eBay

block36 · ‎07-24-2015

I have just listed two postcards for AUCTION and have assigned starting prices as $8.99 and $9.99 thinking it will be my default setting in US dollars.

Then I checked my items and noticed that starting prices are shown as Cdn dollars...

Attended both items trying to correct and did not get the option to switch - only Canadian dollars

Did anybody else experience such a restriction today or earlier?

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-05-2015

For the above reasons (and many more), I don't list on .com and am not looking forward to being obligated to make a choice between listing on .ca and risking loss of sales or listing on .com and risking defects.

Sorry, one more question.

How do you perceive that listing on .com would mean more defects?

rose-dee · ‎08-05-2015

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

"As I said earlier, I would prefer that the currency options are left to the choice of the seller and at this point we don't know what is going to happen."

I agree, I'd like them to leave things exactly as they are. I'm happy, you're happy, other Canadian sellers are happy with the choice. As for what is going to happen, as Pierre said earlier, Rodney made it pretty clear a change to $Cdn is likely in the future. Exactly when, who knows? I'd just like to think about it and consider any alternatives before the inevitable is upon us.

"I realize that many of your points for not wanting to list in Cdn $ and for not listing on .com make perfect sense to you but perhaps you attribute more importance to them than any of your buyers do. I'm not suggesting that you need to change anything if you feel everything is working for you. But the fact is that you may eventually have to make some changes and imo you don't have enough info to 'know' whether or not the changes will be negative or positive."

I think you'd argue black is white, 'pj'. They make sense to me because they've worked for logical reasons. There is no logical reason for me to switch to $Cdn except eBay's dubious say-so (which as I've said, I believe is being promulgated for reasons of their own [cost cutting]). There's an old saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". This ain't broke.

If and when I'm forced to list in $Cdn, I will probably have to face moving over to .com with whatever issues that entails. If it doesn't involve major headaches with shipping, I'll be less upset than I am now contemplating the effort involved in adjusting to a new site. I am not going to list in $Cdn on .ca if I can avoid it, because not only will it involve constantly monitoring my prices as the $Cdn fluctuates, but it will mean that my listings will appear differently to Americans than the rest of my (U.S.) competitors. I frankly can see no advantage in that.

I do wonder why you're listing in $US if you're so certain that listing in $Cdn would not be detrimental. Would you change all your listings to $Cdn as an experiment at the present time? I honestly don't see the point in doing so.

I'm not willing to go to all that trouble and waste of time only to find that my U.S. sales (which are virtually my only buyers) become reduced as a result. I'm not saying that this is the necessary result, but it's rational to assume there would be a risk. I like to stick with what works. Also, as I've pointed out on a number of occasions, I sell in $US, and buy day-to-day supplies (and postage labels) in $Cdn. I've been happy lately to get the extra ca. 18-20% exchange bonus. It makes up for rising Canada Post costs, for one thing.

Also, I buy some of my more important supplies from the States in $US directly from my Paypal account (not through eBay, but other sites that accept Paypal). Listing and selling in $US means a dollar is a dollar is a dollar when I go to purchase from the U.S. That saves me money too, as the $Cdn falls in value.

Up until 2 weeks ago, eBay told us listing in $US would net a ca. 15% increase in sales. Then suddenly that's no longer true and they pull the statement from the site. Those sorts of trends don't change overnight. EBay wants the switch to $Cdn for quite another reason, in my opinion.

Love to chat further, but I have other things to do tonight...

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-06-2015

I do wonder why you're listing in $US if you're so certain that listing in $Cdn would not be detrimental.

Would you change all your listings to $Cdn as an experiment at the present time? I honestly don't see the point in doing so.

Actually, I didn't say that I was certain that it would be or wouldn't be detrimental. I just don't think that at this time there is any proof that it would be detrimental.

But I will tell you again why I list in U.S. $. It's pretty simple......ebay.com doesn't give me the option of listing in any other currency. As I stated before, the few listings that I do have on .ca are already listed in Canadian currency so there is no need for me to change them in order to 'experiment'.

rose-dee · ‎08-06-2015

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

But I will tell you again why I list in U.S. $. It's pretty simple......ebay.com doesn't give me the option of listing in any other currency.

