eBay

dipmicro · ‎05-13-2015

Looks like 20% saving as of today.

Can CAD billed accounts still list on ebay.com ?

rose-dee · ‎05-13-2015

You might want to take a look at this recent thread -- although it started out being about listing in $Cdn, after Post #21 the topic of paying accounts was discussed at length.

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Time-to-list-in-Canadian-Dollars/td-p/300364

Since Pierre mentioned in that thread that he pays his eBay account in $Cdn, and I believe he lists on .com as well as .ca, I don't see why that can't be done.

The only downside I can see to being billed in $Cdn is that if you're paying through a Paypal U.S. dollar balance, you'll be dinged for the conversion fee every month. The alternative I suppose would be to either maintain a $Cdn balance in Paypal, or pay directly with a Canadian credit card. If you have significant fees to pay every month, this could add up to a considerable savings.

rose-dee · ‎05-13-2015

@dipmicro wrote:

Looks like 20% saving as of today.

I'm not sure what you mean -- could you explain?

Although store fees and some listing fees were set lower for Canadian sellers (as Pierre pointed out in the thread I mentioned above), I'm not sure they were 20% lower.

Or were you referring to the savings by listing/selling in $US and paying your eBay account in $Cdn? Then you'd be using $US funds to pay, which even with Paypal conversion fees to $Cdn would be close to a 20% savings as a result of the current higher US dollar. That's what I've been doing, but I'm not sure this is what you meant.

pierrelebel · ‎05-13-2015

"Looks like 20% saving as of today."

Not quite.

"Billing Currency" refers to the currency in your eBay seller account and the currency used for paying your eBay fees through PayPal, by cheque or credit card..

If you list and sell in US$, the fees in US$ will be converted every time to the equivalent Canadian dollar amount and be reflected in Canadian dollars on your seller account.

For example, if a listing fee is US$ 0.30, your seller account will show Cdn$ 0.36 (approximately) based on the wholesale conversion rate that day. Later, as you sell the item and the FVF is US$ 5.00 (for example) that will be shown in your account as Cdn$ 6.00 (approximately)

On the other hand, if you list in Cdn$, and your billing currency is Canadian dollars, that conversion is not required. You get billed in Cdn$ and you pay in Cdn$.

rose-dee · ‎05-13-2015

This doesn't seem to me to be the whole picture however. I think the OP was referring to the current situation (i.e. the spread between $US and $Cdn). That does make a difference.

To take my own situation as an example, I currently have a Basic store and list/sell exclusively in $US. My fees are all billed in $Cdn.

EBay does convert FVFs from the $US charge into $Cdn on my bill (so a US $0.50 fee is currently converted to $0.62 Cdn). However, my monthly store fee is always billed as $15.95 Cdn (the store fee I originally signed up for, i.e. it isn't converted).

On the other side of the equation, an item I listed for $15.00 US a couple of years ago gave me about $15.00 Cdn to work with at my end -- to pay my account, for example. Pretty much an even outcome.

However, now that I'm earning about 20% more in equivalent $Cdn on every sale I make (I haven't altered my item prices significantly), that $15.95 store fee is actually only costing me about $12.75 in earned US dollars. (I'm ignoring the Paypal conversion charges at the moment).

I think therefore this might be a significant savings for a larger store owner (higher monthly fees), since you mentioned in an earlier thread that the Canadian store fees were set some time ago in Canadian dollars only. So as the $Cdn falls against the $US, those of us who sell in $US (and don't adjust our listing prices downward), will be gaining around 20% on every sale and saving around 20% on store fees. For me, that currency advantage has covered a lot of other expenses lately too (such as continued shipping "subsidies" for my buyers), as well as giving me an extra 20% cash to pay my monthly account.

As an aside, I recall another poster mentioning that she is billed in $US, and her Canadian store fees are converted downward by about 20% to $US when billed.

If fees other than Canadian store fees (such as FVFs) are converted, then obviously you're paying the same for those whether you're billed in $Cdn or $US, and for those fees there is no savings, except that conversion charges are a factor to consider.

I'm actually considering changing to being billed in $US, since I always maintain a $US balance in my Paypal account. But then I might be paying Paypal conversion charges each month for the converted $15.95 Cdn store fee. Still, FVFs are always more than my store listing fees each month.

This is a more complicated subject than many of us realize!

pierrelebel · ‎05-13-2015

"this might be a significant savings for a larger store owner (higher monthly fees), since you mentioned in an earlier thread that the Canadian store fees were set some time ago in Canadian dollars only."

