eBay

domecreeke · ‎01-28-2013

Ebay has a policy which charges fees just not on the item sold, but on the shipping charges attached to that item.

Therefore, American Ebay sellers are blocking Canadians from purchasing their items unless pre-arranged and even then this does not mean anything, unless the Ebay Seller goes online and unblocks your bid for their item.

Case in point. Today I wanted to purchase an item from a gentleman in Flordia. I had gone to the trouble of contacting this person and asked him how much to ship his item to Canada. He came back with the price and I thanked him. I then entered the bidding game and I entered a bid of $250.00 but it was blocked. I tried contacting this person about our previous Email, but there was no response. So bidding ended today without my bid of $250.00 even reaching the seller. The item sold for $88.00 .

Ebay - what a frigging joke. Given the high fees and this blocking ability, Canadian are being discriminated against. So much for the North American Free Trade Agreement. We want to give Americans money $$$$$$ for their goods but we are blocked from doing so by economic fee barriers being erected against Canadian Customers.

After today, I will start looking for alternatives to the Ebay Marketplace.

nuvistors · ‎01-28-2013

You will find that if you purchase something from a store in Ontario and have it delivered you will pay tax on the delivery. Ebay is just learning from Ontario !

i*m-still-here · ‎01-28-2013

A lot of US sellers only ship to the US because it it easier for them and it has nothing to do with eBay fees.

Your experience is an excellent example of how it's hurting them.

Items with reasonable international shipping costs end for much more $$$$$.

It's unlikely that you would have won for $88, but maybe you would have won the item for $199 or another bidder may have won for $253.

In any event, it is what it is...................

Currently the challenges for buyers on ebay are at a pinnacle.

Things are bound to ease up ................. or at least I hope they do by the time I start selling in earnest because I'd hate to see that all the buyers have already left.

pierrelebel · ‎01-28-2013

"Ebay has a policy which charges fees just not on the item sold, but on the shipping charges attached to that item."

That is correct. eBay charges sellers fees based on the total transaction value (except for the tax). It is nothing new and is competitive with the other giant in the industry - Amazon - who has been charging sellers fees on the same basis.

This has nothing to do with many American sellers refusing to sell outside their borders. That is their choice. In many instances it makes good sense to them. In the USA, sellers use UPS, Fed-Ex and USPS for shipping most items. Canadian buyers generally refuse to buy from sellers using UPS or Fed-Ex because of their perceived high brokerage fees.

That leaves USPS. For many sellers, USPS picks up at the door daily, except for packaged addressed to a foreign destination (Canada). For many, it means a special trip to the Post Office. Costly and time consuming. Often not worth their while.

So it is not surprising so many American sellers are happy to limit their sales to their own country which accounts for the bulk of the economic activity in North America in any case.

"So much for the North American Free Trade Agreement"

??? What does NAFTA have to do with an individual in the USA not wanting to sell outside his borders?

"Ebay - what a frigging joke"

eBay has nothing to do with it. Those decisions are made individually by each seller.

queenpalmer · ‎01-28-2013

You should be upset with the seller not ebay. I do not understand how shipping or not shipping to Canada has anthing to do with Ebay fees? Sales of any nature keep things moving. Restrictions on customers means less possible sales. That is the sellers option.

domecreeke · ‎01-28-2013

Taxes have nothing to do with this.

I have been advised in Emails,(and I don't think they are lying) by numerous American Ebay sellers that they won't do business with Canadian buyers because they are charged fees on the total transaction charge which includes shipping.

They do not think this is fair, and therefore exclude Canadians from a great deal of the American Ebay marketplace.

Some American Ebay sellers will have you deal with them directly to avoid the fees attached to the shipping charges.

i*m-still-here · ‎01-28-2013

All sellers pay a fee on the item cost plus shipping cost.

That is, this is not restricted to US seller shipping out of the US. It applies to everyone everywhere.

Some US sellers do not want to ship out of the States for the simple reason that it's easier for them not to.

vintagenorth · ‎01-28-2013

Well I guess telling you its because of the ebay shipping fees sounds better than saying its because they don't want to have to drive to a post office and manually fill out customs forms in order to ship to you. Not to mention the hassle of trying to remove their Canada blocks.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎01-28-2013

Not a business model i would adopt. I would be out of business in a week.

Some sellers do not ship to Canada, has happened to me in the past also, & whatever reason they have, it is what it is.

You'll find a comparable item.

Anonymous · ‎01-28-2013

I am not sure if I read it right. Did you say that eBay decide which US sellers can block the Canadian buyers or does the eBay system automatically block Canadian buyers??

If so, the US sellers would lose a lot of potentional Canadian buyers!

As for USPS do pick parcels at home but will not accept parcels if going to Canada, it doesn't make senses!! USPS do deliver any packages going out of USA, so why can't they accept them at home when they pick them up at homes??? It is so silly that someone in USPS think of that idea!!

i*m-still-here · ‎01-28-2013

I am not sure if I read it right. Did you say that eBay decide which US sellers can block the Canadian buyers or does the eBay system automatically block Canadian buyers??

