[Leica] OT: shipping rates

[cummer at netvigator.com (H&ECummer)]

Hi John,
As some luggers may recall I have spent the last three summers liquidating 
my model train collection on E Bay. The most difficult part of providing 
good service to buyers of small items is to find the best way to ship the 
items and I'm afraid that for Canadian sellers there is no inexpensive way 
to do that. You can get a Venture One card from the Post Office which will 
give you a bit of a discount (about 5%) as a small business. But. other than 
that, you just have to let the customer know the shipping costs for fast and 
slow service and to chose what service they want to pay for. The one thing 
not to do is obvious. Don't ever ship without a tracking number - otherwise 
the customer may claim the shipment was never received and claim a refund 
from Paypal - and you have no documented recourse. Good luck with your sales.
Howard
> Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:54:13 -0700
> From: John Collier <jbcollier at shaw.ca>
> Subject: [Leica] OT: shipping rates
> To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
> 
> I mostly order things in and seldom ship things out. However, I have been 
> selling off some surplus gear on this list this last little while and have 
> been dealing intimately with the Canadian post office for the first time 
> in quite a while. Shipping to the US is OKish, $19 to $25 depending on the 
> parcel. Unfortunately, shipping overseas is quite a bit more expensive: 
> $35 for three or more weeks with the prices jumping dramatically if you 
> want it there any sooner. Not that bad a hit if you are selling a lens or 
> a body but a stiff premium on top of an inexpensive item. I checked with 
> UPS and they wanted even more.
> 
> Am I missing something? Is there a less expensive option for international 
> shipping from Canada?
> 
> TIA,
> 
> John