My 15 year-old eBay account is now useless because I cannot change my registration site :(

[borislegasov]

I created my account 15 years ago when I lived in the UK. Seven years ago, I moved to Canada and continued using the same eBay account to buy and sell. Apparently, I didn't update my registration country (I had no reason to believe I needed to, or that there was such a thing to update), though I continued to buy and sell with no issues. Over the years I've amassed a decent selling history which helps when I want to sell items and have confidence from bidders.

Now, I am unable to list through the ebay.ca website because I registered with ebay.co.uk. When I try to list an item, it doesn't allow me to, and instead redirects me to the .co.uk homepage. This is apparently because recently new anti-fraud measures were introduced which prohibits users registered in one country from selling via another country's TLD.

The worst thing is that customer service informs me that the registration site cannot now be changed under any circumstances. This strikes me as completely unnecessarily punitive against the user.

I had no reason to believe that this was something that would need to be changed, because I have been selling from my Canadian addresses for years. I updated my address and phone number on the system 6-7 years ago. They've remained the same all this time. You could call that number now and speak to me.

My only options are to either sell through .co.uk, or create a new account from scratch. So, my choices are either to list my items in GBP, with no Canadian shipping options, or to start afresh with no selling history whatsoever.

This SUCKS.

[femmefan1946]

Several posters have had the same problem- usually long standing sellers who registered before there was an eBay Canada.

Give them a few days to see your post and give advice.

[femmefan1946]

@sylviebee   You were one seller who got this straightened out. Can you help?

@borislegasov   Do you already have a Canadian bank account  that is a chequing account?

You will need this to complete setting up Managed Payments.

It can be in Canadian or US dollars (and possibly in other currencies that hasn't come up yet) but not both.

And only one chequing account per MP account.

[recped]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

Several posters have had the same problem- usually long standing sellers who registered before there was an eBay Canada.

Give them a few days to see your post and give advice.

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It's long standing sellers that falsely claimed US residence.

My account was created in 1999 (pre ebay.ca) but I always used Canada as my registered location and therefore had ZERO problems signing up for MP. Those that pretended to be US residents are the ones having issues. eBay sees them as US residents but they can't comply with the U.S. MP requirements for SSN/ITIN.

[pjcdn2005]

@borislegasov 

The reason you have been given is not correct. When you are registered on ebay you can list on any site so even though you are registered in the UK you can list on .ca or .com or any other site. The fact that you are being switched to the UK site would probably have something to do with your cookies, not that you are registered in the UK.  If you clear your cache, cookies and history you should be able to list here.  I'm not a computer expert but there might even be a way to just delete your ebay cookies so that it lets you start listing on .ca.

You will need though to set up a managed payments account on .ca because you live in Canada.  You do not have to start a new account or change your registration. Your bank account linked to MP will have to be a Canadian based chequing account.

[38e_avenue]

This is strange. I am registered in Canada, but selling successfully on US and German Ebay. Nothing on Ebay CA ..... 

[Anonymous]

I am a 23 year ebayer but have yet to have Managed payment work since the got rid of Paypal.

I only do U.S. currency on .com but also have a .ca account.

I set up a U.S. money account with a Canadian bank , registered all the information correctly on .com and it says there is a problem with the institution/transit/account numbers I sent. I have seen this problem on line from many members posted many, many times but no one has actually, clearly pinpointed what the problem is. So I am extploring other platforms like poshmark and etsey as there seems to be zero effort to help Canadian sellers with us accounts.

[marnotom!]

@Anonymous, when you say you set up a “money account” do you mean just that, or do you mean a US dollar chequing/checking account?

You need a US or Canadian dollar chequing account to work with Managed Payments on the dot-CA site. A “PC Money” account with President’s Choice Financial won’t work. This may also explain why you’re having financial institution issues. Why are you trying to enter your financial information on dot-COM? Are you being directed there?

[Anonymous]

To clarify, I do not want to do any transactions on the ebay.ca site.None. I only want to continue selling on ebay.com in U.S. Dollars and be paid to my Canadian Bank U.S. Dollars account.

I have discovered the problem.

Ebay U.S.A. uses the ACH method of money transfer between banks that has a higher level of security than the ETF system used in Canada. This is the reason Canadian sellers are blocked from continuing to sell on their U.S. accounts since the move to managed payments system and the end of Paypal.

There may be a possibility RBC can accept through  U.S. based branches but all others are a no go.

Why Ebay customer service chooses not to respond with this knowledge when hundreds contact them about not receiving payments to their U.S. dollar accounts in Canada is a mystery.