If so, the US sellers would lose a lot of potentional Canadian buyers!

As for USPS do pick parcels at home but will not accept parcels if going to Canada, it doesn't make senses!! USPS do deliver any packages going out of USA, so why can't they accept them at home when they pick them up at homes??? It is so silly that someone in USPS think of that idea!!

Ebay does not automatically block anyone.

That is totally up to the seller.

In the US the PO and couriers pick up a the seller's door, just as they do here in Canada.

A few sellers use that service exclusively.

That is, they may opt not to go the PO, or they can't, because they are disabled or whatever.

Couriers and the PO will all accept parcels coming to Canada.

The PO does not, to the best of my knowledge, accept FCI (First Class International) via pick up.

Also, when a seller only uses the pick up method, and also ships via courier only, then it's possible that they won't ship to Canada because we don't want to receive items shipped via courier.

Now, I know that all sounds twisted and somewhat complicated, but I think the answer is in there somewhere. 🙂

pjcdn2005 · ‎01-29-2013

Taxes have nothing to do with this.

I have been advised in Emails,(and I don't think they are lying) by numerous American Ebay sellers that they won't do business with Canadian buyers because they are charged fees on the total transaction charge which includes shipping.

They do not think this is fair, and therefore exclude Canadians from a great deal of the American Ebay marketplace.

Some American Ebay sellers will have you deal with them directly to avoid the fees attached to the shipping charges.

They do have to pay an extra 1% to Paypal for international sales so on a $50 sale that would be just 50 cents.

As far as the ebay fees on shipping that others are referring to...a U.S. seller does pay a percentage on shipping cost but they pay that for domestic shipping too. When shipping internationally, they pay a fee on shipping as well but if their domestic shipping is less expensive, the fee they are charged is a percentage of the domestic shipping cost, not the international shipping cost. There are a lot of sellers who don't realize that it works like that.

rainy_bee · ‎02-23-2013

One of the outcomes of eBay charging fees on both the item & shipping charges is that it has stopped sellers from charging exorbitant shipping fees, esp by US sellers when shipping to Canada.

I have a related question & don't know how/where to open a new topic. I'm in Canada & I'm interested in a hard to find item from a US seller & wanted to ask him if he would ship the item to my sister in the US, hence the shipping to Canada problem solved. But he won't accept questions Canada customers. I guess that means he's blocking Canadian buyers. I wish there was a way to request them to unblock in these cases? Soooooo frustrating........

pocomocomputing · ‎02-23-2013

rainy_bee, to create a new topic, you need to be in a forum. You most likely are viewing all recent topics in all forms.

In the list above, you will see different forums in the Categories. Select Buyer Central and you will see New Topic and New Topic with Poll. Choose New Topic.

pocomocomputing · ‎02-23-2013

rainy_bee, you are allowed multiple shipping addresses. You can add your sister's USA address to your account. Then make it your primary shipping address. eBay blocks are based on shipping address, not registration address.

So you might be able to purchase.

However, if the seller has a block allowing only USA PayPal accounts, then you may not be able to purchase.

My understanding of the blocks. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

sgbotsford · ‎02-24-2013

I ordered something from a company in the U.S. It was a 25 dollar item. It was 12 shipping.

Got sent by UPS. Got phone call form UPS. They wanted $60 to clear it through customs. I told them to send it back.

Now I specify USPS for anything I order from the US. If they only do FedEx or UPS, I don't deal with them.

Lots of companies don't like shipping to Canada.

* Its' more expensive to ship.

* Extra paperwork (Shipper has to fill out a customs declaration.

It's only 10% of the market, so why bother.

What really drove this home to me:

I can get a box of books from Amazon.UK cheaper than I can from Amazon.com.

cumos55 · ‎02-24-2013

A US seller has a market that numbers in the 300 million plus....

Canada adds 30 million to that mix.... 10 % more potential buyers...

Why think about the headaches involved in meeting the needs such a small group of potential buyers...

That is the view of US sellers.... They have enough potential buyers to make them happy...

brandeentertainment · ‎02-24-2013

So Far this year my sales to the US have tripled from anytime last year I love this new shipping price hike..

I had very slow sales in beginning of feb so I looked into and and found my prices were too high as Much had droppedd in the new year and I am now back to 20 sales a day many of them being to the US

I LOVE IT

i*m-still-here · ‎02-24-2013

So Far this year my sales to the US have tripled from anytime last year I love this new shipping price hike..

I had very slow sales in beginning of feb so I looked into and and found my prices were too high as Much had droppedd in the new year and I am now back to 20 sales a day many of them being to the US

I LOVE IT

It's not really clear if you referring to your own personal adjustments to your cost of shipping, to the new USPS rates, or to a combination of the two?

The changes in USPS shipping costs should not increase your sales to the US.

They could well play a role in increasing Canadian and international sales other than US sales.

USPS shipping costs within the States didn't change much if at all.