eBay

raphael@ebay.com · ‎03-18-2016

Hello Canadian sellers,

This thread is open for discussion regarding the recent announcement about eBay Canada retiring USD support from its selling flows. Myself and other employees will come visit this thread and do our best to answer any questions on this topic.

appleboxantiques · ‎03-24-2016

Without any further explaination as to how this will benefit buyers, sellers or management systems one can only assume that the only beneficiary here is the company and its stockholders. Sounds like yet another squeeze on Canadian seller profit margins via internal currency conversion profits. Otherwise, please explain the reasoning and to whom this will honestly benefit. Thanks.

velvetfinch · ‎03-24-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Turbo Lister is no longer supported by eBay, though if it's still working for you, that's pretty cool.

We will not be updating that product. Since it works through our trading API, what will happen is that after June 1st, any listing you attempt to submit to the eBay.ca site in USD will generate an error and will not list.

Having said that, Turbo Lister did support eBay.com listing when we supported it. Give it a shot. Hopefully it will still work for you. It's getting long in the tooth.

Rodney, I hope I'm reading this wrong. Did you just say that Turbo Lister is no longer supported by Ebay??? I"m very confused by this. I have searched all over and have NEVER seen an announcement to this effect. Please clarify. Thank you.

i.am.vivian · ‎03-24-2016

To rodney and/or raphael,

Once the anger over this begins to subside a lot of sellers will be left with some very real questions. Here are a few of mine:

1) When a Canadian seller lists on dot com (in order to list in USD) where does the transaction presume to have taken place?

It is "tax time" here in Canada so some of us have taxes on the brain, but considering how grabby both countries are for tax dollars, if an item is listed on dot com and in USD, is that considered an American sale in American dollars or is it a Canadian sale by a Canadian who reports it to Revenue Canada?

I understand that you guys answering the messages may not know about these sorts of things, but we won't get an answer if we don't ask.

2) When listing items on dot com (again, to use USD) will there ever be an option for shipping to click on "International" or something? Right now all there is are American choices. With so many people wanting to list in the currency of the world, will ebay ever set up alternate shipping choices on dot com for places other than USA?

By this I mean once an item location is specified as Canada, for example, will there be an option to click on and specify the Canadian shipping cost, such as a Canada Post link to offer the Calculated cost from the Canadian seller to the American buyer?

3) Will there be an "International" exception to the American shipping cap on items like books. Canada and other locations have no Media Mail so shipping a book is very expensive. If the Item Location is outside the USA, will there ever be a shipping option to reflect this?

Sorry if some of these questions sound "amazingly stupid". I am trying to be clear and specific but I realize you may not know either.

Thanks,

Vivian

books_eldorado · ‎03-24-2016

Не вижу не одной причины которая бы увеличила привлекательность листингов в CAD для покупателей. В любом случае, это гораздо хуже - лишать возможности продавцам делать "меньше продаж" 🙂 в USD если им так нравиться

books_eldorado · ‎03-24-2016

Какие у кого предложения или возможные действия? Или только поговорим?

pocomocomputing · ‎03-24-2016

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
raphael@ebay.com wrote:
@pocomocomputing wrote:
Selling Manager Pro.

Someone posted in another topic that they have ebay Selling Manager Pro with their store subscription on ebay.ca. If they move their listings to eBay.com, what happens to Selling Manager Pro on ebay.ca? Will it work for listing on eBay.com? Will they have to end the subscription on eBay.ca and subscribe again on eBay.com? Will they lose all their eBay.ca templates, cost, inventory on ebay.ca?
Hi pocomo,

Subscriptions to Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro are site-specific, so the seller in your example would probably need to end their eBay.ca SMP subscription and start a new one on eBay.com. I don't think the inventory data, templates and other settings would follow to .com unfortunately. I was unable to find out for sure based on the internal documentation I have on SMP, but I'll ask the team for good measure.
I use Selling Manager on both sites and the information is identical. I did have to download SM on each site.
Hopefully SMP is similar.

