eBay

sin-n-dex · ‎02-18-2025

I know it's not for two weeks, but I'm getting ready. Wondered how other people would handle it and maybe it will give me some new ideas of things I haven't thought of before.

Currently my location is USA on my listings (which means I provide domestic USA shipping, but I use Stallion, so they take my items across the border). I'm thinking of things I can do to deal with this, but I'm not sure what's best and won't know what to do until there's a process in place for dealing with tariffs so I can respond appropriately.

On March 1 I'm going to put my store on time away, and on March 2 I will drive to Stallion in Mississauga with my last parcels to get them over the border on March 3 (in case tariffs start March 4). Then I'm going to stay on time away until I know what's going on (like will Stallion allow me to pay tariffs, how much is it going to cost, will it work on all items I sell, is this a temporary measure until I figure something else out, etc, etc).

Things I'm thinking I might do, depending on the outcome:

- Change item location to Canada (so if there's tariffs buyers will be aware the item is coming from Canada and they might have to pay)

- List items on the dot CA site to attract more Canadian buyers

- Open a store on dot CA (probably with my other eBay account that's registered in Canada)

- Ship with Canada Post (that seemed to have the fewest problems the last time)

- Continue to be showing a USA location and pay the tariffs myself (might not be feasable for all items I sell, might have to take stuff out of the store)

- Try to attract more international sales (other than USA)

I don't know which I'll do yet, these are just things I'm thinking about to deal with the changes. I do think my USA location is hurting me with Canadian buyers (however when I send offers out, I do state I'm in Canada and Canadian buyers are purchasing, but they aren't bidding on my auctions right now).

Wondered what others were thinking of doing to deal with this (other than perhaps a time out to do other things). I'm currently working on listing my jewellery on a crafting type of platform (with the location in Canada), I never had time for that before, but since I'm not listing on eBay right now until I know what's going on with tariffs, I thought I'd work on something else. Once that's done I have a project to do for my family that I never had time for. Just think of the free time I'll have for a week or so until they sort out how to collect tariffs and put measures into place so items can get across the border.

I do know some people never stopped selling or shipping to US the last time, but since there are things going on in my store, stopping seems to be the best idea until I figure out what to do. (The main thing is the USA location, if there are tariffs perhaps minimally I'll have to change my location to Canada and ship with Canada Post, the postage on eBay is pretty close to what I pay at Stallion, but Stallion allows me to do a domestic USA sale with a USA item location).

C.

nhl_automotive · ‎02-28-2025

Everyone needs to take a breath and wait and see what happens. I'm not convinced they'll be any tariffs and if there are, I'm not sure they'll last long.

itolduandso · ‎02-28-2025

This is regular Tax in EU, albeith higher than average. If you go there to a normal store you pay same.

EU doesn't charge import Tariffs on the item.

38e_avenue · ‎02-28-2025

@randomchans wrote:
Would you classify the item you sold as "wow this is rare I NEED it" or "just meh"?

If you don't mind me asking, are you shipping directly to the buyer in EU? Or shipping to ebay's global shipping hub in Chicago?

It was a rare item, very unique, yes. It was only an example people may still buy, if the US tariffs are imposed on us. I shipped directly to the EU (Hungary).

38e_avenue · ‎02-28-2025

@itolduandso wrote:
This is regular Tax in EU, albeith higher than average. If you go there to a normal store you pay same.
EU doesn't charge import Tariffs on the item.

It's obvious. That was only an example showing people can still buy - even if a high tariff is imposed on them.

Personally, I would probably survive the tariffs, because my items are rather unique (antique collectibles). However, the sellers who offer common items, which can be purchased elsewhere for less, will be in real trouble.

38e_avenue · ‎02-28-2025

@recped wrote:
I today sold an item to a buyer from the EU

Hungary I assume, they have the highest rate of any EU country.

Probably, but I remember a buyer from Croatia was charged even more. Here anonther EU example from a few days ago: Poland - the VAT charge was only 5%.

sparx_63 · ‎03-01-2025

I no longer sell to the United States.

intimewithmusic · ‎03-01-2025

@chastershop wrote:
"I list on both Canada and US site. Like most of you my main sales are from USA. To prepare for if there are tariffs, I have been slowly going through US site and if the item has no country of origin, it goes to another platform. If it says country of origin is Canada then the listing goes to Ebay CA site and I have the CA site changed to omit USA for shipping to. If the tariffs do not happen then I can change that.
I am using a crosslister so it is easier but still have to convert the shipping and make sure the item location is on the new listing etc with some editing.
Crossing fingers that tariffs do not happen. It is in all our minds and so stressful."

