Shipping Overseas from Canada with Canada Post

Shipping Overseas from Canada.

Being able to ship overseas is a great way to increase your selling
base when you offer items on EBay.  However there are a few things
that you need to be careful about.

I use Canada Post for all of my shipping needs.  You can use UPS to
ship overseas but it is very expensive, but way faster!

There are some warnings that you need to be aware of when you ship
with Canada Post internationally/overseas.

First of all your choices usually are:

International Parcel
Small Air Packet International
Xpresspost International
Purolator International (Basically a UPS service offered through
Canada Post).

Now.  Things you need to be *very* careful with.

International Parcel Surface:

This item goes by surface in Canada, then by boat to your overseas
destination.  Going by boat can take upwards of 2 months before
your buyer get's the item.  Unless you tell them this before hand
you could be getting poor feedback due to speed of your delivery.

International Parcel Air:

This is a faster service then the surface.  Your parcel usually arrives
in 5-10 business days.  However, you do have to keep your parcel
under 2KG.  Otherwise it is to heavy and will not be sent by air.

Xpresspost International:

This is way more expensive then surface or air.  You also could
be assessed a fuel surcharge that drives the prices up.  However, your
package usually arrives in 5 business days.

Now,  here is the interesting warning that I have for you.

Surface and air are great economical ways to ship overseas.  When a
buyer pays by Paypal you even get to print out a nice shipping label
with a tracking number.

Paypal Tracking Numbers for shipping overseas:

For air and surface the tracking numbers are basically useless.  
Canada Post has confirmed that these numbers are just assigned for
while the package is in transit inside Canada.  Once the parcel leaves
Canada your tracking number is no longer tracked.  When you purchase
Xpresspost this tracking number is tracked until it reaches the destination. :)

I created a test parcel to check out how much shipping was to Germany.
I found that surface was by best the least expensive way to ship, while
Xpresspost was the most:

Surface: 33.95
Air: 46.55
Xpresspost: 61.45
Purolator: 110.16

An experience with tracking:

I sent a number of items to a customer of mine in Germany by surface
through Canada Post.  My customer paid for his items by Paypal and
we completed the deal.  Now, since the items went by sea they had not
arrived in a month and a half so my customer opened an "items not
received" complaint with Paypal.  This is totally understandable.  
Paypal took all of the money from my account (total for items + shipping)
and put it in trust.  So if the items did not arrive my customer could
get all their money back.

Paypal requires you to have proof of delivery, through a tracking
number.  Now, unless you want to purchase the Xpresspost shipping for
overseas you do not have a tracking number!  I thought I was covered
with my little Paypal shipping number but I was told that this number
was not good because it did not provide proof of delivery!

Luckily my customer closed the complaint when my parcel's arrived.  But
think of what will happen if they didn't!  Even if they get the parcel
there is no proof of delivery.  They could claim that they did not
get their items and get all their money back.

Be aware when you ship outside of Canada that unless you purchase
the expensive Xpresspost shipping that you will not have proof of
delivery for Paypal in case of a dispute!  This could cause you to loose
not only your product, but also the money for it along with the shipping!

Latsyrhc
Tamarack Collectibles