Canadian Selling Stamps and postcards on eBay.com - no more US sales - why?

[rehautala]

I have been selling stamps and postcards as a Canadian seller on eBay.com for a while. I sell many postcards to the US.

Since a week before the Aug. 29th tariff date, I have had no sales to the US. I normally sell postcards to the US every week. I use lettermail for most shipments.

Has anyone else had this issue (stamp/postcard sellers using lettermail)?

I wonder what US buyers see at this point. Are my listings even visible to them?

Is there some kind of notice about tariffs that US buyers are seeing that is stopping them from purchasing?

Stamps and postcards are duty/tariff-free based on the USMCA website. Though some say they are not.

[marnotom! · Accepted solution]

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@rehautala wrote:

I wonder what US buyers see at this point. Are my listings even visible to them?

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I just looked up one of your listings on the .com site and changed my shipping location to a US ZIP code.  In the shipping section is now the message, "Due to US policies, import fees for this item will need to be paid to customs or the shipping carrier on delivery. Learn more"

By the way, you probably know this but for the benefit of others I should mention that shipping merchandise as International Letter-Post is now technically against postal regulations.

[shallow_karl]

With the duties and zonos fees paid by the seller, anyone selling items from $2.00 to $20.00 into the U.S. has just seen their profits wiped out, not just by the VAST increase in fees, but by the horrific decline in sales in the last month.  Ebay is dead for small items sellers unless they are in the U.S.

[mrdutch1001]

"I use lettermail for most shipments." 

Since it is against postal rules and policies to do so for shipments outside of Canada, you can expect close scrutiny by Customs for goods/merchandise "disguised as lettermail" as now there will be heightened suspion of sellers shipping goods/merchandise via lettermail to avoid tariffs.

[rehautala]

Thank you for checking - it's as I suspected.

[rehautala]

Yes, it would be nice if our government could do something before more small businesses go under.

[raanana]

Sellers and collectors from all over the World for ages using regilar mail to ship low valued stamps,postcards and ephemera .

[phc64]

I sell mostly CDs and vinyl records, which are also tariff exempt. At the top of my listings, I have placed the following message:

US residents please note: There are no tariffs on phonograph records or compact discs, as they are considered 'instructional materials'.

I have had a few US sales since August 29, but not the usual volume.

[sapphyres-designer-jewellery]

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@phc64 wrote:

I sell mostly CDs and vinyl records, which are also tariff exempt. At the top of my listings, I have placed the following message:

US residents please note: There are no tariffs on phonograph records or compact discs, as they are considered 'instructional materials'.

I have had a few US sales since August 29, but not the usual volume.

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I'll be turning my dot com store back on in the next day or so... I'll report back on how the US sales are going when I have some data.

There seems to be tariffs on everything I sell, and I've been removing Canadian items from my dot com store and moving them to not have to pay a 35% tariff.

I'm feeling like Canada is really getting hosed with such a high tariff and the CUSMA compliant thing is not working out to avoid the tariffs. (Stallion told me the items I ship are not on the S/S+ list).

C.