The other day I saw someone mention a company called Chit Chat Express and that you could save shipping costs through them if you were close to Toronto. I am launching a business where I will need to ship my products throughout North America, so I was intrigued. I decided to call up the company the other day when I had some spare time to get a price quote. There is lots of info on their site, but I wanted to call to get a sense of their customer service too.
I haven’t really looked into shipping prices much since my samples are still being made, but I have seen a few Toronto members around here say that it is costing them an average of about USD$15 per package for shipping throughout North America.
Now I am planning on shipping my product in a 12.5” x 9.5” padded envelop and it will weigh under a pound (about 0.75 lbs), so that is what I got the shipping quotes for. However, they only sell 16” x 10” padded envelops, but the prices are the same.
Shipping in Canada
- CAD$8.67 + tax
- Includes tracking (staff I talked to wasn’t sure about insurance, but thought so)
- 2-7 business days delivery to customer
Shipping international
- CAD$4.63 to any country and no option of tracking (staff wasn’t sure about insurance but didn’t think so)
- UK and Ireland has the option of tracking, but is a bit more expensive (didn’t get the price)
- Staff said that they are currently working on a service and prices to have international shipping to all countries with tracking
Shipping to USA
- There are slightly different prices for each state, but he gave me the price to California because that would be the highest price (except Alaska and Hawaii)
- To California, it would cost USD$3.29 + CAD$0.65 (their delivery fee to bring across the border)
- Includes tracking (wasn’t sure about insurance)
- 2-4 business days delivery to customer
- No chance of a border/importing fee for you or the customer because of the next point (shipped USA to USA, not CAD to USA)
- The reason this is so cheap is because they drive everyday across the border and ship the packages from the USA
- You can have a USA return address through them (options of a couple different main cities)
- The one negative thing was that they said the max value per package was USD$200 (including shipping price). Also, if a customer orders over USD$200 in product, you cannot split up their order and ship it in separate packages in the same day to the same location. However, you could on different days.
Envelop
- You have to provide your own envelop or buy one from them
- Their price for a 10” x 16” padded envelop was CAD$0.50 each (discount for larger volume)
- I haven’t checked other prices, but I think at dollar stores you can usually get three of these envelops for $1
In addition, you have to include the postage printing information label and the manifesto label (delivery address, mailing type, item info, weight, value). They said you can do this through them or separately (they will set you up with all the info if needed), but shouldn’t cost much.
Again, these prices are based on what the staff said over the phone for a package weighing 0.75 lbs and shipping in a 16” x 10” padded envelop. I looked on their website and got slightly different prices based on their given information, but overall seemed pretty similar.
They only have a few locations (Mississauga, Pickering, Markham) so it may be a bit more work for you to get the packages there. However, there is the potential to save quite a bit of money if you are shipping a decent amount of product.
I researched the company online, and there are a lot of positive reviews. I did not find any negative reviews or bad comments.
Hope this can help someone.
**Just a note in case it sounds suspicious, I am not an affiliate and do not work for the company. I just called them the other day about prices for myself and thought I would share it with the forum.
I haven’t really looked into shipping prices much since my samples are still being made, but I have seen a few Toronto members around here say that it is costing them an average of about USD$15 per package for shipping throughout North America.
Now I am planning on shipping my product in a 12.5” x 9.5” padded envelop and it will weigh under a pound (about 0.75 lbs), so that is what I got the shipping quotes for. However, they only sell 16” x 10” padded envelops, but the prices are the same.
Shipping in Canada
- CAD$8.67 + tax
- Includes tracking (staff I talked to wasn’t sure about insurance, but thought so)
- 2-7 business days delivery to customer
Shipping international
- CAD$4.63 to any country and no option of tracking (staff wasn’t sure about insurance but didn’t think so)
- UK and Ireland has the option of tracking, but is a bit more expensive (didn’t get the price)
- Staff said that they are currently working on a service and prices to have international shipping to all countries with tracking
Shipping to USA
- There are slightly different prices for each state, but he gave me the price to California because that would be the highest price (except Alaska and Hawaii)
- To California, it would cost USD$3.29 + CAD$0.65 (their delivery fee to bring across the border)
- Includes tracking (wasn’t sure about insurance)
- 2-4 business days delivery to customer
- No chance of a border/importing fee for you or the customer because of the next point (shipped USA to USA, not CAD to USA)
- The reason this is so cheap is because they drive everyday across the border and ship the packages from the USA
- You can have a USA return address through them (options of a couple different main cities)
- The one negative thing was that they said the max value per package was USD$200 (including shipping price). Also, if a customer orders over USD$200 in product, you cannot split up their order and ship it in separate packages in the same day to the same location. However, you could on different days.
Envelop
- You have to provide your own envelop or buy one from them
- Their price for a 10” x 16” padded envelop was CAD$0.50 each (discount for larger volume)
- I haven’t checked other prices, but I think at dollar stores you can usually get three of these envelops for $1
In addition, you have to include the postage printing information label and the manifesto label (delivery address, mailing type, item info, weight, value). They said you can do this through them or separately (they will set you up with all the info if needed), but shouldn’t cost much.
Again, these prices are based on what the staff said over the phone for a package weighing 0.75 lbs and shipping in a 16” x 10” padded envelop. I looked on their website and got slightly different prices based on their given information, but overall seemed pretty similar.
They only have a few locations (Mississauga, Pickering, Markham) so it may be a bit more work for you to get the packages there. However, there is the potential to save quite a bit of money if you are shipping a decent amount of product.
I researched the company online, and there are a lot of positive reviews. I did not find any negative reviews or bad comments.
Hope this can help someone.
**Just a note in case it sounds suspicious, I am not an affiliate and do not work for the company. I just called them the other day about prices for myself and thought I would share it with the forum.
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