[reallynicestamps]

Yes, as pjcdn mentioned above, we can list on any site.

The cons are mostly in Shipping, since we cannot use Calculated Shipping for heavy and bulky packages.

And of course our dotCA listings will appear on any site that is not actually Blocked, and in the local currency.

[reallynicestamps]

I had a problem with transit number, but it seems to have been a one-off.

Make sure the transit number and the account number for your Canadian chequing account held in USD actually are correct and match up.

For some reason, the transit number I was given was not that bank's transit number.  Aaaargh!

registered all the information correctly on .com

AHA!!

If you are registered on dotCA, you use a Canadian address and a Canadian bank.

If you are registered on dotCOM you use a US address and a US bank.

Managed Payments does not seem to work cross-border the way Paypal does.

If you are registered on dotCOM, it will not accept a Canadian address.

Having a US address and bank (RBCBank and TDNorth are US banks with Canadian affiliations) should work, but you will also need a US tax number (IFIN?) to complete registration. Your gross income will be reported to the IRS if it is over $600 annually. 

[Anonymous]

The funny thing is how  cagey Ebay is about not doing the whole reveal about cross border banking.

They will say yes, you can have a .com account, yes you can sell on that .com account from Canada BUT they stop short of telling you you won't actually get the money transfered to a Canadian account like with Paypal, unless it is with one or two specific banks. Such monumental frustration for so many. Why not just break it to everyone so we can all move on instead of trapping everyone in limbo??? Thank you for the consice and clear info reallynicestamps! Much appreciated:)

For everyone else, research independently  on google  United States  ACH banking and Canada EFT  banking 

[marnotom!]

My understanding is that sellers registered in Canada with Canadian contact addresses are receiving US dollar payouts to their Canadian-based US dollar chequing accounts just fine.  The issue isn't ACH versus EFT, the issue is non-US citizens using US addresses to register for eBay back in the day when it wasn't necessary to do so.

[reallynicestamps]

you won't actually get the money transfered to a Canadian account like with Paypal, unless it is with one or two specific banks.

This may be more a function of those banks.

Both are subsidiaries/departments/ partners/ good friends of Toronto-Dominion and the Royal banks. I think they may have been originally set up for snowbirds. 

At one time (1960s) the Royal Bank of Canada was the largest bank in the Caribbean, so they have been operating outside of Canada  for decades.

Using them skipped at least one level in the currency exchange process.

[borislegasov]

@pjcdn2005 

Thanks, but this isn't the issue. My first 45 minutes in the customer support chat were spent trying every possible combination of cookie deletion and refreshing, across multiple browsers and devices on both websites. Unless there is an incredibly obscure reason why this might still be happening then I can rule out the cookie issue. But thank you for the suggestion.

[borislegasov]

@reallynicestamps

Yeah the biggest downside for me in not being able to list through .ca is that I can't list shipping products (e.g. CanadaPost International Xpress or whatever it's called), and also won't be able to list in C$. I'm also a little concerned because I won't be able to easily collect GST (Goods and Services Tax), which I think I may need to as I am selling items which relate to my professional occupation.

[borislegasov]

@recped

Can you explain what you mean by MP -- is that something that I need? It's been probably 2-3 years since I last sold with ebay.

[borislegasov]

I have a Canadian chequing bank account, yes. I'm not familiar with Managed Payments - is this something new? It's probably been 2-3 years or more since I last sold on ebay.

[borislegasov]

Note: this isn't a cookies issue, I've tried deleting cookies and history for both sites on all my browsers and devices, all while signed out. The same issue still happens every time.

[marnotom!]

MP is the discussion board abbreviation for Managed Payments, the new payment facilitation system for eBay.  eBay and PayPal have effectively split ties, with PayPal only available as a payment method.  Sellers now have to accept payouts directly to a chequing account.

I hate to say this, but I think the ethos that one's eBay account is their account forever is no more.  Reports suggest that a lot of dead wood is being removed from the system, and part of that clearout process may be eliminating accounts that have incorrect registration information.

And I have to be blunt here, a fifteen year-old eBay account with 153 feedback, 65 as a seller, is plankton in the eBay ocean.  Assuming that one in three buyers left feedback for you, that's an average of thirteen sales a year, just over one a month.  

My regular account has just over 50 feedback on it, mostly as a buyer (because my eBay experience as a seller is mostly from helping my wife).  I know that I'd be in for a world of hurt if I were to try selling on it tomorrow, but not because of registration issues.