*major* Canada Post News (Dec 11/13)

Got this notice today at the local postal outlet. They were advertising booklets at 5% discount and using picture of "P" stamps but were selling booklets of 10 x .63 for $5.99 plus tax.

Just to clarify, is it only basic domestic letter 0 - 30 grams that has been announced/affected so far? I'm curious what is happening with US/International as well as dom, US, Int rates for medium and oversized letter as well but it seems there's nothing about that yet right?

Dan

USA rate is going from $1.10 to $1.20

International is going from $1.85 to $2.50

See the links on the right side of this Canada Post page: http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/bus...sf?LOCALE=en

All of the proposed rates were announced (at the above link) back in mid-December 2013.

Ah perfect, thank you for clarifying :)

Dan

I went to my local Post Office to mail a light packet
to the US today.
It contained a DVD in a plastic case and weighed
98 grams.
Price: $3.79 plus 49c HST = $4.30

The old rate before January 13, 2014 for
Light Packets to USA up to 150 gram was $2.53
Wow , now I'm not great math but isn't that
a 50% increase?

So I asked the CP lady behind the counter
what the basic domestic rate was today, just to make sure.

She said that up to March 31, 2014 it is indeed
63c and gave me a brochure with the new rates.
The previous Postal Prices brochures T455161 were all
printed in colour whereas this January 2014 one
is in black and white.
I suppose the new new one for March 31. 2014
will be in colour again.
Wonder why they picked the end of the month for the rate changes?
Anything to do with the fact that the first of April
is April Fools Day?

I looked through the brochure and found that the basic
standard Lettermail to Canada,Letter-Post to USA and
International stayed the same.
But some parcel rates and Change of Address (Mail Forwarding)
fees have increased.

Why didn't Canada Post just leave all the rates the same until
March 31 and then implement the new rates?

Looks to me they're just making this stuff up as they go along.
What an outfit.
I'm really starting to believe what I read recently
by a columnist in one the Toronto papers.
He thinks that Canada Post wants to fail so they can get rid
of basic letter mail and then reinvent themselves strictly
as a parcel service.

A "May 2013" rate brochure was also black and white; perhaps they will all be that way from now on?

Parcel rates have (nearly) always gone up in January, regardless of what the Lettermail(tm) rates did. In fact, the "fuel surcharge", which is part of the rate calculation for larger parcels, can/seems to change without any notice.

Maybe thats why they never came up with a good flat rate box program. The example of the DVD cost is a small fraction of what many small businesses go through and no wonder UPS and fed ex are dominating.
The cost of mailing small (under 1kg) packages with tracking have pretty well killed selling small $10-30 lots of just about anything.
Bad news is if they self destruct the tax payers will likely eat the pension fund and if they succeed ................ sorry lost the succeed idea.

He thinks that Canada Post wants to fail so they can get rid
of basic letter mail and then reinvent themselves strictly
as a parcel service.

I can't imagine such a thing. First class mail may be a challenge - but it is profitable.

So have these big rate changes officially been approved and are for sure going into effect (next month)?

OK so hang on here... for the domestic letter, if I want to mail a letter using regular ol stamps I have to put $1 worth of postage, but if I use P stamps, I can use a single one, which now costs 85 cents? I am reading the new postage chart right now and that's what it seems to be saying, am I reading this right?? Am I the only one that thinks that's absolutely outrageous?!

If you walk up to a counter at CP and you only need 1 "domestic P" stamp to mail one letter it is going to cost you $1.00 plus taxes. If you buy a booklet of "P" stamps you will be charged 10 x 85c plus taxes. So the "P" domestic stamp will cost either 85c or $1.00 plus taxes. The "P" stamp will be multitasking. What a novel idea to encourage Canadians to use the postal system.

If that was the case, why is Canada Post issuing the 22 cent make up stamp.the rate is 85 cents. If you want a single stamp from the post office, it will cost you a dollar, which would include the HST. Depending on the province, Alberta with GST only, and with some others, it would come out to over 95 cents. So instead of rounding down, and eating the difference, they are rounding up and pocketing the extra few pennies. That is why a single stamp is a buck. The rate is 85 cents.

Then why does it say the rate up to 30 grams using single stamp(s) is $1?? This is weird.

Check this out: http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/per...ts.jsf#Rates

Look at the row for non coil/booklet stamps... looking at this page, I take this to mean if I don't use P Stamps, I have to have a dollar of postage on there. If that's incorrect, then this table fails to communicate the postage rates properly.

And not only that, look at the homepage where it shows the letter rates on the right side column:

http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/default.jsf

Postal Rates View all rates


In Canada Canada
0-30g Single Stamp(s) $1.00** | 30-50g $1.20 |
50-100g $1.80

** Discounts available in booklets/coils/panes (0 to 30 g) mailed within Canada and when using postage meter or postal indicia

Again, this is saying the rate is a dollar if you use your old non-P stamps. Am I being an idiot? (Which is possible and highly likely)