eBay bucks programs

[mpit7628]

Hello everyone.  I know the eBay bucks program has been a dead issue for Canadian shoppers for a couple of years now but I thought I would bring it up again.  I was on the U.K. eBay site and I noticed that even shoppers on the eBay in the U.K. have their own eBay bucks program.  So the American eBay site has a eBay bucks program to show their appreciation to their buyers, the U.K. site has their own eBay bucks program but Canadians have their eBay bucks program scrapped.  In my mind there is no way eBay can justify keeping these programs going on the eBay sites in two other countries and then basically  tell Canadians we are not worthy of the same consideration because the program didn't work here.  How could it possibly not work?   If eBay is supplying bonus points on the purchase of items that we collect and use towards future purchases how would this not work?  For Canadians, eBay has become a not so user friendly place to shop.  Between our  low dollar, Global Shipping and losing our eBay bucks program it just leaves us up here in the great white north just shaking our heads!!  That's my rant!!  Have a nice day everyone. 

[reallynicestamps]

Population of USA 320 000 000

Population of UK 63 000 000

Population of Canada 33 000 000

Is there an equivalent program for eBayGermany?  Population 82 600 000.

eBay Australia ? Population 24 000 000.

[pierrelebel]

Another factor to consider:  who really pays for those "eBay Bucks"?

Sellers do.  Their costs are included in the fees paid to eBay.

In Canada, sellers pay slightly lower fees to eBay than in the USA - mostly due to currency conversion.

Do we want Canadian sellers to pay higher fees so eBay can provide some buyers with "eBay Bucks"?  I think not.

[photosalp]

I've started offering my own "eBay bucks" promotion to my customers.  Every buyer gets a 5% (excluding shipping charges) credit towards their next purchase from me. I"m not sure how it will pan out, but on bidStart I offer the same promotion through the site and I've seen some good results. As has been often said, eBay is just a venue to offer our products. We hope/expect some support from the "Mother Ship", but at the end of the day the onus is on us to promote and manage our business. I really hope I don't have to eat my words. lol 

[mpit7628]

Could it also be that Canadian sellers pay lower fee's because they don't have to pay into the eBay bucks program. Sellers in other countries pay these fee's to keep the program going. Why should Canadian buyers lose this program so that sellers here in Canada can be exempt from paying any more fee's. Sure, no one wants to pay more fee's. That's a no brainer but the program gave buyers a reason to spend a little more money and isn't that what sellers want. If sellers in Canada didn't want the eBay bucks program isn't that kind of like shooting themselves in the foot.

[pierrelebel]

"If sellers in Canada didn't want the eBay bucks program isn't that kind of like shooting themselves in the foot. "

Not that simple.

Sellers already feel they pay too much in fees. 

To suggest Canadian sellers should pay higher fees so buyers can purchase from American and Chinese sellers and get rewarded by eBay is not very appealing to Canadian sellers.

The simple reality on eBay is that Canadian buyers buy at least twice as much from outside Canada than from Canadian sellers.

That "eBay Bucks" program is gone and that's that. 

I expect buyers buy on eBay because they like the goods and the price, not for a reward program.  Buyers who like "rewards" can use a credit card with rewards (AirMiles or whatever) when paying though PayPal.

[maggiebvintage2010]

It was eBay that ended the eBucks program in Canada, not sellers.  Fees for Canadian sellers did not go down when the eBay Bucks ended.  I would think it more likely that, due to our small population, the program was not worth its administrative cost - ie it cost eBay more than it generated in increased returns. Can you give us a concrete example of which countries pay more in seller's fees to support this program, and what those fees are?

[pierrelebel · Accepted solution]

"Can you give us a concrete example of which countries pay more in seller's fees to support this program, and what those fees are?"

Easy.  Take a look at American sellers listing on eBay.com and Canadian sellers listing on eBay.ca.

On eBay.com all fees are in US dollars (worth about 25% more than Cdn$)

On eBay.ca, some fees are paid in US$ (same as .com) but many are charged and paid in the lower Cdn$ resulting in less revenue to eBay.  For example, on eBay.com the monthly fee for a store is US$20, in Canada it is Cdn$ 20 (US$16).  If a listing fee is US$0.30 for a listing in US$, it is only Cdn$ 0.30 (US$0.24) for the same listing listed in Cdn$.

If you start adding up the lower fees eBay receives from sellers on eBay.ca compared to eBay.com you end up with a substantial amount.

Of course sellers do not pay directly for "eBay Bucks".  That has never been the point.  The reality is that eBay Bucks, like any reward program offered by any business, come from the revenue generated by the business (paid by their customers).

Since eBay.ca receives a bit less than eBay.com for the same service, that extra money is not available for "rewards".  To have a "rewards" program on eBay.ca would require additional revenues - more fees from sellers.  As a seller, I am not interested.  Are you?

[twicereadbooks]

Not at all interested in eBay Bucks, either as a seller or as a buyer.

However, I think your examples reflect the current (and historical) disparity between currencies, rather than an example specific to how eBay pays for "eBay Bucks".   When the Cdn dollar was at par with the US dollar (within a few cents from 2007 to 2015, above-par in 2012 and 2013), you would not have been able to offer the same explanation - Cdn$20 = US$20  - yet eBay Bucks had already disappeared.  EBay Bucks was tested starting in 2008, and the program was terminated in March, 2013.  Currency differences were not a factor.

eBay has said that consumers enrolled in eBay Bucks spend an average of five times more on eBay than those not participating in the program.  If this had been true in Canada, the program would still be in place - ie benefits would have outweighed costs.  Obviously the program did not play out the same way in Canada as it does in the US.  Another example of the differences between our two countries.

[sniper10000]

Even if the fee was slightly lower in Canada they get it all back with the ridiculous amout we get charged in conversion fees. All money owed to ebay is USD so $1 owed should cost us about $1.28 cdn but it is more like $1.32 they get all the money back 1 way or another.

[momcqueen]

This is a zombie thread.

It’s outdated and much of the information is irrelevant.

By the way, Canadians got the eBay Bucks program back. There’s an eight percent back promo currently running.

[mcrlmn]

I'll be getting a decent Bucks certificate in April.
Works for me.

[happy_pigeon]

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