eBay

laidlawgifts · ‎01-08-2013

I have an ebay store in canada.

My shipping costs BEFORE this recent change... were already so high that I was getting bad feedback about how much I charge.

United States has ALOT cheaper shipping available than we do.

NOW a parcel that cost me around 8 dollars to send to the US... will now cost me 13 dollars.

How can I compete with that big of a change??

Any other canadian ebay stores finding out about this change and are concerned on what to do... to stay competitive?

Nancy

Laidlawgifts

laidlawgifts · ‎01-09-2013

pjcdn2005 (2440 )
"You don't agree that there is not much difference between $7.61 for U.S. small packet air and $7.80?

Or $10.10 and $10.35?

Unless you plan on buying insurance for all of your items, that really isn't a huge increase imo."

If you look back, I was using small packet ground WITH insurance... so yes it does make a difference. Now I have to go with air and then pay extra for insurance.. to get the cheapest rate .. which is still a bigger difference than the 2.5 percent increase that the USPS are giving the US stores 🙂

pjcdn2005 · ‎01-09-2013

I'm sorry, if ground was mentioned I missed that. You used the example of $8 so I thought that you meant the up to 250 gr air rate.

As far as paying for insurance, that's totally up to you of course. But as most of your items are under $25 unless you have a high "lost" package rate, paying for insurance might not be worthwhile.

I agree that the price increase and the loss of services all at once is frustrating but all we can do is figure out how to make things work. 🙂

pocomocomputing · ‎01-09-2013

pjcdn2005 (2440 )
"You don't agree that there is not much difference between $7.61 for U.S. small packet air and $7.80?

Or $10.10 and $10.35?

Unless you plan on buying insurance for all of your items, that really isn't a huge increase imo."

If you look back, I was using small packet ground WITH insurance... so yes it does make a difference. Now I have to go with air and then pay extra for insurance.. to get the cheapest rate .. which is still a bigger difference than the 2.5 percent increase that the USPS are giving the US stores 🙂

How many claims did you make with SP USA Surface for insurance? What was the amount claimed?

You do not need insurance unless you have a high loss rate.

SP USA Air is reliable. As mentioned before, self insure and you probably come out ahead than paying premiums like $1.25 US for $100 insurance from a third party.

I have shipped a lot of items by Light Packet USA and International and never had a loss. I did upgrade to Small Packet with insurance if the item was over $50 in value to get the insurance in case something happened. Nothing did when I did that upgrade.

If I look at your listings, most are under $50. Since $100 insurance costs $1.25 from shipsurance, 40 listings insured cost $50. So are you going to lose 1 in 40 SP Air without insurance. Not likely.

So you do not need insurance. It would be silly to insure since it is a poor return on investment.

cumos55 · ‎01-09-2013

Let us go back 10 years....

The exchange rate was about $1.40 Canadian to $1.00 US.

small packet surface Shipping, less than 1.0 kg to the US, was about $8.00 Canadian

which converts to about $6.00 US..

Today the US and Canadian dollars are at equality . and that $8.00 Canadian would be $8.00 US today.

Small packet US has increased in cost over the same time period . Last year a parcel less than 1.0 kg cost $12.66.

and if Small packet surface was still here it would be close to $14.00...

Postal rates have increase sometimes quite dramatically when the exchange rate also changed.

Adjustments have been made by sellers on eBay... Buyers have adjusted.

Admittedly.. today's eBay is different than the eBay of 10 years ago....

Now ...What will happen?...

Lower cost items with a much higher shipping cost will be difficult to sell and make money.

Things have changed for this seller... There has been a major change in type of inventory sold, today, compared to 10 years ago.... The market today is quite good.... Tracked Packet USA is an only option... Insurance is the reason...

Will buyers adjust... perhaps

But the most critical factor is that Canadian sellers are evaluated by eBay on a global basis.... low ratings from non-Canadian buyers count... compared to US sellers... where low ratings from non-US buyers do not count.

Make the adjustments... Perhaps the biggest adjustment could be the price of inventory to be sold by Canadian sellers on eBay..... and then finding the inventory that US sellers want....

Look at selling Canada and everything Canadian....

Meeting the needs of the Canadian market first

pocomocomputing · ‎01-09-2013

In your original post, you said that you are going from $8 to $13. You were comparing SP Surface to TP from your later posts.

As mentioned before, SP USA Air still exists.

SP USA Air $7.80 $10.35 $15.56

SP USA Surface $5.97 $8.52 $12.66

Difference SP Air from Surface $1.83 $1.83 $2.90

So the difference is small jumping from Surface to Air. Much better than going to TP. As posted previously, you most likely do not need insurance for SP Air.

Now some sellers quote % increase from Surface to Air. I find it is misleading since a percentage is so neutral. What is the $ difference? Can my buyer take a $1.83 difference in price. How can I put some in my item price and some in shipping to make it look less of an increase? Can I absorb some of the increase?

Sellers have to adapt and adjust to the Canada Post changes if they want to continue to sell on eBay.

Now I am not trying to say that the Canada Posts rate increase and changes in the Small Packet USA services are not significant. All I and others trying to do is show you to think about and adapt to the changes.

I used to whine and cry about changes to eBay 4 years ago when I started selling. Each year I read these forums and I found that by reading the calmer posts that those sellers just adapt to the changes and try to figure out how best to work with the changes. It makes for a much calmer approach and less stressful.

cumos55 · ‎01-09-2013

Percentages can lie

going from 100 to 80 is a 20 % drop

Going from 80 to 100 is a 25 % increase.

20 = 20 in both situations....

cumos55 · ‎01-09-2013

Many times eBay changed something or Canada Post changed something.

I adjusted and with each step that adjustment allowed me to move on.... and in most instances the selling on eBay got better.

Today I sell books....

I used to list on eBay.com.

When the maximum shipping cost became $4 on eBay.com I moved to eBay.ca and focused on Canada and Canadian.

Canadian history... Canadian art glass and pottery.

inventory was available.... and I added Mennonite history books, books about Ukraine... and Ukrainians as well as other ethnic groups in Canada....

Then came bibles in languages other than English.... although the most expensive bibles sold were unique and spectacular publications in English.

In January 2009 I had about 1250 listings in a store...today it is about 3200....

The average price per sale in 2009 was less than 20... In 2012 that average was about twice that in 2009, with some months averaging over $35

One has to focus.. lots of research and be flexible in finding new inventory.

One can be successful on eBay... and sometimes one has to adjust... always looking for new inventory to sell.

I used to sell sheet music and music books.... Sheet music at $5 was not worth the effort...

A most important rule... If you do not list it at $150 it will not sell at $150

Find the right inventory and it will sell for $150.

Many sellers appear afraid to list it at the right price for fear it will not sell.... There is a right price for everything.

and when it come to ratings there is a way to make the buyer feel better in relation to shipping time and shipping and handling... communication and psychology... respectively....

laidlawgifts · ‎01-09-2013

Thank you all for your posts.

I appreciate all the input.

With my items price so low... adding another 1 or more to the shipping is quite noticeable. Remember, I was already getting alot of negative feedback at the existing price.

The problem with adapting my items and finding new ones is that I am selling what my store front retail sells. Located in downtown Toronto. These items sell well for me there.

This increase has made me consider that an online store may not be suitable. It was doing well the last few years and we were going to put up a regular online store as well as use ebay. Shipping costs affect me on both options. People compare my items to others world wide and if they add the item price plus the shipping, even a dollar or two can break the sale with other countries being able to ship lower than me.

Something for me to reflect on.

Thanks again for your thoughts

Nancy