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Teddies to TreasureGood morning everyone.Could someone-preferably from Ontario or elsewhere in Canada answer some shipping questions for me.I have received parcels from the US but never sent one there.I have a potential customer who wants to buy a bear from me. :dance: He lives in the US and I don't know the best way to send it.I'm not sure how the delivery goes and how does the cost work?Is the price based on weight or distance.How do you know ahead of time how much to charge the customer? Could someone who does this often set up a little scenario for me?I have read here that Canada-US post can be a nightmare! My customer will call back today as I appeared to be a complete dummy when he called.I have only sold at shows.Thanks in advance everyone.Sincerely Jane D.
Little Bear GuyHmmmm that's a good question Jane. We ship to the US all the time but we do it via UPS and not Canada Post, UPS is roughly the same cost as Canada Post anyway.
Whether it is Canada Post or UPS the cost of shipping the package is based on weight and the destination, they will weigh the package first then they will measure the box. Although your package may only weigh 2lbs if they measure the box and determine that based on size the box could hold up to 5lbs (based on the measurements) then they charge you the greater of the two.
Then they look at the desination of where the box is being sent, the US is set up in different zones on Canada Post site and UPS's site. They will look at the weight of the box and then locate the zone you are shipping to and look at their chart which will determine the cost.
We use to pack the box up and take into Canada Post or UPS get them to give us a quote on it, that is the best thing to do. We do prefer UPS though, we have never had a problem and it's trackable and insurance is not very much. Again the cost of UPS is so close to Canada Post but at least your parcel will arrive in a much shorter time, when you fill out the customs form just write down Teddy Bear on the contents and the dollar amount in Canadian Dollars.
NOt sure if I helped you or confused you 
If you don't have a UPS store near you then go with Canada Post, I have not shipped with them for a long time as I found they were getting very expensive and shipping took forever to the US, with UPS their standard is 5 business days, so if it was shipped today sometime they would have it by next Friday or earlier.
big hugs
Shane
Teddies to TreasureThank you so much Shane for taking time to help me.I truly appreciate it.We do not have an UPS store here so will have to go with Canada post and hope for the best.Thanks again.We have met before at TBOV and Octobearfest and I love your bears.(and your Christmas costumes!!!!) Thanks again. 
Sincerely Jane D.
Jane I use Canada Post all the time and so far so good ( a few delayed packages but not bad). I do all my postage online. As Shane said, it does go by weight and box dimensions.
What you could do to get a general idea is go on the Canada Post site and Calcualte a rate www.canadapost.ca . Just put in the location , insured value, dimensions and then estimate the weight ( unless you have a scale) to get an idea of the cost until you get to the post office. What size is your bear ? Most of my 7" bears are between 500-650gram. Bigger ones may be closer to 800-950. I think the prices change noticeably at certain weight increments cush as: 0-250g, 250-500grams, 500-1000grams, over 1000g etc. Also depends if you want insurance and how fast you want it to get there.
From Nova Scotia this is what I can offer:
Airmail to USA = about 7-10 business days - no gurantee, no tracking, insured for $100 only
Expedited to USA- usually 7-14d business days, tracking at drop off then delivery points only, $100 insurance and $1/$100 for extra insurance.
Express to USA - 4-7 business days guaranteed, tracking at several points along the way, $100 ins. and $1/$100 for extra.
I too mark it as an artist bear and put the full value in Canadian $. The post office will show you what to fill in etc. It's easy to do and now that I fill in everything on the Canada Post site I can print out the form on paper and tape it to the box. No waiting in line at the outlet !
I haven't used UPS just because it is much farther from my house . Good luck and congrats on the sale ! 
Teddies to TreasureWow Tammy!This is so wonderful of you as well.I don't know what I would do without all the super help! Sincerely Jane D.This is so well explained!
