Ending eBay Bucks Program in CANADA but not US????

[kays_place]

After reviewing the eBay Bucks Rewards Program, we have made the difficult decision to end the Program in Canada. We want to thank you for participating in the Program and being a valued member of our community.

You'll continue to earn eBay Bucks until March 31, and in early April you'll receive your final Certificate, which will expire after 30 days. As a token of our appreciation, we'll add a US$5 bonus to that last Certificate.

Again, thank you—we have appreciated your membership and hope you have found it rewarding. If you have any questions about the eBay Bucks closure in Canada, please feel free to visit our frequently asked questions page.

Sincerely,

eBay Bucks Team

[bb_cool_stuff]

Surprised to see this announcement also.

I have probably only earned about thirty dollars since the program began but it was nice to reduce the cost of a pricey item when the bucks were released.

Somehow i think this is the beginning of the end for .ca. Personal feeling of course, but i think i will be proven right.

Pierre usually has the figures. I wonder how much .ca contributes to eBay worldwide in comparison to other countries other than the US.

That figure will speak volumes in the eBay universe.

[darrenm01]

After reviewing the effectiveness of the Program, we made the difficult decision to end it in Canada.

 Translation:

Canadians won't complain or take their business elsewhere, so we are going to stop this program and keep the additional profits.

The rest of the world, continue to enjoy your discounts.

[tobyshitzu]

They'll never abandon .ca.  It makes more sense then ever to have a .ca specific site with postage changes lessening international sales.  They are finally getting corporate sellers in canada who only want to sell in canada and use can$.  Just the marketing they get from the .ca big deal, toysruscanada sold 1000s of items in a  day there last week there

They left china and japan many years ago because they lost  to the competition, they weren't even #2 way behind the leaders.  They aren't going to cede Canada to AMZN who is suddenly going all out in Canada

[bb_cool_stuff]

Hope you are right Toby.

The majority of us have remained positive & have weathered the changes but i have a bad feeling on this one.

Its now Survival of the Fittest, Law of the Jungle or whatever cliche you want to use.

Bottom line, are the revenues being generated through .ca adding enough to the eBay bottom line.

Hopefully Pierre has some figures.

[lady.stark]

"Well.......... did you buy more stuff on ebay because of Ebay Bucks?"

Yes, a very big YES, I did spend more because of the bucks. I often redeemed coupons between $25 and $50. Now, I'm not so sure I will spend as much as I did. Simply because there won't be a big rebate after 3 months. It's a shame really! Shipping prices from the US doubled and now this... you SUCK eBay! 😞 :_|

"The rest of the world, continue to enjoy your discounts."

I don't think that is correct though. Only USA and Canada were included in the program if I remember correctly. However, if eBay ends it in Canada, they should end it in the US too. That is SO UNFAIR!

[lady.stark]

By the way, I didn't see the anouncement anywere on the site... how were you informed of the end of the program? I learned the news only because I read the forums, but never got an official announcement from eBay.

[renyogi]

I am not so sure it is totally Ebay decision.

 In Canada rewards programs for essentially cash can get complicated.

 For example if somebody wins a prize in Quebec the company that awards the prize has to give an equal prize of equal money to the Quebec government.

This is why Quebec residents are illegible to collect prizes, enter or be involved with a lot of prize and points giveaways.

So It may be that Ebay, total speculation here,  has been told they have pay out to the Quebec government equal for every citizen of Quebec's ebay "bucks" since it they could consider it a cash prize.  If they got tagged for this then the government would probably also demand payments retroactively which means they are now forced to pay out the equal amount of all Ebay bucks cashed by Quebec residents since the beginning of the program.

 I am not sure about other provinces prize laws/  Canada's provincial patchwork is a hassle for many companies.

It could be just easier for Ebay to shut up about it and pay the taxes, fines for everybody etc on the QT then discontinue the program rather than deal with multiple laws and fees regarding prizes and rewards.

This is just speculation of course.  

But I really don't see the benefit of cutting it beyond it saves them a lot of tax and government hassles which require an expensive full time Canadian legal team and accountants who understand both Canadian and Quebec rules and regulations to navigate

Often  Canadians wrongly take thing done by corporations in these cases personally, But more often than not it is done to conform to the laws of the Canadian government(s).  And sometimes the logistics and expenses of these programs in Canada are just not worth the hassle above and beyond the expense of the actual program.

