eBay

dutchman48 · ‎06-01-2017

This is what I was told on chat:

I list on .com in US and on .ca in Can.

I want to set up discounts for US items in $US on .com and I want to set up totally different discounts for Can items in Can $ on .ca.

They are different products and the discounts have to be different on each site for different products.

Is that possible?

No it's not.

As I mentioned in my first response, the combined shipping discount works based on "currency" and not site. You choose the currency, and the discount gets applied to that currency and on the corresponding site. E.g. choose USD, then the discount gets applied to the US listed items on the US site.

So, the way I read this is if you list on both sites, which are completely different and use different currencies, you can not set up separate discounts for each site in it's currency.

That is because Ebay ties the discount to only 1 currency per ID.

That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard since they are 2 totally different sites and your listings are in different currencies.

It appears sellers again are being severely disadvantages for no logical reason and buyers are being punished for not being able to use combined shipping discounts on each site.

Maybe that is what Ebay wants so they can collect more fees and Paypal will also benefit financially as they do not refund the 30¢ transaction fees.

This whole scenario makes it almost pointless to list different items on each site unless you don't want to use combined shipping on 1 site.

Maybe Ebay in the long run will eliminate this and force sellers to use other ID's and stores to set up combined shipping for each currency.

I really can't see why it would be so difficult to be able to set up combined shipping separate on each site as they are different sites.

Comments please

dutchman48 · ‎06-01-2017

If it is possible to set it up on .ca and .com separate, if a Canadian buys a US listing or an American buys on the Can site, will both carts and discounts work or will the US settings only work with the US cart and the Can settings with the Can cart?

What happens if you decide to sell to other countries?

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-02-2017

It doesn't have anything to do with the site the buyer is making the purchase on or which cart is used. If on .com you set up your listings to charge $1.50US for each item after the first one for shipping to the US and $1 for shipping to Canada, that is what the buyers will be charged for any listings created on .com regardless of which site they are on when they make the purchase.

When buyers purchase an item item listed on .ca they will pay the combined rates you've set up on .ca in $C regardless if they are shopping on .com or.ca or uk or any eBay site.

If you set up combined shipping for other countries it will work in the same way as described above.

dutchman48 · ‎06-02-2017

Well, did one test today.

Set up international shipping on the .ca site and it also changed all my international shipping on the .com site so that is not separate for sure.

May have to try to see what I can do under Auctiva shipping profiles to set it up differently and if it conflicts with the Ebay settings or not.

dutchman48 · ‎06-02-2017

This may kill the Auctiva idea, we will see. I won't agree with Ebay exclusions

Note: when you create an exclusion list, you'll also need to set your global buyer requirements in your eBay Selling Preferences to block buyers who are registered in countries which you don't ship to.

rose-dee · ‎06-02-2017

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
Clarified by Rodney and a depour on the chat.....
If you'd like your buyers to be able to combine items and pay individually, you can actually do that by setting up a combined shipping rule. You can do this in My eBay, on either eBay.ca or eBay.com, in the site preferences section. Rules you set up on eBay.ca will apply to listings you create on eBay.ca. If you list on eBay.com, you can also go to eBay.com and set up rules for your eBay.com listings there. You can even have different rules on both sites if you wish.

I think perhaps he meant to say "pay together", not "individually". This doesn't make much sense otherwise.

Well, this part is clarified, but it doesn't directly address the question of whether, if a buyer chooses a mix of items, for example 2 of my items listed on .ca (in $CDN), and 2 listed on .com (in $USD), whether the system will recognize that this is 4 items and the shipping should be free (which is the promo rule I would want to apply regardless of who picks what items from which site). Presumably it wouldn't apply if I understand these explanations correctly (i.e. the rules are specific to the site), but I'd like clarification on that too.

Unfortunately, this is the situation I'm sure a lot of Canadian sellers are in who list on both .ca and .com, and it's a quandary, particularly if you sell more or less equally on both sites.

As it stands now, I know my "Buy 4, get free shipping" works well on the .com side because a lot of my U.S. buyers take advantage of it. If I understand what has been said so far, my promo shipping rule will "knock out" the Request Total feature on the same site (i.e. .com in my case), but not on other sites. So my Canadian buyers should still be able to use Request Total, which really isn't too bad, as they represent only 5% or less of my overall sales.