SM Pro costs $15.99 a month when subscribed while SM is free. Does a seller have to pay this for each site it is used on to take advantage of products, template and inventory and data? If so, then this adds a cost to a seller using SM pro wanting to list on both eBay.ca and eBay.com using SM Pro.

PJ I know that SM and SMP are site specific and I am subscribed to free SM on ebay.ca, eBay.com and cafr.eBay.ca. They all work together nicely if there is a sale from any of my the sites (cafr.ebay.ca was only used to test listings for the free subtitle). This also worked fine when I had SM Pro on eBay.ca years ago and SM on ebay.com. But I always listed on eBay.ca with SM Pro and never tried to list on eBay.com with SM Pro (registered only on ebay.ca).

piafestus · ‎03-24-2016

This is a terrible new policy. With the amount of fees we as sellers should have options. It would be nice if eBay would make changes that sellers actually wanted. I have been selling on eBay for about 10 years and every year, with every update, eBay becomes worse and worse for the seller.

eurobeads · ‎03-24-2016

So I started listing a few items on eBay.com for the first time and I'm confused...I can only select "USPS", "Fedex" or "Standard International shipping" as my shipping methods for Canada? And how come "China mail" is on the list but Canada Post isn't? Won't that be confusing for Canadian buyers? Won't they wonder "if this item is IN Canada why is it being shipped by USPS? To a Canadian buyer, it looks like I'm either lying about my location or I don't know what I'm doing...Either way it doesn't look good...

squidboytoys · ‎03-24-2016

In the past 15 years, ebay has made many changes, some were indeed unfortunate but I have adapted every time and continue to sell.

Here are my questions… for now:

With an anchor store subscription will there be the same amount of free listings on ebay.ca and ebay.com after June 1st or August 1st?
If our sales tax chart is set up on .ca will the correct taxes be charged if a Canadian buyer makes a purchase on .com?
Will the tool to transfer listings from .ca to .com will be a new permanent feature? That tool would have been very convenient in the past.
Are we able to easily identify which listings are on .ca or .com?

I will probably try listing in both currencies for a while to know what works best. I will try free shipping on the .com since they don’t have the adequate shipping tool.

Honestly I tried listing in CAD a few years ago and my sales almost stopped completely (to the US AND in Canada) so selling in CAD is little scary right now.

lolly72012 · ‎03-24-2016

US buyers will have to pay the bank conversion rates to buy canadian stuff ,

figgfamily · ‎03-24-2016

You are kidding right? When the price is LOWER? You don't think that we are going to RAISE our prices by 30 percent to compensate for having to list in CAD (1 US to 1.30CAD)? Not to mention screwing up the shipping options if we have to list on .com

How many of us do you consider stupid? (apparently eBay thinks we are?)

