@dangerpins wrote:
I remember there was a point when eBay was going to outlaw watermarks but they relented and you still get no bad effects from using them after talking to support. I'm a bit worried about eBay's switch over to a product based approach, so I'm making other plans to be safe if it all collapses (i think it will be a disaster, they are trying to be Amazon, you will never out-amazon Amazon right?)
Welcome to Canada! Ottawa is a wonderful city, I lived there for 5 years many moons ago and still miss it. With three levels of government putting money into the city there is always so much to see and do. If you haven't gone through the winter there yet, be sure to get a parka and some good boots though (and some skates if you're able to skate - the Rideau canal is the jewel of the winter season).
To return to your comments, I agree with most of the others here that you'll find you'll sell more robustly into the U.S. market if you don't clearly distinguish yourself as a Canadian seller. Fortunately eBay displays .ca listings alongside .com listings, so aside from an unusual-looking price point caused by the automated currency conversion (if you're listing on .ca), it's possible to look like a U.S. seller amongst other U.S. sellers. Canadian buyers go to eBay.com more than eBay.ca, so they will find you regardless. We Canadian sellers were able to list in $USD on eBay.ca until a couple of years ago. Those days are unfortunately gone, but you can still list on both sites if you wish (and take advantage of double the number of listings).
This is not to say we're not proud (and very glad) to be Canadian, but we understand our American neighbours. Generally they are at best uncomfortable with anything that seems "foreign". At worst, Trump has become effective at painting anything non-American as a sort of invasion.
You can experiment with this idea by listing for a period of time on .ca with the Canadian flag displayed (as you are now doing), then removing the flag and/or listing the items on .com for the same length of time. Compare your sales between the two, and I'd wager you'll see your U.S. sales increase. Listing on .com (i.e. "blending in") has helped many of us retain or increase our U.S. market, although the downside is that shipping options for Canadians listing on .com are limited. (If you do list on .com, keep in mind that the shipping options are reversed: "domestic" will be for shipping to the U.S., whereas you'll need to use the "shipping from outside the U.S." generic options for Canadian and international).
I agree with the others that you really should ultimately remove the Canadian flags on your photos as they're against eBay's current picture policies. I think they may also suggest to Canadian buyers that the items are made in Canada, which might not be the case. Yes, best to remove them as soon as you're able.
The reality for most of us as Canadian eBay sellers is that we have a small domestic market but a huge potential U.S. market (with generally more money to spend and generally more accustomed to buying online) -- if we know how to sell into it. For a lot of us, that means listing in $US on .com (with regular, stable price points in $USD) so we "look like" other American sellers.
Remember that most of your competitors will probably be American as well. Another possible negative of listing in $CDN on .ca is that the actual number of the price displayed to the U.S. buyer will be higher, despite the conversion into $USD also being displayed. Arguably, for unobservant buyers, that could make your product look more expensive than those of your U.S. competitors. The constant fluctuation of the currency exchange rate might also be a concern if stable price points are important to keep your prices strictly in line with your U.S. competitors.
The product-based concept is a whole other worry, but I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we have to.
These are all things to consider when listing from Canada. Not every seller will agree with these points, but it's worth doing some experimenting to see how they impact your particular categories of items.
Best of luck!
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