How come items are listed in Canadian dollars then when a Canadian bids on them it switches to USD?
Summary: timetraveller1793 expressed frustration after purchasing an item on eBay they believed to be priced in Canadian dollars, only to discover post-purchase that the transaction was processed in US dollars, leading to unexpected additional costs. They queried the process, as the seller was actually Canadian, but the item's listing was misinterpreted due to eBay's currency display mechanism. msau4301 explained that the listing should show both US and Canadian amounts, and femmefan1946 pointed out that on international sites, currency defaults can lead to confusion. timetraveller1793 further clarified their confusion with the listing appearing in Canadian dollars initially, but resulting in a higher final cost due to currency conversion and additional import fees. They expressed a desire for clarity on the display of currency and seller location in order to avoid future issues.
I purchased something I assumed was a Canadian selling an item as it was listed for Canadian dollars. Then, when I bitd on it and the final total came it was twice as much as I had anticipated on purchasing the item and it was then listed on the same Ebay page as being sold for the amount in US dollars! I do not want to bid on things that switch to American money and I have to pay double. This never happened before even when the sellers were American. When they listed items in Canadian money the deal was done in Canadian money!
femmefan1946
·1 year agoThe item was originally listed from a seller located in Sacramento, California, United States for $33.95 (which said Approximately C $47.81) with shipping US $15.78 (approx C $22.22) eBay International Shipping, but the amount of the actual transaction was $83.69 CAD to eBay Commerce... Now a request has come in saying I have to pay customs for a $47.78 CAD item qhich is an additional 14.89 CAD.
Customs? Or duty PLUS sales taxes?
Which province are you in? HST is 15% of value in some provinces.
That would be $7.17 of your "customs" fee.
And with shipping that's $29.39.
Meaning the actual DUTY would be $18.39 on a purchase of $47.89 - a very high rate.
I suspect that part of the $47.78 is a "customs brokerage fee" from the shipper.
UPS and FedEx are notorious for charging a minimum of $25 for brokerage. (Canada Post charges $9.95)
Too many numbers for my dysnumeric brain, but if the seller used a courier instead of the postal system that could be the difference.
It might help to ignore all the USD amounts and look only at the Cdn$ amounts, which I think is what eBay would be showing you on dotCA.
femmefan1946
·1 year agoIf you stick to Cdn $ you paid nearly $80 Cdn for purchase + shipping.
Then you paid about $14.00 for import fees. (duty +sales tax)
Making about $95.00 total
In Canadian dollars.
Yes. I think the problem is that you are focussing on the $33USD, and confusing it with the 30% difference in the two currencies.
Sorry about the rounding. Dysnumeric means numbers just slide right out of my brain.
marnotom!
·1 year agoI just almost placed a bid on an item from one of your recent sellers and did so on both my Windows laptop on the eBay.ca website and on my iPhone with the iOS app. In both cases, there was a "US" before the dollar sign in the location where I had to enter my bid amount.
Are you saying that there was no indication when you bid that the auction currency was US dollars?
femmefan1946
·1 year agoYes. That's because the actual price was in US dollars. When you are buying on an international site like eBay, it is important to note in what currency the original post was made.
I am registered on dotCA, but sell mostly on dotCOM.
Today all my sales were from the dotCOM site. Two of those, priced in US dollars, were paid by the buyers in other currencies (one euros, one pounds sterling).
All my other sales went to American buyers.
And our southern neighbours are vague on concepts like "sovereign nation", "foreign exchange", "borders", etc., so we make allowances for the "poorly educated".
Elbows UP!
msau4301
·1 year agoIf the seller lists on .com it will be in US dollars, if listed on .ca it will be Canadian. The listing will always show both the US and Canadian amounts when you are buying or bidding. When you are just scrolling/looking, the site knows you are in Canada so it is showing you the Canadian amount, but when you click on the item it should show you both.
Canadian sellers can choose to sell on .com and therefore they are paid in US funds, even if they live here. The auction/listing should have shown you both. Your purchase history should show the amount you agreed to with both currencies and the exchange at the time you bought.
timetraveller1793
OP1 year agotimetraveller1793
OP1 year agotimetraveller1793
OP1 year ago