eBay

theonlineentrepreneur · ‎07-17-2017

I called ebay asking them what is the difference between ebay.ca and ebay.com, what is the advantage of either one? They said they are 100% the same but could not tell me why then there is a .ca and a .com.

Right now i'm trying to sell clothes on ebay.ca but the shipping fees are crazy(anywhere between $10 -$20), i'm thinking of just listing everything on ebay.com as i can get much cheaper shipping costs from there to the US market and i don't think people in canada are gonna wanna pay $10 - $15 for clothing + another $10 - $20 for shipping!

Is there any advantage to sticking with ebay.ca over ebay.com for my case?

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-17-2017

If you are trying to attract more US buyers you will get different answers as to where it is best to list. Some think that you can list on .ca and attract just as many US buyers as you would if you listed on .com. Others say that they sell much more to US buyers if they list on .com because they can list in $US. I don't think there is any definitive answer to that part of the question. Wherever you list, buyers will see your listings if you ship to their country.

The differences between the 2 sites - .ca has different shipping options since we use Canada Post and the US uses USPS. There are some features that are on .com that are not here...I can't think of what they are offhand. On .ca you list in $C and on .com in $US.

I'll leave it at that for now, I'm sure that you will get some other comments.

Question - You said that you are using chit chat express. Don't they have special rates for within Canada too?

theonlineentrepreneur · ‎07-17-2017

Hi thanks for that info! And yes i'm using chit chat express for both my shipping in canada and US but chitchat's flat rate from my city is $12 to anywhere in canada but to the US i can ship anywhere for maybe $3. So that is why i'd much prefer making my items more visible to the US market because i can offer them free shipping but in canada i can't do that.

The way i think of it is i want free shipping and more importantly if i'm buying a shirt for lets say $10 because i feel it is a fair price i'll buy it but then if i see i have to pay another $12 for shipping it would make me pass on that item but if the item would cost $13 with free shipping i would buy it.

So that's why today i've been trying to do research to see if maybe posting on .com would be better for me.

reallynicestamps · ‎07-17-2017

DotCA allows the Canadian seller to use Calculated Shipping, which is very important if your items are bulky or heavy.

Calculated Shipping is based on dimensions, weight and destination.

All the rates you see will be Canada Post.

DotCOM only allows the Canadian seller to use Flat Rate shipping.

This is fine if your items can be shipped LetterPost/LightPacket .

Those services are restricted to items that are less than 2cm thick and under 500 grams.

No tracking/Delivery Confirmation is available for LP services.

If you are in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal, there are freight forwarding services (chitchatexpress, stallionexpress are two mentioned favourably here) that will take your packages across the border (FOR A FEE) and ship them through the lower USPS Calculated Shipping rates.

Outside of the catchment areas for those cities, you are best to stick to dotCA.

You can hide your shipping cost in the price of the garment.

Which is cheapest?

A $10 blouse with $10 Calculated Shipping?

A $15 blouse with $5 Flat Rate Shipping?

A $20 blouse with Free Shipping?

Notice that the buyer pays exactly the same amount for the blouse.

Which is most attractive to her eye? Which blouse is 'better'? Many people think the more they pay for something the better it is.

Finally, some things are not suitable for mail order.

Anvils are one poor choice because they are heavy and expensive to mail.

But used clothing is often another.

Off the top of my head, clothing that was originally low cost is not a good fit with mail order.

Don't bother with Old Navy, LeChateau, or Suzy Shier. Those sell disposable fashion at low prices.

Look for brands like Anne Klein, Eileen Fisher.

Not the blouse that originally cost $25 but the one that cost $125.

And if you find pret-a-porter Dior or the like, grab it.

theonlineentrepreneur · ‎07-17-2017

I'm from montreal and I'm using chitchat express and they have flat rates so it makes sense like you said to price the items $10 more but then say something like $5 shipping or even free shipping for that matter! I'm going to try this strategy because at the moment my items are getting some views and watchers but no sales yet 😞

Ya i need to find those bigger more expensive brands! I have to see where in my city i can find places that sell those for a low cost.

pierrelebel · ‎07-17-2017

" i've been trying to do research...."

Yes, research is good.

Please allow me to be candid. You are new to selling, new to selling online, new to selling on eBay. You need much more experience before you can reach conclusions as they pertain to your business. Be patient.

