, about 'the 2cm rule'. I've got a few small sets that could probably fit into bubble packs and fit under the 2cm rule. However, I'd like to use the ebay shipping calculator in my listings. I was fooling around with it putting in some values and estimated weights of items to get some idea of shipping costs. Using the Ebay calculator, there was absolutely no way to get a lower domestic shipping cost than $8, even with say a 'small padded mailer' of 10x15x0.5, weight of 100g. If I hop over to canadapost.ca and enter that same dimension and weight I get that notably lower shipping cost that I expected.

 

So what am I doing wrong with the ebay calculator? Why isn't it giving me the 'light packet' rates I see discussed here? I'd like to offer the cheapest option to customers, but I feel like the ebay calculator isn't giving it up.

 

Also, what do you guys do if you've got a small set that would otherwise fit in a bubble mailer, with the exception of 1 or 2 pieces? Do you find the absolute smallest box you can, or is the threshold of box size (after bumping up from bubble mailer) a little more forgiving? 

As an example, I've got a '6020 - Magic Shop', and everything would fit in a small mailer except the two (vintage mold) 3x3x5 corner wall bricks. The smallest cardboard box I've got is something like 15x10x8cm. Am I screwing myself using a box so much larger than required? Even with tons of stuffing to fill the space I'm not bumping into the next weight threshold.

 

Any insight appreciated here. 

Edited June 15, 2015 by Zelgazra
punctuation

[gregpj]

Hey guys, I need some more help with shipping. I've experienced first hand (bricklink orders), and read a bunch on here, about 'the 2cm rule'. I've got a few small sets that could probably fit into bubble packs and fit under the 2cm rule. However, I'd like to use the ebay shipping calculator in my listings. I was fooling around with it putting in some values and estimated weights of items to get some idea of shipping costs. Using the Ebay calculator, there was absolutely no way to get a lower domestic shipping cost than $8, even with say a 'small padded mailer' of 10x15x0.5, weight of 100g. If I hop over to canadapost.ca and enter that same dimension and weight I get that notably lower shipping cost that I expected.

 

So what am I doing wrong with the ebay calculator? Why isn't it giving me the 'light packet' rates I see discussed here? I'd like to offer the cheapest option to customers, but I feel like the ebay calculator isn't giving it up.

 

Also, what do you guys do if you've got a small set that would otherwise fit in a bubble mailer, with the exception of 1 or 2 pieces? Do you find the absolute smallest box you can, or is the threshold of box size (after bumping up from bubble mailer) a little more forgiving? 

As an example, I've got a '6020 - Magic Shop', and everything would fit in a small mailer except the two (vintage mold) 3x3x5 corner wall bricks. The smallest cardboard box I've got is something like 15x10x8cm. Am I screwing myself using a box so much larger than required? Even with tons of stuffing to fill the space I'm not bumping into the next weight threshold.

 

Any insight appreciated here. 

eBay's online shipping calculator considers everything "oversized" in both dimensions and weight because in reality you're supposed to be shipping LEGO that way. To get the cheaper rates, you just use stamps by weight from the local post office.

Here's my rule of thumb:

1) Box, use the shipping calculator.

2) Padded envelope, use free shipping or charge $2.

I don't do parts though so that works for me. People who part sets use all sorts of creative ways of packing (taping baggies, sticking plates together, etc) into that 2cm thick rule and then based on weight may go over the basic $1.90 for a regular weight oversized item.

[redghostx]

Hey guys, I need some more help with shipping. I've experienced first hand (bricklink orders), and read a bunch on here, about 'the 2cm rule'. I've got a few small sets that could probably fit into bubble packs and fit under the 2cm rule. However, I'd like to use the ebay shipping calculator in my listings. I was fooling around with it putting in some values and estimated weights of items to get some idea of shipping costs. Using the Ebay calculator, there was absolutely no way to get a lower domestic shipping cost than $8, even with say a 'small padded mailer' of 10x15x0.5, weight of 100g. If I hop over to canadapost.ca and enter that same dimension and weight I get that notably lower shipping cost that I expected.

