eBay

craftycatsattic · ‎03-16-2011

As you should all know by now, come July 6th, ebay will be charging FVF's (Final Value Fees) as follows:

List on .ca: You'll pay FVF's on the LOWER of:

Your least expensive DOMESTIC shipping option (if shipping domestically or internationally) or the actual shipping paid by your INTERNATIONAL buyer (if shipping internationally)

List on .com: You'll pay FVF's on the LOWER of:

Your least expensive shipping option to the US (if shipping to the Us or internationally) or the actual shipping paid by your DOMESTIC CANADIAN buyer (if shipping to Canada)

IF YOU WANT TO VENT ABOUT THIS, PLEASE START ANOTHER THREAD.
(I share your frustrations but would like to keep this thread focused on how to adjust for those of us who choose to continue selling on this venue).

I am starting this thread because I would like to discuss what can be done and hear what other's have decided to do.

We are not all in the same boat here mainly for three simple reasons:

1) We have different average item price points
2) We have different average shipping costs
3) We may not list on the same site

There are many different avenues that can be taken and I'd like to hear your ideas and points of view so please add your input in here!

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-19-2011

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?

You're right Femme. In most cases the U.S. or international buyer would have no idea what you were charging elsewhere unless they intentionally changed their location like you just did.

pierrelebel · ‎03-19-2011

femmefan1946 - The description in your listing reads;

CANADIANS; Shipping and packaging within Canada is US$5.99 I do not charge GST/HST/PST.

Shipping and packaging to the USA and APO addresses is $5.99.

While the FREE SHIPPING icon is shown for Canadians. Rather confusing!

femmefan1946 · ‎03-19-2011

That must be one of the old ones, since I don't use that boilerplate anymore. Thank you for pointing it out. I'll fix it. Actually all my Free Shipping listings are pretty old. I guess they all need fixing.

All my Free Shipping items were turkeys that I made an effort to dress up.

I have built my reputation on fairness and am feeling the push here from eBay to deviate from that.

Do you get a lot of repeat customers? More than 20 ?More than 100? I just wonder because I see sellers talking about repeat customers and I really don't have many. There are a LOT of booksellers on eBay.

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.

When the stupid media shipping cap came in, I started moving my listings to dotCA and later to Calculated Shipping. My sales stayed steady and I stopped losing money on shipping. I also got fewer questions and complaints about shipping costs. I think this is because Calculated Shipping looks more "official"

I saw a seller post that his Flat Rates were for odd amounts, because they looked calculated and therefore "official" while the more usual $5.99 type looked pulled out of a hat.

However, I see seller complaints about combined shipping glitches and I think you have said that you get a lot of multiple sales, so you might want to do some tests before going whole hog.

westernstargifts · ‎03-19-2011

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.

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.

sheepgal54 · ‎03-20-2011

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.

Thanks Yes I realize it may be a pain I do sell some unrelated items that probably wouldn't be combined anyway. It might actually be for the good because a lot of my buyers jump the gun and pay without waiting for shipping to be adjusted and I have to reimburse them. Right now there isn't a tool to reimburse the FVF on refunded shipping so it might work for me.

craftycatsattic · ‎03-20-2011

@femmefan1946:

Most of my buyers buy singles but I'm guessing about 20% of them will buy multiples. I have a few repeat buyers that go a little nuts once or twice a year and buy from 10 to 50 items at a time. I pretty much only sell crochet pattern books though so my target market is the same group of people.

I wonder if the shopping cart will allow the buyers to get an estimate of shipping before buying if I list on .ca and use the calculator. I am seriously thinking of going to .ca. It resolves the dollar exchange problem and I will be able to charge the sales tax on Canadian purchases rather than absorb it like I am doing now. It's just the visibility that is worrying me but since I am working full time elsewhere now, I can take the gamble. I won't know unless I try. I will be closing down my store for about 2 months this summer so it will be a good time to make the changes

@sheepgal54:

I also find listing on the two sites is a PITA because your Selling Manager will only work on the site your store is registered on.

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-20-2011

It resolves the dollar exchange problem and I will be able to charge the sales tax on Canadian purchases rather than absorb it like I am doing now

If you set up your tax table on .ca, it should add tax to your Canadian buyers regardless of where the item is listed.

I also find listing on the two sites is a PITA because your Selling Manager will only work on the site your store is registered on.

I am always signed into both .ca and .com, mainly because of the message boards on .ca although I do have a few items listed on this site. I also have selling manager on both .com and .ca. You just have to download it on each site and its free. 🙂

femmefan1946 · ‎03-20-2011

Multiple purchases are one thing. I get those from time to time.

Repeat buyers are people who buy from you several times a year, over a period of time. I rarely get those and with over 6 million books available at any one time, I am constantly amazed that anyone finds me.

westernstargifts · ‎03-21-2011

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.

Link

westernstargifts · ‎03-21-2011

The New Shopping Cart
Another common question sellers have is whether the new Shopping Cart will increase the incidence of unpaid items from buyers who fail to pay for purchases. According to the eBay FAQ, "Buyers will no longer be able to commit to purchase your Fixed Price listings without paying for them first. Fixed Price items added to a buyer's cart but not paid for remain available for other buyers to purchase - your listing stays active until payment is sent."

Link

While this sounds good, what happens if the buyer pays for all of the items in the shopping cart but is still bidding on some of your auctions? It sounds like another incidence of eBay not refunding FVF for refunds issued to combine purchases.

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.

craftycatsattic · ‎03-26-2011

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.

I don't see this as a problem as you would just have to charge the difference of the international shipping and US (or Canada) one...and you would only pay FVF on the cheapest domestic rate if listing on .ca or cheapest US rate if listing on .com