Why do some Canadian stores sell items in U.S currency and gouge Canadians trying to buy in Can.$ ?

[pierrelebel]

You should ask that question to the sellers you wish to buy from.

[femmefan1946]

Because we have ten times as many customers in the USA as we do in Canada and about as many in the rest of the world as we do in Canada.

The rude comment about using a different currency being somehow gouging has earned you a place on my Best Buddy List. First name specifically added this year.

[dmil8030]

Hello 'numismaticfanatic',

<< Why do some Canadian stores sell items in U.S currency...>>

I'd say many if not most Canadian sellers list in US dollars.  Yes, it is discouraging when paying in Canadian $,

but they do it because it is necessary to stay in business.

Ask any seller and they will tell you that most of their product goes south of the border.  Canadian online shoppers 

are a teeny population compared with the much bigger American one.  And Americans like to buy in their own 

currency.

Right now it just 'feels' like gouging because the Canadian dollar is worth so little internationally.  See for yourself:

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/currencies/converter/#from=CAD;to=USD;amt=1

So don't take it personally, -- Canadians listing in $US are not trying to gouge you, it is simply a business decision 

to make their items appealing to the American market.  There are simply not enough Canadian buyers to keep all 

Canadian sellers afloat.  

[femmefan1946]

When an item is viewed on dotCA, the price will appear in loonies as well as the listing currency.

[konamicode]

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@dmil8030 wrote:

So don't take it personally, -- Canadians listing in $US are not trying to gouge you, it is simply a business decision 

to make their items appealing to the American market.  There are simply not enough Canadian buyers to keep all 

Canadian sellers afloat.  

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This. It's the reason I list in USD! The only downside to selling to the U.S is CanadaPost. It's hard for me to compete wtih the USPS rates. Makes it tempting to live in a border town and mail to the U.S from the U.S! 🙂

[Anonymous]

Nearly 95% of my buyers are in USA so it makes sense to list them in US currency.  It has nothing to do with "gouge" as you claimed.  Smile!

[pacificwinds6875]

Since our dollar has slipped so much, I sometimes offer Free Shipping to my Canadian customers. Hey I am a Canadian and I know what it feels like. Tax, shipping and the dollar exchange - scary stuff.

80% of my sales are to USA, 10% to International countries and a mere 10% to my fellow Canucks.  Sadly - their purchases would not keep me afloat.

[dreamturtle.ty]

I sell coins too, and i have often wondered the same thing. 90% of my sales are to Canadian customers, so i sell in Canadian $$$. It just makes sense. Im failing the US selling program now because i dont include a tracking number for US orders. Also, i can understand why you have posted this since Ebay has sent a note out to everyone saying that Canadian Sellers do better in Canada Dollars, a reversal of their previous stance.

I wouldnt call it gouging but perhaps targeting the American market.

Also, i would like to mention that i thought some of the other members responses were indeed rude and short sighted.

I guess they are just used to bullying people on the message boards. *sigh*

[femmefan1946]

I list in Canadian dollars and on dotCA when the primary audience is in Canada.

That's just a smart business decision.

I list on dotCA to take advantage of Calculated Shipping with Canada Post rates. But normally even here I list in USD because 85-90% of my sales are to the USA.

Right now I'm trying to decide if an accumulation of WWI realphoto postcards of German soldiers should go on dotCOM or dotDE and if Google Translate would be helpful.

[pjcdn2005]

Also, i can understand why you have posted this since Ebay has sent a note out to everyone saying that Canadian Sellers do better in Canada Dollars, a reversal of their previous stance.

I thought that they said that some categories did the same or better with Canadian dollars. That's not quite the same.

It is up to each buyer whether or not they want to make a purchase in U.S. dollars just like it is up to each seller on which currency they want to list in. I agree that if your major market are Canadians, it absolutely makes sense to sell in Canadian dollars. Some sellers believe that they do equally well in Canadian or U.S. dollars. Some believe that they must sell in U.S. dollars. It's their business...their decision. 

But either way, it doesn't have anything to do with gouging people.  I list in both currencies depending on the item. But if I suddenly decided to list everything in Canadian dollars, I certainly wouldn't be able to just change the currency without changing the dollar value. It's all relative.

[00nevermind00]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

Right now I'm trying to decide if an accumulation of WWI realphoto postcards of German soldiers should go on dotCOM or dotDE and if Google Translate would be helpful.

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If you are thinking of using Google Translate so that you can list in German on the German site, I wouldn't go there. If you don't read German or know anyone who does, you'll have no way of knowing whether the translation makes sense. They don't always do.