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 Replies: 13 / Views: 4,476 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1512 Posts |
Hi All, I recently sold some coins on ebay that were sold to buyers in Canada. I charged, what I thought was, a fair price for shipping (4 bucks to Canada) thinking that this would be adequate, but upon arriving at the Post Office to ship them I was charged $6.55 for each envelope! Each one only weighed 2 ounces and were business size envelopes (heavy duty). I wrote "numismatic supplies" valued at $10.00 on the customs slip. Why am I getting charged so much? It is killing my profit loss margin! How do you all ship to Canada and avoid excessive shipping costs? Thanks, Matt |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5417 Posts |
Simple, US sellers charge as much as they have to pay for shipping. That's why INTL shipping, even to Canada in almost never free.
Usually for low value items it's easier to put individual coins in just a plain envelope between a few sheets of paper and ship them. Unless they are heavy, then it's not worth it. First Class Intl is you only other option and as you know, that's $6.55. It's usually worthwhile for items over $50, You can charge the buy maybe $5 and eat the rest of the shipping cost.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1949 Posts |
If its lower value items, self insure and ship standard mail (without tracking) @$1.15... I have actually had fewer lost packages going to Canada than certain areas of the U.S....
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1512 Posts |
How do you get around the customs form?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1512 Posts |
Oh and Jdmern, thanks for responding, I know you have a Ton of coins going on ebay with free shipping. How do you make money? |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1118 Posts |
The free shipping and the two free wheats he sent me makes me a costumer of jdmern.
I know once I payed $20 on a made in Occupied Japan harmonica ca to pay $35 in shipping...
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1747 Posts |
realize that a high proportion of Canadians live minutes from the USA border, and most travel across for bargains on dairy products as well as lower gas costs. Many people, like myself have a USA shipping address right across the border. I know this may not help your actual situation, but when I buy on ebay, normally the listing says free shipping to the lower 48 states, not just a blanket "free Shipping" anywhere. I would suggest using the letter envelope suggestion, and put a couple of pieces of cardboard around the coin(s). |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1512 Posts |
That is how I packaged them, but the post office guy still said it was a "parcel".
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
5394 Posts |
@mriley you don't get around the customs form if you like to do things right and play by the rules. Filling out a fraudulent customs form won't help you or the Canadian buyer. In Canada we have taxes on coins and it is the buyers problem not yours. If the pack is seized you and the buyer both have problems. We have a large international presence on ebay and often have a buyer will ask us to under declare or not declare at all (we are in Canada). Not happening as far as we are concerned. My business is worth far more than lying about a hundred dollar package. In answer to your question "How do you make money? " Well sort of like any other business buy for A, sell for A plus a reasonable profit, cover your costs, strive for repeat customers, and remember the golden rule....... treat others as you wish to be treated. A lot of people will start to sell on ebay or open a bricks and mortar coin store and think the "shekels will fall from the sky". Sorry having over 40 years in the business.....................ain't that easy! Good luck and hope you have a lot of success ! Jack |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
One solution would be to move to Canada. Then all your mail would be in Canada. Or tell your buyers to move to the USA. Find someone that lives near the border and have them just slip across with your stuff.
Oddly enough and joking aside, I wonder why there is so much trouble with things like mail between the USA and Canada. Look at how much stuff goes back and forth on the Southern end of the USA and not much is done about that.
I've never tried sending anything to Canada but I'll just have to try it for fun.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5417 Posts |
Quote:
I've never tried sending anything to Canada but I'll just have to try it for fun. Sounds like fun. Since I'm such a nice guy, I'll let you send stuff to me. Nothing major, just a couple MS Seated dollars, and a few ounces of gold should be fine. Maybe throw in some CBH's for fun. PM me for address  |
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Valued Member
Canada
182 Posts |
I pay $17.90+ $2.95 per item for shipping from US Mint.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5854 Posts |
Try switching to another post office clerk if possible. I have once mailed a coin in a bubble mailer with the label affixed. I paid 1st class parcel rates because I need it to be tracked but when I went to hand it over to the clerk to have them scan it, the clerk said that I couldn't mail it as a parcel because it was too thin and that it had to go as a large envelope. Well, I took it to a different clerk and that solved it. Here are the physical standards put out by USPS. As long as they meet the standards for letters, you should be able to mail them out as such. http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/101.htm#1005672 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1949 Posts |
Everyone has given you some really good information that I agree with... Quote:
Try switching to another post office clerk if possible. I have once mailed a coin in a bubble mailer with the label affixed. I paid 1st class parcel rates because I need it to be tracked but when I went to hand it over to the clerk to have them scan it, the clerk said that I couldn't mail it as a parcel because it was too thin and that it had to go as a large envelope. Well, I took it to a different clerk and that solved it. 100% true. Different postmasters seem to interpret certain things regularly. Make sure you introduce yourself to the one at the facility you are going to be using regularly, and get to know the person. The postmaster is a very important person to have on your side, and they know all the tricks to stay within the letter of law as far as shipping. Cardboard in addition to a 2x2 is generally too thick to pass through the machines, but a single 2x2 with a layer of thick paper (to keep the staples from penetrating the envelope) will pass through the machines, as long as the thickness of the coin is not too much. If the envelope weighs more than 1 oz, it needs to be shipped as a parcel. Quote:Oh and Jdmern, thanks for responding, I know you have a Ton of coins going on ebay with free shipping. How do you make money? Don't want to totally hijack the thread, (perhaps someday we can make a separate thread where people who sell a decent volume can explain some of the tenants of their business if they so choose), but essentially, there are two reasons I can sell with the style I do. 1. It is not my primary business, I own a decent sized business in another industry, and one of the things I have to for that is endure long, pointless sometimes day long conference calls where I simply have to be present on the call, not even say anything. This is a wonderful time to photograph, and list coins, as well as post on CCF :). 2. It's simply a volume game with lower valued coins. If you make $1 profit on 100 coins or $100 profit on 1 coin, it still ends up as the same $100, just one was far easier to obtain. However, with a combination of profit margins, it will add up, but as Pacificcoin stated, it's not easy. I treat my ebay business with the same respect that I would treat any other business that I own, but it is not my primary one, so it's frankly much less stressful than if I was relying on something as inconsistent as ebay sales can be. |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 4,476 |
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Posted 12/11/2014 2:00 pm
