Question for Canadians regarding reasonable shipping costs.

[thecomicsheet]

I've been considering raising my shipping rates to Canada by a dollar or so and would appreciate some (Canadian) opinions if this would affect my sales. On eBay I've been charging my Canadian customers the same shipping as my United States customers in an attempt to encourage international sales.

 

I charge $5.95 to ship (one CGC book) Priority mail here in the States and the same to send Air Letter (not insured) to Canada. The $5.95 is about right here in the United States - I get the boxes free from the post office - make a few pennies on some shipments, lose a few on others. But to Canada I have to supply the box (about a dollar), the postage charges generally run another dollar or so higher, plus I have to spend time in the lines at the post office to fill out the customs forms, so I lose a couple of dollars on shipping plus a little extra time spent on each shipment to Canada.

 

Canadian shipments are now about 30 percent of my sales, so I want to continue to encourage those sales. But, that $2.00 or so loss on each of those shipments plus the extra time is beginning to hurt.

 

My question is, would Canadian buyers be put off if I raise my rates to Canada to $6.95 (or even $7.95) rather than $5.95. I would appreciate any thoughts.

 

[joe_collector]

$7 is fair for Canuck shipping of one CGC book. or 2-5 comics.

 

You start going higher, and you start joining the profiteers.

[greggy]

I guess it's OK if it's packaged properly. You only losing $2 per shipment? I lose a lot more due to the exchange rate change this year. Great for buying but crappy for selling. Luckily I make enough on the books to offset the loss!

[Rickdogg]

$7 is fair for Canuck shipping of one CGC book. or 2-5 comics.

 

You start going higher, and you start joining the profiteers.

 

Anytime I ship a CGC book to Canada it usually costs me about $10-11 via airmail and costs me about $7-9 for raw books (2-5). I don't think anyone is pocketing any extra coinage if they pack the books properly to withstand the trip across INTL lines

[joe_collector]

Anytime I ship a CGC book to Canada it usually costs me about $10-11 via airmail and costs me about $7-9 for raw books (2-5). I don't think anyone is pocketing any extra coinage if they pack the books properly to withstand the trip across INTL lines

 

Are those Postal or S&H rates?

[Rickdogg]

Actual postal costs. For example, I just sent 2 raw books to beyonder for $8 flat.

[joe_collector]

Actual postal costs. For example, I just sent 2 raw books to beyonder for $8 flat.

 

Man, you must pack crazier than I do.

[thecomicsheet]

Well here is my latest attempt at some fancy html to stick into my auctions.I upped my Canadian shipping by a dollar. Does this look confusing to anyone? Not sure why, but the table is WAY down this page. You'll have to scroll down a bit to see it.

Shipping Rates	1st Book	Each Extra CGC Book	Each Extra Non-CGC	Shipped By
United States and APO	$ 5.95	$ 2.00	$ 0.40	Priority Mail
Canada (not insured)	$ 6.95	$ 2.00	$ 0.40	Air Letter
Canada (insured)	$ 13.50	$ 2.00	$ 0.40	Air Parcel
UK, France (not insured)	$ 13.50	$ 2.50	$ 0.50	Air Letter
UK, France (insured)	$ 20.00	$ 2.50	$ 0.50	Air Parcel
Other International	E-Mail	E-Mail	E-Mail	E-Mail
Insurance Rates
$ 0 - $ 50	$ 1.30
$ 50 - $ 100	$ 2.20
Over $ 100 start with	$ 2.20	add $ 1.00	each extra	$ 100.00

[jbud73]

I think those are really fair prices for CGC books as there are still alot of seller that charge $8 or more for shipping within the US Oh and the Canuck dollar is doing alot better, er well comboed with the fact that the US dollar is sinking just in time for my return home to Canada for X-Mas.