eBay

raphael@ebay.com · ‎03-18-2016

Hello Canadian sellers,

This thread is open for discussion regarding the recent announcement about eBay Canada retiring USD support from its selling flows. Myself and other employees will come visit this thread and do our best to answer any questions on this topic.

pocomocomputing · ‎04-16-2016

@sleco69 wrote:
I have 900 items in my store...all of them have sub-title which is no charge on .cafr but charged at 1$/item on .com....is using the transition tool can create 900$ bill ?

Will the migration tool allow for the deletion of Subtitles in bulk to avoid being charged for them?

The existing bulk edit tool has the capability to remove the subtitles in bulk (Remove all is an option in the Subtitle edit function). From what I understand the migration tool will have bulk edit capabilities using the existing Bulk Editor. So the issue should not be a problem.

acr052864 · ‎04-16-2016

Hello. i was a long time eBay user who left due to the constant changes that were meant to be better for me. Recently I returned and found success as a seller again - then as usually more changes that are to be "better for me." Well since the recent change my efforts to see have been unsuccessful - coincidence i think not.

Andrea in your message you mentioned that you felt this change would be an improvement for me and other Canadian members. Based on responses on this thread it would appear that you have lots of dissatisfied members. Andrea I encourage you to do a review of the impact of the change and post a status update on the success to date.

gwrocen · ‎04-16-2016

If eBay is chasing Canadian sellers to sell on eBay.com when they prefer to sell in USD,

they should be prepared to offer Canada Post as an option for shipping

so that Canadian sellers don't have to trick buyers with the "hit and miss" USPS and other USA shipping options.

Otherwise leave things as they are and give sellers the choice to sell in USD or CAD

as has been the case for the past 15+ years.

There have been enough of these so called "enhancements"

which have complicated the straight forward simple auction experience

that eBay was 15 years ago.

Is this another case of someone trying to justify their job?

gwrocen · ‎04-16-2016

If eBay is chasing Canadian sellers to sell on eBay.com when they prefer to sell in USD,

they should be prepared to offer Canada Post as an option for shipping

so that Canadian sellers don't have to trick buyers with the "hit and miss" USPS and other USA shipping options.

Otherwise leave things as they are and give sellers the choice to sell in USD or CAD

as has been the case for the past 15+ years.

There have been enough of these so called "enhancements"

which have complicated the straight forward simple auction experience

that eBay was 15 years ago.

Is this another case of someone trying to justify their job?

rose-dee · ‎04-17-2016

@pocomocomputing wrote:
From what I understand the migration tool will have bulk edit capabilities using the existing Bulk Editor.

You know, the more I think about it, the more I wonder how much of its precious time and resources eBay has put (and will be putting) into this currency change on .ca. Funny that they could justify the upheaval that will be involved to retire USD listing on .ca, but for the past 2+ years weren't able to find the time and resources to fix the egregiously dysfunctional cart system on .com.

This does suggest to me -- and I'm not a conspiracy theorist, just a realist where eBay is concerned -- that there was a longer-term plan involved whose main purpose was to increase eBay's income from seller fees, by a variety of measures. Consider this:

1) Leaving the "cart disconnect" unresolved for over 2 years meant that many Cdn. sellers (like myself) with a majority of U.S. buyers were more or less obliged to list on .com if we wanted to avoid those problems.

The result? EBay has been making extra money off me, and off every Cdn. seller who switched to .com, on every sale, because most of us can't afford to offer free or low "domestic" shipping when listing on .com and hence can't benefit from lower FVFs on shipping which was possible to do when listing on .ca and offering free/low "domestic" shipping.

I'd estimate that since I switched many of my listings to .com, eBay has collected an extra $0.50 to $4.00 in FVFs on shipping on every sale I've made that they weren't getting from me in 2014 when I was listing exclusively on .ca and offering free domestic shipping on most items.

2) Now even more of us will be forced to go over to .com once we can no longer list in USD. Unless all those Cdn. sellers can afford to offer free/low shipping to the U.S (first "domestic" shipping).

3) The on-time delivery policy, based on a very narrow and stringent statistical foundation (the number of buyers leaving FB and answering the on-time question, rather than the number of total transactions), and with a lower percentage ceiling than previously, means that inevitably more sellers will be bumped off the TRS wagon. This obviously will affect not just Cdn. sellers.

4) And last, but not least, now store subscription fees will also be rising by about 25%.

The combined result of the above adds up to a brilliant scheme to squeeze more money from sellers, either openly (store subscription), or surreptitiously. My point all along has been that if eBay wants us to believe that listing in $Cdn is better for us, and to follow their recommendation, then show us the data. Of course, that will never happen, which means that eBay can essentially say whatever they want in order to achieve their ends.

It's difficult not to be cynical about eBay if you take a critical look at potential economic motivations behind their announcements and policy changes and measure those against the nonsensical or -- at the very least -- unsubstantiated explanations that they offer to sellers to "move them in the right direction". The fact that they're actually encouraging Cdn. sellers to move to .com who have a problem with the "cart disconnect" (see the FAQs on the announcement pages) says to me that they're happy to help the process along.

