eBay

scouttech-outfitters · ‎12-10-2004

Hey all,

I have been listing in US dollars since the beginning. As we are all well aware the US dollar is not doing so well. I was thinking of switching everything to CDN dollars. This would save me the hassle of needing to periodically update all of my prices to accommodate the rise and fall of the US dollar. I fear though that changing the prices may defer potential US buyers as they currently make up 85% of my customer base.

Has anyone made such a dramatic switch and what where the consequences or advantages gained?
What are your opinions of listing in Canadian vs US dollars?

Thanks!

sunward-hobbies · ‎12-10-2004

I listed in CAD during a free listing day a while back. Not worth the trouble.

Most buyers are in the US. Most Canadians pay in USD with paypal. I do offer the choice to Canadian buyers to pay in CAD after purchasing, but no big deal.

I only list in CAD on ebay.ca when it is a local pickup or specifically for the Canadian market.

muminlaw · ‎12-10-2004

I sell worldwide and the US dollar is much more widely traded in the rest of the world so I wouldn't even consider switching to the Cdn dollar. Also, my items are one of a kind, so I don't have the problem of adjusting prices - I just let the auction process do it's work. You win some and you lose some, but on the whole I find I come out ahead.

Not much help but that's my take on it.

Glenda

Glenda

scouttech-outfitters · ‎12-10-2004

I guess it is just best to sit tight and ride it out with hopes the US dollar will correct itself soon...

Thanks guys!

darlg · ‎12-10-2004

Hi
I list on Ebay.com not Ebay.ca for maybe 1% ( if that ) of the buyers of my items are from Canada. Almost all are from the US but the past month a heavy Europe and Australian purchasers have happened.
If someone in Canada buys one of my items I convert the auction afterwards to Cdn funds for them for easier payment.
US exhange this week at the bank was 1.20 up from the 1.16 but I figure I am ahead with listing in US funds anyways.
dar

javax.swing · ‎12-10-2004

I list in USD and hold the currency until the exchange rate is more favourable through my RBC Centura account in PayPal.

mereco · ‎12-10-2004

I have also noticed an increase in buyers from Europe and Australia. Just recently with the opening up of eBay in Asia I have received Asian bidders asking questions regarding shipping.
Now I have lived in Europe, UK, Asia and the Middle east. Before I finally resided in Canada I had never heard of a "Canadian Dollar" let alone seen one. If any eBay seller wishes to offer their products to a world wide market they would be doing themselves a disservice to list in Canadian dollars,. Worried about the current slump in the value of the US dollar? Remember how low the Canadian dollar dropped several times in the last few years? At least the US dollar is internationally recognized and easy to obtain. Your only safe bet is to list in "Gold Bullion" but that is hard to transfer.

systemagic · ‎12-10-2004

One of my best friends is an extremely astute economist. We've been discussing the US economy with some regularity. Due, primarily, to Iraq and tax cuts (loosing money from both ends) their economy is in HORRIBLE shape. It hasn't even begun to fail yet. They're due for some extremely hard times. About a month ago my friend was saying that they're losing 2 Billion a day - just like clockwork. The global economies are changing. With China's economy ballooning and India's, and then Russia's, economies predicted to follow suit the US economy may never regain its previous stature - particularly if (or, more likely, when) the global standard for trading in oil switches from Petrodollars to Petroeuros. I wouldn't count on the US dollar staging a recovery any time soon. Rather, sourcing product stateside is becoming, and should should continue to become, increasingly attractive.

discountlabelsupplies · ‎12-15-2004

You'd think I'd know more based on my feedback. NOPE. I figure its best to list in U.S. dollars since 95% of my customers are in the U.S. If I listed in Canadian dollars wouldn't that show up on the U.S. site as Canadian with a U.S. amount in brackets?

I figure that most of my U.S. customers do not realize that I'm in Canada OR they realize I'm in Canada but think we use the U.S. dollar up here. I don't want to confuse them.

josephine · ‎12-15-2004

So do most of you list on ebay.com or ebay.ca? I like how you can actually choose Canada Post for shipment method, and not USPS and UPS which is completely irrelevant to us. But at the same time I'm worried about it not showing up on ebay.com, and any new listing features and fixes which are always slow to show up on ebay.ca.

conticel · ‎12-15-2004

I list in USD. I also list on ebay.com. i've just done it from the beginning and it seems to have worked.

Dana

muminlaw · ‎12-15-2004

I enrolled on .com before there WAS a .ca! I list there partly because my third party auction management program doesn't support any sites except .com and I have no intention of switching programs.

Glenda

Glenda

vesivus · ‎12-15-2004

I tried both. I originally started listing on .CA but had more than a few US buyers tell me that they weren't willing to pay the current price on something. After discussion, I found out they saw "$xx.xx C" on their eBay.com browsing, and just DISREGARDED the C!!! In other words, they though the prices they saw were ALL in US Dollars, even though mine (and a few other sellers) were in Canadian (hence, the C after the price). Needless to say, they tended to focus their attentions on the items with "lower" current bids.

Amazing. I just rolled with the punches and started listing on eBay.com to get around that.

eserafini2 · ‎12-15-2004

I list under both my IDs in US$ price: looks lower, it's easier for Americans to understand and this is where my market is.

scouttech-outfitters · ‎12-15-2004

How do you list on eBay.com?
Do you need to go and sign up for a .com account or can I just log in from eBay.com and do it from there?

imagi.nation · ‎12-15-2004

You can log into eBay.com and do your thing like you normally do in .ca

josephine · ‎12-15-2004

hmm .. since we're on the topic, does anyone know if the system defaults to .ca when we have a Canadian address? (especially for those secure sites when changing personal info) Or is it determined by the site we originally registered on? Because I always find it annoying having to log in twice whenever I want to do something as simple as changing a mailing address, or making a monthly fee payment, etc. Does this happen to all Canadians?

muminlaw · ‎12-16-2004

I think the double log-in happens to everyone - not just Canadians. Signing in to the PS boards defaults to .ca but I can't answer for the basic login - I've put a quick link to the sign-in page for .com on my task bar.

Glenda

dragonimpact · ‎12-17-2004

Cost of marketing is what I look at.

To list a Featured Plus item on the US site costs $15 USD but only $5 CDN. The Featured Plus ad will appear on all sites if you select WorldWide shipping.

By placing links in your ad to your eBay store you can generate traffic from the Featured Plus ad to your store easily and at a significantly lower cost than eBay.com and increase sales.

I list most individual auctions in USD but I always take advantage of eBay.ca's promotions whenever they come up. Its not to make things easier for US customers to buy, but mainly to take advantage of the exchange rate. But, on the times I have listed in CDN funds I have had US customers buy from me and pay the same amount in USD funds ( list for $10 CDN get paid $10 USD ).

On another note :
I stopped listing auctions on Dec. 7th and have sold over $145 USD since then just through my eBay.CA store, and these are NEW customers not repeat customers. Goes to show that if they want it they'll dig for it.

Alex.