eBay

bbtreasures2011 · ‎09-17-2016

So we got into selling stuffies- stuffed toys, since they sell really well on ebay USA.

My wife did all the research and everything we were selling sold multiple times on ebay USA.

We targeted US buyers, as I found most of my buyers for items I sell were from outside Canada from the US

We had to lower our selling prices due to higher Canadian shipping costs to be competitive with the US market.

Not what we wanted to do, make less profit, just wanted to make the sales.

The stuffies we list are clean, non-smelly and in like new condition (most of them).

We figured we had a small gold mine of a supply.

Problem is, rarely a sale of stuffies, my wife is losing hope of making some extra cash.

I am finding in general since moving to Canada from the US, sales of the same items I have sold while in the US, don't sell while listing here. Is something wrong with ebay, are US buyers not seeing Canadian items while doing a search? Or are US buyers in general not willing to buy from Canadian sellers? Seems like the items that do sell are higher ticket items.

I do know many Americans think Canada is some foreign country across the big pond.........................

Any clues or is something similar happening to you?

Our Ebay Store

recped · ‎09-17-2016

Your shipping to the USA on some of your "stuffies" is crazy high...WAY out of line.

I see some are Small Packet and some are Expedited, it's the expedited that are very high.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎09-18-2016

You show 0 listings.

silverpinups · ‎09-18-2016

We targeted US buyers, as I found most of my buyers for items I sell were from outside Canada from the US

Since your targeting the US market, I suggest you list on eBay.com in US funds. Adjust your shipping the reflect the actual cost of shipping a stuffed toy to the USA.

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-18-2016

Search visibility for your items should be the same for you whether you are shipping from Canada otr the US. As long as you have shipping costs to the US buyers should see your listings.

Looking at your completed listings.....you list a lot of auctions but tthe majority of stuffed animal listings use fixed price so you might want to try listing a higher percentage of listings as fixed price.

Some Canadian sellers do think that if they list in US $ they will sell more to US buyers so they list in US dollars on com. I don't know if it makes a difference or not but you could try it with a few listings. You would have to use flat rate rather than calculated shipping.

Something is off with your US and international shipping calculations. I can't figure out why but when I look at your listings in search with a US zip code, most items show $8.36 for shipping. But when I open up the listings, they show shipping to the US at $11.07 or $16.65. If your active listings were showing something similar that could put off buyers. Then if I look at your listings with a UK location, the shipping is also higher in the listing then in search. It's very odd. I checked other sellers listings and they were fine.

As shipping is so much here than In the US you might want to consider putting a portion of your shipping cost into the item cost and then lowering your shipping. Buyers end up paying the same but their perception of the costs might be more positive.

cumos55 · ‎09-18-2016

When it comes to selling on eBay Canadian sellers have to focus on many things...... many more things than a US seller.

Canadians have this massive market south of the border..... How can we milk it?

(1) What one sells is perhaps the most important consideration. If there are a lot of sellers of a product on eBay.com... then a Canadian seller will have difficulty because of other considerations that will influence a view of value, and then comparative value in relation to US sellers.

(2) Shipping cost..... Shipping from Canada to the US is international shipping and can be costly.

(3) Listing in Canadian dollars on eBay Canada is one thing to consider... or would it be more wise to list in US dollars on eBay.com

(4) The cost of inventory.... Profit is based on how much you pay for inventory...

---------

Canadian sellers have to work the system to be profitable sellers on eBay..... There are many things to consider.... a lot more than a US seller can dream about.

and ... It all starts with what you sell.... The more unique your product, the more successful you will be on eBay.com....because of less competition...

One can focus on one main category of inventory.... However, by finding complementary categories , there is a diversity of inventory available for sale.

One last thing. Many sellers will start on eBay... selling some unique inventory... and then sales drop..... They have filled a unique niche and the are less buyers interesting in what they sell.

One must constantly work one's inventory... Always adding something new... in the primary category or in the complementary category.

From personal experience it was found that having atleast 30 listings in a category gave one more visibility and a greater number of sales in that category.... More people come to look and may not buy what they first saw, but may buy something else...

bbtreasures2011 · ‎09-18-2016

The trouble with ebay.com was we could not reflect the item was shipping from Canada when filling in the shipping calculator. it only gives shipping costs and methods as if the item was shipped within the US. The only work around might be to use a flat rate, which is fine. Now I am not sure if the shipping method would change in your ebay account when making the shipping label. Will it show and figure costs as shipping from the US to the US or will it remain with shipping options as if mailed from Canada?

We are using Turbo Lister for all our listings since I opened up an ebay store.

So do we try listing all the stuffies in one category and not list in the proper sub-category to possibly get more sales?

Or would it also be better to sell them in small bulk lots, let's say 5 stuffies?

