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.

momcqueen · ‎03-28-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@mjwl2006 wrote:
@ypdc_dennis wrote:
@tobysh-itzu wrote:
The real losers here are the sellers who have been listing in CAN$ all along. With the others going to see an increase in sell through surely that will mean we will see a decrease as we lose share to them!! Very angy over this

Haven't you been reading this thread?
With all these sellers leaving eBay.ca there is going to be lots of extra share to go around...

While I'm 95 per cent certain that what tobytobysh-itzu wrote was meant as tongue-in-cheek, this thought also occurred to me.

I realized eight months into selling here that CAD was a better fit for my business and buyers. It began with my Canadian buyers asking why they were being forced to pay USD on a Canadian item listed on a Canadian site and I had no good answer to give them.

Now the following is a legitimate question for Rodney or someone else at ebay Canada to please answer: are you sure it's the CAD that has led to greater success with those listings being cited as the successes in their survey of the lay of the land? Is CAD the causation? Or merely the correlation? Maybe all smart and successful sellers who provide excellent service and satisfy buyers were early adopters of CAD, and it's not that CAD specifically led them to success. Is there a way to analyze the two factors separately? Has ebay done this?

While I don't doubt that CAD is the way for ebay Canada to go, I wonder if there is more to the sell-through rates of those successful sellers than just CAD at play. When I analyze my own strengths and weaknesses as a seller here, there is a compilation of factors to consider. CAD is one factor, feedback another, handling time a third, free shipping the fourth, buyer location et cetera.
That's a great question.

While it's possible that what we are seeing is simply that sellers who list in CAD are more professional / have better pictures / have better prices / give better service, etc. and that this drove the results of our various studies, I think that's very unlikely because of the huge sizes of the populations involved and the number of data points. Even so, it would still tell us that it is possible to be extraordinarily successful on eBay seliing to Canada, USA and the world while listing in CAD.

Thank you for your reply to my question. As one of the early adopters of CAD, I concur accelerated sales, and agree this is a good move for CAD. In fact, I believe I am under no illusions about my strengths and weaknesses as a seller here but sought some reassurance on ebay's insight into CAD being a driving force for sales. I would like to think that my other strengths share at least some of the credit for my satisfactory gains.

arkh_angel · ‎03-28-2016

@Anonymous wrote:

To be clear - we didn't make this decision from a focus group, we made it from multiple studies of aggregate data and then after several rounds of discussions with sellers. The intend of those focus groups was to help us with planning the communications, migration tool, etc. to better understand the kinds of concerns sellers would have.

Several rounds of discussions with sellers? You mean the ones with 6 or 7-digit feedback scores? I don't remember I've been invited to such discussion groups and I am vaguely aware of only one seller who posted earlier in this topic stating he was part of it. I know the 80/20 rule. Small sellers like me doesn't account for much in your multi-billion business and they do not have the same needs as do the big ones. I just hope you also took time to ask the small ones what they need if you don't want to fall off the end of the bridge with your transition. I saw a lot of people on this topic posting for the first time. You are making a lot of sellers moving out of their comfort zone with that change.

momcqueen · ‎03-28-2016

arkh_angel · ‎03-28-2016

@Anonymous wrote:

That IS a great idea, and it is pretty much exactly what one of the focus group sellers said to me as well.

Fortunately, we took that seller's advice and we have launched a couple of promotions along these lines already. They are generous promos. Shorter in term than what you have suggested here, but it doesn't mean there won't be more. It's our policy to not give details of pricing promotions in advance, but I've already said on this thread that it's safe to assume we will be running more promos as we move through this process. And it is safe to assume we will run more promos!!

