eBay

banners_only · ‎02-12-2017

It has now been 6 months that I have made the switch to .com with a US address using a brokerage company that uses USPS (they cross the border on a daily basis). I said I would come back here and let you guys know what was the result of the experience. By the way, this is my buying account, not the account I am using to sell. I sell mostly clothing (new and pre-own). As the title says I will address 3 things in my post:

1) Listing in .com in US currency

The change has been dramatic and my sales have gone up 300% from what I was selling on .ca. And for the last 3 months, it went up 500%.

2) USPS in Canada

80% of my sales are in the US - 15% in Canada and 5% Worldwide. Best move I have ever made. I used to drop packages daily with Canada post and my delivery time was about 6-12 business days to the USA. Now I ship 2 times per week and my delivery time in the US is about 2-4 business days. I get international tracking on all packages. In the month of January I saved a ridiculous 70% off my shipping cost compared to what I would have paid with Canada Post. I have sent maybe 600 packages in 6 months and NOT ONE PACKAGE WAS LOST OR DID NOT ARRIVE AT THEIR DESTINATION. And the cherry on top is that I get FREE shipping supplies from USPS.

3) Top Rated Seller

Since I now have my handling time set at 3 days I have lost my Top Rated Seller status but it has not affected my sales. I used to ship daily with Canada Post (and received my TRS status) but now I ship twice a week and lost my TRS Status.

I think you can see that moving to .com with a US address was a very good move for me!

pinetreecottage · ‎02-12-2017

Nice to see a positive comment. Maybe you could be a little more specific. How do you get a US address when you live in Canada? When or if an item is returned, will it be returned to that address? And which brokerage co are you using?

If you've discovered a magic way to increase sales, and lower shipping costs, it would be great. Cheers.

i.am.vivian · ‎02-12-2017

@banners_only wrote:
switch to .com with a US address using a brokerage company that uses USPS
I get FREE shipping supplies from USPS.
a US address was a very good move for me!

Excellent. That's what Canadian sellers need, free USPS shipping supplies with a US address to mail things from.

We're going to Walmart later today, maybe I can pick one up there.

femmefan1946 · ‎02-12-2017

Congratulations. Sincerely happy this is working for you.

my sales have gone up 300% from what I was selling on .ca. And for the last 3 months, it went up 500%.

Is this based on your sales in 2015-2016 compared to the same period in 2016-2017?

momcqueen · ‎02-12-2017

Congratulations. I'd like to see what you sell. Who are you? This is not a selling ID with which you posted.

pinetreecottage · ‎02-12-2017

Still like to know which brokerage co you're using. Would also be nice to be able to see your seller site. To those who are reading these posts, make sure you're reading USPS (United States Post Office) and not UPS.

i.am.vivian · ‎02-12-2017

I would also like to see more details as this is the second posting on this topic, equally as evasive as the first. The original thread is,

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Canadian-address-versus-USA-address/m-p/331613

and the OP explains it as follows,

"With the service I am using, here are the steps:

1) I can print the postage label on Stamp dot com (with my US address)

2) Broker service picks up my packages

3) they carry it (along with hundreds of other packages) over the border

If I have a return, the return address is my US address and my broker charges me a very small fee to bring it back to me.

So my Canadian address is irrelevant and only my US address would be showing on the packages."

We keep hearing about this "broker" and I would like to know the name of it. If it is a legitimate company doing a legitimate business, there is not harm in naming it. Because right now it is beginning to sound like a smuggler.

Not that either makes a difference to me. Out here on the West Coast the cost of the ferry ride to the mainland would make daily pick-ups impossible, even weekly ones. I think a person has to live in a big city or near a border town, like the OP being in Montreal.

pinetreecottage · ‎02-12-2017

Tell us your selling site name and the broker you use. This forum is supposed to be helpful and supportive for other sellers. If you are indeed a seller, that should not be a problem.

musicyouneed · ‎02-12-2017

The OP stated that they sell used clothing and probably uses chit chat or something like chit chat to take the parcels over the border. I myself use chit chat have an address in the US. I print my own USPS labels with my US address on it through stamps.com. I do have to drop off at chit chat office though.

