03-16-2011 10:20 PM
03-19-2011 04:46 AM
But would the US buyer see a Free Shipping icon if he found the Canadian listing on dotcom? I really don't think so although I have been told differently.
I looked at my own listing 380173716131
From dotCA the Free Shipping icon shows.
From dotcom the Free Shipping icon shows.
BUT
If I am in dotCA and change the shipping destination to USA90210 then switch to dotcom. (are you following me here) the FS icon disappears.
That is, if eBaydotcom believes I am a US seller, I can't see the domestic FS icon.
Let me rest a moment here. My brain hurts.
Anyway, my point is. US sellers search on dotcom. They have US zipcodes . There is no reason for a US buyer to look for another shipping price.
And frankly, if he is that anal, do you really want to deal with him?
03-19-2011 08:00 AM
03-19-2011 10:35 PM
03-19-2011 11:43 PM
I think I am going to list the small items that can be sent lettermail within Canada on .ca and probably offer free shipping because I can handle that with just a small increase in the sale price so then all my light packet out of country shipping would be FVF free, right? And my larger items that have to be sent parcel or expedited in Canada will be listed on .com because the small packet shipping is much less than a parcel rate in Canada so I would save a few coins on the FVF for shipping. But I don't know what to do about the combined shipping. I know that if I offer free shipping in Canada for one item that my buyers will buy one...and one....and one and not pay any shipping and I will be packaging one...and one...and one and my packaging costs will sky rocket not to mention the time involved. So I just don't know what to do about combined shipping at the moment. I have already adjusted my prices to cover the high CAD and I am not sure I can raise my prices again so I guess I am going to lose with those fees. My items average $5 and there is no way this change will see me saving fees.
I do have a question.. Why is it only sellers that seem concerned about these changes. I am a buyer too and of course items are going to go up in price to cover the fees so I am concerned about having to spend more for my supplies.
03-20-2011 12:50 AM
Just keep in mind that the listings on .ca will not combine with the listings on .com. Also you have to be logged into the particular site to make changes to a listing so you could be going back and forth between the two.
03-20-2011 02:18 PM
03-20-2011 03:42 PM
03-20-2011 10:43 PM
03-21-2011 02:11 AM
Thanks for that. I have no clue either. I need some more data before I can make any decision and with what will be well over 500 listings (lol I am already 2/3's into making some major revisions which will later have to be re-revised), am certainly not rushing into anything.
The goal here for me is really simple: how do I cover all the extra fees and walk off with an acceptable profit margin without turning the buyers away due to a highly inflated item price? It just doesn't sit right with me to build all my shipping into the item price which I know is what eBay is pushing for here. When doing that it takes away any discount for the buyers and that can really add up for them. I have built my reputation on fairness and am feeling the push here from eBay to deviate from that.
I am starting to wonder if it would just be easier to list on the .ca site (in order to get calculated shipping) but am really worried about the impact of that since I sell overwhelmingly to Americans.
I am also wondering if 3rd party checkout would resolve the combined shipping issue..but don't even know how that works or if it will even still be allowed. I wonder too if the buyers can pick and choose what to pay for now in their cart or later.
Another idea is to deflate my shipping cost under what the actual postage label says and build it into the price of each item. The goal with this is to have the upper edge should a customer not wait for a combined invoice. I could still refund and cover my extra fees all the while making it look like my s & h is reasonable. At the same time, the extra increase in my items won't look as bad as if I put the entire shipping cost into them.
Anyway, we have some more time to think about this. I have a trade show in June and will likely be closing my store down for about a 2 month period during the summer so will likely only start revising at that point. Thankfully I have a full time job outside of eBay now and can get by without the extra eBay income.
03-21-2011 07:10 PM
03-26-2011 12:43 AM
This is getting more complicated every time I look at it. We could give free shipping to Canada & the U.S. & add it to the item price, but if you want to ship internationally you would lose money or would have to put the price too high to include the higher ship rate.
03-26-2011 12:52 PM