eBay

pinetreecottage · ‎11-06-2015

I took advantage of the offer to list in Can. $. I have identical listings in US $. The Canadian listings have no visits, while the US are popular. Overall, after doing the math, the Canadian items are cheaper, yet, nobody is looking. So, while I appreciate the offer, it would seem, it is not working (for me anyway). Going forward, I will list in US again. Not a lot of sales, but, a few is better than none.

pierrelebel · ‎11-06-2015

The new promotion for listings in Cdn$ started yesterday!

It is a bit early to reach conclusions.

" I have identical listings in US $"

??? I checked all your listings and could not find such "identical listings"

If you list at auction two identical listings, only one will be shown to buyers until a bid is received. Then the second item becomes visible.

So if you list an item using auction style in US$ and duplicate it in Cdn$, the listing in Cdn$ will not be available to search result until a bid is received on the first listing. It has nothing to do with the currency of the listing.

mr.elmwood · ‎11-06-2015

I did not see any similar listings either, so, I am not sure what you meant.

Why would you price things lower in Canada? The point of listing in CDN funds is not to list a $76 US widget at $76 CDN, it is to list it at $100 in CDN funds. The whole idea, I "think" is to talk Canadian.

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tobyshitzu · ‎11-06-2015

Also don't see any duplicate listings. Do not do CAN$ and US$ duplicate fixed price listings with them both available to the same countries or you may find yourself with a "holiday" away from ebay. That is a rare polciy they actually try and enforce, and are pretty good at it even across different ids. You could do a duplicate fixed price if one is .com available to USA only, and 1 is .ca available to canada only

my-june · ‎11-06-2015

I agree ~ had the same problem when listing in Canadian $

Wonder why ebay is pushing us to switch over to Canadaian $ after advising us that selling in US $ would be more beneficial.

Must be something in it for them.

pierrelebel · ‎11-06-2015

"Must be something in it for them."

Yes there is.

eBay has calculated that Canadian sellers will do better listing in Cdn$ than in US$.

That means more fees to eBay. It is that simple.

katlover1952 · ‎11-06-2015

I am really curious if more items sell to Canadians when using CDN dollars. I really doubt that more will sell in the US if we use CDN dollars - even though it will state the price in US dollars as well I know people from the US seem to prefer US dollars. We used to do a lot of conventions in the US so mostly US buyers. We did one in Toronto once and priced items in both CDN and US dollars - the American buyers were confused and befuddled for the most part.

I am going to take advantage of this offer and see how it plays out but I am skeptical that it is really better for CDN sellers to list in CDN dollars when the majority of our buyers are in the US. Time will tell.

pierrelebel · ‎11-06-2015

"I am really curious if more items sell to Canadians when using CDN dollars. "

I do not know. Frankly I do not think eBay ever made that claim.

There would of course be an advantage to both Canadian buyers and Canadian sellers to transact in Cdn$, both saving the currency conversion fee. However, I do not know if that would actually translate in additional sales to Canadians specifically.

ypdc_dennis · ‎11-06-2015

@katlover1952 wrote:
I am really curious if more items sell to Canadians when using CDN dollars. I really doubt that more will sell in the US if we use CDN dollars - even though it will state the price in US dollars as well I know people from the US seem to prefer US dollars. We used to do a lot of conventions in the US so mostly US buyers. We did one in Toronto once and priced items in both CDN and US dollars - the American buyers were confused and befuddled for the most part.
I am going to take advantage of this offer and see how it plays out but I am skeptical that it is really better for CDN sellers to list in CDN dollars when the majority of our buyers are in the US. Time will tell.

I've had no problems selling to Americans (and the rest of the world) in Canadian$ -- seems to work just as well as US$ -- if they want it they will buy it.

The only problem area is if you deal with a lot of returns from the USA, then the exchange rate can become an issue (if it was sold in Canadian $).

katlover1952 · ‎11-06-2015

I don't think that eBay ever claimed more Canadians would buy if we sold in CDN dollars but they did say it was to our advantage to sell in Canadian dollars when they have been telling us for years it was better to sell in US dollars? Not sure if they really said why.

