Magiic's Magiical Shipping Guide CANADIAN EDITION (INCLUDES GUIDE FOR AMERICANS!)

 Ladies and gentleman boys and girls, prepare yourself for Magiic's Magiical shipping guide - CANADIAN EDITION!

This guide will offer explanations of the shipping options available to Canadians when shipping domestically (within Canada) or cross border with our friends in the USA (including Puerto Rico). This guide will also briefly cover shipping to Canada for our friends to the south.

This guide will likely start off small and grow as I have time and learn new things, so keep that in mind. I also encourage others to contribute and I will update the OP with others contributions.

 So without further adieu let the guiding commence.

 

CANADIANS

 DOMESTIC SHIPPING (WITHIN CANADA)

LETTERMAIL (7-10 business days, no tracking, no insurance, no delivery standard)

 Shipping standard games within Canada is cheap and easy (no witty remarks). Unfortunately it lacks any kind of insurance of delivery confirmation. When using lettermail you're vesting full faith in our countries postal service to get your package from A to B without losing it or damaging it. With that being said I have not had a single package get lost or damaged in transit out of well over 200 packages sent letter mail domestically. Lettermails pricing is very simple and straightforward. The cost is the same from anywhere to anywhere. 

Pricing (lettermail must not exceed (38x27x2cm)

0-200g - $1.92 + tax
200-500g  - $2.65 + tax

I find the best and easiest way to send games lettermail is by purchasing sheets of 96 cent stamps (they come in sheets of six, allowing you to send 3 games under 200g). All you have to do is put the game in a bubble mailer, address it like usual and put two of the stamps on it (three stamps if it's over 200g). 

I'd say 95% of all console games weigh less than 200g. A few games with thicker than usual manuals or special packaging (ie tin case like Halo 2). One issue that arises with lettermail is the 2cm maximum thickness. The post-office workers usually strictly enforce this which is why it is beneficial to use stamps and just drop the packages in a mailbox. I have found you can get away with up to about 3cm just mailing it yourself. I think they have better things to do at the sorting facilities then check the thickness of every package. 

Special Note: If you are using the goozex shipping labels please affix a label with your own address as the return. If for whatever reason the game needs to be returned for some reason it will be returned to goozex in the states which takes a very long time and then they have to mail it back and you will get docked traded credits to cover the cost of return shipping. So please use your own return address.

 

 CROSS BORDER SHIPPING (Shipping to the USA)

 Light Packet (4-6 days, no tracking, no insurance, no delivery standard)

Light packet is the cheapest and most efficient method of mailing games to the USA. However like lettermail it has no insurance or tracking.

Pricing (Light Packet must not exceed 38x27x2cm

0-100g - $1.92 + tax
100-250g - $4 + tax
250-500g - $6.40 + tax

As I said above the average console game weighs less than 200g so the majority of what you send via light packet will cost $4 + tax. I find the easiest way for sending games to the states via light packet is using the paypal shipping tools found here. 

AMERICANS

 CROSS BORDER SHIPPING (Shipping to the Great White North)

 First-Class Mail International (7-14 business days, limited tracking, no insurance, no delivery standard)

First-Class mail international is really the only suitable way to mail games to Canada when using goozex. The cost is dependant on distance on weight. The majority of games sent via First-Class Mail International will cost between $1.80 & $3.00. This price can sometimes go a *little* bit higher on bigger stuff like PC games or heavier console games. The service is very reliable, I have seen VERY few games get lost (less than 1%).

First-Mail International unfortunately lacks traditional delivery confirmation or tracking. However with that being said it does have a sort of "proof of shipping". I will explain the customs form in more detail later but for now I will explain how the number on the customs form can be used to track packages - kind of. The customs form has a number on it to the effect of LC##########US, this number should also appear on your receipt. Entering this number into the tracking box on the USPS website or the Canada Post website will "Item mail at such and such post-office" or "Item posted in origin country". Most of the time it will never update past this. The exception to this rule is if the package is big enough. Usually even a small box will qualify as "big enough" but I do not know the exact dimensions. When the dimensions are met the item in question will be made into an "Expedited Parcel" upon it's transfer into Canada - from this point on it will be FULLY TRACKABLE through the Canada Post website, including delivery confirmation. 

