Little-known fact:

Canada Post supplies FREE clear-plastic self-adhesive label pouches (known as Labelopes) for housing printed mailing labels

 and FREE plastic 16 x 12" mailing envelopes (known as eBay Paks)

 to Canadian eBay Sellers!!!

Even my local post office did not know this!

There are 2 ways to get them: at your post office or via Canada Post's website.

I consider myself resourceful and computer savvy, but I had the HARDEST time finding these supplies! First, my post office had no knowledge of such free items. Then, a second post office was able to provide me with Labelopes, but not the eBay Pak, and the case was the same with a third post office. I then decided to try to order them on line - well, not an easy task. So I am writing this guide to save fellow Canadian Sellers all the time and efforts I had to deploy to attain this goal.

1. You will need a Canada Post VentureOne customer number, if you do not already have one. Enter the CanadaPost.ca website and go to VentureOne: Savings for Small Business located under the Business section and click on "SIGN ME UP NOW!". Fill in the form to register. You will receive a member's card within 3 to 4 weeks through the mail, but in the meantime, you can ask for your customer number by calling their Help Centre at 1-877-262-5762.

2. Once you have your customer number, you will have to create a UserID and Password. On the CanadaPost.ca homepage, click on Login to Business Centre under the Business section: you will then find a place where to click when you need a new UserID. Enter your Canada Post Customer Number (no agreement number required) and go on to create your UserID (5 to 10 characters) and Password (5 to 8 characters).

3. You are now ready to shop. Just go again to Login to Business Centre. Once you are logged in, click on "Store - Order Products and Supplies".

4. You will find the 2 items listed under eBay Shipping Supplies - eBay Supplies. At the time of this posting, they read as follows:
   
   - eBay Pak, Product # 533086682, $0.20 (Note: they need to be ordered by multiples of 25)
   - Int'l Labelope, Product # 520012555, $0.07
   
   DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY THE PRICES!!! THESE ARE FREE. Just enter the quantity you require and add them to your shopping cart. You will see that they show at $0.00 when you view your cart.

I hope this will facilitate your shopping with Canada Post.

GOOD LUCK!