I strongly suggest you invest some money and buy "stuff" on eBay - both eBay.ca from Canada and eBay.com from the USA. Such buying will benefit you two ways:

1) gain experience in the eBay and mail order world

2) build your feedback rating (a higher feedback rating may make some potential buyers feel comfortable buying from you)

Use the next few months to learn. There is no need to make important long term decisions at this time other than set up a bookkeeping system for your purchases and your sales. You will need that information at tax filing time.

theonlineentrepreneur · ‎07-17-2017

That's something i will start doing very soon which is buying stuff on ebay to get that feedback rating to go up as i'm sure that it's playing a small role right now in people not buying my items.

theonlineentrepreneur · ‎07-17-2017

I'm curious does where you list the item play a role in the visibility? If the buyer doesn't play with the filters if i post on ebay.ca will my items have more visibility on the canaidan market? OR if i list on ebay.com will it be more visible for the US market? or is it all the same?

pierrelebel · ‎07-17-2017

"I'm curious does where you list the item play a role in the visibility?"

No.

Your listings will be visible on both sites (.ca in Cdn$ and .com in US$) as long as your listings indicate shipping to Canada and the USA and a shipping charge is indicated for both market.

Many factors affect how potential buyers see your listings. The largest is based on how many listings are available within a specific category.

Obviously, if 1,000,000 listings are shown in the category where you list, the visibility will NOT be as great as if only 100,000 were listed.

Also, pay close attention to what your competitors do on their home market. If most of them offer "free shipping" (better visibility) while you charge $x.00 for shipping, your chance of getting a sale are reduced.

theonlineentrepreneur · ‎07-17-2017

"Your listings will be visible on both sites (.ca in Cdn$ and .com in US$) as long as your listings indicate shipping to Canada and the USA and a shipping charge is indicated for both market."

Oh ok so i guess there isn't a point for me to move my items to ebay.com then. I still don't see why ebay would make 2 different sites then since regardless of your location you will still see the item with your currency but i guess they have their reasons.

ypdc_dennis · ‎07-17-2017

@theonlineentrepreneur wrote:
I called ebay asking them what is the difference between ebay.ca and ebay.com, what is the advantage of either one? They said they are 100% the same but could not tell me why then there is a .ca and a .com.

Right now i'm trying to sell clothes on ebay.ca but the shipping fees are crazy(anywhere between $10 -$20), i'm thinking of just listing everything on ebay.com as i can get much cheaper shipping costs from there to the US market and i don't think people in canada are gonna wanna pay $10 - $15 for clothing + another $10 - $20 for shipping!

Is there any advantage to sticking with ebay.ca over ebay.com for my case?

eBay.CA -- list in Cdn$, calculated shipping for Canada Post.

eBay.COM - list in US$, flat rate shipping

Since you already use ChitChatsExpress then flat rate shipping is less of an issue when you list on eBay.COM

...

It's not a one-or-the-other situation -- you can list on both .CA and .COM

And once your selling limits are high enough, you can take advantage of 50 free listings per month on both .CA and .COM -- for a total of 100 free listings (for a non-store seller).

...

If you decide to open a store, then open it on .CA -- eBay currently has the monthly store fee at the same $ value, but .ca is in Cdn$, .com is in US$ -- so you'll save the difference in exchange rates on the monthly fees if you pick Canada.

And your store can still list on either site.

-..-

pierrelebel · ‎07-17-2017

" I still don't see why ebay would make 2 different sites"

eBay has over twenty different sites.

In the United Kingdom, they use the English language and pound sterling as currency.

In France, they use the French language and euro currency

In Germany, they use the German language and euro currency

etc... etc...

While most Canadians list on eBay.ca and/or eBay.com, once registered as a seller on eBay, you can list and sell on any eBay site based on the language and currency on that site. Over the years, I have sold on eBay.ca, eBay.com, eBay.fr. eBay.uk. eBay.au

pierrelebel · ‎07-18-2017

theonlineentrepreneur - "...i will start doing very soon which is buying stuff on ebay to get that feedback rating to go up"

When I suggested buying "stuff" on eBay to build up your feedback rating and better understand how eBay works, I meant to buy from Canadian and American sellers - folks having similar problems to you as far as shipping costs are concerned.

Buying "stuff" from China is meaningless. It does not help one bit and may in fact make some potential buyers suspicious of your feedback rating if it is built exclusively on buying cheap low priced stuff from China.

rose-dee · ‎07-18-2017

@theonlineentrepreneur wrote:
I called ebay asking them what is the difference between ebay.ca and ebay.com, what is the advantage of either one? They said they are 100% the same but could not tell me why then there is a .ca and a .com.

EBay customer service is wrong in saying the two sites are 100% the same. They aren't, at least in terms of what is available to you as a seller.

Others here have pointed out some differences between selling on the two sites, but if you're just starting out selling, my advice (for what it's worth) is to start on eBay.ca and stay there for a while. On .ca you can have calculated shipping available to you if you want it, and you'll have the specific Canada Post shipping services available if you use flat shipping. On eBay.com, you have to think "backwards" in shipping terms, and the shipping options for Canadian sellers in listing there are vague and limited.

