eBay International Shipping should include shipments from Canada to the U.S. even if Canada Post is chosen
Summary: my_60s_models_and_comics expressed frustration over the eBay International Shipping (eIS) program, citing an issue where a U.S. buyer selected Canada Post, but the international shipping process wasn't applied. They were advised by eBay that choosing Canada Post negates the international option, leading to confusion and a potentially unhappy buyer due to unexpected customs fees. Other participants, like lotzofuniquegoodies and marnotom!, provided insights on using eIS and alternative methods such as Zonos for prepaying duties or Shippo for labels. phc64 confirmed that to ensure eIS is used, non-eIS options must be removed. The thread demonstrates challenges with shipping options on eBay for Canadian sellers.
This is what I read about "eBay International Shipping"
"eBay International Shipping (eIS) allows eligible Canadian sellers to reach global buyers by shipping items only to a domestic hub in Mississauga, Ontario, after which eBay handles all international logistics, customs, and duties.
Enrollment and Eligibility: The program is currently rolling out to Canadian sellers; eligible accounts are automatically enrolled and notified via email or My eBay messages. Sellers must have a domestic shipping policy established, and some users report needing a minimum sales history (e.g., 25–30 sales) to activate the option in Seller Hub under Shipping Preferences.
Listing and Sales: Once enrolled, eligible listings on eBay.ca or cafr.eBay.ca automatically appear to international buyers in destinations like the US, UK, Australia, and the EU. Sellers do not need to select specific international shipping options; the program is added automatically to eligible items.
Shipping Process: When an item sells, the seller receives the address for the Mississauga hub within their Orders section. The seller ships the item to this hub using their preferred domestic carrier (e.g., Canada Post), and their responsibility ends once the package is accepted at the hub. Sellers are paid based on their domestic shipping costs, with no extra fees charged to them for the international leg.
Buyer Experience: International buyers pay any applicable import duties and taxes at checkout, and eBay manages customs clearance and final delivery. Returns for loss or damage during the international portion are handled by eBay, with refunds issued to buyers at no cost to the seller."
I've been selling on eBay since 2008. I've been selling on eBay before eBay offered the choice of printing a shipping label. I sold on eBay when shipping was handled by Shippo. I've been selling on eBay ever since eBay allowed the printing of shipping labels directly from eBay. I've shipped items to the UK, Germany, France, Australia and likely other countries I've forgotten. I have 150 items currently listed for sale on eBay. In short, this is not my first rodeo.
So imagine my surprise when an item was bought by a U.S. buyer, who selected Canada Post as the shipping option, and eBay notified me that I could no longer print a shipping label for the U.S.
So here are some facts:
Canada is a separate nation from the U.S.
"Inter" means between. "International" means between nations.
The eBay International Shipping option should have applied when the buyer selected Canada Post as his shipping option, yet I did not receive the address for the Mississauga hub within my orders section.
I notified eBay. I was told that International shipping (shipping between nations) does not apply when the buyer chooses Canada Post.
I asked the eBay person to escalate this question within eBay and received a reply which was useless.
Am I supposed to revise all 150 of my listings to delete the Canada Post shipping option for shipments to the U.S.?
I shipped via eBay using UPS, and probably stuck the buyer with the customs duties and brokerage fee that UPS charges. Buyer was probably not happy, but I did not realize this would happen.
In retrospect, I should have notified the buyer that I would be taking the package to my local Canada Post office and would not ship via eBay's site, and would provide him a tracking number separately.
Not treating shipments from Canada to the U.S. as an international shipment and invoking the international shipment procedure is a major foul-up by eBay.
I don't expect any replies to this. But I'm epically PO'ed at eBay..
flipistics
·2 weeks agoYou really, really need to read up on how shipping has changed over the last few months. eBay doesn't allow you to buy Canada Post labels to the USA because of all the changes the USA has made (and are continuing to make every few weeks). If you're going to be sending it to the USA yourself, you're going to be paying the tariffs yourself through Zonos or one of the cross border shippers. Or you can send it via UPS and risk that the buyer will reject it, file a chargeback, and you'll be stuck with paying all the tariffs and shipping which might be more expensive than the item.
For me personally, I'm only offering foreign sales through eIS. I just don't want to deal with all the rapidly changing regulations all over the world right now. It was taking up too much of my time that I should be using to run my business. When things eventually stabilize, I may reevaluate things again.
phc64
·2 weeks ago"Am I supposed to revise all 150 of my listings to delete the Canada Post shipping option for shipments to the U.S.?"
Yes. If you want eIS to apply to all your international shipments, then you need to remove all non-eIS international shipping options. The eIS system did not apply to the transaction in question because the buyer did not select it.
reallynicestamps
·2 weeks agoIf you are registered with Canada Post's Solutions for Small Business you get a small discount off counter prices and can print labels at home.
https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/pfe2-pap2/en/ui/registration/business?language=en&sourceApp=SMB&sourceUrl=https:%2F%2Fwww.canadapost-postescanada.ca%2Fcpc%2Fen%2Fsmall-business.page&targetUrl=https:%2F%2Fsso-osu.canadapost-postescanada.ca%2Fpfe-pap%2Fen%2Fregistration%2Fbusiness%3FforceVouchFor%3Dtrue&icid=cta_smb-pme_100
You may already be registered, but other sellers may find this useful.
marnotom!
·2 weeks ago · EditedI looked at one of your listings with my shipping location set to a US ZIP code. Two Canada Post shipping options were offered (Tracked Packet-USA and Expedited Parcel-USA) in addition to eBay International Shipping. Your buyer likely had a similar choice and chose a Canada Post option because it was the least expensive.
Offering eIS on your listings doesn't automatically eliminate the other shipping options with which you've set up on your listings.
The problem you've likely run into is that right now you're not able to use eBay to print a Canada Post shipping label for a US-bound item. That's nothing to do with having eIS offered on your listing, however. Sellers who don't use eIS are running into this, as well. You have to get the label from another source, be it Canada Post itself or a service such as eBay's former shipping partner Shippo.
For shipping to the US via Canada Post, you'll need a Zonos account to account for tariffs, but you probably already know that.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 weeks ago · Edited@my_60s_models_and_comics
You may want to read through the info regarding requirements to ship with CP going forward to the USA.
https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/support/kb/sending/sending-faq/how-to-prepay-us-duties-with-zonos.page
For Canadian eBay sellers shipping to the U.S., Zonos provides a way to prepay U.S. duties and taxes. Sellers must use the Canada Post Prepay Account with Zonos to generate the required 13-character Declaration ID before buying postage.
Many sellers prefer to pass these duties on to the buyer by adjusting shipping costs. However, if you would rather not manage prepayments or customs individually, you can use the eBay International Shipping program. With this program, you just ship the package to a domestic hub, and eBay handles all international shipping, customs, and taxes for you.
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As a side, unfortunately when eBay turned off the shipping labels section for US shipping they only did for sellers. NOT for buyers. Buyers still see the discounted rates and can purchase but sellers are on their own when it comes to buying accurately discounted postage. In checking your listings it appears all of your 148 items can be shipped to the USA. Not all items do. The only way I have found to correct listings that show USA tracked CP as a mailing option is to use bulk edit and remove that service. (The shipping option is available once you check off listings for bulk edit.)
Because you have Small Packet Air and Tracked turned on along with eIS your buyers will see those first 2 items as first selection because lowest displays that way when they go to pay.
my_60s_models_and_comics
OP2 weeks agoYes, I am enrolled in EIS.