I assume that if a Canadian buyer were to choose 4 items listed on .com (in $US), they'd get my free shipping promo applied, although I've yet to have a Canadian buyer do that.

Reading what Pierre has said, I've been attempting to do the same splitting of different inventory into two sites, but through using the same ID (I list on .ca and .com according to item type). It never occurred to me to use separate ID's for that purpose, but that might actually solve the problem more easily. Hmm, more decisions to ponder -- it never seems to end on eBay.

rose-dee · ‎06-02-2017

@dutchman48 wrote:
This may kill the Auctiva idea, we will see. I won't agree with Ebay exclusions.

I've personally found the exclusion feature works quite well when the "Worldwide" option is selected for overseas. But I did discover that it's best to set it up within the Seller Preferences section (not in the shipping section of the SYI form), where you can check and uncheck particular countries within general areas of the globe.

And Auctiva does seem to work seamlessly with the eBay exclusion list -- as long as you update your Auctiva-eBay key now and then (go to your "Account" section on Auctiva).

Note: when you create an exclusion list, you'll also need to set your global buyer requirements in your eBay Selling Preferences to block buyers who are registered in countries which you don't ship to.

Yes, definitely.

dutchman48 · ‎06-02-2017

@rose-dee wrote:
@dutchman48 wrote:
This may kill the Auctiva idea, we will see. I won't agree with Ebay exclusions.

I've personally found the exclusion feature works quite well when the "Worldwide" option is selected for overseas. But I did discover that it's best to set it up within the Seller Preferences section (not in the shipping section of the SYI form), where you can check and uncheck particular countries within general areas of the globe.

And Auctiva does seem to work seamlessly with the eBay exclusion list -- as long as you update your Auctiva-eBay key now and then (go to your "Account" section on Auctiva).

Note: when you create an exclusion list, you'll also need to set your global buyer requirements in your eBay Selling Preferences to block buyers who are registered in countries which you don't ship to.

Yes, definitely.

That is an issue right now. If you set up exclusions on .ca, they will carry over to .com and be the same for both.

I don't want the same exclusions on both as I will sell the .ca items internationally, but not the .com.

I set up shipping exclusions on .ca which work for Canada and set up exclusions on Auctiva totally different for .com and that over rides the .ca exclusions for all my .com listings.

This shipping is getting to be a major issue with listing on .com and .ca if you want different settings and outcomes for each.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-02-2017

@rose-dee wrote:
@pjcdn2005 wrote:
Clarified by Rodney and a depour on the chat.....
If you'd like your buyers to be able to combine items and pay individually, you can actually do that by setting up a combined shipping rule. You can do this in My eBay, on either eBay.ca or eBay.com, in the site preferences section. Rules you set up on eBay.ca will apply to listings you create on eBay.ca. If you list on eBay.com, you can also go to eBay.com and set up rules for your eBay.com listings there. You can even have different rules on both sites if you wish.

I think perhaps he meant to say "pay together", not "individually". This doesn't make much sense otherwise.

Well, this part is clarified, but it doesn't directly address the question of whether, if a buyer chooses a mix of items, for example 2 of my items listed on .ca (in $CDN), and 2 listed on .com (in $USD), whether the system will recognize that this is 4 items and the shipping should be free (which is the promo rule I would want to apply regardless of who picks what items from which site). Presumably it wouldn't apply if I understand these explanations correctly (i.e. the rules are specific to the site), but I'd like clarification on that too.

It's already been said that items on 2 different currencies can't be paid on the same invoice so it's clear to me that the system would not recognize 2 items from ..ca and 2 from .com as equalling 4 items as they would have to be paid on 2 separate invoices.

Unfortunately, this is the situation I'm sure a lot of Canadian sellers are in who list on both .ca and .com, and it's a quandary, particularly if you sell more or less equally on both sites.