Last but certaintly not least comes the "customs form". This green sticker is crucial to your packaging getting quickly into Canada. On this form you list the contents of the package in this case "software", "video game", "media" is all acceptable. It is preferable if you value it as low as possible. $10-$15 is a good range value it in. In addition to this there are little boxes for classifying the package. I would reccomend you tick the "Gift" box to ensure that the item is not assessed as commercial and we are charged tax on it. 

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Can I use Paypal's "Ship Now" service for printing labels?
As it currently stands, Canadians cannot use Paypal to print lettermail labels and Americans not use Paypal to print First-Class International Labels.

 Stickied. Thanks a bunch Magiic.

I take it that CoD3 didn't get there yet. Enjoy it when it does! 

 thanks TZ

no sign of it yet but Im looking forward to getting it :) 

Great idea Magiic.  I think this guide will help a lot of people out!

So what's the deal with U.S. shipping to Canada?  Paypal shipping keeps trying to charge me $15 for 6 ounces for priority.

Ace of Sevens:

So what's the deal with U.S. shipping to Canada?  Paypal shipping keeps trying to charge me $15 for 6 ounces for priority.

Are you using delivery confirmation?

WHEN SHIPPING FROM THE UNITED STATES TO CANADA:

There is a green customs form you have to fill out when shipping and it asks for you to mark the package as a "Gift", "Other", "Commercial Documents", or just "Documents". Check off the top left box; "Gift" and when it asks for the declared value, mark it as $9.99 or less, and where it asks for a description, put "used game".

This allows the game to arrive twice as fast or faster sometimes, as it isn't held up/delayed at customs for weeks!  Marking the customs form this way also reduces damage to the games (the less people handling it and the less time it is in transit, the less chance of it getting damaged) and it decreases the chance of games getting lost (because customs randomly opens packages and if they see something they want, they can steal it and if there is no tracking, they can get away with it).

According to Canada Customs, anything coming form the United States to Canada that is NOT marked as a gift, must be valued as under $10 and anything that IS mark as a gift must be valued under $50 to avoid duty, customs, taxes, handling, and brokerage fees.

A GIGANTIC Thank You to everyone who ships to Canada!!!

 I have updated the OP with my american shipping guide

Is there some way to do 1st class international online?  It doesn't show for me on Paypal's mailing.

 

 

 

Ace of Sevens:

Is there some way to do 1st class international online?  It doesn't show for me on Paypal's mailing.

To the best of my knowledge paypal only offers Priority shipping to Canada. First-class has to be done at the post-office

Whew, I did everything right. I sent my first 2 games to Canada a couple weeks ago (one was to Magiic ), and was not entirely sure if I did everything correctly. It seems I did! I tried to track the games with the customs form number, but all I got was that they had been accepted at my post office. However, it's a big relief just knowing that I sorta have delivery confirmation in case the post office ever loses anything. That was my main concern with shipping to Canada.

 good to hear you found the guide useful :)

Great post Magiic, it gave me the courage to open up my trading region to Canada.

I tried to use the USPS website to make sure my package to Canada was in the system. I mailed the game this afternoon, and when I entered the customs form #, it said, "Your item was delivered at 10:53 AM on April 2, 2008 in PLAINVIEW, NY 11803." WTH? I've quadruple checked the number from my receipt, but it's definitely correct. How can the same number be used twice?

Incidentally, when I mailed the game, I had to stand in a huge line and listen to a lady tell me her life story. Then the postal employee hassled me that my address label was an official priority mail label (it wasn't) and made me peel it off (now that was fun), and rewrite the address on the envelope with a big fat magic marker. It's kind of hard to make an address legible with a big fat marker when you have limited space to write in. How I wish you could use Paypal shipping to Canada and avoid the hell that is the post office. 

I have no idea to be honest. I've never seen that happen. Best I can offer is to call USPS and ask them.