You are correct Pierre about the exchange rate. For me this is a non-issue as I live very near the US border so have a US bank account so no conversion costs. Now if I list and sell in CDN dollars I guess I will have to deal with the cost of exchange. As I said in my first post time will tell whether or not this is advantageous.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-06-2015

Now if I list and sell in CDN dollars I guess I will have to deal with the cost of exchange.

Or deposit your Canadian dollars into a Canadian bank account.

dutchman48 · ‎11-07-2015

If you buy a lot from the US or overseas, the exchange rate will get very expensive.

You also can't use shipping discounts if you use Can $ on .ca and US $ on .com as it will only work with the currency it is set up in.

Billing and exchange rates will also become an issue if you mix currencies and only can pay your fees in 1 currency.

There are a lot of things Ebay does not think about (or let people know) as no matter what they tell us, they only care about how much they can make.

If you only list in 1 currency and only have billing in 1 currency, it is much less of a problem, but for sellers that list on both .ca and .com, switching Can listings to Can $ will become an expensive nightmare.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-07-2015

Oh ok, you were talking about the shipping discounts that a seller may set up for their buyers.

I list in both currencies and am billed in U.S. $. It works out fairly well as I always have Canadian dollars to use for Paypal shipping and U.S. dollars to pay ebay and for any items that I buy in the U.S.

dutchman48 · ‎11-07-2015

Correct me if I am wrong, but when Ebay adds your FVF to you account, do they mot charge a conversion fee on the currency you are not billed in?

pierrelebel · ‎11-07-2015

"do they mot charge a conversion fee on the currency you are not billed in?"

No.

If your billing currency is US$:

listing fees associated with transactions on eBay.com (US$) and eBay.ca (in US$) will be billed in US$ and no conversion takes place

listing fees associated with transactions on eBay.ca in Cdn$ will be converted into US$ at current wholesale conversion rate (no conversion fee)

Your total fees (from all sites) in US$ will then be charged to your credit card, PayPal or bank account (your decide on the default)

If your billing currency is CDN$:

listing fees associated with transactions on eBay.com (US$) and eBay.ca (in US$) will be converted into Cdn$ at current wholesale conversion rate (no conversion fee)

listing fees associated with transactions on eBay.ca in Cdn$ will be billed in Cdn$ and no conversion takes

Your total fees (from all sites) in Cdn$ will then be charged to your credit card, PayPal or bank account (your decide on the default)

Sellers can change their "billing currency" on eBay once a year.

PS - I have always recommended a seller uses a credit card to pay eBay fees. It is safer than any other payment methods plus most credit cards offer you rewards (AirMiles or whatever) off your eBay fees! Canadian banks give you a choice of using a credit card in Cdn$ or denominated in US$ if more practical.

dutchman48 · ‎11-07-2015

But you still pay the exchange rate?

dutchman48 · ‎11-07-2015

It is the fluctuation in the Can dollar that I dislike when buying. You see a whole lot less if you use the US dollar.

I have nothing against the Canadian dollar but the fluctuations can be extreme.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-07-2015

As Pierre said, there's no conversion fees when being billed.

For example, my store was billed Sept 15 - Oct 15

According to the Bank of Canada the conversion rate on Sept 15 for Can - U.S. was .7540

I was charged 19.95 x .7540 = $15.01 U.S

pierrelebel · ‎11-07-2015

"But you still pay the exchange rate?"

If you sell an item for US$100 and pay 9% FVF, eBay will charge you fees of US$9.00

If you sell the same item for Cdn$130 (basically the same value) and pay 9% FVF, eBay will charge you Cdn$ 11.70

Using the same conversion rate of US$1.00 = Cdn$1.30 the two amounts are basically the same.

Many sellers quite frankly overthink currency conversion.

An item is worth so much. If there is a market for it, it will sell at that price, regardless of the currency used. Since the fees charged by eBay are based on a percentage of value, it should make any substantial difference overall.