Why does ebay hate Canadians?

[thaddeuswhifflenorfer]

As the subject line says, why does eBay hate Canadians? Why do we get gouged on shipping, screwed on the new BS "import duties," then given a final reaming on delivery? An item an American pays $60 for will cost a Canadian over $100. I know because I just paid that bill! And that's not even including extortion fees from the crime syndicate known as UPS. Or conversion fees from the banks. Or PayPal fees. 

And please don't say "if you don't like getting screwed, then just don't buy on eBay." That's a cop-out.

I've been buying on eBay for ten years, and I am done. When you add up all the backrage fees that eBay charges, plus insane shipping, plus duty, and whatever else they slap on in the future (fuel surcharge? administration fee? eBay logo colourization fee?), it just isn't worth it. When you slap a 40% increase on every purchase, it's just not economical. I'll take an ad out in the paper **bleep**. 

[pierrelebel]

"Why do we get gouged on shipping"

What does that have to do with your title?  eBay does not control shipping charged by sellers.

"screwed on the new BS "import duties,"

What does that have to do with your title?  eBay does not control taxes and duty (if applicable) remitted to the Canadian government.

"$60 for will cost a Canadian over $100"

What does that have to do with your title? It is the buyer decision to purchase an item from outside the country, pay additional shipping and taxes and brokerage fee.  This can easily be avoided by buying locally.

"extortion fees from the crime syndicate known as UPS"

What does that have to do with your title?  The fees charged by UPS and other courier services have nothing to do with eBay.

"and I am done"

Good Luck

.

[silver-athletica]

Same thing, i just paid a ton of extra money on shipping charges and import fees buying from USA..Seller told me ebay controls the shipping charges he couldn't combine shipping. Over $100.00 for shipping, and more for import fees. Why do some USA sellers Not charge import fees and some do???  Unlikely to buy much from USA anymore. I get coins from Poland with way cheaper shipping rates and no import fees...SO WHATS UP!!!!  Someone is making lots of dough....

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@thaddeuswhifflenorfer wrote:

As the subject line says, why does eBay hate Canadians? Why do we get gouged on shipping, screwed on the new BS "import duties," then given a final reaming on delivery? An item an American pays $60 for will cost a Canadian over $100. I know because I just paid that bill! And that's not even including extortion fees from the crime syndicate known as UPS. Or conversion fees from the banks. Or PayPal fees. 

And please don't say "if you don't like getting screwed, then just don't buy on eBay." That's a cop-out.

I've been buying on eBay for ten years, and I am done. When you add up all the backrage fees that eBay charges, plus insane shipping, plus duty, and whatever else they slap on in the future (fuel surcharge? administration fee? eBay logo colourization fee?), it just isn't worth it. When you slap a 40% increase on every purchase, it's just not economical. I'll take an ad out in the paper **bleep**. 

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[pierrelebel]

"Seller told me ebay controls the shipping charges he couldn't combine shipping"

In fact, American sellers make the decision to use Global Shipping Program or decide not to use it.  They also have the ability, if they wish, to use it but exempt specific countries such as Canada.

There is nothing to prevent an American seller to offer combined shipping to Canadian buyers when NOT using the Global Shipping Program.  The decision rests with the American seller. 

It is so darn easy to blame eBay, Why not?

[2011limey1]

" extortion fees from the crime syndicate known as UPS" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ah come on now, that's a little much. "And please don't say "if you don't like getting screwed, then just don't buy on eBay." That's a cop-out." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, I guess I'm copping out - I never have and never will buy anything by way of UPS - I don't need anything bad enough to pay extra fees,

[metal5192]

You cannot argue with eBay as it is perfect in its own mind. Due to high fees from eBay/Paypal , wrongful actions by ebay against my sales, I reduced selling on eBay from $2500/month to less then $50/month. This however does not deter ebay from hounding me to change things so I can remain a top rated seller. What don't they understand about treating the seller with respect equally to the buyer? A buyer can give negative feedback, a seller cannot. A buyer can say they never received goods and PayPal gives them back the money leaving the seller hanging out to dry with no money, no goods and possible wrongful feedback.What a one sided unfair company eBay has become. Little wonder it as a company is deteriorating and it still acts like the ostrich with its head in the sand. If I am one example of reduced sales, there must be hundreds of thousands out there doing the same thing. All I can say is, good luck ebay and you better hope competition doesn't put you out of business.

[thaddeuswhifflenorfer]

I think metal5192 has hit the nail on the head.