[lady.stark]

I just had the answer to one of my questions... I went in my email box and there was the anouncement. l wrote them a complaint from both accounts. I don't know if it will help, but it doesn't hurt to try. We have nothing to loose. If nobody do anything, we will loose for sure.

At renyogi, I don't think it has anything to do with the laws of loteries in Quebec. This is not a lotery but a reward program. Just like Air Miles. I may be wrong, but I really doubt Air Miles is paying taxes to the government on their reward program. If someone have proof of the contrary, please feel free to share it. 🙂

[westernphotohunter]

You can post on the Ebay.com discussions page.  I just used my Ebay.ca name and password to post on their Ebay Bucks program page and got word out that we are losing our Ebay Bucks.  I pointed out that this may have an impact on those that sell to Canadian Ebayers.  Maybe more of you should do the same.  It's worth a try!

[Anonymous]

Is eBay kidding us?????  Just a few weeks ago I read that they made $4 Billion in profits, (Yes with "B" in Billion dollars!!) and they want to make some cuts???!!!  It is insane!!

Yes I agree with ladystark that we do buy big when we knew we would earn eBucks!!  And what more with eBay to insult by adding $5.00 to our eBucks for that!!  Why not add $50.00!!

Sheesh!!  Of course, I am going to send them email daily to vent my complaint and to plead them to ask to return it.

What I really hate about eBay is that they don't tell us WHY each time!!  I felt that we should knew why.  eBay really has no reasons/excuses to retire it at all!!  eBucks really attract us to buy more and more and eBay is willing to see less buying???   I don't think so!!

Maybe eBay thinks we in Canada up in "North" are rednecks and think we are that dumb and it will not affect us in any way.  Well, excuse me, eBay we are not that, we are intelligent as US only that we live in "North" of USA!!

[christymac401]

Wow - the yanks sure know how to make us Canadians feel unwanted, unappreciated and insignificant ... they've made it an artform. Our ONLY option is to go elsewhere.  I know it's a pain, but if we don't,  Canadians will always be viewed as 'not wanting to ruffle feathers' - the passive peacekeepers up north (not to be taken seriously).

Quit sitting around and bitching in forums guys!  Take a few minutes to search the web and give our hard earned money to a site that deserves OUR loyalty! And try to vet the site to ensure you're not continuing to line eBay's pockets.

Enough of this BS - stand up and count Canadians!!!

[christymac401]

I received a message in my inbox informing me of the 'slap in the face'.

[90cadeau]

Not one to complain, but this is not a reasonable explanation, it insults my intelligence. I will have a hard time filling the pockets of an entity that goes out of its way to make me feel unimportant.

[b1lk1]

Never even thought of that, although I would love to be using the US Paypal service with that lovely debit card they offer them so you can just go to the ATM and get your money in cash. 

I'm more pissed about losing another service compared to the US than the money lost.  IT just sucks.

[gtkakega]

the bucks program was a joke... i was being rewarded mere pennies per transaction... it probably cost them more to hand out pennies to us canadians... IMO it turned into a charity program for them

[ve7brian]

I liked the eBay bucks, as they helped offset the PayPal% fee.

I think this is very unfair that they are singling out Canadians.

I emailed them & asked if I changed my registration to a US address (PO box across the line) , could I still get the eBay bucks?

In the meantime, I've deleted all my watch list items in protest (they DO know what items are being watched)

[bb_cool_stuff]

Unfair or not eBay is going to do what is best for the bottom line. We have weathered a lot worse storms, but this came as a definite surprise.

Won't make a huge difference to me, though it was nice, but it will definitely hurt buyers who make large purchases.

[thebarterersdog]

Sadly, I've noticed the bias on here too. They recently posted a blurb on ebay.com where they protect the northern U.S.A during snowstorms but do they Canada? We just had a four day storm last week, shut everything down including all the mailing I did the day before the storm hit. I had buyers complaining... does Ebay do anything to help with this? NOPE

[3staples]

Not sure why it's being cancelled but this will definitely change how much I buy through ebay.  It was a minor reward but at least it was something.  No incentive now to buy through ebay compared to other online retailers.

[carterpsg]

I don't think so just like Canadian Tire money