 

So what am I doing wrong with the ebay calculator? Why isn't it giving me the 'light packet' rates I see discussed here? I'd like to offer the cheapest option to customers, but I feel like the ebay calculator isn't giving it up.

 

Also, what do you guys do if you've got a small set that would otherwise fit in a bubble mailer, with the exception of 1 or 2 pieces? Do you find the absolute smallest box you can, or is the threshold of box size (after bumping up from bubble mailer) a little more forgiving? 

As an example, I've got a '6020 - Magic Shop', and everything would fit in a small mailer except the two (vintage mold) 3x3x5 corner wall bricks. The smallest cardboard box I've got is something like 15x10x8cm. Am I screwing myself using a box so much larger than required? Even with tons of stuffing to fill the space I'm not bumping into the next weight threshold.

 

Any insight appreciated here. 

Use a box cutter because it lowers the overall dimensions of the box and the mass, although it won't matter much for a 6x4x3 box.  As for the other point, I can't help with that because I market my items to the US and overseas and charge Canadians for the punishment of my having to deal with Canada Post (Fedex was so much better until dimension weights kicked in) 

I think that the easiest thing to do is always assume that your item is going to Quebec, NB, or NS and use an online calculator to determine shipping costs before listing. You can always refund any shipping overages if you guess wrong (if you want) but it balances out long term because you live in BC.  If you embed the shipping cost into your listing, then you reap the benefits of higher profits when items are shipped to Western Canada.

 

[Zelgazra]

I may have mislead you (and others) with the domestic cost quote; I'm also looking to sell to US customers. Cheapest the calculator comes up with is around $12. In the case of shipping to Canada and U.S., easiest to do as you do and just sacrifice/punish Canadian buyers?

[gregpj]

I may have mislead you (and others) with the domestic cost quote; I'm also looking to sell to US customers. Cheapest the calculator comes up with is around $12. In the case of shipping to Canada and U.S., easiest to do as you do and just sacrifice/punish Canadian buyers?

Shipping to the US is way more expensive than it should be, but it is what it is. redghostx targets the US customers because he's very close to the border and he can correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure he ships stuff direct from the US when it's a US buyer.

I don't usually try to punish US buyers, but with the way exchange is, I don't give them a break either... I charge them actual shipping costs. For example, shipping a Gallimimus Trap polybag in Canada was $1.90 regular postage... in the US, I believe for under 13oz they can even get tracking for that price. Tracking for us starts at $8 or something for an envelope, $12 for a parcel (less if you use PayPal to print labels). Shipping the same poly to the US under light packet was $5 - no tracking, 5-10 business days.

When you're shipping boxes, ideal box size to the US is important because of the small packet/tracked packet options. I recommend making your own boxes or cutting down as suggested if you need to... read up on Canada Post's website (https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/pages/parcelscon/default.page - go to the US tab) to compare the different options. I find most LEGO sets quickly exceed the tracked packet option.

What does this all mean? You're obviously just starting selling ... I can tell because I did the same box size song and dance when I started. Here's what I suggest - don't be afraid to buy some proper sized boxes for your larger, more expensive sets. Use small/medium boxes and cut them down for the smaller sets... Make your own boxes if you need to, it's not too hard. If you make your own box, just make sure it's snug around the LEGO box and you'll be ok 99.9% of the time. When you're listing something for sale, the shipping calculator is quite accurate _IF_ you put in the right dimensions and weight!! That's where knowing what box you'll use to ship something before listing it helps.

Also when you're listing, you don't need to add a gazillion options. Just pick the "regular us parcel" service or whatever it's called .. when it comes time to print your label, you can choose the right one and PayPal's shipping calculator knows the box dimension limits perfectly!

[anolian]

I am posting some mini figures on eBay.  I am worried the shipping costs might scare people away.  What do you guys use. Do you use regular mail.. Just stick stamps on it and set it off or do you use shipping with a tracking number.  I live  in Canada and will most likely be shipping to the US. 

 

Thank