Maybe I should revise my complaint. Although we can all agree that the Global Shipping Program is a needless gouge that favours Americans at the expense of the rest of the world, the biggest failure here is of the marketplace. 

I'll revise my subject line: "Why is that market forces have not yet replaced eBay, which is so screamingly awful for Canadians, for so many reasons, not all of which are the fault of eBay, with an alternative in which buying and selling involves less fleecing?"

[pierrelebel]

"Why is that market forces have not yet replaced eBay"

I think you give eBay too much importance.

Worldwide ecommerce is expected to reach $1.5 trillion dollars this year.  It first reached $1 trillion in 2012.

Transactions on eBay are a fraction of all online transactions worldwide.While eBay claims to be the largest online ecommerce site, Gross merchandise volume (sales by sellers worldwide) is about $220 billion.  It is a big number but not that much when you look at the rest of the online ecommerce exceeding $1 trillion.

Canadians can buy wherever they want, in Canada and from outside our borders - IF a foreign merchant is willing to sell to a Canadian (many foreign merchants do not sell outside their own borders) and the shipping costs and associated fees (which may include import taxes) make sense. 

The decision is made by the Canadian buyer if the transaction makes sense.  If you feel foreign sellers do not offer an attractive proposition due to shipping or fees, go elsewhere, forget eBay.  It is a big world out there.

[thaddeuswhifflenorfer]

No, it is not a big world. This is exactly the problem. It is pointless to discuss the Canadian marketplace in terms of global trade when geographical isolation and a small population obviously place Canada in a different category from, say, Germany. You presume a level playing field and free market where supply and demand clearly are not the only factors.

Canada, which lies between Uganda and Iraq in terms of population, shares its only land border with the third most populous country in the world, the biggest market in the world, and, if it matters, the world's only superpower. You blithely say "Canadians can buy wherever they want," when you should say "the marketplace is overwhelmingly tilted towards buying from the economic colossus that is the only country within 100 miles of 90% of the population, and not separated by an ocean several thousand miles across."

In this context, I repeat that eBay is a miserable marketplace for Canadians in part because of policies (ie GSP) that eBay has arbitrarily applied that specifically favour Americans. You cannot explain this away with libertarian hand-waving about free choice and free markets. Heck, what happened to NAFTA when it came to GSP? I just got nailed for $18 for a $59 part that was 100% made in the U.S.A.

If you live in Canada and you need to buy the type of used item that only a deep, rich marketplace can provide -- say, something uncommon, old, or highly specialized -- you are not going to find it in the Moncton Craigslist or the New Liskeard Weekly News. You need to go the American marketplace. And there stands eBay (and UPS, and banks, and PayPal) all ready to make your shopping experience miserable and expensive.

There comes a point where it is no longer economically viable, and I think that point has been reached. Hence my (revised) question: when is the marketplace going to give rise to a genuine choice for Canadians?

[pierrelebel]

"when is the marketplace going to give rise to a genuine choice for Canadians?'

Once the Canadian marketplace (population 35 millions) warrants it.

eBay is not the answer for you and I agree.

Unfortunately you cannot expect a platform that will make goods available to you in Canada at the same price and conditions as you see in the USA or within Europe (both markets with population about ten times larger). 

It does not matter what a Canadian wants to buy: it often costs more in Canada than in the USA. That is a reality we all came to accept.

Go to the bookstore: $30 (USA) $35+tax (Canada), go to the car dealer $30,000 (USA), $36,000+tax (Canada).  There are many reasons to explain the differences in retail pricing between the two countries but that is another discussion.

We have consumption taxes in Canada that compare favourably with Europe but certainly not with the USA.

We live here... they live there.  We have huge advantages living here but... sometimes... there is a price to pay for our overall quality of life.

[thaddeuswhifflenorfer]

"Go to the bookstore: $30 (USA) $35+tax (Canada). There are many reasons to explain the differences in retail pricing between the two countries but that is another discussion."

That is not a valid comparison. Of course there are differences in retail prices between (all) countries. But that is quite different from trade barriers differentially applied to targeted groups within the same country.

No-one is "going to the bookstore." This is the Internet, after all. A Canadian pays the exact same price for a book on eBay that an American does. They both click the same links.