There will be promotions for ebay.ca sellers who want to sell in CAD. But what about ebay.ca sellers who will want to sell in USD on eBay.com later on this summer? Whose site promotions will they receive? .ca or .com? If it is the former then they will be SOL since all promotions will be for CAD-only listings.

pocomocomputing · ‎03-28-2016

I have a question on one of the links to a page saying you will save on fees selling Can $.

http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/list-in-cad/selling-in-canada.html#eBay.ca

The example down the page says in conclusion

An identically-priced item listed on eBay.com and sold to a US or Canadian buyer would cost $13.00 in final value fees—a savings of $1.50 on a single item.

The example above it has no reference to the $13.00 in FVF and how it was calculated, the number comes out of nowhere. No shipping cost is explicitly stated for the example. Apparently the shipping cost within Canada is $15 but no shipping cost to the USA is not mentioned anywhere. It is implied to be $30 because of the $13 versus $11.50. Not clear at all in the example how it is calculated.

The shipping costs need to be stated to Canada and to the USA before the calculation is shown.

morley11 · ‎03-28-2016

Don't be fooled by all the fear mongering??? I've been a seller on this site for 16 years, so I think I know a thing or two about my customers. MY opinion (not those of the other 37 pages of comments that are against this) is based on years of carefully adapting and using the tools at my disposal. I've read the entire announcement over and over again and there are NO benefits with this change. I've seen lots of great changes on eBay over the years that have made this site better, and this is certainly not one of them. You will note that I've never posted on any change or any upgrades until now. And there is good reason for it. I want to stay here and be successful. This change will make it even harder, and you can't possibly prove that it won't.

universal-heros · ‎03-28-2016

Hi Rodney, I asked this question and can't get an answer. Please answer.

I am looking to switch to dot COM, I use Turbo Lister for my 3000 items. I would like to know once my listings are converted from .ca to .com using selling manger as is the method that is to be used, will I be able to "sync" to my Turbo Lister and down load the "new converted" listing into my Turbo Lister so I don't have to manually re-do each and everyone over again?

lisella64 · ‎03-28-2016

What do you mean that this change will affect only "a tiny number of Canadians"? Please do not show your ignorance, the fact is that this change affects all of the Canadians who are selling into the USA market with a USA 98% customer base. I don't think you have an understanding what all those sellers on the feed are telling and talking about. I suspect too that it really does not matter what we think, Ebay has decided to go ahead with this plan and that is it.

I also like a comment earlier made by Rodney when he said that Ebay Canada is only a very small part overall of Ebay Co. We are getting the message - we don't matter. By the way, I don't see Chinese sellers selling on .com in yuan - it is all in USD. No such thing as the Yuan on top in the listing with the USD below in light grey. At the very least, Ebay could display a sense of fairness.

lorraine_carol · ‎03-28-2016

@"luxe.labels wrote:
I sell on eBay.ca in US dollars. 80% of my buyers are US and overseas. I do not want to encourage Canadian business as I have to pay GST/HST/PST on all sales in Canada even though I do not charge it. Like it or not, US dollars are the currency of international business.

I plan to migrate my listings to eBay.com. However, I would like to know if I will still be able to print my Canada Post ship labels through Paypal. I also do not 'officially' accept returns. Can I still have a no returns policy and maintain my Top Rated/Power Seller designation selling on eBay.com?"

"Yes and yes. :-)"

Rodney/Raphael...hold on...I thought in order to maintain Top Rated seller status, seller had to offer a 30-day return policy?

"Starting May 1, 2016, listings from Top Rated sellers must offer at least a 30-day money-back return policy to earn the Top Rated Plus discount and seal. The handling requirement (same day or one day handling) still applies**."

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-28-2016

@lorraine_carol wrote:

@"luxe.labels wrote:
I sell on eBay.ca in US dollars. 80% of my buyers are US and overseas. I do not want to encourage Canadian business as I have to pay GST/HST/PST on all sales in Canada even though I do not charge it. Like it or not, US dollars are the currency of international business.

I plan to migrate my listings to eBay.com. However, I would like to know if I will still be able to print my Canada Post ship labels through Paypal. I also do not 'officially' accept returns. Can I still have a no returns policy and maintain my Top Rated/Power Seller designation selling on eBay.com?"
"Yes and yes. :-)"

Rodney/Raphael...hold on...I thought in order to maintain Top Rated seller status, seller had to offer a 30-day return policy?