As it stands now, I know my "Buy 4, get free shipping" works well on the .com side because a lot of my U.S. buyers take advantage of it. If I understand what has been said so far, my promo shipping rule will "knock out" the Request Total feature on the same site (i.e. .com in my case), but not on other sites. So my Canadian buyers should still be able to use Request Total, which really isn't too bad, as they represent only 5% or less of my overall sales.

I assume that if a Canadian buyer were to choose 4 items listed on .com (in $US), they'd get my free shipping promo applied, although I've yet to have a Canadian buyer do that.

As I said in post 15 your Canadian buyers are not given the buy 4 option so that is why none of them have used it. I assume that is because the Promo shipping rule is for domestic sales, not all sales and on .com US buyers are domestic.
If you did the same promotional rule on .ca that would apply to Canadians but probably only on.ca listings. But you set up something similar under combined shipping rather than promotional you may be able to specify domestic and international buyers? You would have to play with it on each site.

Reading what Pierre has said, I've been attempting to do the same splitting of different inventory into two sites, but through using the same ID (I list on .ca and .com according to item type). It never occurred to me to use separate ID's for that purpose, but that might actually solve the problem more easily. Hmm, more decisions to ponder -- it never seems to end on eBay.

Using 2 id's would lessen your chance of keepng global or US trs because of lower volume so I don't know if that would be the way for you to go. When people buy multiples they tend to buy the same type of items so by putting different types of items on .ca vs on.com, chances are probably slim that someone will buy 4 items from one site.

dutchman48 · ‎06-02-2017

I can't remember anyone buying items from me on .ca and .com for one order.

I have used more than 1 ID but it is a lot more work

rose-dee · ‎06-03-2017

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
"It's already been said that items on 2 different currencies can't be paid on the same invoice so it's clear to me that the system would not recognize 2 items from ..ca and 2 from .com as equalling 4 items as they would have to be paid on 2 separate invoices."

Yes, I assumed so too, but I'd like it confirmed. This is eBay's biggest problem as an online selling venue -- they've really never been able to get checkout 100% integrated and consistent, and I'm even thinking back 10 or 12 years. Why they don't simply oblige everyone to list in $US, then deal with the currency issues once the sale is made, is beyond me. Then they'd have a truly universal cart checkout system, just like any big retailer.

"As I said in post 15 your Canadian buyers are not given the buy 4 option so that is why none of them have used it. I assume that is because the Promo shipping rule is for domestic sales, not all sales and on .com US buyers are domestic."

I wasn't referring to Canadian buyers shopping via .ca, but on .com. I'm quite happy to have my few .ca buyers use "Request Total" if need be (as I said earlier, the eBay rep confirmed that buyers on .ca of my $CDN listings would be able to use that feature). I have no desire to knock out "Request Total" on .ca by setting up automated discounts.

What I was pointing out was that I'd hope Canadian buyers, shopping on .com (in $USD) would get the "Buy 4/free shipping" promo, since it's set up for $USD. The fact that I haven't seen this (as I can recall) isn't surprising, since I have so few Canadian buyers anyway.

"If you did the same promotional rule on .ca that would apply to Canadians but probably only on.ca listings. But you set up something similar under combined shipping rather than promotional you may be able to specify domestic and international buyers? "

This is the thing -- I'm not sure that the automated promotional shipping rules are any different from the combined shipping rules in this respect. This too needs to be confirmed by the reps on Wednesday.

It's maddening getting these bits and pieces of information, which are then contradicted or re-stated, but never getting a full, coherent explanation of how these options work as a suite of features. It's as if it's a state secret that we have to pry out of them or else test, test, test until we figure it out for ourselves. And I reiterate that had I not come across these issues as a multi-item order buyer, I doubt I would ever have known at all. Being a seller whose items invite multi-item orders, this is a big deal.

I really am sick and tired of spending my time figuring out eBay's programming. Honestly, doesn't eBay even know how eBay works?

In any case, I'm not terribly worried about the few Canadian buyers I may get, as they've historically represented less than 10% of my total sales. Since "Request Total" is available to them, that's just fine.

My primary concern, as I've mentioned before, is that my U.S. buyers who want an adjusted total (e.g. for a multi-order purchase that is not of the designated type, or fewer than 4 of the designated type) may end up at that horrid red error screen, telling them that I have "disallowed combined shipping discounts", which is absolutely false.