Following the MONEY you guys are doing this to get MORE money out of Canadian sellers. If you are really doing this to make eBay Canada equal to eBay US then why don't we get all the same perks? Why not all the same categories? (no Adult Only) category for Canada.

~~~onewitchlady~~~~

arkh_angel · ‎03-24-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@dimitha wrote:

Worst idea ever! Most of our clients are in the US, and with the Canadian dollar going up and down everyday it look to the Americans
as if we keep changing our mind...

Hi dimitha.

Actually this is one of the reasons why listing in CAD is advantageous.

When you list an item in CAD, you don't need to adjust your prices for fluctuations in the exchange rate. Just set the price in your currency and eBay adjusts the prices for buyers according to the exchange rate.

Here's a page that shows an example of how this can work for you.

Rodney,

That is exactly why listing in CAD is a disastrous thing. With CAD going from 1.10 to 1.46 and back to 1.30 in only 3 months this is an unstable money. If I take my actual price for an item of let's say $100 USD and convert it to CAD for a listing to let's say $130, and in a few months the dollar is back on par, US seller won't buy because its too expensive. Canadian buyers won't buy either because I mainly sell to USA!

Again eBay is taking bad decision "for our benefit". Is there anyone here who were REALLY contacted by eBay to express its opinion regarding this BAD decision?

I'm going to ebay.com, or somewhere else. Don't expect me to sell in CAD because YOU decided its better for me.It will be better for YOU not for me. You're trying to cost down costs. THAT is the only reason.

Just to make sure, you do know that geographically, Canada and USA are neighbors? And most of our exports are to the USA?

Thank you Andrea, just another step backward for us!

ypdc_dennis · ‎03-24-2016

@eurobeads wrote:
... I'm confused...I can only select "USPS", "Fedex" or "Standard International shipping" as my shipping methods for Canada? And how come "China mail" is on the list but Canada Post isn't? Won't that be confusing for Canadian buyers? Won't they wonder "if this item is IN Canada why is it being shipped by USPS? ...

The US Postal Service should only be selected if you ship your item from the USA.

Same goes for FedEx and UPS, those choice also assume you are shipping from the USA.

Shipping to Canada is your choice of flat rate Economy Int'l, Standard Int'l or Expedited Int'l.

The carrier is not specified (you can still use Canada Post via paypal for a sale).

I have never had any of my Canadian buyers confused those terms when buying an item listed on eBay.com. They might worry about the ship time of "Varies for items shipped from an international location" -- but not where it is coming from.

The big disadvantage is no calculated shipping choices for the Canadian seller on eBay.com -- which is why I'm selective about the stuff I list there. Canada Post O/S lettermail, light packet and small packet are all flat rate choices for the USA.

-.-

ypdc_dennis · ‎03-24-2016

@arkh_angel wrote:

... listing in CAD is a disastrous thing. With CAD going from 1.10 to 1.46 and back to 1.30 in only 3 months ...

It took over a year to go from 0.90 to 0.68

It was the rebound to 0.76 took less than 3 months.

As a small seller, if listing in Canadian dollars I know the price I paid in Canadian dollars (if bought in US$ I convert to my cost when bought), figure how much profit I need/want in Canadian $, then list and forget until it's time to relist (I don't use GTC) and then readjust if desired to meet market conditions.

-.-

I see from your the type of stuff that you list that calculated shipping would be the main issue with using eBay,com

-.-

ypdc_dennis · ‎03-24-2016

@i.am.vivian wrote:

2) When listing items on dot com (again, to use USD) will there ever be an option for shipping to click on "International" or something? Right now all there is are American choices. With so many people wanting to list in the currency of the world, will ebay ever set up alternate shipping choices on dot com for places other than USA?

By this I mean once an item location is specified as Canada, for example, will there be an option to click on and specify the Canadian shipping cost, such as a Canada Post link to offer the Calculated cost from the Canadian seller to the American buyer?

Currently the shipping choices for a Canadian seller to Canada on eBay.com are flat rate Economy Int'l, Standard Int'l or Expedited Int'l. To the USA it is Economy Shipping from Outside USA, etc

The carrier is not specified (you can still use Canada Post via paypal for a sale).

It would be really, really nice if the folks at eBay.com could be convinced to add a calculated shipping rate option using Canada Post. The tricky part would be what exchange rate to use when converting from Canada Post CA$ to the listing's US$ (possibly by setting the exchange rate at the time the listing is posted, so same rate would be used for the entire time the listing is active).

-.-

brixtonchrome · ‎03-24-2016

Ok, so after being angry about this change all day yesterday, and checking this board from a response to what I thought was a very politely worded enquiry, I have resigned myself to having to re-do 4,000 listings using the migration tool that will be available in May. If it is available in May as you have said it will be than that gives me 4 months to do the work.

