@licoricebabyandfabmama wrote:
Just trying to get some insight into the Canadian eBay platform. I've been selling on the Australian eBay for a few years but we are moving back to Canada and I'm not sure its worth setting up again. For starters I thought Australian postage was bad but Canada postage rates are horrible! In au I can stick items in prepaid postal sachels like 500g bag is 8.95. So how does postage rates affect sales in canada? Do Canadian buyers tend to stick Canadian purchases to avoid the us duties? Are there any product types that sell well through Canadian eBay? Thanx
Hi, and welcome in advance to the GWN (Great White North)! I'm afraid I can't answer your last question (product types that sell well here), since we in Canada are so tied to the U.S. market and so much at eBay has been shaken up in the past year that nobody seems to know anymore what will sell well -- aside from cell phone paraphernalia, at least for the time being.
As for postage, I would say a lot of us selling from Canada find the majority of our buyers are in the U.S. Postal rates and services to the U.S. are, in my view, really very good compared to overseas. Rates for smaller parcels are based on size and weight, and there are a number of options. I can ship an item of up to 500g in a box with maximum total dimensions of 90cm (no one dimension over 60cm) for around $10.00 regardless of destination in the U.S.
So even though here in Nova Scotia I'm about as far east in Canada as you can get -- well, OK, sorry, Newfoundland is even further out there in the Atlantic! -- I can ship most of my items to as far as California for the same $10 and they get there usually in under 7 business days. If you can keep the weight below 500g, the size to a #5 bubble envelope, and the thickness to a maximum of 2.0cm, then it's currently only around $8.90. That thickness is a critical factor, as it can also permit you send items by lettermail if they are light enough and dimensions of no more than 38 x 27 x 2 cm.
There are basically three levels of air service from Canada: lettermail, Small (or light) Packet (noted above), and three reasonably-priced parcel services: Expedited, Tracked Packet, and Xpresspost. These latter three do have discounts if you use eBay/Paypal online labelling, and they're significant - I can never recall which has exactly what percentage discount, but I believe Expedited has the highest. I don't use Tracked Packet at all, as I think it's overkill -- I prefer Expedited, since the cost is much better for most sizes and weights, and I've always found it reliable. $100 in insurance is included.
The courier services beyond these are priced in the stratosphere, and frankly I find Xpresspost is almost as good as courier to the US, Canada and Europe. Lettermail and Small/Light Packet are not insured, but I think most sellers would agree they are reliable enough that insurance is unnecessary. If I'm sending something to the U.S. that's over about $150 in value, I will use Expedited, or Xpresspost if over $250 in value, with signature confirmation.
Customs to the US is really not much of a concern for Canadian sellers unless you're selling items over $200 in value -- that's the American tax/duty-free import allowance. This is fortunate, since a wide range of products can be sent to US buyers without worry about customs charges being tacked on top. And I do find that US customs processing is quite fast and efficient. EBay does include a short "customs disclaimer" to remind US/international buyers that they are responsible for these charges. This disclaimer appears on Canadian listings just under the item price area.
Within Canada the pricing and service structure is different. Unfortunately there is no really inexpensive small parcel service within Canada itself, although you can ship anything in a bubble envelope to any point in the land if you can keep the thickness under 2.0cm and the size within the 38 x 27 limit.
You'll find a lot of discussion on these boards (and also a lot of complaints) concerning shipping, but overall I would say that if you're registered on eBay.ca, and most of your buyers are American, you should be able to cope with shipping rates as long as you're not selling huge or heavy items, or extremely expensive items. Anything over 2 kg and larger than 90cm in total dimensions can get rather problematic these days.
By the way, in case you're not aware, if you're registered on eBay.ca as a seller, your listings will be displayed automatically on both eBay.ca and eBay.com, so you get free visibility in the US eBay market -- one of the few perks we Canucks get from eBay.
Good luck with your efforts!
