Topic: PSA: TRADING BETWEEN US AND CANADA
I don't know if it's just me, but I've noticed an increasing number of traders from the US that won't trade into Canada and vice versa. The reasons I always hear are "it's too expensive," "it takes too long," "i'm not sure how it works cross border." So I thought I'd come in and clear some things up.
How to ship between US and Canada
- Use plain lettermail, in a bubble mailer or a plain envelope, whatever is agreed on. Attach an international stamp (or two if it's a bubble mailer)
- Drop in mailbox, very simple
Cost of shipping
- Cost is only the stamp. International stamps cost $1 going US -> Canada, and $1.05 going Canada -> US. This is less than $0.50 more than it costs to send a letter domestically
Shipping time
- This is the biggest one for people, and has the biggest misconception
- out of my 30ish trades, I'd say about 20-25 are to the US (I'm from Canada). MAYBE 3 of these trades have taken more than 5 business days to mail, and it was only because my trading partner lived in a very rural area of the country
- 95% of your trades btw Canada and US will take the exact same amount of time as a trade to an outside state or province in your own country. In fact, I've noticed that trades coming from British Columbia -> Ontario consistently take 2-3 days longer than trades from any city in the US. It's bullshit and/or bad luck that trades from the US to Canada take 2+ weeks. 95% of the time you're looking at 5-7 business days or less.
I hope this helps encourage more Canada <-> US trading, and change the minds of some of those "My country only" traders. There's really no reason to hold this policy, and it sucks for other traders. The cost and shipping time is the same, and the process is the same. If you're big shtick is with delivery confirmation, quit being so paranoid. The chances of you getting ripped off with DC are about as slim as your chances of being ripped off without it. Even so, there's no reason to COMPLETELY shut out a country from trading. If DC is such a big deal, make them send first if they don't have enough feedback, don't cut out the country completely.
/rant