Let's use your example of a $30 book. It is $30 for the American and $30 for the Canadian (converted into US currency, of course). Retail price differences are irrelevant and do not apply. You cannot blithely subsume eBay's policies within a generalization that Canadians always get screwed because, well, they're just Canadians and everything is more expensive. Using that logic, Swedes should have an automatic markup applied to everything they buy because, well, they're Swedes and Sweden is expensive. Clearly, that is nonsensical. Sellers do not adjust prices based on nationality, skin colour, or anything else. To suggest that this is acceptable endorses the most blatant discrimination.

And this is exactly what eBay has done. The American will have his book shipped to him for about $7. Total cost of purchase for the book: $37. The Canadian will get slapped with a GSP charge of approximately $10. Then he will be gouged by UPS with its multiple embedded robberies. And, of course, there are bank fees and PayPal fees. By the time he is done, that $30 book will be $50 or more.

My point is not that eBay is "not right for me." My point is that eBay is uneconomical for any Canadian. The only reason to buy from eBay is that the marketplace has not yet generated an alternative.

[pjcdn2005]

The Canadian will get slapped with a GSP charge of approximately $10. Then he will be gouged by UPS with its multiple embedded robberies. And, of course, there are bank fees and PayPal fees. By the time he is done, that $30 book will be $50 or more.

UPS has nothing to do with the gsp and is never used to deliver gsp orders in Canada. The seller may use UPS to send the item from their location to the gsp location but UPS isn't used after that point. Even if they were, all fees are paid at the time of purchase. The only time there would be extra fees paid would be if the seller hadn't shipped through gsp but had sent the item direct to the buyer.

Bank fees? If you have bank fees and funded a non gsp sale the same way that you funded a gsp sale, your bank fees shouldn't be any different. That's not ebay related.

Paypal fees? The only fees that a buyer may pay is a currency transaction fee. Again..you would pay this anytime that you wanted to convert Canadian $ to U.S. $   That also isn't ebay related.

I don't doubt that some $30 books on ebay end up costing a Canadian buyer $50 but not for the reasons that you mention.

[pjcdn2005]

My point is that eBay is uneconomical for any Canadian

Perhaps that is your viewpoint but you can only speak for yourself, not all Canadians.

There are many times when an item I have purchased is less expensive here than it would be on another site or locally. 

[pierrelebel]

"And this is exactly what eBay has done"

As written earlier, eBay is not for you.  eBay is bad. they are devil.  Stay away from them.

"No-one is "going to the bookstore.""

By the way, Mary would never dream of buying a book online.  She does go to a book store (Chapters generally), touches the book, reads a few paragraphs, gets a feel for it and decides to buy or not. If everyone shopped online, there would be no bookstore left in the world.  Actually,m there would be no retail store left in the world.

There is a big retail world out there outside ecommerce.

Forget eBay - it is obviously not for you and will never be able to satisfy you.  You are looking for utopia.  This is Canada.

[thaddeuswhifflenorfer]

Wow. Complacency truly has become a national pastime. Sad.

[pierrelebel]

"Complacency truly has become a national pastime."

What is the alternative?  Complaining?  Blaming everybody else? Refusing to accept reality?

A long long time ago, a very wise man wrote:

God grant me the serenity to accept

the things I cannot change,

courage to change the things I can,

and wisdom to know the difference.

[thaddeuswhifflenorfer]

Yes, well, as someone else once said, a long time ago, "You must unlearn what you have learned." Or, from a better franchise: "I submit to you that your Empire is illogical because it cannot endure. I submit that you are illogical to be a willing part of it."

[disisus]

I buy the odd item from American sellers because they have what I want and Canadians sellers often don't.

It's up to me if I want to pay what they're asking.

I don't buy from a seller that ships UPS or any other way than thru the post office.

I can easily figure out what the Max. Total would be. Even if the PO hits me with the GST and PST and handling, which they don't always do.

If I have any questions about the shipping I email the seller and ask. ( Might leave out the BIN if you have to wait too long for an answer. )

You can't expect to get the same item for the same Total price that an American seller could give to an American buyer.

We're not the same country.

That's reality and you have a choice.

You either want the item bad enough to pay to get it to you or you don't.

Perhaps you should also be more selective about who you buy from and their method of shipping. 🙂

Les

[valve37]

Just for you Les, get your pocket book out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qbuuyHZyvA

[disisus]

So what does Justin Trudeau have to do with eBay? Or were you just wondering if I'd seen that video?

I hadn't.

I'm not sure who I'm going to support this time round Valve. I don't agree with all his policies ( what I know of them ) either.

How about "none of the above".