eBay Warns Sellers Of Canada Post Strike Shipping Disruptions, Promises Protections
eBay is warning sellers both in Canada and internationally of shipping disruptions and suspensions due to the latest postal worker strike which started yesterday after the government cleared a path for Canada Post to undertake major reforms.
The proposed changes include phasing home delivery, relaxing delivery standards and closing post offices and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers called for immediate strike action in protest.
Liz Morton
For sellers on the Canada marketplace, eBay is advising using alternate carriers and promising to protect sellers from late shipment defects, negative feedback, and cancellations.
Canada Post strike actions
On September 25th, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) announced a nationwide strike impacting all Canada Post services, including domestic, inbound and outbound international shipments. Anything currently in the Canada Post network is likely to be impacted.
As a result, Canada Post services have been temporarily disabled on eBay Labels. FedEx and UPS labels remain available. You may want to consider adding an alternative shipping option, such as Local Pick-up, to your listings.
eBay Canada is taking steps to minimize the impact of Canada Post work stoppages on your business. We have extended estimated delivery dates for buyers and implemented enhanced protections in the event of Item Not Received claims. Please note that in order to benefit from these enhanced protections you must upload a valid tracking number to your shipments.
In addition, we are taking steps to automatically protect your account from defects, including:
- Late Shipment Rate (LSR) defects
- Valid tracking upload rate
- Negative or Neutral Feedback if you uploaded tracking before the case was opened and have a physical scan from the carrier
- Seller-initiated cancellations
eBay will continue to monitor the situation and provide additional information and recommendations as events progress.
Using alternate carriers may not be a great option as we've seen in the past that disruptions at Canada Post often bleed over into delays at other carriers as they struggle to handle the increased volume.
Liz Morton
Unfortunately for eBay Canada, this massive shipping disruption will likely interfere with the Motors Parts & Accessories 15% off sale they just launched in an effort to boost domestic Canadian sales.
Tough builds need tougher gear. Find parts and accessories for your ride from local sellers with code FALLPARTSCA. Ends 9/30. See terms.
— eBay.ca (@eBayCanada) September 26, 2025
For sellers in the UK, eBay is warning that Royal Mail and ParcelForce have suspended outbound mail to Canada, also recommending using alternate carriers and promising protections.
Canada Post strike: outbound mail to Canada suspended and seller protections in place
Canada Post entered nationwide industrial action on 25 September 2025. As a result, Royal Mail and Parcelforce have paused exports to Canada and items already in transit may be held up for an extended period.
What you need to do now
- Review any listings that ship to Canada.
- If you already use another carrier, keep using it and make sure the service on your listing matches the carrier you dispatch with.
- If you rely solely on Royal Mail or Parcelforce, consider switching to an alternative courier for the duration of the strike.
- Opt-in to the Global Shipping Programme (GSP) if you need a quick alternative route. You can enrol in Seller Hub ▶ Postage preferences.
- Continue dispatching UK and non-Canadian international orders as normal.
Automatic seller protections
For orders with estimated delivery dates between 11 September and 10 October 2025 (23:59 UK time), eBay will:
- Remove late-delivery defects
- Exclude affected “Item not received” (INR) cases from your Service Metrics
- Erase any negative or neutral feedback linked to late or non-delivery
These adjustments appear on your Seller Dashboard within about seven days - there’s no need to contact Customer Support.
eBay hasn't made any announcements yet for the US and it's not clear yet if USPS has officially suspended shipping to Canada - some media reports say yes, but there is nothing currently showing on the USPS International Service Alerts page for the country.
That will likely change soon but if it doesn't, US sellers should still start to make alternate shipping plans or take action to block their items from shipping to Canada to avoid disruption.
And while there isn't an official announcement from eBay yet, some US sellers say they have been unable to print international labels to Canada through the platform today - though it's unclear if that is specific to this shipping disruption or if eBay may have been experiencing a larger intermittent label printing outage today.
shipping to Canada
Anyone else having a problem with printing a shipping label for Canada? One place says "no service available" while above it says that "eBay International shipping is still taking packages". This happened once before...is there still a postal strike?
UPDATE: after publishing, eBay also posted an announcement for the US site, advising sellers that USPS and eBay International Standard Delivery labels to Canada are currently disabled, but eBay International Shipping will remain available as they are able to use alternate carriers for that service.
Canada Post Strike Effective Immediately
On September 25th, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) announced a nationwide strike impacting all Canada Post services, including domestic, inbound and outbound international shipments. Anything currently in the Canada Post network is likely to be impacted.
If you are a seller based in the US and use eBay International Shipping, you are automatically protected from late or no delivery claims and your seller performance standards and service metrics won’t be affected by international shipping. Any negative or neutral feedback from handling during international transit will be removed from your account.
And, thanks to eBay International Shipping’s flexibility with multiple global carriers, we’re using alternate delivery providers in Canada and expect only minimal impact to deliveries at this time.
Direct shipping to Canada using USPS or eBay International Standard Delivery (eISD) has been temporarily disabled on eBay Labels. If you have already shipped to Canada, you are protected from late delivery claims as long as you meet your stated handling times. Be sure to upload valid tracking in order to benefit from enhanced protections to sellers.
The strike couldn't come at a worse time as online sellers in Canada have already been struggling with massive changes to cross border US trade due to tariffs and the end of the de minimis exemption and will now face domestic shipping disruptions heading into the all important Q4 holiday shopping season.
Stay tuned for updates in this developing story.