"Starting May 1, 2016, listings from Top Rated sellers must offer at least a 30-day money-back return policy to earn the Top Rated Plus discount and seal. The handling requirement (same day or one day handling) still applies**."

That is if you want TRS plus status in the U.S. program.

Right now you have trs in the global program which means your badge shows on .ca but no on .com. That will stay the same and you will still get your discount regardless of where you list.

pocomocomputing · ‎03-28-2016

@universal-heros wrote:
Hi Rodney, I asked this question and can't get an answer. Please answer.

I am looking to switch to dot COM, I use Turbo Lister for my 3000 items. I would like to know once my listings are converted from .ca to .com using selling manger as is the method that is to be used, will I be able to "sync" to my Turbo Lister and down load the "new converted" listing into my Turbo Lister so I don't have to manually re-do each and everyone over again?

You will need to add the TL module for ebay.com to sync ebay.com listings with your current ebay id. It is a very simple thing to do.

First start TL, once up, check for Program Updates and update if any needed. Exit TL and restart for a clean start.

Now run TL backup which will comapct your TL database and back it up also. This precautionary just in case you already have issues with your TL database. Exit TL and restart for a clean start.

Then go to Tools -> Options -> Seller Options -> Seller Sites

and check off eBay USA. You will see ebay Canada already checked off. The click Apply and it will take a while to download and install (5-15 minutes).

I would suggest running Program Updates again to see if any updates are available for the ebay USA module. Once all is done, exit TL and restart. Check if you can sync and look at listings. All should be fine.

To make sure TL is okay, create a listing on ebay USA and see how it goes.

PS I add in a lot of exit and restarts because I like to know where an issue arises. It also makes sure that windows resources are not used as much as one large TL session.

PS When you do have eBay Canada and eBay USA listings, it is hard to tell which site they are one. In the grid view, click on customize columns and move the ebay Site column to the far left. It will show a Canada Flag for Canada listings and an USA flag for USA listings. Easy to tell what site is used.

universal-heros · ‎03-28-2016

finally an answer, thanks you for all the info, much appreciated.
Harry

automationsurplusinc · ‎03-28-2016

Well how about this for starters. We are based in Canada and used to list on Ebay .com then we were told that as we were physically located in Canada that we had to list on Ebay.ca. So all our listings were moved over. I think this was around 2005 or 2006. Now judging by the the communication we received from ebay on this new turnaround, we can either list on ebay.ca in Canadian dollars or we can list on ebay.com in USD is this correct?

I quote" but starting this spring, CAD will become the sole listing currency on eBay.ca. Starting June 1st, sellers will need to use CAD when listing or relisting on eBay.ca.

We recognize that this change may be difficult for some sellers to manage, so we’re building a tool to help you to identify your affected listings and convert them to CAD, or move them to eBay.com, in bulk."

Does this mean we can list on ebay.com with USD?

lady.stark · ‎03-28-2016

@Anonymous wrote:

I understand your perspective. It's why I for one was almost certain our study would show that Canadians listing in USD would be more successful. In fact I was one of the people who pushed back and insisted on recounts and additional analyses before I had to admit that what we were seeing really was an advantage for CAD.

Your research gave those results for one reason, and one reason only: it was made during the wrong period. A period where the C$ was very, very low.

The sellers included in said research were probably sellers who never listed anything in US $. They always priced their items in C$. So of course, during this "research", their items sold more: the prices were now bargains for US buyers.