That is correct.

However, it has nothing to do with "billing currency," the subject of this thread.

The currency (US$ or Cdn$) for the monthly fee charged by eBay for the store is dependent on the site where the store was opened. Basic Stores opened on eBay.com get billed US$15.95 (or US$19.95) while stores opened on eBay.ca get billed Cdn$15.95 (or Cdn$19.95). Nothing to do with "billing currency".

That charge (in US$ or Cdn$) will be converted when charged to your eBay seller account (if required).

We may have Canadian sellers with a store opened on eBay.ca (they are charged the Cdn$ fee) and having their "billing currency" in US$ (maybe because they sell in US$ and find it easier or more convenient to pay their fees in US$). In such instance, the Cdn$ 15.95 fee (for example) would be converted to (US$13.35 approximately).

As stated a few weeks ago, the subject of currency conversion is not always easy to work with for Canadians selling in both currency. It is complex and eBay does not make it easy to understand.

rose-dee · ‎05-13-2015

@pierrelebel wrote:

The currency (US$ or Cdn$) for the monthly fee charged by eBay for the store is dependent on the site where the store was opened. Basic Stores opened on eBay.com get billed US$15.95 (or US$19.95) while stores opened on eBay.ca get billed Cdn$15.95 (or Cdn$19.95). Nothing to do with "billing currency".

That charge (in US$ or Cdn$) will be converted when charged to your eBay seller account (if required).
We may have Canadian sellers with a store opened on eBay.ca (they are charged the Cdn$ fee) and having their "billing currency" in US$ (maybe because they sell in US$ and find it easier or more convenient to pay their fees in US$). In such instance, the Cdn$ 15.95 fee (for example) would be converted to (US$13.35 approximately).

Yes, I do understand this, and actually that's the point I was trying to make (i.e. that billing currency really doesn't seem to matter -- aside from Paypal conversion fees), but that listing currency does. So in that respect it is relevant to the subject of billing currency.

In other words, the question is whether (in my own situation) it's worth it to switch billing currency from $Cdn to $US to save on Paypal conversion fees if everything else a seller is doing is in $US and if one maintains a $US balance in Paypal sufficient to cover those fees? I'm thinking it might be, at least in my situation. What is it Paypal charges to convert the funds -- 2.9%? That could add up over a year.

I suppose if a seller can arrange to pay his seller account in $Cdn directly, either through a $Cdn Paypal balance or straight from a Canadian credit card, then conversion fees could also be avoided that way.

My real issue is this: Is there any significant difference/advantage to one of these approaches or the other?

I know you mentioned accumulating points on your credit card by paying in $Cdn, for example. Aside from getting a US credit card or account -- which I really don't want to do -- I assume that maintaining a $US Paypal balance is the easiest way to avoid conversion charges if a seller is billed in $US?

recped · ‎05-13-2015

This topic seems simple to me, your billing currency should be in the currency that most of your sales are listed in. Any other method means increased exchange expenses.

The OP's listings are all US Dollars, switching to CA$ billing just means an extra couple of points spent for nothing. Te only exception would be if they are spending all their revenues on US Dollar purchases and have to add to their PayPal balance with Canadian Dollars to have enough to pay eBay fees.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

dipmicro · ‎05-14-2015

@rose-dee wrote:
@dipmicro wrote:

Looks like 20% saving as of today.

I'm not sure what you mean -- could you explain?

Received an email with fee updates, had quick look and assumed fees listed on Ebay.ca were in CAD. The 20% is difference between USD and CAD (today 19.3%). If fees on Ebay.ca are in USD, then it really makes no sense to switch billing currency.

pierrelebel · ‎05-14-2015

"assumed fees listed on Ebay.ca were in CAD"

Fees on eBay.ca are in the currency of the listing as selected by the seller.

If listing in US$, then the fees (listing, optional, FVF, FVF on shipping) will be in US$

If listing in Cdn$ then the fees will all be in Cdn$

The monthly fee for the eBay store will be in Cdn$ if the store was opened on eBay.ca. It does not matter which currency is used in listings as far as that fee is concerned.

The monthly store fee will be in US$ if the store was opened on eBay.com (regardless where a seller lists and what currency is used in listings)

Fees on eBay.com are always in US$ since no other currency is available on .com

When using a "billing currency" different from listing currency (on which fees are based) the fees will be converted to the billing currency (if and when required) using daily wholesale conversion rate. eBay does not add the 2.5% conversion fee charged by PayPal, banks, etc...