Shopping Discussion

Why is shipping in the USA MUCH cheaper, and often comes with free Saturday delivery?

  • Last Updated:
  • Jun 15th, 2017 1:57 pm
Banned
Jan 9, 2017
225 posts
58 upvotes

Why is shipping in the USA MUCH cheaper, and often comes with free Saturday delivery?

I've had to ship some stuff in the USA and to send a ipad sized box ANYWHERE with upto 70 pounds is under $10 US. Boxes are free AND they have Saturday delivery too!

Fedex has free Saturday delivery on some services (fedex home) and again it's MUCH cheaper than here!


Here there are NO free anythings! And shipping an ipad sized box here is like $20 within the same city! Saturday delivery isn't even available on anything but the most expensive tiers.


Most Canadians live in a few cities so it shouldn't be so expensive, so why is it cheaper to ship to Hawaii from new york, than from Toronto to Mississauga?
2 replies
Deal Expert
Feb 7, 2017
27765 posts
27805 upvotes
Eastern Ontario
It's all about the numbers... Period.

Although our 2 countries are close in size (Canada being slightly bigger) we still have only about 1/10 of the population spread across that mass. So there are less people = less frequent transportation (ie flights for freight / trucking routes)

Example, FedEx is not about to send out a jet cross country, or a semi between cities, that is mostly empty. Instead they coordinate their Shipping Centres to send out the majority of Cdn Freight overnight... And Jets & trucks that make several stops enroute, vs one stop designated. And still no guarantee that any of them are full to capacity

In the USA, California is approximately 250 miles wide, and 800 miles long, with a population of about 39 Million (4 Million more than all of Canada)

Situation is similar on the US East Coast, with the biggest cities concentrated into a relatively small area: Boston - NY City - Philly - Baltimore - Washington.

It is these largest areas that subsidize the rest of the country (plus with a larger retail market comes more aggressive fight for the Customer).

Flights & Trucks are on the road round the clock as needed

In Canada, our concentration is along the US Border, spanning Halifax to Victoria, with the greatest bulk running Montreal to Niagara Falls Corridors ... But even then those numbers pale to the US Corridors mentioned above.

Their are a few companies who may offer "local" FREE Shipping say in their immediate area... Often using local delivery services etc. but even then not likely from say Montreal to Toronto, or even Toronto to Windsor... And that is because their Customer in another city would then expect the same.

Fact is it is just more expensive to do business here because we are so spread out. Part of the reason when you buy online from a US Co. that offers FREE Shipping, you'll find that it is only for the Continental USA. Once they meet up with the Canadian Border, or US Offshore, costs go up dramatically (even if customs is not an issue... Ie Puerto Rico)

As for 6 Days a week.

Again the demand is there.

Plus the US attitude towards work in general is very different from here (ie most Americans still only 2 weeks a year paid vacation, no matter how long they've been employed).

Also, they are conditioned to a 6 Day Work Week... Their white collar workforce gave up the 6 Working Day Week (Monday to Saturday at Noon) relatively recent compared to Canada. And a 7 Day Work Week has never been questioned for their blue collar workforce, whereas here most of ours run on a 5 or 6 Day Work Week (ie Manufacturing)
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Sep 19, 2002
7848 posts
9211 upvotes
Vancouver
The U.S. places a greater importance on the informational, educational, cultural, scientific, and commercial value of an affordable postal rate.

The U.S. has a regulatory body that oversees USPS pricing decisions.

Canada Post is required to have overall financial self-sufficiency. There is no regulatory body overseeing Canada Post pricing decisions.

It comes down to whether or not tax payers feel their postal service is important enough to subsidize.

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