It is not so unusual what the OP is doing.

i.am.vivian · ‎02-12-2017

@musicyouneed wrote:
The OP stated that they sell used clothing and probably uses chit chat or something like chit chat to take the parcels over the border. I myself use chit chat have an address in the US. I print my own USPS labels with my US address on it through stamps.com. I do have to drop off at chit chat office though.

It is not so unusual what the OP is doing.

I agree, not only Chit chats but there are a couple others I think, too. But then why not name it, like you just did? I just don't see why the OP is being so cagey about it is all, this thread and the previous one. No need to reveal their selling ID but I see nothing wrong with naming the shipping "broker". When someone says they increased their sales by 500% naturally others are going to want to know more about it.

It won't do me any good, living way out here, but I still like to know the story. 🙂

banners_only · ‎02-12-2017

Hello everyone, I am not being cagey or suspicious, the information I did not provide where not that important to the story anyways, but here are some answers:

- My sales are compared to same month last year.
- The Brokerage company is called CD Consultants (same kind of company as chit-chat) and have been in business for more than 15 years. They are based in Montreal and cover the east-west-north and south or Montreal.
- Anyone can get a PO Box at any USPS Post Office, cost around 60$ US per year.
- When an item is return, it is sent to my PO Box and the Brokerage company returns it to me for a small fee (3$)

i.am.vivian · ‎02-12-2017

Thank you for all that clarification. It almost seems a bit dull after so much exciting suspense. But now we all know. Mystery solved.

momcqueen · ‎02-12-2017

Yes, thank you. And who are you? What do you sell? Used clothes can mean anything.

ypdc_dennis · ‎02-12-2017

I was going to add CD Consultants to the list, but all I could find was CD Consultants (a company that provided computer networking services in Montreal).

chitchatsexpress.com - Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax
dykpost.com - Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary
runninred.com - Winnipeg
stallionexpress.com - Toronto

i.am.vivian · ‎02-12-2017

@ypdc_dennis wrote:
I was going to add CD Consultants to the list, but all I could find was CD Consultants (a company that provided computer networking services in Montreal).

Interesting. I thought they might be here, but no such luck,

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/services/cb-cd/cb-cd-eng.html

pinetreecottage · ‎02-13-2017

This "seller" is obviously for reasons of their own, not going to tell us who they are, so this is probably just a work of fiction. If what they claim is so easy, it would long ago have become standard procedure for most Canadian sellers. Well, this is me done with this subject. Maybe tomorrow we'll have some more interesting posts here.

kaymar_88 · ‎02-13-2017

Wow, some of you are really paranoids.....You need to stop watching all those TV Shows. Here is a picture of my bill from them.

And my Seller ID.

Go investigate!

momcqueen · ‎02-13-2017

If one intends to present evidence, one needs to cite one's sources.

tobyshitzu · ‎02-13-2017

all this proves to me is what everyone selling on ebay knows - lower the total price and you'll sell more. you started using usps at a lower shipping to the usa and sales went up. on the other hand some of your canadian shipping is extremely high. eg sell a $27 cap with $7 usa shipping and $27 canadian and i wouldn't expect any sales in canada.

there is nothing to. conclude about listing on .com or .ca when the price was changed. everyone knows if they can lower the shipping or item price sales go up. if price is lowered to only some buyers, then sales will go to to them.

kaymar_88 · ‎02-13-2017

Actually I did not lower my prices when I moved to .com listings (so my profit is much higher because of the lower shipping cost). When I was on .ca, my sales to Canada were around 10% of my total sales and now it is about the same. The only negative of shipping with USPS in Canada is that if the item is over 1 pound (like pants and coats) the shipping goes up dramatically. Anything under 1 pounds is quite affordable. And everything has tracking with USPS!