eBay

teenytrinkets · ‎05-19-2019

I've been selling on ebay for many years, and back in the day, I used to sell everything on .com and in US dollars. Several years back, when all the changes came about with Canadian vs. US Paypal, and Ebay site changes, I just started listing everything on the Canadian site in CAD$ for simplicity.

I've sort of been experimenting with site visibility lately to boost sales, and if I am to understand correctly, when I list only on .ca, US buyers (and any international buyers, if I specify) will see my listings as 'International sellers' below the listings for their local country. Correct? So if there's a large supply of a particular item, mine will be buried, and perhaps never seen.

That means, if I'd like my listing to stand out (or show up first, up top), I should also list it on .com (so it shows up first for US buyers), and pay the .50+ cent fee for visibility on the .uk site (if I am shipping to the UK)?

Two issues I've encountered experimenting with that:

1. If I list on .com, I cannot specify a Canadian method of shipment. In the past, I've listed a zipcode in WA state, close to where I live. But, I've messaged the buyer to note that the item is coming from Canada prior to shipping, as I know some buyers aren't comfortable with the extra wait time, or the prospect of their item going through customs. I think some US buyers avoid Canadian sellers for this reason. Does anyone else list on .com when shipping from Canada?

2. If I show some of my listings on the UK site, I've had to pay a fee. I don't mind that, but it appears to be charging me that same fee everytime I update the listing! Is that right? I seem to update my listings quite frequently (adjusting price - sometimes offer settings) - so I am a bit leery of paying extra to list on the UK site if I have to pay a fee everytime I update it! Perhaps I saw this wrong? (I can't see my fees for today to confirm that...)

hlmacdon · ‎05-19-2019

@teenytrinkets wrote:

1. If I list on .com, I cannot specify a Canadian method of shipment. In the past, I've listed a zipcode in WA state, close to where I live. But, I've messaged the buyer to note that the item is coming from Canada prior to shipping, as I know some buyers aren't comfortable with the extra wait time, or the prospect of their item going through customs. I think some US buyers avoid Canadian sellers for this reason. Does anyone else list on .com when shipping from Canada?

Unless you are actually shipping from WA using a crossborder forwarder that forwards to USPS I would not recommend that approach as your misrepresenting the location of the item and are setting yourself up for angry buyers. The US website uses zip code pairing in conjunction with your handling time to generate the delivery estimates, which US buyers pay close attention to, and ebay seller metrics measure against that.

Ebay.com will never list international carrier options via shipping calculators so you have to use flat rate shipping options for Canada. The US side of ebay has no relationship with Canada Post so they can't use their API to generate rates to display via the calculator. Unless you play the lettermail slot of doom game you have to choose to service either US customers or Canadian customers in this scenario or adjust your pricing to find some sort of a middle ground for a Canadian flat rate parcel cost. If you have multiples of the unit you might consider listing one on .ca in CAD, and one on .com in USD with shipping options tailored for each.

femmefan1946 · ‎05-19-2019

KISS

Keep It Simple.

Buyers don't read.

I'd suggest for any of your items that don't require Parcel shipping to move back to dotCOM and use the Flat Rate shipping.

If you feel brave, and know your costs, you could even make Flat Rate into Free Shipping.

Bulkier parcels would stay on dotCA with prices in loonies, but on dotCOM they will appear in Search in U$ as long as you have shipping fees (flat or calculated) in your shipping tab.

Unless you do a LOT of business with the UK, I would not bother spending anything to show there. If you haves a shipping rate to the UK they will appear and again in Search your prices will be in pounds.

pjcdn2005 · ‎05-19-2019

As stated by others you have to use a flat rate shipping cost on .com. For shipping to the US you would specify that you are using either standard or economy shipping 'from outside of the US'

For shipping to other countries you would specify standard, expedited or economy international shipping. I use standard for Canada and economy for overseas. I base it on the length of time that those methods show for delivery on .com. Expedited is generally too quick.

The .com and .ca sites have a unique relationship in that anything listed on either site will show up in regular listings on both sites if you have shipping specified to that site country. . On other sites your listing MAY show up in international listings or sometimes in with the regular listings but there is no guarantee. The exception is if you pay the UK visibility fee your listing will be seen along with the UK listings but I've found the extra cost isn't worth it unless the item is very popular and hard to find in the UK.