Newcastle, OntarioHi Jane,
I ship all my bears out of the county - mostly to the USA. I use two methods - expedited mail (I like the tracking), which costs me about 12.00 on the average and UPS - which I charge $15.00. I lose a tiny bit, but I have some VERY good customers and don't mind. I will let you know that UPS WILL NOT insure hand made items (Shane - did you know that?) but I still use it. They will pick up at my door, and I think they will most places. Go to their site www.ups.com (contact number is at the bottom of the page) and give them a call and see if you can get pick up where you live. I've had no problems so far and I'm knocking on wood as I type :crackup: !
hugs,
Brenda
Bears by EdieAirmail to USA = about 7-10 business days - no gurantee, no tracking, insured for $100 only
Just wanted to clarify for you Jane that this first method Tammy quoted is for small packets so it is the same price where ever in the States it is going and only the weight counts for cost, not the size (other than that it has to be under total dimensions of 900 mm - length, width and height added together - which is a fair size parcel). I use this method all the time because my bears are minis and under 250 g so the cost is $6.20 anywhere in the US.
Also I have had postal clerks tell me NOT to put Artist Teddy Bear on - they seem to think that is too tempting for theft, I guess???? - so I just put collectible miniature toy.
P.S. I use the Canada Post online rate calculator all the time, and have my own scale so that I know what it is going to cost where ever I am sending a parcel. Once in a while it will vary a bit from the online quote but it is usually pretty close.
Bears by EdieShane and Brenda, just wondering about the UPS delivery - here in Canada if we have something sent from the States by UPS we get charged a huge amount for brokerage fees to get it out of customs. Is that not a problem for your US customers when you send to the States by UPS???
Edie thanks for mentioning that the Air Mail is Small package and that it is the same rate- isn't that great ! I was never sure what to put on the description . I would have thought describing it as a collectible would make it more tempting too ! I used to just put teddy bear then when the value went high I though that might look odd for a "teddy Bear" and raise suspition ?? Who knows 
I also wondered about the UPS fees going in the opposite direction ?? The "import" fees are insane through UPS and they seem to open everything !!!
Little Bear GuyEdie for us sending to the US with UPS they don't seem to get hit with the brokerage fee's that we do when something is shipped into Canada ( I don't know why I think it's just another grab by UPS). I know we have been hit with them when having something shipped into Canada by UPS (unless we are shipping stuff back to ourselves we don't get hit because it's our own stuff). I think we had one package once get charged a brokerage fee from UPS but out of all the ones we have shipped that was the only one.
Brenda regarding your information on the handmade items not being insurable with UPS. I have never had an item not be insured because of this, of course I don't state that it's a handmade item I just write Teddy Bear on the customs form, I also keep my value under $200.00 on that slip as this seems to be the magic number and UPS or customs do not seem to bother with it. Luckily there is no duty on teddy bears as customs consider it a Toy and therefore there is no duty on it.
We have never had a problem shipping with UPS , it's trackable and I don't even worry about insurance on the parcel most times. I figure because of the tracking information they know where the heck it went and they should be able to find it :crackup: :crackup: .
We had so many problems with Canada Post and trying to get stuff shipped, and every time we went to a different outlet we were charged different rates. We did have stuff lost by Canada Post and they were a nightmare to try and deal with regarding the insurance. It took us almost 4 months one time to get money back from them and finally someone at Canada Post said this is rediculous and they even were shocked at how long it had dragged on.
Big Hugs
Shane
Newcastle, OntarioHi Shane,
I agree, that UPS is the best way - it's fast and with tracking, it put's my mind to rest. I just charge a flat rate of $15.00 and usually have to throw in a couple of bucks, but I don't mind after a customer has paid so much for a piece. It's true though - I've been told by several UPS people that hand made items aren't insurable. I had always marked mine 'handmade', as I thought customs wouldn't bother it so much. So just don't include "handmade" in the description :crackup:
hugs,
Brenda
Little Bear Guy:crackup: :crackup: so true Brenda. We have an account with UPS so we can usually just hop online and determine the shipping cost, most times we are pretty acurate but sometimes we are out by about 10.00, but again we don't mind as usually this is from a good collector of ours and we like to keep our collectors happy.
big hugs
Shane