However, I would appreciate it if either Rodney or Raphael could answer these questions that I and other members have already raised:

1. Are Canadian sellers, at any point going to be forced to adopt the Global Shipping Program?

2. Will selling on ebay.com constitute doing business in the U.S. for tax purposes?

3. Will selling on e-bay.com require Canadian sellers to adhere to unrealistic American delivery times in order to avoid customers recording a late shipment, which counts as a transaction defect?

4. Will the new migration tool at least allow me to end existing listings in bulk once I have published the new draft listings? This one is key because the way your information bulletin reads, it sounds like I will have to publish the listings and then go an end each one manually - that is where all the extra work is. I would hope that the tool is built in such a way that it automatically ends the old listing when a new one is published.

I have already started all my new listings in CAD, so I am giving this a chance. However, how my questions are answered will be very indicative to me of the overall attitude that e-bay has to its sellers.

lorraine_carol · ‎03-24-2016

Good Morning....

I thought I'd give this a go. I listed one item on .ca in CAD. For shipping I charge a flat fee (within Canada & to the USA). It was necessary to introduce a new Shipping Policy in CAD. I was disappointed and discouraged to see the shipping rate to the USA is displayed in Canadian funds on .com rather than converted to USD. The actual shipping rate via Expedited is on average $19-$22 to the USA however I absorb half of this and charge a flat fee of $9.65 to help attract US sales. Anyhow when testing my first CAD listing, the shipping on .com to the USA is displayed in CAD as $14.65 rather than 30% lower (closer to $9.65 give or take a few cents). ..much too high and not something American sellers will think to convert for themselves.

Any advice would be welcomed.

Lorraine

ypdc_dennis · ‎03-24-2016

Here's a list of current

Shipping choices when listing on eBay.com for the Canadian seller

(who ships from Canada)

-.-

To the USA
All flat rate, no calculated, with expected delivery time.

Economy Shipping from outside US (11 to 23 business days)
Standard Shipping from outside US (6 to 10 business days)
Expedited Shipping from outside US (1 to 4 business days)

Economy Shipping (1 to 10 business days)
Standard Shipping (1 to 6 business days)
Expedited Shipping (1 to 4 business days)
One Day Shipping (1 business day)

FedEX International Economy (2 to 4 business days) ???
Flat rate Freight

-.-

Outside the USA, to the rest of the world (including Canada)
All flat rate, no calculated, countries are selectable.

Economy Int'l Shipping (Varies for items shipped from an international location)
Standard Int'l Shipping (Varies for items shipped from an international location)
Expedited Int'l Shipping (Varies for items shipped from an international location)

-.-

A Canadian seller can still buy discounted shipping through PayPal from Canada Post.

-.-

ypdc_dennis · ‎03-24-2016

@lorraine_carol wrote:
... I thought I'd give this a go. I listed one item on .ca in CAD. ... I was disappointed and discouraged to see the shipping rate to the USA is displayed in Canadian funds on .com rather than converted to USD.

Where are you looking?

For one of my items I see (on eBay.com):

-.-

Actual listing page:

Shipping: C $11.02 (approx. US $8.35)

-.-

Search (only for price+shipping choices):

+$8,35 shipping

All other search choices do not display shipping.

-.-

Your Selling page:

Displays in the currency it was listed in (your potential buyers do not see that page)

Makes it easy to see what currency you used when listing.

-.-

Plus all shipping when you are viewing is to your location. The .com site just shows it in US$

raphael@ebay.com · ‎03-24-2016

@martmaduke wrote:

Going to .com, we lose out on Calculated Shipping. Canadians have to pick Flat Rate Shipping which means we have to eat up higher postage costs. UPS and FedEx are much more expensive than Canada Post and they charge hidden fees to the customer so I won't consider those as options for calculated. It's impossible to flat rate International Air Mail. It can be anything from 8$-18$ for the same weight. That's the reason why I don't list on .com. If .com was advantageous to me in anyway, I'd already been selling there.

Many categories such as magazines and cds are caped at rates that make it impossible to ship an item entirely from Canada.

The only advantage they are promoting is that we will increase sales by selling cheaper because our dollar's value keeps going down. But I can already and do lower my prices when I want to sell cheaper. Why would I want to leave this at the randomness of the foreign exchange rate?

What advantage is there at losing control over a currency? I am also confused why sellers are "jazzed up" at the new rule that will prevent them and others from selling in USD? How does someone else selling in USD or CAD affects another's business?

Hello martmaduke,

From what you're saying, you're better off listing in CAD and staying on eBay.ca. This is how you'll be able to still use calculated shipping and avoid hitting shipping caps in the .com media categories. With that said, I want to make it clear that we aren't expecting anyone to sell for cheaper. In fact, as you convert USD listings to CAD, you should raise the dollar amount to match the item's original USD value.

I really hope you'll try CAD out on a few items and see for yourself.