Torr Posted June 8, 2017 Share Posted June 8, 2017 I've been a long time user of ebay however I've never sold anything. And after going through the process of trying to sell something, I wonder how anyone does... especially Canadians. First of all... EVERYTHING on ebay is with paypal. Only to receive money I need a business number. So I need a business number and file taxes on income because I wanna sell a duplicate Sonic 2 cartridge?? Second of all... being Canadian, Canada Post is.... beyond words. I checked online. I called Ebay. I called my local post office. Say I took that Sonic 2 cartridge, wrapped it in brown paper, addressed it and sent it off. (not that I would but say I did) Having no protective layers, just paper, it would be at it's smallest and lightest. 11 cm x 7 cm x 2 cm and about 1-2 grams. 18.81 Dollars Canadian. To go ANYwhere in Canada... even within my own province. That can't be right... that just can't... And about the business number... so... are there no "basement cleaners" left on ebay? is it all commercial businesses?The "old ladies cleaning out their son's bedroom" days are gone? or do these old ladies have a business number. Luckily my first sale went smoothly when I told him this was my first sale and I had no idea I needed a business number and that why I couldn't take his payment. No negative feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 (edited) Don't go to the post office with it. Send it the exact way you described but put $5 worth of stamps on it and send it out on your own via the closest mailbox. It will get there 95 percent of the time, the other 5 percent it will come back for insufficient postage as they want you to pay the parcel rate of $15+ as you mentioned. You can use this as you are sending it as an oversized letter which a single cartridge just makes it through the maximum thickness for. In Canada you are only supposed to use the letter rates now for only paper documents but like I said, 95 percent of the time if you just drop it in the mail box it will make it just fine. Edited June 9, 2017 by Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siyahamba Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 (edited) First of all... EVERYTHING on ebay is with paypal. Only to receive money I need a business number. That's unusual, I sell on ebay.ca and receive Paypal payments fine, I've never been asked for a business number. 11 cm x 7 cm x 2 cm and about 1-2 grams. 18.81 Dollars Canadian. To go ANYwhere in Canada... even within my own province. Are you looking up the rates on canadapost.ca? Make sure you put the measurements in under "large envelope" rather than "parcel". I'm getting $2.03 across the country for something that size and weight. Edited June 9, 2017 by Siyahamba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Posted June 9, 2017 Author Share Posted June 9, 2017 (edited) Well... I could get away with using an envelope if I did what I said I WOULDN'T do and just wrap a cart in plain paper... I'd want to protect it with some bubble wrap, anything... and that would pushing it beyond 2 cm, which makes it a parcel. And fine... lets say it's not a loose cart its sonic 2 in the case with no book... Even free... no one is gonna pay 20 bucks shipping for that. So I thought I'd bulk things together... Jesus... the shipping rates get even MORE ridiculous... someone would have to buy everything I have or just the MOST MOOOOST valuable to even think of coming close on shipping being reasonable. At least what I would call reasonable. I usually refuse to pay more than 15-20 bucks shipping on an item... and I've gotten some BIG packages... However I also see many other sellers with what I think are ridiculous shipping rates... $20-$40 on small items like a VHS tape or Sega Genesis game... they're probably fellow Canadians... because I must say I rarely RARELY buy from a fellow Canadian... all my good deals (and shipping rates) come from the US and China. China is usually free, however they afford that. No, I guess I'll have to curse this box of duplicates and random shit once more as a find some place to tuck it away before I finally throws it out in the bog. Edited June 9, 2017 by Torr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 Well... I could get away with using an envelope if I did what I said I WOULDN'T do and just wrap a cart in plain paper... I'd want to protect it with some bubble wrap, anything... and that would pushing it beyond 2 cm, which makes it a parcel. You can send them in a bubble mailer at the letter mail rate I mentioned. I'd never send without one myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 Well... I could get away with using an envelope if I did what I said I WOULDN'T do and just wrap a cart in plain paper... I'd want to protect it with some bubble wrap, anything... and that would pushing it beyond 2 cm, which makes it a parcel. Small box in padded envelope. I seen other vendors do this within the US. Some are so cheap they will stick a Priority Box inside a padded envelope to save 20 cents on postage. Yes, 20 cents... For loose carts, padded envelope is sufficient 99% of the time. I would go box though if it's rare or expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 Small box in padded envelope. I seen other vendors do this within the US. Some are so cheap they will stick a Priority Box inside a padded envelope to save 20 cents on postage. Yes, 20 cents... For loose carts, padded envelope is sufficient 99% of the time. I would go box though if it's rare or expensive. If you send in any size box via canadapost you are gonna spend $15 to $20 at least even if you send within your own city. Our postal service is royally fucked up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 If you send in any size box via canadapost you are gonna spend $15 to $20 at least even if you send within your own city. Our postal service is royally fucked up. Which is why you "cheat" by placing a small box inside an oversized padded envelope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 