Discussion with eBay.ca Country Manager, Friday, April 22, 1-2 PM ET

[carly@ebay.com]

Please join us here on Friday, April 22, from 1-2 PM ET for a general discussion and question and answer session with Gary Briggs, eBay.ca Country Manager. Gary will be here on behalf of the eBay.ca team to answer any questions you have about eBay.

Regards,
Carly

[eserafini]

I for one Gary really appreciate the extra exposure since the changes were made.

[marcopoloca]

We are not talking about protectionism here, just a highlight that the item is available locally. i think many Canadian would appreicate to know that it can be purchased domestically without the border and custom issue. How would it affect you if you are a local retail shop in a small town and all people see on the paper and Tv are advertisement for shops out of town.

[garybriggs@ebay.com]

To eserafini, thanks for the shout out! Are you going to eBay Live this year (Carly just asked ....). Let me ask your question regarding insurance to the folks we know at Canada Post. I don't have a ready answer to why but I will look into it.

[eserafini]

Yes, I wouldn't miss eBay Live in San Jose for anything. I had a great time in New Orleans. This year should be very special since it will be eBay's 10th anniversary 🙂

Will eBay Canada be there is force? have you decided who will be there yet? and will you be doing anything special with .ca users there?

[systemagic]

I watchimg eBay's stock concurrently with this forum. The stock is approaching its 52 week low while Google's earnings report this week disclosed a Q1 5-fold increase and its stock is soaring today. I have no doubt that this is because of the strength of web site adword purchasing largely by disaffected eBay sellers many of whom continue to also sell on eBay for a minimal profit. eBay has become a second venue to many even as they search for a first.

At a previous 40% sell-through rate (now much lower) I suspect that I'm an average seller. Combined eBay/PayPal fees, prior to the fee gouge, took 50% of the 2004 profit on quite small margins. With the increases eBay's take will be much more. My question is: How much profit do you think seller's should be allowed to make, or, in other words what percentage of the profit do you think eBay's traffic is worth?

[eserafini]

is force = in force 🙂

[garybriggs@ebay.com]

To imigi.nation, thanks for your question about TV and radio ads in Canada. We have tested TV in BC (in winter 2003) to good results. We also have run radio on several occasions, most recently last summer to announce the product improvements to eBay Motors Canada.

As you know, running TV ads is quite expensive and we design our marketing strategies to what's most appropriate right now in Canada. We have the largest number of visits of any Canadian e-commerce site. So our opportunity is to get these Canadians to trade once they come to ebay.ca. We do that through home page merchandising and direct mail, which has worked quite well.

[mirakbiz_inc]

Hello

Are there any plans to help Canadian Sellers being able to properly charge applicable taxes to our Canadian buyers?

Today's setup only allows for 1 tax and as I hope you know many of us have to charge either GST, PST or HST (or a combination)

[eserafini]

Even in Québec? I have not seen any...

Well will eBay on the Road come to Montréal?

[llee2]

Gary,

OK, I have to ask...

Any PS mugs coming in the future for Canadian PSers?]:)

[marcopoloca]

A great deal is always good, but convenience and no hassle are also very important. If the first item available locally sells for $10, and the next item available out of the country is for $9.00; the customer is free to choose the better price deal if the additional waiting time and hassle (custom,etc.) doesn't bother him.
Whether the customer buys from the 1st or 2nd seller makes no differrence to ebay!
You even took out the ebay.ca icon so that Canadian wants to buy domestically have to go into advance search; talk about bias.

[eserafini]

🙂

When will it be possible to shop the eBay store they are International unfriendly 😞 I wanted to purchase PS stuff but can't access or shop 😞

[imagi.nation]

I would also like to comment on PayPal. Over the past few months we've seen what looks like an epidemic of buyers who buy an item, and if they don't get it within a week or less will file a PayPal complaint. As you probably know, Canadian sellers rely a great deal on U.S. buyers for business. Do you know if PayPal is aware that the Buyer Complaint process is currently unfair to Canadian sellers shipping to to U.S. as buyers can file a complaint anytime after the purchase. It seems to me the Buyer complaint process for PayPal should have the equivalent timeframes of the eBay Item Not Received process and perhaps those two programs should be rolled into one for eBay transactions.

Many of us would like to sell a greater variety of items worldwide but the shipping costs to send to the U.S. with Delivery Confirmation, which is what PayPal requires for proof that the item was sent, makes it not feasible. It's ironic because this is where _sellers_ are afraid to deal on eBay because of fraud instead of the seller.

I know you are not part of PayPal, but perhaps you have the "ear" of PayPal and can pass our concerns along so PayPal can work on what seems to be a growing problem.

Cheers,
Ernie.

[garybriggs@ebay.com]

To systemagic, as a start, I really can't comment on stock prices. Wall Street will do what it does. Our business here is to grow a marketplace. And we've done that -- all of us buyers and sellers -- to great results. I am proud of that. Everyone at eBay is. To provide perhaps a bit more insight, we don't look at raising prices with our revenue in mind first. We really don't. I've been in these meetings so I know. We look at conversion rates and what level of demand and supply will expand the market in the most healthy way.

[mirakbiz_inc]

Hi gary, did you see my question?

Are there any plans to help Canadian Sellers being able to properly charge applicable taxes to our Canadian buyers?

Today's setup only allows for 1 tax and as I hope you know many of us have to charge either GST, PST or HST (or a combination)

[systemagic]

Business publcations indicate that eBay's advertising spending is down. It looks like what works for eBay is spending less

[garybriggs@ebay.com]

To mirakbiz_inc, thank you for your question regarding remittance of taxes. I guess it goes without saying that taxes across provinces and goods is quite complicated. Our issue is developing a set of product enhancements that capture all these nuances (and all the changes). We have chosen to try to provide buyers greater transparency (flat rate shipping and handling features, for example) and let sellers determine their own approach for taxes.

[sunset_sports_cards]

To date...I have not seen the benefit of being a Power Seller. Gary...are there any plans for E-Bay to make it a more tantalizing venue for people who trade on E-Bay?

[mirakbiz_inc]

So in fewer words NO !

[sunset_sports_cards]

Sorry, "to become a powerseller?"?