Dear eBay.ca: In Canada, we use the Metric System

[your_update_is_here]

Copied from the current selling template on eBay.ca:

Package details

Dimensions:

Specify the length, width, and height of your packages in inches.

Weight:

pounds and ounces (the only option)

My response ~

Dear eBay.ca:

In Canada, we use the Metric System. 

We enjoy being in sync with the rest of the world.

We are not Americans.

Please try harder to adjust.

Thank you.

[patken123]

If you cater to the American buyers,or use USPS ,wouldn't you be better off using Imperial instead of metric? I'm not a seller BTW, just curious .

[nuvistors]

Dear cat :

          In Canada we use both systems.

Even in Canadian football !

1111

[cumos55]

We sell in US dollars   because the US dollar is universal....

We list in English... because English is a universal language.

We serve the international market.

We list using non-metric measurements... Why?   ... Because we cater to the US market.

People in Quebec list ... en francais... However, over time  they now list in both French and English.... because...selling on eBay  within Canada and to the US is English based.

I sell books in languages other than English...   yet  my listings are English based

We do many things  because it is appropriate to do so... and it is good business.

[your_update_is_here]

Dear cat :

          In Canada we use both systems.

If we use both systems, why isn't eBay.ca giving us a choice? 

By the way, for over 20 years metric is the dominant system used in our country, and the system of measurement we teach in schools.

[cumos55]

Certain things will never change.

So.. We adapt....

Go to Home Depot... and lumber, plywood.. and more....not metric....

We call it a 2 x 4... yet if we measure it it is not  2 inches by 4 inches.... actual measurement 1.5 x 3.5 inche4s...

So we still call it a 2 x 4... why is it a 2 x 4?

Plywood is still 4 feet x 8 feet....

Why?   ... Because it  is ... and for no other reason...

[pocomocomputing]

The eBay.ca Sell Your Item form has an option to use metric in the listings.  In the shipping section called "Give buyers shipping details" there is a blue link call "add or remove options", click on that, then a popup box appears, scroll down and select Metric system and done. The listing will be in metric cm and grams.

[pocomocomputing]

eBay changed the Sell Your Item form to have the dimensions show all the time. Before, they would only show if you use calculate shipping.  So consolecat, you probably never set your measurement system to metric using Add or remove options. Metric option has been there for all the time I sold on eBay 4+ years.

[your_update_is_here]

The eBay.ca Sell Your Item form has an option to use metric in the listings.  In the shipping section called "Give buyers shipping details" there is a blue link call "add or remove options", click on that, then a popup box appears, scroll down and select Metric system and done. The listing will be in metric cm and grams.

Thank you, I have adjusted my template to display metric. 

I buy gas for my car measured in liters.  And fabric measured in meters and bulk food weighed by grams.  I drive at a speed measured in kilometers per hour.  At my local Home Depot or Lowes, I purchase items measured using meters and centimeters.  We're relatively modern out here on the West Coast.

🙂

[cumos55]

Why not included both metric and Imperial measurements in listings?

[cumos55]

What would someone in Washington State say to your metric measurements in a listing?

[nuvistors]

Thank you, I have adjusted my template to display metric. 

I buy gas for my car measured in liters.  And fabric measured in meters and bulk food weighed by grams.  I drive at a speed measured in kilometers per hour.  At my local Home Depot or Lowes, I purchase items measured using meters and centimeters.  We're relatively modern out here on the West Coast.

🙂

What do you call a   2X4  ?

1234

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

A "2X4" is not a measurement, it is a proper name.

[pierrelebel]

"Dear eBay.ca: In Canada, we use the Metric System"

eBay.ca already knows that.  That is why the listing form offers measurements and weights in metric and imperial (seller's choice).

Instead of making fun of eBay.ca in the title, it would have been preferable to ask: "How do I get metric measurements and weights in my listings?"

[rawbcca]

Here in Canada for over fifty years, I use both standard & metric systems.

So Shut-Up.

[cumos55]

A 2 x 4 is the measurement of a raw piece of lumber... an actual measurement,  as it was cut from the tree. 

or  50.8 mm x 101.6 mm... in metric

All four sides are planed down to create a "smooth" surface, on all sides,  with a 2 x 4 actually having a measurement of 1.5 inches x 3.5 inches  (38.1 mm x 88.9 mm)..

So metric lumber is still called a 2 x 4 for a very good reason

and... for some construction  a raw, unplaned, 2 x 4 will be used..... 

[nuvistors]

If Canada was truly metric the CFL would have meter lines , not yard lines !

123

[downsizing2018]

I can honestly say that I am bilingual in this imperial / versus metric debaate.  However small measurements still make me think twice - I quite like seeing the measurements in imperial hen buying, and hope that a seller would want to cater to the buyers -

[dipmicro]

In Canada we use both: we measure gas in litres and distance in kilometres, but use American Wire Gauge instead of IEC 60228 and Letter paper size instead of A4.

My MPAC property assessment, uses feet - government themselves are not fully metricated, 43 years after Canada started converting.

Speaking of Ebay, I once got a neg because I listed item in millimeters and my american buyer thought it was Not As Described and too small. When I objected dimensions were clearly stated, he snapped millimeters were too confusing for him.

[rose-dee]

As sellers, I think we should be considering our buyers' convenience and ease of understanding the measurements as the first priority.  I would guess that most Canadian sellers have more U.S. buyers than any others, and Americans always feel more comfortable with their own familiar ways.  Insisting on sticking to metric if you know the majority of your buyers are American may be a recipe for complaints and bad FB/DSRs (don't forgot that "item as described" DSR). 

If you sell to the U.S. and overseas a lot, include metric and imperial measurements in listings. 

As has been pointed out here, although Canada may be "officially" metric, many common items are still described in imperial weights and measures, and a lot of people who grew up with the imperial system still find it easiest to work in, or visualize, those measurements for many purposes.