And list on ebay.com?

bbtreasures2011 · ‎09-18-2016

"Something is off with your US and international shipping calculations. I can't figure out why but when I look at your listings in search with a US zip code, most items show $8.36 for shipping. But when I open up the listings, they show shipping to the US at $11.07 or $16.65. If your active listings were showing something similar that could put off buyers. Then if I look at your listings with a UK location, the shipping is also higher in the listing then in search. It's very odd. I checked other sellers listings and they were fine."

You maybe mistaken, the shipping will say $8.36US Funds if viewed from the US. But when you open the shipping calculator it will be in default Canadian dollars $11.07. Possibly a glitch with ebays calculator. As from what I remember ebay said if any ebay . ca listing would appear in Canadian $ to Canadian viewers and if the viewer is within the US it would be in US dollars. So I can see where this would be a turn off if a US viewer sees $11.07CA to ship and doesn't know that in US dollars its $8.36.

Now it makes me wonder if the US viewers see starting price of $12.95CA instead of $9.80US. Possibly another turn-off.

I can see where if the item with shipping is viewed in CA dollars by a US viewer $24.02 vs. $19.16, we would lose the sale if the usual price with shipping the item sells for appears to be $5.00 more.

Looks like more experimenting

"Looking at your completed listings.....you list a lot of auctions but tthe majority of stuffed animal listings use fixed price so you might want to try listing a higher percentage of listings as fixed price."

That's a good idea.

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-18-2016

If you list in Canadian, a US buyer looking in .com will see the US$ amounts on the search page but when they open the listing, they will see the item and shipping amounts in Canadian with the US amounts in brackets. It's easy enough for you to check, just search using the view prices plus shipping lowest and change your location and zip to a U S one. Then refresh the page. You may have to input the US info again intoo the shipping tab in the first listing that you open.

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-18-2016

@bbtreasures2011 wrote:
The trouble with ebay.com was we could not reflect the item was shipping from Canada when filling in the shipping calculator. it only gives shipping costs and methods as if the item was shipped within the US. The only work around might be to use a flat rate, which is fine. Now I am not sure if the shipping method would change in your ebay account when making the shipping label. Will it show and figure costs as shipping from the US to the US or will it remain with shipping options as if mailed from Canada?

You would have to go to eBay.ca or PayPal when printing the label and enter the shipping method, dimensions etc at that time.

We are using Turbo Lister for all our listings since I opened up an ebay store.

So do we try listing all the stuffies in one category and not list in the proper sub-category to possibly get more sales?

Or would it also be better to sell them in small bulk lots, let's say 5 stuffies?

And list on ebay.com?

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-18-2016

Back to the problem that I mentioned before.....

If you are charging $11.07C for shipping to the US on the search page the buyer should see a shipping rate in US $ of approx. $8.38 (depending on the exchange rate). When the listing is opened they should see C$11.07 (approx. $US8.38

But on your listings the search page does not match the listing page. For example, your herobear listing shows me US$6.33 shipping on the search page and $US8.38 on the item page. Those 2 US$ numbers should be the same.

Even odder..on your hickory dock crib pull I see a shipping charge of US$6.33 on the search page and on the listing page I see C$16.65 (approx US$12.60)

If a US buyer looked on .ca they would see the crib pull listing showing C$8.36 shipping on the search page and $C16.65 in the listing so both sites are giving incorrect info. I have no idea how it's possible though. You are using calculated shipping? Are you entering any rates yourself at all?

bbtreasures2011 · ‎09-18-2016

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

So do we try listing all the stuffies in one category and not list in the proper sub-category to possibly get more sales?

Or would it also be better to sell them in small bulk lots, let's say 5 stuffies?

And list on ebay.com?

We are going to give that a try and see what combination works.

Going to switch Turbolister over to ebay.com

Also going back to Turbo ebay.ca and see whats going on with the shipping calculator.....

jcurrie78 · ‎03-08-2018

I also am a Canadian seller and notice way less US sales then before... (say 10yrs ago). I also had the assumption usa customers aren't seeing my listings. Part of me now thinks its just a reduction in sales on ebay across the board... facebook is moving in and killing the local sale market. I also use kijiji in canada and see a decline in sales and interest. But who knows.... funny thing is for me to ship a item a province next to me costs 15$ but to send that same item to the opposite side of the usa... im paying almost the same price to ship. canada to us shipping on small items are pretty cheap... i only have a difference of 2 dollars on average, i wish usa sellers did the same... its more like doubled. Ebay and paypal fees r getting out of hand now compared to before... could be why there is no traffic anymore.

momcqueen · ‎03-09-2018

This thread is two years old.

vintagetonow2134 · ‎03-09-2018

there is no traffic anymore? what do you mean? if amazon and ebay don't have traffic no one does. But people here still make amounts of money that you and I may never.