Shipping large or heavy items

Hi everyone, I'm from Canada. I sell antiques online. I searched the forum for an answer but couldn't find one... so here goes!

When shipping items that are large or heavy or anything but small and flat. I'm face with prices that are way too expensive. The cheapest of them is still Post-Canada and they can ship to the door, even if it's inside a large building (they are the only ones with the special keys, all the others will just put a sticker in a shared place if they can't go inside the buildings).

The question is, is there anything more affordable? For a 18x12x12 box weighting 5 pounds, they'd charge me 35$, and that's with my Etsy prepaid labels (cheaper than what I can get myself). Do you have any other options that I can investigate? I'm not even talking about some of the larger furniture that I have on hand... How do you do it? And as a side question, considering the shipping fees, is it still profitable to sell online our you only build your local business?

Thanks for your help!

 

I don't have any cheaper ways for you. Going for US to Canada seems to be about the same.

As far as selling online and profits you should take into consideration how much time it takes to ship (packaging and going to the post office). For me online profit = Sale price + paid shipping - item cost - actual shipping - tax - fees - packaging time.

The question to ask yourself is whether you want to make the time to build up your local store or build up you online 'store'

 

Ok, thanks. Just adding to the equation : my offline store has many empty hours, so yes, I can develop it, but only to a certain point. When I'm there without customers, then, I work on my website, which I hope will eventually make more money than the offline store. Untill then, I need to find the cheapest solution for my shipping.

I'm still wondering how the Chinese do it for so cheap...

 

Government and Ebay subsidies, most likely. Canada Post and the US Snail both soak people for all they can get.

 

GOOD GRIEF!
Is that by unruly moose????

 

I am a collector & the best shipping for antique furniture i have found is uship.com
Mostly small operators who bid online for your ship needs, i have used them awhile now, 4-5 yrs and for the most part, very reasonable. I dunno if they are in Canada though.

 

Wow, I wondered how they could sell something for $0.99 and then ship it for free.

 

In the US, I find FEDEX ground is cheaper for very large and heavy boxes. FEDEX Home Delivery is next, but if the buyer has a business address, I use FEDEX Ground. Do you have anything similar in Canada?

 

Yes. I've bought some stuff from China on eBidet (wish they were elsewhere for prices even close ) and always shocked at cost with free shipping.
~
This does 'learn' 'ya what stuff is really worth.

 

For couriers like FedEx and UPS the price goes through the roof when you cross an international border - brokerage fees and all that.

In Canada, Canada Post is, I believe, the lest expensive - but it ain't cheap. Some people who live close to the border will take their items over to the U.S. to mail. There are some services that will do that for sellers - gather a load of stuff from multiple sellers and truck it across the border to mail. I know those things exist, but I've never tried one.