CDN Sellers: Canada Post 2016 Updates

An FYI for Canadian sellers who ship pricey items to the USA & internationally.

Canada Post won't be raising basic stamp prices, but will likely bump up everything else, at least according to their 2016 PDF.

Of Note: new locations added to the "tracked packet" category including Portugal, Austria, Brazil, Italy and South Korea.

Prices are still outrageous of course; I really don't understand why the adding of a barcode and a few scans along the way commands a 20x premium ...can anyone offer a logical explanation for this?

But there you have it, a few more countries on the list.

And with oil now at $37, they still have the gaul to add a "fuel surcharge." Almost as shameful as Bell's notorious 'touch-tone fee.'

re Prices are still outrageous

Explanation:

BECAUSE THEY CAN

I do not see the fuel surcharge on the above scans. Still, they brag about their fuel efficient hybrid/nat. gas/propane delivery trucks, so there should be a negative fuel surcharge, isn't?

XNB: "because they can" isn't a satisfactory explanation in a free market society--but I suppose Fedex and UPS charge even more. They must face certain costs that we're not aware of..

GILLES: My thoughts exactly. The surcharge is added to the charts above; it varies by speed (Xpresspost = higher %) and changes every month based on fuel costs. ..which is just silly with energy prices at multi-decade lows...the only way to gauge the precise price is to use CP's online tool, which is sometimes wrong. It's a dumb little hassle for sellers like me who use postage stamps for mailings.

Squeezing $40 worth onto a standard envelope is quite the task; and always confuses the postal clerks...but as a philatelist I have so many stamps that I'd be a fool not to use the mountains of modern stamps that I have. Modern stamps sell below face value on ebay, (the lower the denomination, the bigger discount..for obvious reasons) so it's a major cost-saving trick that I'd recommend to all to boost your margins, if you're willing to put in the effort. Plus, recipients get a kick out of it; that's our business, after all.

$25 to send a Registered letter from Toronto to Maine just over the border because Canada Post doesn't trust the US Post Office to deliver a Registered letter without losing the odd one at JFK International Airport.

For the last 5 years, oil has been over $100 a barrel. Since it is one-third of the price now, I would think that they would decrease the price.

Vfstamp said

"Modern stamps sell below face value on ebay, (the lower the denomination, the bigger discount..for obvious reasons) so it's a major cost-saving trick that I'd recommend to all to boost your margins, if you're willing to put in the effort. Plus, recipients get a kick out of it; that's our business, after all."

I do not get a kick out of it and it will not boost your margins from me as I do not buy from sellers who do this. It attracts the attention of the C&E in the UK who then charge VAT on the TOTAL value of the mail. This includes the face value of the stamps that you bought at a discount. The the post Office then add an extra £8 charge for collecting the VAT. It is usually better not to pay and let the goods be returned to the seller.

Um, that's a really strange response. And makes no sense. If they charge VAT on shipping, they would charge it whether it's paid using traditional stamps or a sticker from the post office. And my customers always react positively.

The point was that if the cover is plastered with older stamps it stands out from the crowd. If it just has the stamps that would be applied to a non-philatelic mail it seems just like a normal letter.

AQ

Hi vfstamp,

What I understand AQ to mean is that stamps purchased in the UK have a value added tax (VAT) applied. He does not want to pay this tax and has the stamps he purchases slide through the postal service unnoticed. If a package has many stamps on the outside it is more easily noticed, inspected, and a tax applied.

www. stamporator .com

That expressed it much better than I did. Thanks.

What really annoys me of is that they also charge VAT on the postage that the senders in Canada have already paid GST on so effectively we are paying VAT on GST !!.

And also the £8 the post office charge to collect the TAX. As this tax collection is a "service" there is an element of VAT in that as well.

A big facetious "sorry" to those who disagree that the Post Office and oil companies and other like business for my suggesting they charge whatever they want to 'because they can'.
I feel so bad for the oil companies that the next time I fill-up at a gas station, I'll hand over an extra $10 out of the goodness of my heart because they're continuing to lose money as result of the lower price per barrel of oil.
Of course I will forget about all those times the oil companies immediately (if not sooner) hiked the price of gasoline because a refinery in East Split-lip, was going to shut down for maintenance, the wind was going to pick up a bit in the Gulf Of Mexico, or OPEC members decided they wanted more money.
Strange that the price didn't drop as quickly as it went up.
I agree with the concepts of capitalism and a free market society; but, I disagree with that idea meaning its okay to be gouging people just because they can.
To bring this rant back to stamps, the next time you lick a stamp and find it tastes a bit different, consider if somebody put oil in the gum just because they can.

Just a note that Gasoline is still double the price it used to be in Canada. So the Oil Companies are not hurting. Imagine if you were only making double what you used to make? I wouldn't be complaining.

Jimjung, I don't want to start a debate on Fuel surcharge and and gasoline, but I am familar with the following report http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sources/petr...reports/4793
that is issued bi-weekly and try to present a complete perspective on this subject. Of interest to the reader, the chart across Canada shows that the Government tax grab (about 40 cpl)is now higher than the price of crude oil, and even in a world of crude oil at 1.00$/barrel, our govt will continue to find ways to collect more taxes. More specific to your comment Jimjung, the 3 year chart still shows it is almost lowest we paid in last 43 years. I filled up at 79.9 on new years day in Ottawa.

You ought to try living in the UK. Fuel here still costs about £1 / litre. As it is a global market the difference in almost entirely the extra tax we pay.

Still I suppose that the government must need the money more that I do.

AQ