EBay really needs to rid us of that screen. None of us knows how many of our potential customers may have ended up there and left in disgust.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-03-2017

@rose-dee wrote:
@pjcdn2005 wrote:
"It's already been said that items on 2 different currencies can't be paid on the same invoice so it's clear to me that the system would not recognize 2 items from ..ca and 2 from .com as equalling 4 items as they would have to be paid on 2 separate invoices."

Yes, I assumed so too, but I'd like it confirmed. This is eBay's biggest problem as an online selling venue -- they've really never been able to get checkout 100% integrated and consistent, and I'm even thinking back 10 or 12 years. Why they don't simply oblige everyone to list in $US, then deal with the currency issues once the sale is made, is beyond me. Then they'd have a truly universal cart checkout system, just like any big retailer.

"As I said in post 15 your Canadian buyers are not given the buy 4 option so that is why none of them have used it. I assume that is because the Promo shipping rule is for domestic sales, not all sales and on .com US buyers are domestic."

I wasn't referring to Canadian buyers shopping via .ca, but on .com. I'm quite happy to have my few .ca buyers use "Request Total" if need be (as I said earlier, the eBay rep confirmed that buyers on .ca of my $CDN listings would be able to use that feature). I have no desire to knock out "Request Total" on .ca by setting up automated discounts.

I was also also referring to your Canadian shoppers on .com.

What I was pointing out was that I'd hope Canadian buyers, shopping on .com (in $USD) would get the "Buy 4/free shipping" promo, since it's set up for $USD. The fact that I haven't seen this (as I can recall) isn't surprising, since I have so few Canadian buyers anyway.

Once again, the buy 4 promo is available only to US buyers right now.
You have not seen Canadians use that feature because they don't have access to it.
To confirm this look at your listings with a Canadian address on the shipping tab and then with a US address. You will see the promo on both sites only when you have a US location showing.

rose-dee · ‎06-04-2017

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

Once again, the buy 4 promo is available only to US buyers right now. You have not seen Canadians use that feature because they don't have access to it. To confirm this look at your listings with a Canadian address on the shipping tab and then with a US address. You will see the promo on both sites only when you have a US location showing.

______________________________________________________________________________________

This seems to contradict what Rodney has said (quoted again below), i.e. that automated rules apply to the listings (according to site) and currency, not the buyer's location. However, he refers to "combined shipping rule", which doesn't explain whether that includes both promo discount rules and flat shipping rules. We need this clarified.

Logically it really should be the case that if a Canadian logs onto .com and purchases $USD listings, they will get the discount set up on .com in $USD. But when has eBay ever been consistent? We need clarification on this point as well.

In any event, I believe the reason you don't see my "Buy 4, free shipping" promo rule when you use a Canadian address is because I have no combined discount rules set up at all on .ca, and those buyers therefore only have access to "Request Total". This is just fine for the less than 10% Canadian buyers I get. That's how I've understood eBay's explanations so far. Were I to set any automated discount rule(s) on .ca, presumably that would knock out "Request Total", which I don't want to happen for Canadian buyers.

It really does appear these guys are figuring this out themselves as they go along. As I said earlier, we need a comprehensive and clear explanation from someone at eBay on how, when, and where these rules work, both in conjunction with each other and as stand-alone features, not this drip, drip, drip of bits of sometimes contradictory information. The description given below by Rodney is only part of the picture. Maybe a flow chart is in order.

"If you'd like your buyers to be able to combine items and pay individually, you can actually do that by setting up a combined shipping rule. You can do this in My eBay, on either eBay.ca or eBay.com, in the site preferences section. Rules you set up on eBay.ca will apply to listings you create on eBay.ca. If you list on eBay.com, you can also go to eBay.com and set up rules for your eBay.com listings there. You can even have different rules on both sites if you wish."

(Again, I think he meant to say "pay together", not "pay individually" in the first line, but no matter.)

What worries me more than any of this is what my U.S. buyers will think if they want to request a total but can't, and are told I've disallowed shipping discounts, when I clearly say in my listings that I will provide discounts.