Yes, I understand you must use $US in listing on .com, but why list on .com at all? I suppose that is what I was really asking. I truly am curious about a Canadian seller's reasons for listing on the U.S. site. I'm trying to evaluate this question before making a decision. Hearing from Canadians who have been listing for some time on .com may help not just me, but a lot of other sellers who may be trying to sort this issue out too.

I realize many Canadian store sellers list on .com in order to take advantage of the extra free store listings available there. I haven't yet done that, as I've been comfortable with all my Canada Post shipping prices and details -- it took me long enough to get those sorted out on .ca that I haven't been keen to start a different process on .com.

I also realize there are items that may have more appeal to a particularly U.S. market, and that may apply to my items. However, I've stayed exclusively on .ca thus far because of the shipping options and the familiarity with policy.

I would be interested in knowing what you see as the benefits of listing on .com (I realize benefits may differ for various categories). Are there any disadvantages you've encountered?

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-06-2015

I moved all of my listings on to .com when the cart started on that site because it didn't work with my .ca listings and at the time I had quite a few multiple sales. When the dollar started going down I moved any sports related items back to .ca so that I could list in Canadian dollars as many of those items were Canadian related.

Other than using the cart, I can't think of any advantages that I use but some people might think that being able to file an unpaid item claim in 2 days is an advantage. I never file one that quickly though.

Some sellers may also find it an advantage to register in the hassle free returns program so that they can charge a restocking fee for buyers remorse returns

I can't think of any other advantages right now.

Disadvantages

I can't use calculated shipping on .com but I rarely used that even when I listed everything on .ca.

Media sellers have a disadvantage on .com because of the shipping caps but that doesn't affect me.

Setting up shipping is fairly basic. I think that most sellers substitute standard, economy or expedited shipping from outside of the U.S. for all of their shipping service for U.S. buyers and standard, economy or expedited shipping for Canadian and international buyers. I always use standard as the estimated delivery times seem to work out fairly well.

Listing on .com is really not that much different than listing on .ca other than the obvious shipping and currency differences.

rose-dee · ‎08-06-2015

Thanks for your reply, 'pj'. It does help to have the perspective of someone who has been listing on .com. Of course the cart issue has been a big concern of mine, so far not quite enough to push me off .ca, but it's getting there.

I keep forgetting about the shipping caps on .com -- that may affect me as I sell patterns on CD and occasionally books.

I'm planning to launch a new line of products this year that I believe will appeal particularly to U.S. customers, which is why I'm considering beginning to list on .com. I also wouldn't mind getting familiar with it before things progress to the point on .ca where we have to list in $Cdn, because that is not going to suit me, for the reasons I've mentioned previously.

Another site I list on gives Canadians no choice -- it's list in $US or nothing, so that will never be a problem for me. But eBay will be a problem if they force $Cdn listing only. So switching to listing on .com in order to be able to list in $US will be my only reasonable option.

Still, if and when it does come, it won't be the easiest choice I've had to make on eBay. I use .cafr for a number of items, to get the free subtitles, which I'd have to give up. And I would be reluctant to no longer have specific Canada Post options on my listings. EBay is nothing if not a constant challenge.

pierrelebel · ‎08-06-2015

I am curious rose-dee

You wrote "my buyers. They are almost all Americans,:"

According to the sold list on eBay, you have sold 15 items to 12 different buyers in the last three months.

Have you done the analysis: how many were American buyers? how many Canadians? how many from overseas?

Have you done the same analysis with the dollar value of those sales instead of the number of items?

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-06-2015

I meant to mention this earlier.For months there have been numerous complaints on the .com boards about their cart not working properly with combined shipping for .com listings so your cart issues may not be totally solved by listing there. I don't think that it is a constant problem but for some sellers it can be a problem.

femmefan1946 · ‎08-07-2015

- Almost all my competitors are in the U.S., and they all list in $US. The very few who are elsewhere (U.K./Europe) list in $US. I know their prices well.

