Not to worry ANONYMOUS

Received this nice comment on my blog "BROWN it is!":

Hi Barbara, As you are one of my most favourite sellers, it is with regret that I see you are going "Brown". I live in Canada and have been so very happy with your service. Canadians really dislike UPS and FEDEX as they charge huge fees for delivering to Canada. They base their fees on the value of the parcel, as well as the assessed duty and customs. Last year I purchased some items from the US that totaled a little over $200.00 US and was somewhat shocked to have to pay an additional $129.00 when they arrived on my doorstep. I often read the ebay Answer Centre under the International section and there are countless articles on why Canadians avoid purchasing when UPS and FEDEX are listed. USPS and Global Priority are definitely the buyers' choice. I would love to be able to continue to watch, bid and sometimes be lucky enough to win your items and wonder if a successful bidder would be allowed to request your wonderful previous method of mailing. Keep up the wonderful work, Barbara. You provide excellent, conscientious and terrific service and are a joy to deal with.

First of all - I really appreciate your nice comments. I do work hard at ebay and really appreciate when it is noticed.

I did look into UPS and FedEx after all of that - and discovered that their costs are enormous! Way out of line and it would be impossible to use their services. An example that I used was to ship a pair of shoes to Sweden - $79 UPS and $89 FedEx! Can you imagine? So I called my sweet postmaster and discussed the situation with him. His suggestion would be to ship via Air Mail Parcel Post WITH INSURANCE! The same pair of shoes sent that way will cost $23! HUGE DIFFERENCE! and with the insurance you are guaranteed to be able to track the item. I think that it can take a bit longer than Global Priority - but there is just no way that I can send things that way anymore. Believe it or not I heard from someone else on Friday (from London) that she also has not received the Issey Miyake jacket that I sent her.

I am terribly afraid that one of these people might leave me negative feedback - even though the items were sent out and even though they will be refunded their full amount paid. This has really been so upsetting for me. It just seems so strange though - not to have had ANYTHING lost in over three full years and then three items in the last two weeks - isn't that odd?

I did ask another seller how she sends things out of the US and she uses GPM and said that she has never had a problem. She said sometimes it takes awhile but the item has always been received. She wasn't very happy when she heard what has happened to me. She said that she will not be using that method to ship anymore either under those circumstances. I shared my conversation with the postmaster with her.

In any event - not to worry - I will not be using UPS or FedEx - they're just much tooooo expensive!