Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

I spent a long time on the phone a couple of weeks ago with Customer Support re: the fact that all my listings were switched (not by me!) from US dollars to Canadian dollars. They assured me it was a glitch that would be sorted out within 48 hours. Two weeks later it's still happening - I list in US and EBay switches my listings to Canadian. Another long wait and discussion with the Selling Department - they had no idea why this was happening but assured me a manager (or someone) would email me within 48 hours. This has not happened. I'm about to give up on EBay completely.

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?


@madhiker00 wrote:

I spent a long time on the phone a couple of weeks ago with Customer Support re: the fact that all my listings were switched (not by me!) from US dollars to Canadian dollars. They assured me it was a glitch that would be sorted out within 48 hours. Two weeks later it's still happening - I list in US and EBay switches my listings to Canadian. Another long wait and discussion with the Selling Department - they had no idea why this was happening but assured me a manager (or someone) would email me within 48 hours. This has not happened. I'm about to give up on EBay completely.


At what point is it switching to Canadian $ -- before the listing is completed and active?

 

Or after you have it set up and running? <== which is a serious issue.

 

 

Currently when you list on eBay.CA you must select US$ at the start if that's what you want, otherwise it is automatically set to Canadian $ each time you list.

 

Alternatively, if you really must have US$ then you can list on eBay.COM and always have US$

 

 

Just checked my listings and the few I have on eBay.ca in US$ are still in US$

 

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

For Canadian sellers who list in US$ on ebay.ca this is their new policy;

"As illustrated in the table below, our analysis found that Canadian business sellers’ aggregate Fixed Price sell-through rates(1) and Auction conversion rates(2) perform better when their listings are in CAD on eBay.ca.
eBay has historically suggested that Canadian sellers should list in U.S. dollars to maximize sales. However, as a result of our analysis, we find that listing in U.S. dollars is no longer the best practice for most Canadian business sellers. We are confident that listing in CAD on eBay.ca is the right strategy to improve overall selling success for most Canadian sellers(3) Some exceptions apply. "

I am not happy about this. 99.9% of my buyers are in the USA. Americans do not understand CAD$ nor do they want to.And if you sell worldwide, the US $ is the most accepted currency, NOT CAD$. I can't see their logic in this whatsoever.
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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

Also I might add; Since this new policy, each time I list an item, I manually have to change from CAD $ to US, the page then refreshes, then for an unknown and apparently unfixable reason all of my Business Policies (shipping,returns & payment) are deleted and I have to re-choose them from the drop-down menu EACH TIME I LIST AN ITEM. Therefore it takes much longer to list an item. Selling on ebay for Canadians has become more work than what it’s worth. I do hope they see this as a huge deterrent and nuisance.
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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?


@lorraine_carol wrote:
I am not happy about this. 99.9% of my buyers are in the USA. Americans do not understand CAD$ nor do they want to.And if you sell worldwide, the US $ is the most accepted currency, NOT CAD$. I can't see their logic in this whatsoever.

I totally agree with you. I have a story regarding this, when the CAD$ was a little bit higher than the US$... I was on a forum for fans of a TV show. I met someone who was searching for a particular photo and I had it. So we negociated a price. I sent him an invoice through PayPal. Do you know what he said? "I did not realise the price was in CAD$. I will not purchase the picture after all."

 

It was $7 CAD with free shipping, which brough the total to maybe $7.10 US. For a difference of about ten - yes TEN - pennies, he refused to buy it!

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

So how is it going to work with paypal.  Currently buyer pays in US $ and it goes into my paypal account which is in US$.  I then have it  transferred to a US account in the US.  I sell on both .ca and .com and Bonanza and discogs all in US$.  

 

So now a buyer will pay me CDN$ and paypal is going to charge me to put it into US funds so I can transfer it to my US bank.  That's not gonna work for me.   Over 50% of my sales are to the US.  

 

Why does ebay continuously change things that have worked for a long time.  

 

Someone will be making a lot on exchange rates and it won't be me.  

 

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

Being most Canadian sellers have to convert to CAN$ funds to withdraw, there will presumably be much less made on exchange rate premium if more Canadian sellers list in CAN$. Being paypal handles the exchange, and the now completely separate ebay is recommending changing listing currency, there is no conspiracy to be had

obviously it wouldn't make any sense for a Canadian receiving CAN$ to convert to US$ for the purpose of withdrawing from paypal, when they could easily withdraw it as CAN$
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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

For Canadian sellers who list in US$ on ebay.ca this is their new policy;

 

Technically it is not a policy.

It is a suggestion.

 

And it is worth noticing that in my primary categories (collectibles and media/books) the suggestion does not apply, because the findings do not show any improvement in sales.

 

On another thread, a poster pointed out that there could have been a skew in the survey because it was done just after the drop in the loonie (Jan 2015).

He thought that some Relists which had been in USD might have been converted to CDN, giving a much lower price than the seller expected, but a delighted customer.

 

It is also worth noting that if you relist using Sell Similar you can make sure your listing is in the correct currency.