Quite frankly, in my personal view, the best thing eBay could do to support its sellers and help enhance sales, is to make no policy changes for at least a year, and use that time to actually fix all the existing problems on this site. Of course that will never happen either.

pierrelebel · ‎04-17-2016

"Of course that will never happen either. "

You are correct. eBay's history shows constant changes - required (they think) by an ever changing e-commerce world. Technical problems have been around from the beginning and fixing them - while a priority - has never prevented eBay from making the policy and rule changes it deemed necessary.

And, let's face it, this is Canada. We are not a priority in eBay's world representing less than 2% of its total worldwide volume. Canada wants two languages, Canada wants two currencies. There is no budget for Canada. Something had to go. Being the only international site supporting dual currencies, it was a relatively easy solution for eBay Inc.

And life will go on.

rose-dee · ‎04-17-2016

@pierrelebel wrote:

And, let's face it, this is Canada. We are not a priority in eBay's world representing less than 2% of its total worldwide volume. Canada wants two languages, Canada wants two currencies. There is no budget for Canada. Something had to go. Being the only international site supporting dual currencies, it was a relatively easy solution for eBay Inc.

All quite true, I'd say. Which is why it makes perfect sense, in my view, for eBay to save itself a whole bundle of money (and make some extra in the bargain), by shepherding as many Cdn. sellers over to .com as feasible.

My prediction -- check back here in 24 months! -- is that within 2 years eBay Canada will be nothing but a backwater site for a minority of Cdn. sellers who sell primarily to Canadians, much like one of the minor European eBay sites. We may even find it phased out altogether.

Below, incidentally, is the text from the FAQs section (re the retirement of USD listings on .ca) which particularly caught my attention, first, because it is both an admission of failure on eBay's part of a critical component of its online services to buyers (and sellers), and secondly, because it is encouraging Cdn. sellers to list on eBay .com as a result of that failure, the obvious question being, why not fix the failure, instead of driving more Cdn. sellers to .com.

Well -- see my comments in the post above. This will simply mean more money for eBay with a lot less trouble. My issue isn't with the clever manipulating, as it clearly makes sense from eBay's business perspective. My issue is rather with the disingenuous ways these moves are presented to sellers, who, after all, are what eBay relies upon to make its income.

Note that the quote below refers to a hypothetical time in the future when the cart disconnect will be resolved. By that time (if such time ever arrives), all of us who have moved to .com won't want to go through the time and trouble of moving back to .ca, since we'll only be able to list in $Cdn anyway.

I'd rather be given a truthful, bitter pill and deal with it, than be given sugar candy and told a fairy story.

Why does eBay recommend that Canadian sellers offering combined shipping discounts list on eBay.com?

When you offer combined shipping discounts across multiple listings, the discount is applied in the eBay shopping cart after buyers add two or more of your listings to their carts. While the shopping cart on eBay.ca supports listings in any currency, from any eBay site, the shopping cart on eBay.com only supports listings created on eBay.com.

When you list on eBay.ca, buyers on eBay.com can purchase your listings individually using Buy It Now, but they can’t add them to their eBay.com shopping cart. As a result, the shipping discount for purchasing multiple items is not applied.

When you list on eBay.com, buyers can add your listings to their shopping carts on either eBay.com or eBay.ca, and shipping discounts are applied correctly.

Once the shopping cart on eBay.com has been upgraded to the more advanced version in use on eBay.ca, combined shipping discounts will no longer need to be a factor in selection of your listing site.

pierrelebel · ‎04-17-2016

"why not fix the failure, instead of driving more Cdn. sellers to .com. "

I do not have any inside knowledge but i think there is a difference between your perception and eBay's.

You see the change of policy as "driving Canadian sellers to .com". You see it that way because you intend to move your listings to .com. Many Canadians feel that way while others will switch to Cdn$

eBay may see it as driving Canadian sellers to listing on eBay.ca in Cdn$.

Failure within 24 months? Maybe maybe not. I personally expect Canadians will list and sell the same total on eBay two years from now as they do today, regardless whether the currency goes up or down or stay the same. And there will be technical issues with the site two years from now - that never changes!

And Canadians will always have the option to offer their products elsewhere. Some will, some will not. Some will succeed, some will not. Some will adapt, some will not. New eBay sellers will list in Cdn$ because they will not be provided with a different option.

It is not a black and white issue. It is not a win or lose for Canadians or eBay.

333doliliflo · ‎04-17-2016

" Canadian sellers who list in CAD have significantly higher sell-through rates than Canadian sellers who list in USD, including their sales to US buyers".