I recently sold two boxed Coco games in a small box with adequate packing to the states. It was a very light and small box (don't remember exactly the dimensions or weight) but it was $18.50 Canadian to ship it. I posted $19.50 for shipping in the auction so I was pretty close. Very pathetic, absolutely. Makes it hard to find buyers sometimes but the flip side is I've seen similar ridiculous shipping prices on US auctions to Canada. $32 US for one boxed Atari game to Canada? Come on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Which is why you "cheat" by placing a small box inside an oversized padded envelope. That would make the package too thick to go letter rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 I get your pain, very sorry about it. I've seen more than a few items I've wanted badly on ebay or off like on a site like this, and once the shipping is added on I don't even bother looking anymore because of it. When shipping gets to the point it costs a good bit, as much, or even more than the item I just don't think so. Items coming from Japan and the UK I've picked up with shipping that is like 1/2 to 2/3 less of an expense which is despicable considering it's an overseas adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 That would make the package too thick to go letter rate. I've gotten a lot of Priority boxes in mailer bags from RetroUSB. Saves a few cents. Seriously though, those Canadian rates are screwed up. And I thought we in the US had it bad since it costs less to ship parts from China than the $3 or so it cost to ship a baggie across the United States... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Funny enough the only other one I can think of that has blatantly outrageous rates is also another british offshoot, Australia. Look how much it costs to get even a few ounce gameboy game from there, it sucks. If ebay would allow their search to filter out countries on the whole for shipping they'd both be on my list unfortunately for when I do global searches for items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 I've gotten a lot of Priority boxes in mailer bags from RetroUSB. Saves a few cents. Seriously though, those Canadian rates are screwed up. And I thought we in the US had it bad since it costs less to ship parts from China than the $3 or so it cost to ship a baggie across the United States... That is because the Chinese fill shipping containers at a time to send here. That is why shipping times are so variable from China cause if you get in right at the end of a load it will arrive in 2 weeks. If you get in at the start of the load it could be a month before the containers is even full to be sent on the boat to North America. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Funny enough the only other one I can think of that has blatantly outrageous rates is also another british offshoot, Australia. Look how much it costs to get even a few ounce gameboy game from there, it sucks. If ebay would allow their search to filter out countries on the whole for shipping they'd both be on my list unfortunately for when I do global searches for items. Just sort by "price plus shipping." If it's too high, move on. If you live in a country with shit postal system, that sucks. Just try a courier service like FedEx, USP, or DHL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 That is because the Chinese fill shipping containers at a time to send here. That is why shipping times are so variable from China cause if you get in right at the end of a load it will arrive in 2 weeks. If you get in at the start of the load it could be a month before the containers is even full to be sent on the boat to North America. This is true. Once in 2004 I ordered a game from Lik Sang. Then a month later I ordered another game. A month and a half after I ordered the second game (two and a half months after the first), both arrived on my doorstep on the same day. The fact that ordering from the far East needs to fill shipping container doesn't change the fact that they come in through either San Francisco or New York, then pass customs before entering the US Postal Service, and is still much cheaper than shipping that same package directly from SF or NY to my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 I know you can do those things on there, it just me wishing I could just exclude certain countries or territories much like how you can when setting up an item for sale blocking out spaces from the right to bid. That's all, as it's just more crap to load that doesn't have to be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Posted June 14, 2017 Author Share Posted June 14, 2017 Well I finally posted some stuff. I ended up posting mostly He-Man Toys!!! However here's something you guys may find interesting http://www.ebay.ca/itm/222545418738?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 What were you hoping to get on those G&W handhelds anyway? I know still ride fairly high in value compared to years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 (edited) Not really hoping for anything... more than a buck I guess! I've had DK3 since I was a kid (got it with Club Z points) and I don't really play it at all... so any money made is profit. Zelda I got for 2 bucks at a second-hand store around 2005. It was labeled as not working. I figured for that price, it's a fine paper weight. Sure enough, a little bending of the battery terminals and it worked fine. However now it's gone from "fine paper weight" to "working game" to "dust collector". So again, any money made is profit. I just hope they go to a good home and not some re-sellers inventory shelf. Edited June 15, 2017 by Torr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Well if you had an idea in mind along with shipping down this way as I know shipping fees between here and there (let alone in country) suck I might be interested in on or the other which is why I asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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