 

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

Thats right it is not policy. It just means that Ebay will suggest selling in CDN, where in the past it was USD. As mentioned, you just need to be sure you check what currency your listing is in.

 

Personally , of course Ebay wants Canadians to list in CDN on ca. Its all about the sale and ebay getting their cut. This doesn't mean it's the best for the seller. If I was to sell in CDN , I would most likely end my listing at the same total as if it was in USD. the reason is Americans ( and not all ) see $100 as if it was USD and would bid accordingly. 

 

All I am saying is for me , listing in USD at this time is the best route.

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?


@lorraine_carol wrote:
For Canadian sellers who list in US$ on ebay.ca this is their new policy;

I am not happy about this. 99.9% of my buyers are in the USA. Americans do not understand CAD$ nor do they want to.  And if you sell worldwide, the US $ is the most accepted currency, NOT CAD$. I can't see their logic in this whatsoever.

I just wanted to point out that this isn't yet policy, in the sense of being obligatory (at least for the moment).  However, the eBay.ca reps recently did hint at a coming change that might eventually require all sellers on .ca to list in $Cdn.  I suspect that's what they were doing when they changed the default on the SYI form to $Cdn, i.e. to get us used to the idea in advance. 

 

Like you, over 90% of my buyers are in the U.S. and I've listed in $US for years.  However, because I historically had a lot of multi-item orders and now don't (as a result of the .com "cart disconnect"), I'm considering either switching to listing on .com (in $US of course) or switching to listing in $Cdn on .ca.  The reason is that ever since the "cart disconnect" began, I know my U.S. buyers have been unable to use their cart to purchase from me -- a really serious issue in my view.  

 

Listing in $Cdn will apparently force U.S. buyers to check out using the old-style, one by one route (no cart will be available to them).  That will also mean that U.S. buyers won't be getting those horribly confusing messages about "Item not Available" in a dead-end cart if a seller (like me) is listing in $US on the .ca site.  

 

I hate to keep harping on the same tune, but here's the thing about this announcement: it occurs to me that, to follow up on what 'reallynicestamps' said, if eBay has done these surveys during the past year, the results may be skewed because the U.S. buyers of Canadian sellers listing in $Cdn will not encounter the "cart disconnect", thus creating a statistical increase in sales for those Canadian sellers over those who list in $US.  (I'm not sure how to account for car accessories, except perhaps that these items may not be sold a great deal in multiple-item orders, in which case the worst of the "cart disconnect" problems would not occur).  

  

The corollary to this is that Canadian sellers who list in $US (like me), may have experienced a downturn in sales as a direct result of the cart problem that does not apply to our Canadian counterparts listing in $Cdn.  A 5% or 10% difference strikes me as reasonable loss that could be attributed to this one cause.  

 

What I'm saying is that it is conceivable that the survey results may be skewed by an inherent flaw in eBay's own checkout system (a flaw that eBay.ca reps have told us will unlikely never be fixed).  How could eBay possibly admit that the dysfunctional checkout system was the reason for their findings, after having counselled us for years to list in $US?    

 

In this context, advising Canadians sellers to list in $Cdn on .ca would not make the .com cart work for our U.S buyers, but would at least eliminate the "dead-end" cart, and permit U.S. buyers to check out one item at a time.  

 

I can well imagine that, having pleaded to eBay HQ for a fix for this cart problem for a long time, EBay.ca was told -- or figured out for themselves -- that simply advising Canadian sellers to list in $Cdn was the band-aid solution.  It's really the only reason that makes sense to me, because I agree with you that U.S. buyers prefer to deal in $US.  

 

There has been some improvement in this area lately, as eBay now has "smart currency" display that shows a buyer the price converted to their own currency in search and on storefronts.  However, one of my problems with the idea of listing in $Cdn is that, for a U.S. buyer, the number will be higher on the listing itself.  So an item I currently list at $15.95 will show up as about $19.00, maybe even over $20.00 in CDN.  A U.S. buyer not accustomed to eBay's converted currency display, may think they're paying a higher price than a comparable item offered by an American seller.  

 

As far as the disappearing business policies goes, I seem to recall Raphael (eBay.ca rep) mentioning a few weeks ago that business policies were eventually being phased out.  I guess that was another trial balloon that burst.  

 

Whenever something on eBay entirely stops working the way it should, I always expect that feature to disappear next. Woman LOL

 

 

 

 

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?


@mdf_jersey wrote:

If I was to sell in CDN , I would most likely end my listing at the same total as if it was in USD. the reason is Americans ( and not all ) see $100 as if it was USD and would bid accordingly. 

 


I completely agree that this would happen with a lot of buyers.  Most of them don't even bother reading anything anymore -- they see the pictures, look at the main price, and wince.  

 

I think this applies to fixed price listings as well, where the first number to jump out at a U.S. buyer looking at a Canadian seller's item listed in $Cdn will look a lot higher  than comparable U.S. listings. 

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

If the US customer is looking at the listing on dotCOM, both currencies will appear.

Does the USD value appear above the CDN value?