Those who are not in the USA (or Canada) are listing on dotCOM, no matter where they actually mail from,

I believe sellers listing on .com would be subject to the "Hassle Free Returns" programme and other specifically .com policies.
This is an important point. And one that must be addressed by eBay and by that I mean eBaydotCOM because while
offshore sellers may not be the majority, there are enough of us, that more though has to be put into to international returns process. And while it would be nice if eBay consulted sellers, it might actually be moe useful to talk to a fe foreign postal system for suggestions.

if the seller is primarily shipping with letter mail using postage stamps,
Please can we stop assuming that all postage stamp sales go out LetterPost? I had to use Domestic Parcel and US Expedited this week for high value (over $500) bulky sales. And I use the tracked services quite often for other high value sales.
We stamp sellers don’t make our money on 99 cent single stamp sales.

Once you're opted in to eBay hassle-free returns, there are additional requirements for a sale to be eligible. Hassle-free returns can be used when:

• Both the buyer's address and your primary return address are in the US.  
If you don't have a US return address, you can still opt in to eBay hassle-free returns, but your buyer won't be able to print a return shipping label on eBay.com.
If a buyer tries to return an ineligible item using eBay hassle-free returns, we ask the buyer to contact you directly.
Some sellers may also find it an advantage to register in the hassle free returns program so that they can charge a restocking fee for buyers remorse returns

Thank you for this information, pjcdn.

rose-dee · ‎08-07-2015

@femmefan1946 wrote:
- Almost all my competitors are in the U.S., and they all list in $US. The very few who are elsewhere (U.K./Europe) list in $US. I know their prices well.

Those who are not in the USA (or Canada) are listing on dotCOM, no matter where they actually mail from.

Yes, quite right.

if the seller is primarily shipping with letter mail using postage stamps,
"Please can we stop assuming that all postage stamp sales go out LetterPost? I had to use Domestic Parcel and US Expedited this week for high value (over $500) bulky sales. And I use the tracked services quite often for other high value sales.
We stamp sellers don’t make our money on 99 cent single stamp sales."

Actually, it's funny you say this, because at the time I was thinking of myself shipping sewing patterns. Many of them can and do go letter post. However, this year I stopped using postage stamps and started using Light Packet to the U.S. for all of them. This was because Canada Post shuffled the weight breaks such that one of the weight categories which often applies to my patterns actually became lower than the letter post cost for the same weight (Whoopeee -- go figure!).

I don't expect that particular little gift of CP to last long.

pierrelebel · ‎08-07-2015

" I stopped using postage stamps and started using Light Packet to the U.S. for all of them. "

???

Now I am confused.

Why stop using postage stamps? They can be used on ALL types and ALL classes of postage originating in Canada. It does not matter if one uses lettermail, letterpost, Xpresspost, Expedited, parcel post or whatever.... postage stamps can be used.

Postage stamps are typically available at substantial discount from the post office or "PayPal" postage charges.

pierrelebel · ‎08-07-2015

For example, yesterday in Kingston, they had an auction with at least twenty lots of Canadian postage, sold below face value.

A typical lot with $750 in face value sold for $410 (plus 10% buyer's fee = $451). That works out to 40% below face value!

http://maxsold.maxsold.com/auction/928/item/84551

Yes using mixed postage stamps does require a bit of work but... well worth it if you value your time.

And, if one looks around a little bit, philatelic auctions are available on a regular basis.

rose-dee · ‎08-07-2015

pierre lebel wrote:

I am curious rose-dee

You wrote "my buyers. They are almost all Americans,:"
According to the sold list on eBay, you have sold 15 items to 12 different buyers in the last three months.
Have you done the analysis: how many were American buyers? how many Canadians? how many from overseas?
Have you done the same analysis with the dollar value of those sales instead of the number of items?
______________________________________________

Pierre, I think the sold list you refer to is not correctly reflecting total sales (as we discovered earlier in the week) because I list quite a number of GTC multi-quantity items. When they sell, they don't always show up on the "sold" list.

At any rate, it's a moot point. My transaction volume is so low that I really don't have to do any "analysis".

In fact I had to smile at that word "analysis". You see, when I do have a Canadian buyer, it's a big event! I get out my postage stamp envelope and actually put stamps on an envelope, quite a rare occurrence for me. Although I did have one parcel this year going to Canada that went by Expedited (but that wasn't an eBay sale).