Doing the research when the C$ was on par with the US $ would have given you a COMPLETELY different outcome. Of that, I am 100% sure.

pocomocomputing · ‎03-28-2016

@universal-heros wrote:
finally an answer, thanks you for all the info, much appreciated.
Harry

Please post back if any issues (success or failure or missing steps) with the instructions that you have to help others. Thank you.

pocomocomputing · ‎03-28-2016

@automationsurplusinc wrote:
Well how about this for starters. We are based in Canada and used to list on Ebay .com then we were told that as we were physically located in Canada that we had to list on Ebay.ca. So all our listings were moved over. I think this was around 2005 or 2006. Now judging by the the communication we received from ebay on this new turnaround, we can either list on ebay.ca in Canadian dollars or we can list on ebay.com in USD is this correct?

I quote" but starting this spring, CAD will become the sole listing currency on eBay.ca. Starting June 1st, sellers will need to use CAD when listing or relisting on eBay.ca.
We recognize that this change may be difficult for some sellers to manage, so we’re building a tool to help you to identify your affected listings and convert them to CAD, or move them to eBay.com, in bulk."

Does this mean we can list on ebay.com with USD?

I started listing on eBay in 2009 and always could list on either site if I wanted. I started on ebay.ca and eventually went to ebay.com 4 years ago to get the 50 free listings on that site as well as the 50 free on eBay.ca.

So yes you can list on ebay.com (for a long time). There are some limitations like you cannot use Canada Post shipping options on eBay.com in the shipping choices in the listings. You must use Flat Rate shipping and generic shipping options like Standard Shipping from Outside the US and Standard Int'l Shipping. You can still use PayPal shipping labels with Canada Post shipping options to ship with. Listing on ebay.com still counts towards sales for Global TRS status and the 20% TRS discount. (You do not need to meet TRS Plus eBay.com status.)

Read other posts on all the details of how to list on ebay.com. What I posted above is a real quick summary of listing on eBay.com. Too many details to post all here. Read and learn from all the posts. Overall it is simple but there are a lot of little details to know.

universal-heros · ‎03-28-2016

Do you think once I've used the migration tool to covert to dot COM I should be able to sync and have ALL my listing back into TL without any issues? what are your thoughts on this step?
Harry

pocomocomputing · ‎03-28-2016

@universal-heros wrote:
Do you think once I've used the migration tool to covert to dot COM I should be able to sync and have ALL my listing back into TL without any issues? what are your thoughts on this step?
Harry

I list on both sites forever it seems now. I have no issues with syncing. So I do not foresee any issues at this time. Because you have so many listings, it will probably take a lot of time to sync. I would suggest migrating in smaller steps to make sure each step is okay and to be able to adjust to issues.

I personally would not suggest using the migration tool on May 2 for a massive change. I would try a small test and see if it works okay and what I have to do to complete the migration. Any glitches with the tool will show in the first days and I would not expect it to be glitch free. Let others be the Guinea pigs and find the issues. I would migrate all listing only 4-5 days later when I know how the tool is behaving.

PS Do you use ebay Selling Manager free version. Apparently you need this tool to be able to use the migration tool. I have an outstanding question to Rodney on needing Selling Manager or not.

newfoundland_store · ‎03-28-2016

Hello all I have been a seller for a 15 months on ebay.ca and have only posted once or twice,I listed in Canadian at first and then switched to US funds everything seemed to be going good.I prefer listing in US funds and would like to ad my displeasure with the change.I understand there is nothing we can do except make our own choice what we do next.Options of listing somewhere else is looking better all the time.These updates spring-summer-fall-winter if that is the way they go are frustrating.Once an update is announced there is a never ending amount of work to adjust your listings.Is it always like this?I jokingly compare it to a skating rink with everybody skating one way and they switch it up and you turn and skate the other way mass confussion.There must be a cartoon drawing in an ebay office somewhere with a person jumping up and down on an engine block trying to stuff it down a wood chipper with the caption this will fix everything things will run smooth after this.Hope that image brings a smile to some.Anyway that brings me to my reason for posting can someone tell me if I can edit my listings in bulk using turbo lister to change the listing currency and the shipping prices all at the one time.Also is this new tool to help with adjusting listings available now or when.thanks