jaunty75

I don't send much to Canada, but I imagine that there are some on here who sell parts regularly and might have occasion to ship there.

I received this email today. I have an account with Stamps.com and have used them for several years now to prepare shipments for the U.S. mail, and I love them. I haven't had to stand in line at a post office since Jimmy Carter was president, or something like that. You can do everything from home, and you get a discount in postage over what you'd pay at the post office counter, including first class stamps, which you can print at home. You get tracking info, and shipping overseas is as easy as shipping domestically. It costs something like $16 a month, but the first time you don't have stand in a 20-person line for 45 minutes at the post office pays for that. There is a price for convenience, and I'm willing to pay it.

Anyway, just thought I'd mention this.

EarlSpilner

As a Canadian being able to have an all in price is very appealing. Fedex and other can charge $60 in "brokerage" + whatever sales tax is owed. Auto parts are one of the easiest things paperwork wise to import. No extra dutys. Just sales tax. SO it's BS they charge so much. If I can't get an all in price from a supplier I have my stuff shipped USPS to Canada. In Canada USPS hands off to canada post and they charge like $7 for brokerage and there is a post office everywhere. Slow but cheap.

jaunty75

They don't deliver to your door?

My goal in life is to never set foot in a post office. I have to do it to ship large packages that won't fit in a mail slot, but it's already prepared with mailing label and everything, so all I have to do is leave it on one corner of the counter designated for pre-labeled packages. It's always great fun to walk past everybody waiting in line right up to the front, put my package on the counter, and turn around and walk out. As I walk past everyone wasting away their lives in line, I note who's holding what in their hands and think to myself, "you could have prepared that at home" over and over again. You don't even have to have a Stamps.com account to avoid the post office. You can print mailing labels, etc. right from the post office's own website. You don't have to pay the monthly fee that Stamps.com charges. You only pay the postage itself.

Remember, the U.S. Postal Service WANTS you to not to come to the post office. The more you can do at home, the less they have to staff counters and wait on people all day. Of course there are things you cannot do at home. But a surprising number of things CAN be done at home, including stopping mail when you travel, paying post office box rent, and a lot more. If you stop the mail for travel, you can have the mail carrier deliver the accumulated mail to your home on your first day back after your trip, so you don't have to go to the post office to pick it up.

Allan R

Interesting share Dan. I have a Canada Post small business account for discounts shipping globally. Most of my shipments are to Canada or USA. What would be even more convenient would be to have the parcel picked up by the post office. The last parcel I shipped to USA took less than 5 days to go from here to AR. My Fedex account does that also and I can also process shipments from my house at a sizable savings over regular courier prices. Earl is right that couriers usually end up being more expensive due to brokerage and customs. Typically that shows up when it's delivered and the courier asks for payment. First time that happened I didn't see it coming. I'm amazed that companies like RockAuto and JEGS can have such inexpensive and quick shipping cross border and they even include their tariffs, customs and taxes on the delivery.
EDIT: BTW you probably didn't realize that Canada Post doesn't work on Saturday here, unlike USPS which delivers every day except Sunday.

jaunty75

I've never tried it, but, supposedly, I can arrange to have my mail carrier pick up my packages from my house. I've not done it mainly because I don't want to have to be here when he stops by, and I don't want to leave the package outside unattended. So I do make the occasional trek to the PO.

One thing that's nice is that the main post office downtown has in the lobby a secure drop box with a large opening, and the lobby is open 24 hours so people can check their PO boxes any time they want. So I'm able to prepare a package and drop it off at this particular post office in the evenings and on Sundays.

Allan R

Unfortunately our postal service (??) really doesn't compare. We have delivery to a community mail box out on the street. The delivery agent sticks smaller parcels in the cubby on that unit and simply deposits a key on our mail slot so we can pick it up our-self If the parcel is too big? Well he leaves a note in our mail slot telling us where and when to come pick it up. I simply refuse to drive to any post office that isn't within 3 miles of my place. Good thing is I usually go when there's no one in line. In/out within 5 minutes. I don't charge a fee for packing or taking it to the post office although it's getting to the point where I'm going to have to re-think that. Fedex here is the ultimate for service. I can specify what time I want it picked up and they are usually within 20 minutes of the scheduled time.

One thing I really detest is PayPal for payments across borders. They will rip off 8% of the price for their own commission. That's why if it's used I specify exactly how much has to land in my personal account or it's a non transaction and I will offer to refund 100% of what was sent or the buyer can pony up the difference. The only time I will send a package prior to receiving payment is when it's to a valued and trusted customer. I do like that transactions within a country for Paypal are generally free if no CC is used. Sorry to be off topic on that but it does relate to shipping and postal service (a bit).

jaunty75

Not off topic at all, Allan, thanks.