I think your marketplace data study is completely flawed! I too hardly sell anything when I try listing in CAD. Almost 99% of my sales comes from US buyers. Besides, with the exchange rate nowadays we cannot see the benefit at all to list in CAD! Do you also recommend to sell at a HIGHER CAD price to " help us " compensate for the difference? (A great way to be even MORE competitive with American sellers !!!) Also, I never charge any handling fees in order to be more competitive! On top of this, Canadian sellers have enough trouble trying to compete with American sellers with their great postal rates compared to our own very high (if not the highest rate in the world) from Canada Post. I don't even sell internationally anymore for this reason (except for USA). This extremely "well-thought" new policy from Ebay will totally help us Canadian sellers in making even LESS MONEY!! You know what? This stupid move is completely and totally disheartening let me tell you!! 30 million buyers compared to 300 millions in the US - Wow! What a great trade-off!! Did this account for something - anything - in your extremely well-though new plan for us?? And please don't talk about American buyers not minding about the listings in CAD currency. I encourage you to conduct a real and in-depth survey and THEN let us know the real facts. By the way: are YOU a Canadian EBay seller? I really don't think you are. Please do try to walk a mile in our shoes and THEN maybe a new and really enlightened decision will come out from the experience. A BON ENTENDEUR, SALUT!

Another thing - like another Canadian seller was very astutely mentioning: WHAT ABOUT SELLERS FROM CHINA? Do you think you will see them listing in Yuan very soon also in order to make more profits? What do you think?

Let me predict that YOUR profits will go down the drain because a lot of Canadian sellers will move to other more enticing selling platforms, just like me.

ypdc_dennis · ‎04-18-2016

@jewelgarden403 wrote:
... Are all the countries in the world changing their prices to their country's currency? If not, then why are we being singled out? ...

We are not. All the sellers in other countries are already selling in their own currency if they use their local eBay to list. Canada is just joining the rest of the world who list on eBay.com when they want US$

canuckchick · ‎04-18-2016

I would be happy to use the listing migration tool, if it was actually working. I can't even sign in. Guess I'll wait til May, hopefully they'll have it up and going before the deadline!

Val K. in Oakville, Ont.

my-june · ‎04-19-2016

.

@themanorhousetreasures wrote:
@ferret-mom wrote:
I tried Venture One -- maybe it's just me, but I found it complicated to use. And I would still have to know the destination of the buyer before I could give an accurate shipping quote.
Use tracked packet..its pretty much same acoss the board to UDA or overseas...and est online is easier, they changed and streamlined it 🙂

Tracked packet rates cannot be used for items weighing more than 1 kilogram and measuring a total of 90 centimetres ~ anything over that weight and measurement must be shipped by parcel rate.

selleronbobbybay · ‎04-19-2016

raphael@ebay.com wrote:
Hello Canadian sellers,

This thread is open for discussion regarding the recent announcement about eBay Canada retiring USD support from its selling flows. Myself and other employees will come visit this thread and do our best to answer any questions on this topic.

pierrelebel · ‎04-19-2016

Hi selleronbobbybay. Do you have a question that has not yet been answered?

deeeight · ‎04-19-2016

Correction... Tracked Packet to the USA is restricted to 1kg. To other countries it can be up to 2kg. Still the same dimensional limit (which also includes a 60cm maximum length btw).

lacemakermom · ‎04-20-2016

It would have been nice to have been offered the choice of currency as not only automotive sales work better in US$. i know i'm small, but lace sales work better around the globe in US$ as everyone seems to understand the currency best.

*****conversions cause confusion in my experience. *****

PLEASE CHANGE this to allow your faithful sellers to have a choice to continue to use ebay.ca while listing in the currency of our choice. other ebay sites still list in currencies of their choice and i would love to see us continue to be able to do this. thank you!!!

🙂 Lacemakermom

lacemakermom · ‎04-20-2016

so true --- it is terrible to have to say that shipping is another US option when indeed it's canada post.

sleco69 · ‎04-20-2016

reply to pocomocompiting

There still a bug in the bulk edit tool for sub-title. The sub-title of the first item stay for all other items in listings.

So editing sub title with bulk edit tool is not a option.

see my screen capture.

simgin · ‎04-20-2016

Hello,

I tried the migration tool but it doesn't work for me...My listing don't appear even after few hour. Do you know why?

Thanks

pocomocomputing · ‎04-20-2016

@simgin wrote:
Hello,

I tried the migration tool but it doesn't work for me...My listing don't appear even after few hour. Do you know why?

Thanks

The migration tool is available in Early May. May 2 is what I see posted. See this page.

http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/list-in-cad/migration-tool-usd-listings.html (English)

http://pages.cafr.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/list-in-cad/migration-tool-usd-listings.html (French)

From the English page, here is what the page says.

eBay Listing Migration Tool

An early version of the eBay Listing Migration Tool is available now. Use the Tool to look up and download a list of your US dollar listings.

Coming in May: The full Listing Migration Tool

Starting in early May, the full version of the eBay Listing Migration Tool will be available to help you either convert your US dollar (USD) listings to Canadian dollars (CAD) and keep them on eBay.ca, or move your listings to eBay.com and keep them in USD. You will be able to select a choice for each listing.

Affected sellers will receive communication when the Listing Migration Tool is live. Additionally, this page will be updated with illustrated steps on how to use the tool. In the meantime, you can learn more about how the Listing Migration Tool will work below.