Hi @chastershop
Am I missing something? If your widgets market is in the USA , isn't moving them around from platform to platform something like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?

I understand you said you may terminate shipping to the USA but is that a productive plan if that is your market? Assuming Tuesday's tarrifs are 25% and the De Minimus is set at zero...
Some questions I'm asking myself...
* Will my USA buyers pay an extra 25% on top of my current widget price AND go to the trouble of paying the courier separately?

* Am I prepared to lower my price to compete with my US domestic ephemera market that already benefits from cheaper shipping costs?

Of course we won't know till the orange guy sings but the US market may just go away for awhile. It might dwindle off not just from the tariffs but from changes to it's economy causing a lower disposable income.

After yesterdays kerfuffle in the Whitehouse I'm also troubled with an element of principle.
Your thoughts?

Thank you!

byto253 · ‎03-02-2025

I hope folks remember that the tariffs are related to and applicable based on the Country of Origin, not that they are shipped from Canada.

sin-n-dex · ‎03-02-2025

@byto253 wrote:
I hope folks remember that the tariffs are related to and applicable based on the Country of Origin, not that they are shipped from Canada.

It's still going to be border mayhem. Even with the third party shippers it will be mayhem.

C.

intimewithmusic · ‎03-02-2025

@byto253 wrote:
I hope folks remember that the tariffs are related to and applicable based on the Country of Origin, not that they are shipped from Canada.

You are historically correct however we are not faced with the 50 year old International Harmonization rule. We're faced with Trump's 2025 version of tariffs on goods flowing into the USA specifically. His objective is to profit on goods coming from Canada and sold inside the USA. He doesn't care where something was made. He's not following rules.

The de minimus extraction was on the books before Trump's "reign" to protect USA buinesses from Temu and the like which had nothing to do with Canada. If he wipes out the de minimus in Canada my point will be clear. Trump could care less about the COR.

This is a topic that eBay needs to address so speculation doesn't impact sellers. A seller has one simple requirement. Fill in eBay's customs document. That's it. Hopefully, on Tuesday if tariffs are implemented and the de minimus is set to zero, there will be some sort of response from eBay.

itolduandso · ‎03-02-2025

It can go either way. Put tariff on Chinese made products regardless from where they are coming from or put tafiff on anything coming from Canada regardless of what origin. If you have been following the orange wrecking ball, bpth option were on the table already. We don't know yet.

But I agree, ebay needs to make it transparent for sellers and buyers. For Ebay needs to show total ESTIMATED selling price including tariffs.

The same way it does for shipping.

By showing the total price including shipping AND tariffs, I still have a chance to compete with the US seller.

But without that - FORGET THAT.

US Buyer will just FILTER out sellers from Canada because of the uncertainty about how much it's going to cost when received. (Not to mention there may be delay on the border too, as an added pain).

US Buyer would never waste time worrying and calculating how much the total cost would be ordering from Canada, if they have US based options, EVEN if the US price is higher.

Making it hard for buyers to make purchase decission is going to kills the cross border business, it's not the 25% tariff.

This is what the orange wrecking ball does not understand.

sin-n-dex · ‎03-02-2025

@itolduandso wrote:
It can go either way. Put tariff on Chinese made products regardless from where they are coming from or put tafiff on anything coming from Canada regardless of what origin. If you have been following the orange wrecking ball, bpth option were on the table already. We don't know yet.

But I agree, ebay needs to make it transparent for sellers and buyers. For Ebay needs to show total ESTIMATED selling price including tariffs.

The same way it does for shipping.
By showing the total price including shipping AND tariffs, I still have a chance to compete with the US seller.

But without that - FORGET THAT.

US Buyer will just FILTER out sellers from Canada because of the uncertainty about how much it's going to cost when received. (Not to mention there may be delay on the border too, as an added pain).

US Buyer would never waste time worrying and calculating how much the total cost would be ordering from Canada, if they have US based options, EVEN if the US price is higher.

Making it hard for buyers to make purchase decission is going to kills the cross border business, it's not the 25% tariff.

This is what the orange wrecking ball does not understand.

USA buyers already filter to look at USA only listings on eBay.com. They see mine because I put a USA location and ship with USPS (if I start shipping with CP I will have to change the item location to Canada, and then get filtered out).

