Canadian listings in US dollars with international shipping to Canada

[andremontevilla]

I don't get it. I search for listings located in Canada and a bunch of them are priced in US dollars with shipping to Canada in US$ identified as "international shipping". I don't want to pay in US$ for something that is located in Canada and shipped to me in Canada. I mean even the seller loses out too in that case, no? With the exchange rate fees? What am I missing?

[clemowbooks]

The USA is the world's largest economy and it would be poor planning for a Canadian seller to ignore it.

Combine that with the difficulty many Americans have with concepts like "Not the USA", "Other countries have different currencies", and "No seriously, we are not interested in being Americans" and  it only makes sense for Canadians to expand our export market by selling on the dotCOM (US) site, which then demands that we list in US dollars and use Flat Rate shipping unless we can use the USPS services*.

Even if the listing is in US dollars, you will see an approximation** of the cost in loonies, if you are Searching on dotCA (eBay Canada) and your Paypal account will show the payment in loonies.

The Canadian seller will also be shipping by Canada Post and you will have no problems with unexpected import fees.

I mean even the seller loses out too in that case, no? With the exchange rate fees?

Nope.

The Canadian seller has adjusted her price to allow for currency exchange.

The USD price may be $9.99+ shipping, but the price in loonies will be $12.69ish.

And the Flat Rate shipping within Canada may be lower than her price for shipping to the USA.

*Which some Canadians can because we are smart, flexible, and understand how international commerce works.

** Because currency exchange rates fluctuate constantly.

[andremontevilla]

Spoken like a true seller. But as a buyer, when I search for listings in Canada, I expect to pay in CAD$. Plus we all know the conversion amount shown by eBay is the bank rate and is 3% higher at checkout.

[lady.stark]

You need to take into consideration that if the seller is listing at US$109.99, he would list at CAD$139.99 on ebay.ca. Most sellers would take conversion fees into consideration. What is more? US109.99 or CA139.99? They are essentially the same.

[andremontevilla]

RE: lady.stark Sorry, but I ain't buying it. I realize some Canadian sellers are pandering themselves to US buyers by listing on eBay.com in US$ in the mistaken belief that this offers them an advantage, but eBay.ca's own guidance proves that this is not true:

https://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/news/springupdate2015/list-in-cad.html

Plus, shipping fees have to be set manually and are higher than Canada Post for comparable items listed in CAD$ just in case they get a US buyer. 

[pjcdn2005]

I really doubt that sellers take the conversion fee into account as that would mean that they would be charging everyone 3% extra. But in my experience, they do take into account the difference in currencies when they are setting the price for the item and shipping. Two different shipping costs are set up for Canadian and US buyers so there would be no reason to charge more than the actual shipping and handling cost for Canadians.

With that being said, I can understand why it you would be frustrated at having to pay the extra conversion rate when you are purchasing from Canada but you could always ask a seller if they would relist that item on .ca and what would they charge if they did so.

[clemowbooks]

when I search for listings in Canada, I expect to pay in CAD$.

[lady.stark]

RE: andremontevilla EBay's guidance changed a few years back not because it was more beneficial to sellers but more beneficial to eBay. They knew they were being forced to charge us Canadian taxes on our fees, so they made that change for their own benefit.