International sales used to represent perhaps 1 or 2 per month prior to 2014. Now they're as rare as hen's teeth. Incidentally, not so on another site on which I sell PDF copies of my patterns -- I regularly sell to various international destinations, especially the U.K., Australia, N.Z., and even to European countries where English is a de facto second language. The other advantage for such international buyers is that there is no shipping charge to add to the item value on which VAT is calculated in many countries (although recent changes to digitally-delivered items now makes their purchase price subject to VAT). Still, most of my digital items are below the taxable level, which makes them attractive to (UK/European) buyers.

Stupid eBay, who through their lack of creative thinking in policy-making, have lost all of those FVFs from those of us who sell digital items and have gone elsewhere.

Keep in mind that most of the items I sell require a knowledge of English (sewing patterns with English instructions). That does limit the number of international buyers to begin with, then there is the outrageous shipping, then the outrageous VAT. I think those factors must have an effect on depressing my eBay tangible item sales to international destinations.

As far as proportional dollar value per destination is concerned, although I have a low transaction rate, I tend to have a relatively high monthly dollar amount in sales. If there is a Canadian sale, it's always one of the lowest-priced items (with free shipping). That's about all the good that offering free shipping domestically has done to boost Canadian sales -- about 1 every month or two at best.

My U.S. buyers are also the ones who keep coming back, and who purchase the more valuable items.

All of the above factors mean that my focus is squarely on the U.S. market. I would not want to do anything that might risk upsetting that apple cart.

Believe it or not, I've daydreamed about how much better I'd be doing were I living in the U.S. selling on .com -- not that I would actually ever make that a reality! However, I do envy my U.S. competitors who sell in my categories, as few as they are.

rose-dee · ‎08-07-2015

pierre lebel wrote:

" I stopped using postage stamps and started using Light Packet to the U.S. for all of them. "

???

Now I am confused.

Why stop using postage stamps? They can be used on ALL types and ALL classes of postage originating in Canada. It does not matter if one uses lettermail, letterpost, Xpresspost, Expedited, parcel post or whatever.... postage stamps can be used.

Postage stamps are typically available at substantial discount from the post office or "PayPal" postage charges.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

There are a few reasons I don't bother with postage stamps:

1) Time -- searching out, sorting, licking and/or sticking multitudes of stamps of various denominations, and then having to separately fill out a customs form and prepare an address label -- Paypal labelling does all this in one simple, quick procedure. There's also a bit of an annoyance factor I find with postage stamps: one must always recalculate what those "P" stamps are worth each year. I can't even keep it straight from one year to the next with the few stamps I have for personal use.

2) Cost -- I do send a significant proportion of items to the U.S. with tracked shipping, and the discount savings with Paypal labelling is substantial on those. Often I find for certain weights of parcels Expedited isn't more than a dollar or two more expensive than Small Packet to the U.S.

3) Record-keeping: For me, a big part of the value of Paypal labels is that I have a permanent record, easily accessible in one place, of what I've paid for shipping throughout the year, including shipping refunds and/or losses due to discounts given to buyers on shipping. Those records also come in very handy (and save a lot of time) when I have to do my taxes. I don't particularly enjoy hand-recording my accounts in a book, old-school style.

I keep a few stamps on hand for the rare times I have a sale within Canada, but that's about all I care to bother with stamps.

Anonymous · ‎08-25-2015

To rose-dee, many of us listed on eBay.ca and also on eBay.com for very obvious reasons! We get 500 monthly free listings on eBay.ca and ANOTHER 500 monthly free listings on eBay.com. That is why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Same with free listings promos up to 1000 and we listed up to 1000 on eBay.ca and another 1,000 on eBay.com for FREE, that is why!!

domsvinyl · ‎08-25-2015

I listed 14 items before I noticed they were in Canadian instead of my usual US currency.

I thought: " OK, I will just change to US by editing"...I was not able to change to US this way. SO i had to crerate a duplicate listing by "sell similar" and was able to change to US currency....then I had to delete the original listing. causing me wasted time and an extra few bucks...a real pain in the ass.

I wish EBAY would warn us when making changes...since it it not noticeable when creating the listings....