When the China tariffs hit and de minimis had been wiped out temporarily, customs was treating everything as if it came from China even though they were shipped from all sorts of places. Stallion told me that everything was going across via formal entry and there would be tariffs, even though none of my packages had goods from China. (That didn't end up happening because de minimis was reinstated and then everything was permitted entry, so the tariffs didn't materialize). It very much annoyed me that I had gone through great efforts to remove all China items from my eBay store only to have everything else I shipped be treated like it might be from China.

I will point out with Stallion they do not require tariff code and country of origin for international shipments and it will default to one HTS code (I don't know what the item is), and it defaults to country of origin being China. So that's why it's important to fill that in.

C.

itolduandso · ‎03-02-2025

For Stallion you need to put Country of origin (that's new).

HS Code short version was already needed for EU (without it there would be delays on inport to EU)

For US needs 10 digits now if it's longer for Chinese made items (I just use 10 difits for all), that' s because the 10 digit code includes the tariff information.

This is another problem with Ebay. If I sell an iPhone, eBay should display that HS Code and include that with the order information so I don't need to search for it. THat would save a tone of time for everybody. In fact subcategory could have a 6 difit HS code assigned to it without any issue. But ebay just doesn't care, only money that's what they want,

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎03-02-2025

@itolduandso wrote:
For Stallion you need to put Country of origin (that's new).
HS Code short version was already needed for EU (without it there would be delays on inport to EU)
For US needs 10 digits now if it's longer for Chinese made items (I just use 10 difits for all), that' s because the 10 digit code includes the tariff information.

This is another problem with Ebay. If I sell an iPhone, eBay should display that HS Code and include that with the order information so I don't need to search for it. THat would save a tone of time for everybody. In fact subcategory could have a 6 difit HS code assigned to it without any issue. But ebay just doesn't care, only money that's what they want,

@itolduandso

For couriers HS codes and other field info has been mandatory forever. Customs is a legal document.

HS codes are based on the type of item something is. Customs just wants to know that it is a book. Not that it is a Stephen King book. Why sellers shouldn't be using the listing name. Instead they should be using what the item physically IS. It would be super risky for eBay to be filling in HS codes because they would never be as knowledgeable as the shipper. (It would be similar to the seller defaulting with weight of item, weight of package and measurements. Often those need to be modified at final packaging.) When you are signing the label it is your name on it so it needs to be accurate. The more important part is that any info you include originally when creating a label is the same info on the label when it prints. This was a big problem in the past with eBay labels. Seller would fill in country of origin of goods and eBay would default to Canada/Province incorrectly.

-Lotzofuniquegoodies.

Re: Looking up HS codes. There are multiple sites for doing that it. On average it only adds a bit more time to look them up. CP, USP, Fedex and gov sites are good ones to use.

Disclaimer at bottom of an eBay label.

By clicking "Purchase shipping label" you agree to these Delivery Service Terms & Conditions and to your information being passed to Canada Post for the purpose of providing you with access to this service and for related purposes.

38e_avenue · ‎03-03-2025

@sparx_63 wrote:
I no longer sell to the United States.

Can you afford that? Surely not me... 🙄

My today's shipment below...

mrdutch1001 · ‎03-03-2025

Canada had a $20 limit on imports for decades and now y'all in a tizzy over the USA having to face maybe a $0 limit?!

Life goes on...

C'est la vie!

Que sera,sera!

Have a good day everyone!

sparx_63 · ‎03-03-2025

Absolutely

intimewithmusic · ‎03-03-2025

@itolduandso @byto253

I've never heard Trump say anything indicating only Canadian made goods would be tariffed. I have heard him repeat constantly the words ..."25%" and, "on everything" (except aluminum & steel). To me "everything" means the COR is not considered. No one really knows. You can't believe anything he says.

I think it would be impossible for them to tool up the customs procedures by tomorrow to encompass a zero de minimus allowance and incorporate any sort of COR dinstinctions in every single shipment. There would need to be a long process of implementation. This is why I'm hoping for a continued de minimus, (even if the threshold is reduced) to allow eBay sellers who rely on the US buyer to function.

All they would need to do to stop Temu is to lower the threshold to a point where they can't make money. I don't know what that point would be. Their widgets are pretty cheap. I would hope we might get at least a $200 threshold but even that might allow Temu and other Chinese companies to continue to exploit the US market duty free.