eBay

esclyons · ‎07-29-2016

First off, the discussion or focus group that they used was probably Canadian, did they take the time to ask American's if it would affect there decision to buy from Canadian's, if the price looked higher; but would be eventually lower when they finally paid..

Second, did they do any actual tests to see if the information taken from these sessions actually proved to be true.., for example.. what % of your buyers are American, and what % are Canadian, now list the identical item listed in both currencies and see what the sell through rate is..

Thirdly , ebay states that we need to adjust our selling prices for the difference in the Canada dollar, but all Ebay buyers for the last 15-+ years have done so on there own, when they purchase, there was never sticker shock..

Fourthly , ebay Usa, has 10 times the potential buying audience that Canada has, and we are border locked, so why are we not trying to keep our American neighbors happy.. Clearly most of them only want to buy in Usa dollars..

and just to finish up ... if my buying audience is 80-90% American, who know nothing of the Canada postal issues, why have my sales month over month and year over year dropped to less than a 10% sell thru rate. I have consistently held at a 30% sell thru..

the only answer is Americans are not as likely to buy in Canada funds..

I understand the easy answer is to just start listing on .com, but i would just like to know why... why... why...???

reallynicestamps · ‎07-29-2016

why have my sales month over month and year over year dropped to less than a 10% sell thru rate. I have consistently held at a 30% sell thru..

the only answer is Americans are not as likely to buy in Canada funds..

The changeover on eBaydotCA to Canadian funds only takes effect this month. If you have been having problems before now, it may not be the changeover.

You do know that you can still list in US dollars as long as you list on dotCOM, of course?

The problem for you is that dotCOM only allows you to use Flat Rate Shipping for Canada and overseas. And unless you are able to access USPS shipping, for the USA as well.

Your coins are not on the whole bulky, so your real problem with listing on dotCOM is going to be tracking to protect yourself against phoney non-arrival claims.

What have you considered doing for that?

Would Canada Post Registered be useful? Making your Flat Rate match ExpressPost rates?

Putting the cost of shipping -- averaged or massaged as you see fit-- into your asking prices and using Free Shipping as your hook?

esclyons · ‎07-29-2016

i have been switched over to canada shortly after they announced the forth coming changes, so it has been 2 months anyway..and as far as shipping it is not an issue..it is the fact i didn't want to switch to .com,, i wanted ebay.ca to stay competitive with the .com, and switching to canada dollars was not the answer..

silverpinups · ‎07-30-2016

From my perspective, 70-75% is US sales, 20-25% in Europe and Australia. Canada accounts for about 5% of my gross sales.

That is why I'm moving to eBay.com and staying in USD funds.

eBay.com is a better fit for me and what I sell, other Canadian sellers will prefer selling on eBay.ca in Canadian funds.

There is no right or wrong answer.... it all depends on people's personal experiences.

reallynicestamps · ‎07-30-2016

That's been my experience too, although the US part has dropped over the years. When I started it was 90% US with overseas and Canada being about 5% each.

Most of my products can go Flat Rate (and I mostly use Free Shipping) so much of my stock is or will be on dotCOM. I'm really only keeping the items that require parcel rates on dotCA along with some items (like postage or Arctica books) that basicaly appeal only to Canadians.

There is no right or wrong answer.... it all depends on people's personal experiences.

Absolutely.

rose-dee · ‎07-30-2016

@reallynicestamps wrote:

There is no right or wrong answer.... it all depends on people's personal experiences.

Absolutely.

Yes, except that there was eBay's disingenuous and transparently weak attempt, through spurious "research" and data that was never disclosed, to convince Canadian sellers that listing in $CDN is generally better for us.

Such hocus-pocus was all along intended to herd Cdn sellers onto eBay.com (or, if necessary, into the $CDN corner on .ca) for reasons that had nothing to do with helping us sell more, or sell more easily, and everything to do with cutting costs and increasing fees for eBay. So I can empathize with Cdn. sellers who feel upset.

In short, there was absolutely no advantage to Canadian sellers in removing our ability to list in either currency. How is less choice better for sellers? It isn't. It's better for eBay.

I've postulated this many times, but I'll repeat it for the sake of those who may not have considered what eBay gains by forcing Canadian sellers to list exclusively in $CDN:

1) Lower cost for eBay in maintaining a single-currency site with fewer user-sellers. Fair enough, but why not just say so instead of running us through the kindergarten version?

2) An exodus of Cdn. sellers to .com to list will mean more fee income for eBay through higher FVFs on shipping amounts (more difficult for Cdn sellers with a large percentage of U.S. buyers to use free or low "domestic" shipping to reduce FVFs).

This second source is not an insignificant pool of new money. Think about it. Every single transaction by a Canadian seller listing on eBay.com who has to use actual (or close to actual) shipping to the U.S. -- "domestic" shipping on .com for us -- will now be paying full FVFs on that shipping. How many of us who have over 70% U.S. customers can afford to offer free shipping to the U.S. if we list on .com? There's your answer: new income for eBay.

Now that it's "eBay law", I and many, many other Cdn. sellers have to deal with it as best we can. Many will abandon .ca for .com. I'm sorry, but in my view this whole switch to $CDN had absolutely nothing to do with helping Canadian sellers. Nothing.

silverpinups · ‎07-30-2016

"Now that it's "eBay law", I and many, many other Cdn. sellers have to deal with it as best we can. Many will abandon .ca for .com. I'm sorry, but in my view this whole switch to $CDN had absolutely nothing to do with helping Canadian sellers. Nothing."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Your right, but decisions are made that we have no control over because of a Company that is constantly evolving for the good or bad....

Sellers need to evolve too and adapt to the forever changing market place that is eBay.

pierrelebel · ‎07-30-2016

" "research" and data that was never disclosed, to convince Canadian sellers that listing in $CDN is generally better for us. "

And that is the point. eBay owns the site. eBay does not need to convince anyone of anything. They change policies to reflect what they feel is best. It is to eBay's advantage to make changes and innovations that benefit sellers as that is how eBay makes money.

More sales by sellers equal more money for eBay.

Canadian sellers always have the choice to list on eBay or elsewhere. eBay does not have to "justify" anything.

And, as we all know, whenever they attempt to justify their actions, few give credibility to their words.

rose-dee · ‎07-31-2016

@pierrelebel wrote:

And, as we all know, whenever they attempt to justify their actions, few give credibility to their words.

Well Pierre, I'm simply saying that as a seller (and, incidentally, a paid subscriber to eBay), I find it insulting that we're strung a line of nonsense and treated as if we're moronic children who need sanguine fairy stories about how such changes are in our "best interest". It's the paternalistic prevarication I resent, not the reality of whatever the situation might be.

It would have been far easier to accept this switch had eBay either:

(a) disclosed its research data on $CDN-only listing; or

(b) told sellers that fiscal issues demanded limitations on features (i.e. no more $USD on .ca); or

(c) told sellers that eBay was obliged to seek new sources of income in order to provide the best services to all its users.

Fine. I can live with the truth. I can adjust to necessity. Just treat me with some respect and give it to me straight. I suppose that's too much to expect of a company we all pay our monthly fees to, is it?