NEW Canada Post lettermail to USA Disaster!!!

[brya_fonta]

Thought Id Make A Previous Post More Clear.

So all the talk of it being ok to put things in letter mail as long as they meet Canada posts guidelines.

been doing this for awhile. and its great!! cheap shipping! easy shipping! fast shipping!!

Well folks. today that has changed. this will impact many fast.

today my regular shipments. cost me money out of my pocket.  and maybe you soon too!!! be warned....

No notice anywhere. but the Canada post employees have the memo. seen it myself.

United States Will No Longer ACCEPT ITEMS in Letter mail or oversized letter mail.

Ouch! my roughly 6.00  shipment cost 27 today.  lost all my profits. and had to take money out of my own pocket to pay for it.

not trying to complain here. just a heads up to everyone, this memo went across canada.

i mail pretty much daily. so this is like today new.

more work for the post office ladies! more costs to usa buyers! and more profits for Canada post who can not gurantee $!#!! anyway.

Will this hurt seller? Buyers? my listings all need to be deleted or adjusted because of this. ugh. is this all because they want to track the entire planet & everyone and thing on it?

hows USA going to enjoy a 4x increase in canadian small item shipping fees for items that cost less than shipping.... Disaster. more sales for China?

Any other Canadian USA sellers experience the new RULES.

I'm assuming this was Made BY USA.

Because they said they will refuse items in letter mail. that are not declared!

Canada post lady also stated this does not effect shipping within Canada for Canadians & i assume other International countries. but i need to ask about other international countries......

Can't wait to see what small business is like in 2022!!!!!!

will they even exist!

[dogchow747]

Things like post cards and coins in a envelope?

Even super low value?

[brya_fonta]

i think post cards and paper stuff will still be fine. not sure how they can stop paper.

but anything not paper.. yes like coins.

check your local post office. I'm a daily shipper. been shipping for years, same post office. same lady. all smooth. and today she gave me the bad news.

bad news was right. my sales cost me money. and made others money. that's bad news for sure.

might see more posts on this topic.

[mrdutch1001]

It was said/stated by Canada Post many years ago already that letter mail to the USA and INTERNATIONAL destinations was for PRINTED MATTER ONLY! Of course there is always those who will take the risk...

I haven't used letter mail for anything other than printed matter for all these years now because I WASN'T WILLING TO TAKE THE RISK!

[brya_fonta]

It clearly states on their website that items are allowed in letter mail or oversized letter mail. it also states what items are not allowed in letter mail. many discussions online about shipping items in letter mail & it being ok & done for years.

specifically about Shipping Canada Letter mail to the USA its not very clear on their website.

i first started shipping letter mail, as they shipped it that way for me. i thought, how convienient, how cheap. win win for sellers & buyers.

unless item is lost and the Tracking Parrots come out of the dark. the ones who can not afford to take the risk. but the risk. is efficient in material. shipping savings. space. cheaper prices. but yes. the risk. you must calculate can you take it.

point of the post. seems USA is bringing down the Hammer on items in letter mail. and this will impact sellers that sell like this.

an example. this change. completely destroyed the way i sell. in one day. wont effect everyone but it will effect both Canadian sellers. & USA buyers.

if you ask me. if it fits in a letter. that is optimal size to ship. it should be ok. why pay more, why use more shipping materials. why pay more! post office lady does not like the extra work all the declarations made. actually holds up service. a 1 minute job turned into a 15 minute job. yes the mail lady mails my packages for me. and i like it. she licks my stamps too. but that's the entire point. no more stamp licking!

[jhr-4800]

I don't ship any thing that I sell in an letter size envelop.  Nor will I send some thing that I can fit in a letter size envelop, and this is because of lost mail.  And letter size envelop, is very easy to get lost.  Sure, you might be saving money, but the angry buyers is not worth the couple extra dollars that I will get to put in my pocket.  

[brya_fonta]

don't forget to include when the buyer gets his item. and paid 20 dollars less in shipping.

there are pros and cons. and this is not about trying to pocket a penny of profits. its about giving the best shipping rates i possibly can. not everyone has money raining on them. someone who has little. sees a seller who ships cheap. has no hidden import fees.

guess i'm one of those poor kind. considerate of others on my level.

[mrdutch1001]

What I posted previously was indeed announced many years ago by Canada Post..however it may not have been enforced... Like many back then I'd use lettermail for enclosures of items other than printed matter, but when it was announced that was not acceptable for lettermail outside of Canada, I no longer enclosed anything  other than printed matter and used light packet instead...until light packet was discontinued...now I use small packet.

This so-called recent event of activities will only impact those sellers who have continued to use lettermail  for items other than printed matter.

I am quite happy that finally the lettermail rate will become universally ONLY for printed matter...the way it was intended to be...

As I adjusted the way I ship my lightweight items, years ago, NONE of what seems to have caught some sellers off guard, will affect me... I can carry on without "the sky is falling" panic mode that some sellers seem to choose to view this "new" change which really IS NOT new...just maybe now going to be enforced......

[dogchow747]

"guess i'm one of those poor kind. considerate of others on my level."

Don't knock keeping old electronics alive.

Nothing wrong with throwing a few resistors in a envelope!

[brya_fonta]

🤣

best reply of the day, thank you!

"nothing wrong with throwing a few resistors in a envelope!"

wish that were still true.

[yuzuha]

---

@brya_fonta wrote:

but anything not paper.. yes like coins.

check your local post office. I'm a daily shipper. been shipping for years, same post office. same lady. all smooth. and today she gave me the bad news.

---

On the USA side at least, small items were never supposed to be mailed letter mail anyway (with the exception of coins, as long as they're sandwiched between some cardboard to make the envelope streamlined). USPS specifically says NOT to put things like that in envelopes due to the high chance of it being caught and ripped open in the machinery.

[pjcdn2005]

As you said this isn't a new rule and it was often enforced when mail was brought into the post office or outlet but rarely if ever enforced when the outside boxes were used.  The memo the op is referring to could be just a reminder for some of the postal workers or perhaps it is more than that.  I'll reserve judgment for now.

[brya_fonta]

with the machines in mind while packing, it can be done.

not all small items you can do that with, when i talk letter mail I'm specifically talking about the envelope going threw a template the post office has. these letters meet the requirement size. very flat. .but then there is oversized letter mail. like dvd cases. movies can be sent that way, not declared. The word was. USA will not accept undeclared items threw both regular letter & oversized. seems these great and efficient ways are over. from canada to usa.

 throwing a bulk item into an envelop is not a good idea. my better half mailed me a key chain once. i got a torn taped up package and the ring to the missing key chain. 😜

[dariudaudery_0]

Well Canada post sucks in general.

Used to ship to Canada... tracked, signature required packages were (and still are) treated as untracked. Not to mention they took forever to be delivered... i would dear to say - slowest in the world postal service.

I am from EU by the way.

[dryophelia]

Mail via letter mail must be able to bend. The machines that actually sort the mail move very quickly. Coins and resistors, for instance, that may not bend as well couple potentially be launched out of the envelope or to become jammed. That’s a loss of processing time. 
The post office loses $ when the mails not moving. 

Think how much $$ was lost over the years. This is no different than shoplifting. Not getting caught doesn’t mean it’s allowed. 

Those that have been stealing shipping up to this point, will now have to increase their prices. This levels the playing field between the ones who have been following the rules all along and those that just got caught. 
This is a loss of revenue for the postal systems. 

It’s been under enforced perhaps, I guess they are clamping down a bit more these days.