The Canadian Postal Strike: A Heads Up for Booksellers Who Ship Internationally

First they riot when the Canucks lose in the Stanley Cup Finals, and now the Post Office workers have gone on strike.  Our neighbors to the north are sounding more and more like Yanks everyday.

Below is the email many of us have recently received from Amazon regarding the Canadian postal strike.  Booksellers on other venues should be aware as well.  My first inclination is to begin researching International Shipping options via UPS, as I would assume that Canadian orders will still be coming in.  Make sure to read the instructions for disabling International Shipping via your Seller Account if you do not plan on using another carrier.  What experiences have other booksellers had with International Shipping via alternate carriers?

"Hello from Amazon Services,


Our records show that you have shipped one or more orders to Canada in the last year. Please be aware that as of June 15, 2011, Canada Post has suspended operations. All Canada Post mail processing plants and letter carrier depots are closed. More information about the service suspension can be found on the Canada Post website:

http://clients.infopost.ca/en/

(Here's an additional link on what the shutdown means for consumers)

As of June 16, 2011, the United States Postal Service (USPS) will be suspending all mail service to Canada with the exception of Global Express Guaranteed. More information on the impact to USPS can be found on their website (scroll down to the International - Canada section):

http://www.usps.com/communications/news/serviceupdates.htm

If you normally use USPS to send orders to Canada, you will need to use an alternative carrier for the duration of service suspension. If you are unable to switch carriers, we recommend that you disable the International shipping option for your SKUs in Manage Inventory:

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/myi/search/ItemSummary.amzn?ref_=im_invmgr_smap_home

For each SKU, click “Actions,” then “Edit listing details.” Deselect the checkbox for International Shipping and Expedited International Shipping, and click the “Continue” button. Click the “Submit your listing” button to save your changes. Each SKU needs to be updated separately.

You can also update your shipping settings in bulk using the Inventory Loader or Book Loader templates:

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/item-manager/ezdpc/uploadInventory.html/ref=sm_invfile_smap_home

Simply enter the SKU in the SKU column, and a “1” or “n” in the will-ship-internationally column. All of the other columns can be left blank. For more information on using the Inventory Loader or Book Loader templates, see our online Seller Help pages.
We will continue to provide updates on this situation in your Seller account home page."