No more US sales ????

[tractorfix]

I've been selling on ebay casually for 20 years. 99% of my sales were always to US buyers. Now for months not a single one, just a few sporadic sales here and there all within Canada. Its like ebay has changed how results are displayed or somehow my results are no longer being displayed to US users. And of course I have checked my listings to make sure the items are available to USA users. I am at a loss and will likely close my store as I'm not making enough to even pay expenses. Any other canadians on here notice this?

[t_bjarnason]

Nothing that I've noticed on my end. I still have about the same percentage of US buyers. Just did a couple US sales yesterday actually. Only thing I've noticed is the overall summer slowdown. 

[ricarmic]

What is your late shipping rate to .COM?

My late shipping rate rose to over 2% at one point a month or so ago as a result of the shipping delays in the us. When it rose, I also had a very significant decline in sales to the US. As my rate plateaued the US sales started again.

It could be coincidence since none of us know what really drives sales anymore.....especially with all the things going on.

[femmefan1946]

It might make a difference that on yourDodge instrument panel, priced at $50, you are charging $97 to California (90210).

Check to see if for your products Tracked Parcel USA would be cheaper than Expedited.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/124498710943?hash=item1cfcb3919f:g:dS0AAOSwc-Ff41O5&shqty=1&isGTR=1#shId

We all struggle with shipping costs.  And bulky items are always difficult.

[pjcdn2005]

You have quite a few items listed for $5 to $20 and the majority show $20+ shipping to the US.    Even though item price has nothing to do with shipping cost many buyers do associate the 2 together and don't want to pay more for shipping than for the item.  

Have you considered using small packet instead?   It doesn't have official tracking  but in many cases the URL bar code does get scanned by usps when it reaches the US and when delivered.   That information shows on eBay only and the package isn't guaranteed to be scanned but it often is.  I usually print 2 labels when I use it so that I can enter it on eBay if needed. Some sellers enter it every time.

I am not that familiar with what you sell but for some items it seems that the weight entered is higher than necessary. For example, the Dodge truck emblems ship to the US for $20 but if they are under 200 grams the small business tracked packet rates should be  $13- $15.  Within Canada, coukd you ship those with lettermail?

Just a few suggestions :). I realize that we all do things differently.

[pansy19]

Same here ,

I'm moving my Items to other places .

[femmefan1946]

@pansy19  If you do put a note in each eBay shipment with your new business card.  Your collectors must  be passionate.

[pansy19]

Yes I did .

Seling on ebay for 16 years with good service I gain trust from my Customers .

Thank you

[femmefan1946]

I was surprised by a note from a seller today because he gave me a nice note with a "coupon" for future purchases but forgot to give me his website or email address.  Nor did he include a price list.

Good product but nothing I will ever need again. Maybe he sells something else though.

[parts_and_diecasts]

shipping is high as the others said

try logging in eBay.com, change location to United States with a US zip code (e.g. 90210) and sample what your competition is offering in terms of shipping costs. in other words, take the point of view of said US buyers. I am not as familiar about what you sell, but in the space I play with (NEW OEM car parts), the convention is unfortunately free shipping across the board. I made my money at the timing of buying as the saying goes, so I can play along and still sell to the US (which is 90% of my sales) without killing my margins. also see if cheaper options than Canada Post are available in your area (e.g. Chit Chats, UPS/Net Parcels,...)

try talking to Mr. Elmwood, he is (or was) active in this forum and is a legend in the used car parts category. he does charge for shipping if I remember, so you might want to ask him how he does it

[patrickp6507]

I also have noticed nearly all sales to the USA has stopped for last 6-8 months, Where my sales were 96% to the USA and 4% give or take to Canada, now the few sales I have gotten, are only in Canada and the same goes for my hand made items that I sell on Etsy. Canada Post has been charging crazy amounts for shipping these days, perhaps that is the reason? to be honest, I almost feel like we are being boycotted from our brothers and sisters to the south.

[sportsbeast]

Same here, mostly all Canadian Sales...if Any Sales at all, virtually nothing is selling.

[reallynicestamps]

@sportsbeast   You and @patrickp6507   may have similar demographics.

I was thinking-your manuals are bulky and heavy.  Have you tried using Calculated Shipping? 

The advantage is that your customer sees exactly what he will pay and it looks "official" while you are not underpaying for parcels going to Florida or Nunavut.

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/information/app/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

[judithsjewellery]

I had a buyer ask to cancell a sale because she did not realilize she was buying from Canada.  She in effect said she would not buy anything that wasn't from the USA. I try to keep my prices down to compeat with US sellers. I have a US competitor who often buys from me and then sells the same item on his site for ten times more. I sold a necklace I had on eBay for over a year and accepted a best offer of around $300 from this seller. He turned around and sold it to an American buyer on eBay for $1800.00. That buyer could have bought it directly from me, but you would be amazed at the number of US buyers that won't buy from outside the country.

[ricarmic]

I would think that sentiment is or has become stronger in the last couple years with the buy in America sentiment. 

This really isn't so much different as our continent's disapproval of buying from China etc or our own buy Canadian, or from your own province or local area.

My selling domain of stamps has been used to international options for a lot longer,  mailorder has been around for us forever, however before the internet I would say it was harder to get and keep American buyers than it is now.

I haven't noticed much change, a lot depends on what kind of stuff I'm selling...

[reallynicestamps]

@tractorfix  For some reason your listings and FB are not visible, but I'm wondering if you have confirmed that your listings show that you ship to the USA?

I ask because I was updating Item Specifics last night and noticed that several of my older listings had dropped shipping to Europe.
I had vaguely noticed I'd had fewer than usual in the past month, but December is a poor sales period for me anyway.

[marnotom!]

The OP made their post in August, so this is actually a semi-zombie thread.  They're still selling and the listings I checked show shipping to Canada and the United States.

[lama2610]

YES! my story is about half of my listings are Canadian I was Canada only still out of no where anyting I put on to list is US funds I phoned at least 6 times trying to get it back to Canada only not US I did the right thing to do go to Exclued shipping locations no go? Anyways the other half of my listings  are US funds I can live with that if I sold something just like your saying what is going on ? Lanny BC Canada. PS. there saying to not buy from BC. because of our flooding etc we have had here that has bee fixed roads are back for delivery .

[reallynicestamps]

@lama2610 

I went to your leather jacket and pretended to be zipcode 90210.

The shipping shows as "contact seller".

You have to put a shipping cost into your Shipping section for the customer to see that you do ship and for how much.

If the customer, especially the US customer, has to take an extra step, he won't.

You also specifically Block APO (military) addresses, PO boxes, Hawaii and Alaska, as well as US Protectorates.

On the bright side, you do ship to Greenland.

It looks as if you chose to ship to "Americas" without noticing what that included.

Basically, that will over ride your choice of USA.

If you use Calculated Shipping your customer will see the correct cost to his address.  Use metric for dimensions and weight. Canada Post went metric in 1974.

Time to hit REVISE on every listing and think about where you do and don't want to ship. And use spellcheck-- there are a lot of errors in your titles.

[vintagedesignerjewelry]

Same here! 99% of my sales came from the USA and I sold pretty often but in the last year nothing at all!!! From the USA... Zero, Zilch, Nada!!!

the only reason I can come up with is that eBay.com has somehow suppressed our Canadian listings so that it's only buy American! Could that be possible?