There are advantages to listing on .com if the majority of your buyers tend to be American (for example, avoiding fluctuating price points and keeping your pricing competitive against U.S. sellers). But first you really need to get some selling experience to determine whether that's the case. If you find, say, after 8 or 9 months that over 75% of your customers are in the U.S., it may be worth the effort to switch your listings. By then you should have a somewhat better idea of how eBay works.

For the same reason, I wouldn't suggest listing on both sites (or other sites) until you have some experience selling.

Buying from other Canadian or U.S. sellers (preferably ones with longstanding experience) before you do much selling is always good advice.

And it isn't just to build up your feedback count. As a buyer, you'll be able to pick up valuable hints by watching what experienced sellers do. Pay attention to their listing descriptions, photos, and shipping options. Notice how they package items, and how they communicate with you if there is an issue, etc. It's always better to anticipate potential problems as a seller and avoid them, than to have to mop up after the fact.

Oh yes, and one word of advice from someone who has sold vintage clothing for years -- don't rely on size numbers to describe a garment's size or fit. There is no such thing as an international standard size chart. Size 10 in Canada for example, is quite small, in the U.S. it's very large. Also, designers often set their own size charts -- generally the higher the price and more exclusive the designer, the smaller the size number (vanity sizing). A size 4 Dior dress may actually be more like a department store size 8.

What you need to do with clothing is provide actual measurements of the garment. Yes, it's tedious, but trust me, you'll eventually regret it if you don't. If proper measurements are in the listing, it could protect you from SNAD (Significantly not as described) claims.

All the best to you!

rose-dee · ‎07-18-2017

May I add one more thing? I hadn't taken a look at your current listings before my previous post, but my suggestion would be not to use Best Offer on items of low value (my cut-off for using Best Offer is usually around $50).

Rather than putting Best Offer on every item you're listing (which can tend to look like a fire sale to buyers and may invite ridiculous low-ball offers), pick just one feature item that's priced higher. For the rest, set your price and leave it for a while. Buyers can still offer you less (through eBay messages) if they're really interested in a lower price, and you can decide what to do then.

For example, item #192247057918 -- this is listed at $11.99 Cdn with a $12.00 Cdn shipping charge. Frankly, if I were selling this garment, I'd first of all provide a few more photos. Actually first I'd iron the blouse -- you can see unsightly wrinkles in the photo of the back. Do you have a mannequin to display your items in 3 dimension? If not, try stuffing the item with paper or polyester batting and photograph it hanging on a hanger to give it some life, especially for women's items. And, as I said earlier, measure it properly -- bust, waist, length at centre back at a minimum.

Secondly, I'd offer free shipping (at least to Canada), but I'd price the blouse at around $18 to $22, and I'd remove Best Offer. Try this, wait a while and see if you get any interest or watchers. You might want to do the same with your other listings. It isn't easy selling lower-priced used clothing, since there is a lot of it out there, and new clothing is almost as inexpensive. Remember, it can take some time to find out what works best for your particular items. Be patient.

One thing that is poisonous on eBay is showing a shipping charge that exceeds the actual item price. Buyers will just quickly move on to another seller's offerings. Free shipping will also likely get you better visibility.

theonlineentrepreneur · ‎07-24-2017

Over the last little bit i have started taking and using as much of the advise given to me by everyone here! I picked up a nice background, i ironed the clothing, got some mannequins, took more photos! I now offer free shipping to the US but Canada sadly is still so expensive so what i did is i brought the shipping down from $12 to $7 so of course now my prices went up in order to make up for the shipping costs.

Again i'm new and i'm sure everyone has faced this issue before, shipping prices in canada is unrealistic and i'm shocked that they still have yet to bring in down to compete with american prices! Of course i can sell a shirt for $11.99 + $12 shipping which i agree is crazy but at the same time if i offer free shipping now that $11 shirt would jump up to $24 and i think that's pretty expensive for a shirt alone! Again like everyone said i still need to play the prices and see what works and it's a challenge but it's a challenge i'm not gonna shy away from and hope to over come!

So if anybody has anymore golden nuggets of knowledge for me to help improve i'm more than happy to hear them!

pierrelebel · ‎07-24-2017

Check what your American competitors are doing for similar items.

Canadian sellers all know shipping rates from Canada are high. That is one of the prices we pay to live in this country. At the end of the day either you are or are not competitive in the American market.

If you are you will over time improve your listings and see your sales increase.

If you are not, give up that line of products and find something where you can compete, preferably something you know..

"Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results" - Albert Einstein