eBay

sin-n-dex · ‎11-12-2024

There's been talk of a Canada Post Strike, and the union gave notice this morning (which means there could be a strike on Friday).

For the complete article go here:

Canada Post workers give 72-hour notice to strike as company warn s of financial impact

I first heard talk of a strike in July from an employee (a month or so before it was emailed to their clients, they've been sending updates on negotiations and letting us know the strike can't happen until Nov 3). It seems deliberate they're doing it for Christmas time. November is a very busy shipping month.

Anyway I've blocked Canada as of today, just as a precaution against getting a pile of INRs from people who are not patient to wait for the strike to end. I found alternative ways to ship internationally (not Canada Post) and dispatched 3 Royal Mail letters with Stallion Express. Cost me 1.50 more per letter, but there was good profit, and one customer was the guy who bought from me when I was on time away a few weeks ago. After waiting 2 weeks for me to return home and pack his order (today was the first day I can ship, since yesterday was a holiday and I came home Saturday), I wouldn't want his letter to be stuck in a strike situation... so I upgraded his postage and will take a slight loss on shipping on this one to make the customer happy.

C.

lakefor94 · ‎11-12-2024

Proactive is the way to roll.

Thanks for the heads up.

Posting ID

sin-n-dex · ‎11-12-2024

@lakefor94 wrote:
Proactive is the way to roll.
Thanks for the heads up.

I did scan the forum on my phone while at work this afternoon just to see if there was a thread on it already... Canada news doesn't usually make it out of Canada, so figured I'd post a thread on it.

I will make another post when it's resolved just in case other readers aren't getting news on Canada... it's not really news anywhere else. When I'm travelling I get zero Canadian news.

C.

chevymontecarlo88 · ‎11-12-2024

Bummer. Hope it gets resolved soon. Thanks for the heads up.

- Roasting id

sin-n-dex · ‎11-12-2024

@chevymontecarlo88 wrote:
Bummer. Hope it gets resolved soon. Thanks for the heads up.

It affects 15% of my sales... which could be significant sometimes. Let's just say I won't run any token auctions with Canada blocked since almost all my customers (who are bidding on Canadian tokens) are from Canada.

Thankfully I use USPS (with my shipper Stallion Express) so I don't have to really worry unless USPS decides to strike (or Stallion closes shop).

C.

jg.mason · ‎11-12-2024

Just had a sale to Canadian buyer but it was through eIS so I guess I'm good the buyer maybe not so much.

reallynicestamps · ‎11-12-2024

EIS doesn't seem to use Canada Post much except where the couriers don't go- mostly rural and isolated settlements.
If the postal code is eg M0P 1G7 - that first zero indicates a 'rural or isolated' address and Canada Post may be the only delivery service.

On the other hand, when the union went out last time, they used 24 hour rotating strikes and ignored the thinly populated areas (unless a particular local wanted a day off I suppose). So the mail was slowed but not stopped.

After all, if you're on the picket line, you are not getting paid.

When management goes on strike with a lockout, the whole system is closed down. And the managers still get their wages.

sin-n-dex · ‎11-12-2024

@jg.mason wrote:
Just had a sale to Canadian buyer but it was through eIS so I guess I'm good the buyer maybe not so much.

You'll be good because once it's delivered to the eIS hub, your job is done.

I've received quite a few eIS packages to my PO Box and they go Canada Post, but when I've gotten stuff sent to my house it might come a different way... so I guess it depends how eIS sends it.

Buyers in Canada will find out about the strike soon enough (even if they don't read the news, and there's issues in Canada with local news on certain platforms).

C.

12345jamesstamps · ‎11-12-2024

Talk about bad news. I get a lot of Canada buyers.

Should I block Canada? I don't know.

Even though I get a lot of Israel buyers...I decided to put a block on that country...the delays of mail there is crazy now.

It's turning out to be a crappy season.

I had two 'freight forwards' last week...2!!!...one to Delaware to Kazakhstan and one to Florida to Colombia.

And I just blocked a buyer now...he wanted 25% off on an item...joined May 2023...and his last 10 feedbacks were negative. Hoping he has only one account...LOL...I didn't answer his email.

sin-n-dex · ‎11-12-2024

@reallynicestamps wrote:
EIS doesn't seem to use Canada Post much except where the couriers don't go- mostly rural and isolated settlements.
If the postal code is eg M0P 1G7 - that first zero indicates a 'rural or isolated' address and Canada Post may be the only delivery service.
On the other hand, when the union went out last time, they used 24 hour rotating strikes and ignored the thinly populated areas (unless a particular local wanted a day off I suppose). So the mail was slowed but not stopped.
After all, if you're on the picket line, you are not getting paid.

When management goes on strike with a lockout, the whole system is closed down. And the managers still get their wages.

I'm going to wait a few days to see what happens... it's just a few dollars in sales. I shipped out the sold stuff as normal and won't say anything to the buyer unless it's a full on strike and mail is stopped.

Canada Post sent me an email this evening with a strike status update, but I haven't read it yet. I'm sharing the news with my friends who don't have a Canada Post account and read the official notices.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎11-13-2024

@12345jamesstamps wrote:
Talk about bad news. I get a lot of Canada buyers.
Should I block Canada? I don't know.
Even though I get a lot of Israel buyers...I decided to put a block on that country...the delays of mail there is crazy now.
It's turning out to be a crappy season.
I had two 'freight forwards' last week...2!!!...one to Delaware to Kazakhstan and one to Florida to Colombia.
And I just blocked a buyer now...he wanted 25% off on an item...joined May 2023...and his last 10 feedbacks were negative. Hoping he has only one account...LOL...I didn't answer his email.

If Canadian buyers are cool with waiting for you to ship, or waiting to receive, then by all means keep shipping if it works. I'm blocking to avoid any potential problems with expensive items. I'm only in for $20 in losses if I get INRs on the three packages I shipped. I'm waiting to find out what happens with the strike before reaching out to the buyers (in case it's nothing, I don't want to pester them).

There is an update.... this is probably yesterday's news, but I saw it a few hours ago while reading news at work... there's a lockout notice. @reallynicestamps wrote a post above about what it means if there's a lockout instead of a rotating strike.

Canada Post issues lockout notice after union’s strike warning

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎11-15-2024

Just an update in case you haven't seen the news...

Nationwide strike started today, and they've put the kibash on all mail deliveries and mail movement during the strike.

So basically don't mail to Canada right now.

Hoping the strike won't last too long. Although I have the situation under control (except for four packages, one slipped through after I blocked Canada), I have friends that run mail order business in Canada who will be hurting significantly from the strike and possibly will lose sales from customers who aren't confident about receiving their packages.

C.