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

If a U.S. buyer is looking in the search view on .com, they will see just one price in $U.S. regardless of which currency the item was listed in. Once they clicked into the listing, they will see the $C price  with the $U.S. amount below it.

Price:
C $9.95
Approximately US $7.51
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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?


@pjcdn2005 wrote:

If a U.S. buyer is looking in the search view on .com, they will see just one price in $U.S. regardless of which currency the item was listed in. Once they clicked into the listing, they will see the $C price  with the $U.S. amount below it.

Price:
C $9.95
Approximately US $7.51

Yes, this is my main concern about switching to listing in $Cdn.  Have our American buyers become more sophisticated international shoppers, as eBay claims in this update?  I don't know.  

 

Just an additional note for those who may not have seen all the information in the FAQs at the bottom of the announcement page: 

 

"How do I switch my listings to CAD?

 

  • Once a listing is published, the currency can't be changed. The Relist, Revise, and Good 'Til Cancelled renewal options all retain the listing's original currency.

    To move your inventory from USD to CAD, use the Sell Similar feature to create a new listing."

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

For years they said that listing on ca was the same as com. I always disagreed. The features were different, how things looked, currency, etc. Now? Purgatory can freeze over before I list on ca. My customer base, always has been, 95% USA and world. I think I will sell where my customers are, in language they understand, in a currency they understand.

 

When the Loonie was higher than the greenback, I still did not have any CDN sales. I should list in a manner than will complicate life, for a customer base that never existed?

 

I "think" that the CDN market never developed the way eBay wished it would. So, they give us lower services, American rules, less functionality, tell us it is all the same, then change it to something worse.

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?


@mr.elmwood wrote:

For years they said that listing on ca was the same as com. I always disagreed. The features were different, how things looked, currency, etc. Now? Purgatory can freeze over before I list on ca. My customer base, always has been, 95% USA and world. I think I will sell where my customers are, in language they understand, in a currency they understand.

 

When the Loonie was higher than the greenback, I still did not have any CDN sales. I should list in a manner than will complicate life, for a customer base that never existed?

 

I "think" that the CDN market never developed the way eBay wished it would. So, they give us lower services, American rules, less functionality, tell us it is all the same, then change it to something worse.


All very insightful comments.  Your second paragraph is an especially interesting observation -- that was my experience too (I've been listing in $US for years, although on .ca.  When the loonie was high, those $US prices  should have drawn more Canadian buyers, but they didn't.  Nor has free shipping domestically made much difference). 

 

I've been agonizing for the past few months on whether to move over to .com or stay on .ca and list exclusively in $Cdn (in order to obviate some of the worst problems of the "cart disconnect"). 

 

I get set to switch, and then every time some other factor is brought up, it swings the pendulum the other way (including yesterday's "helpful" announcement about listing in $Cdn, and the request from Raphael today for input on shipping).  

 

I like the perks here (including Canada Post specific services and the free subtitles), but I do worry about my primarily U.S. buyers running into complete dysfunction when they try to buy more than one item.  That is bad. 

 

I still maintain that the .com cart disconnect will have had an impact on the statistics eBay has gathered about listing in $Cdn, whether they admit it (or realize it) or not.  Although their conclusion may be reasonable, the underlying rationale isn't.  It's like saying you'd be better off using the hand-brake if your car's braking system is faulty.  Well, thanks. 

 

I suspect, like you, if nearly all my buyers are in the U.S., it might help to set up shop on the proper street.  

 

However, the one thing that troubles me is that I've set up my domestic shipping on .ca so that I pay almost no FVFs on shipping (because almost all my sales are to the U.S.).  I use Expedited USA quite often, so I save a lot in FVFs over the course of a year.  If the tables are turned, I'll suddenly be paying FVFs on almost all my shipping, which will amount to a considerable total.  Those discounts - by listing on .ca -- were helping me to subsidize my U.S. buyers' shipping and stay competitive.  I really wish I knew whether listing on .com will boost sales enough to cover those losses.  As much work as it will be to switch to .com, I may just grit my teeth and do it, and run my own "market analysis".  

 

These are questions that have kept me gnawing my fingernails over which way to go.  What I really want is that they just fix the checkout system so I can stay here and keep listing on .ca.  No, I don't believe in the Tooth Fairy. Woman LOL

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

Anonymous
Not applicable

You said "suggestion", believe me it is already stone set by eBay!!   They have power to make the switch!

 

If I relisted individually I can make the choice of currency but if doing them by bulk, the eBay system automatically switch from US to Canada!!  eBay should be just a venture not to control power over us!!

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

Yes, this is my main concern about switching to listing in $Cdn.  Have our American buyers become more sophisticated international shoppers, as eBay claims in this update?  I don't know.

 

They see the U.S. currency price on the search page if they are on .com. I'm sure that when they click on the listing and see the C in front of one number and U.S. in front of another number, they will understand, they've figured it out in the past.  Many sellers list in Canadian dollars and I've never seen a comment about U.S. buyers not  being able to figure it out.

 

 

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Are other Canadian sellers having major problems selling in US dollars on EBay.ca?

I've found having a US bank account seems to help.

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