eBay

cpyue · ‎08-04-2013

I live in Canada. Every time when I buy something in US$ and pay by Paypal, Paypal give me a very poor Exchange Rate, plus a handling fee. This jeck up the buy cost a lot. Now I avoid buying things in ebay which list in other currencies other than CAD $. Many Canadian are doing the same these days.

Sellers: if you want more business from Canadian, please also list your items in CAD $.

lady.stark · ‎08-10-2013

@cpyue wrote:
Sellers: if you want more business from Canadian, please also list your items in CAD $.

Unfortunately, sellers cannot offer both currencies: it is either one or the other. Since most sales for me are done to USA buyers (about 90% of them), I prefer listing in US dollars. Just as the Canadians, US buyers do not like paying an exchange rate. And I would say they hate it even more than us Canadians, who are used to it. So I prefer listing in the currency that gives me more sales.

Anonymous · ‎08-11-2013

Because US is POWERFUL!!

Anonymous · ‎08-11-2013

What do you mean by "poor exchange rate" and "handling fee"? Go and compare to the bank, PayPal is way much cheaper and as for handling fee. It is there all the time from Day one. You actually expected no handling fee????

inuk_the_polar_bear · ‎08-11-2013

85% of my customers are in the USA. 10% the rest of the world. 2.5% in Quebec. That leaves 2.5%. Quebecers have this gig figured out, along with the Americans, and the rest of the world. What currency should I use?

pocomocomputing · ‎08-04-2013

If a Canadian seller is listing in US $ and you are interested in the item, then contact the seller and ask if you can pay in Can $$ to save on fees. Some sellers will be fine with that since the dollar is at par and they will have to pay a conversion fee (2.5%) back to Can $$. The seller will send you an invoice in Can $$ by PayPal. They will manually mark the transaction as paid in eBay.

The PayPal invoice should be for goods and have the eBay transaction number and eBay item title so there is proof as to what was bought and let you qualify for PayPal Buyer Protection.

This is my understanding of how to do this. Perhaps others who have done this can verify my comments in this reply.

cumos55 · ‎08-04-2013

Link to Currency Converter to verify the US to Canadian exchange for your item

http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/

Once buyer pays you may have to go back to My Ebay and click Payment received for that transaction.

Send an invoice in US dollars to the buyer..... even if this is after payment received in Canadian dollars.

eBay calculates their fees using this US dollar invoice.

Indicate on this US dollar invoice through eBay that invoice in Canadian dollars will be coming from Paypal.

Keep everything lined up in a row and everything will work out.

>

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Personal experience is that Canadian buyers will pay in US dollars.... with no problem.... It is their choice if you list in US dollars.

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Current exchange rate is

$1,000 US = $1,038.05 Canadian dollars

After Paypal fees the US and Canadian dollars are effectively equal

If the price is $25 USA and you bill the buyer $25 Canadian.... that will be the same as Paypal taking that $25 US and giving you $25 Canadian..

Because based on today's exchange rate

in Canadian dollars..

$25.00 US is actual $25.97...

Paypal takes that 97 cents from you for the US to Canadian dollar conversion... and gives you very close to $25 Canadian.

It does not matter whether buyer pays $25 US through Paypal... or $25 Canadian through a Paypal invoice....

You still end up with $25.00 Canadian.

Do you dare put $26 Canadian on that Paypal invoice?

I would not......

In contrast if $25 US was $30 Canadian I would let the buyer know what the exchange rate was... and link the buyer to Currency Converter...

cumos55 · ‎08-04-2013

I have always listed on eBay in US dollars...

Because in spite of everything that may relate to the US, and the underlying value of the US currency.......

The US dollar is understood universally

marnotom! · ‎08-04-2013

To add to Cumos55's comments, Canadian sales don't usually make up the majority of a Canadian eBay seller's total sales so it's not particularly useful to list in Canadian dollars.

Most other eBay sites are for larger (e.g. UK, US) or more insular (e.g. Australia) markets and only support listing in one currency, unlike eBay.ca.

surplusdealdude · ‎08-04-2013

99% of my market is in the US.

US buyers don't like paying in foreign funds, so I don't make them do it.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. Carl Sagan

inuk_the_polar_bear · ‎08-04-2013

95% of my market is outside Canada. The US $ is the universal currency of eBay. Everyone understands it. No-one understands the Cdn dollar. Most have never even heard of it.

pocomocomputing · ‎08-04-2013

I have a non-store account and use the 50 free on eBay.ca and the 50 free on eBay.com as well as listing promos when I get invited. I always list on eBay.ca in Can $$ ignoring the US $$ option and I list on eBay.com in US $$ (no choice).

I find that I get more Canadian buyers on the eBay.ca site. Perhaps because I list in Can $$. I also get more international sales on the eBay.ca than on eBay.com. Listing on eBay.com in US $$ get the most US sales of both sites.

One "trick" I do is every 3-6 months is to switch some of the unsold listings from eBay.ca with Can $$ to eBay.com with US $$ and vice versa. This seems to force a sale of some slow moving items.

I do get sales from eBay.com in US $$ by Canadians but not as many as listing on eBay.ca in Can $$. It depends on the item and if the Canadian buyer wants it badly enough.

I never had a request to pay in Can $$ for an item listed on eBay.com in US $$. But I would accept it if the buyer asked.

PS You may want to try out listing some slow movers on eBay.ca in Can $$ for 2-3 months to see if it helps to sell them. Also try listing directly on eBay.com in US $$ instead of on eBay.ca in US $$. Such changes may force a few sales on slow moving items.

marnotom! · ‎08-04-2013

@pocomocomputing wrote:
I have a non-store account and use the 50 free on eBay.ca and the 50 free on eBay.com as well as listing promos when I get invited. I always list on eBay.ca in Can $$ ignoring the US $$ option and I list on eBay.com in US $$ (no choice).
I find that I get more Canadian buyers on the eBay.ca site. Perhaps because I list in Can $$. I also get more international sales on the eBay.ca than on eBay.com. Listing on eBay.com in US $$ get the most US sales of both sites.
One "trick" I do is every 3-6 months is to switch some of the unsold listings from eBay.ca with Can $$ to eBay.com with US $$ and vice versa. This seems to force a sale of some slow moving items.
I do get sales from eBay.com in US $$ by Canadians but not as many as listing on eBay.ca in Can $$. It depends on the item and if the Canadian buyer wants it badly enough.

So what sort of results have you had in the past when you list in US dollars on eBay Canada?

fornax1049 · ‎08-05-2013

For many people Canadian sales are only a small fraction of total sales and the U.S. dollar is better known internationally so items sell better with it. Also many people buy their stock in U.S. dollars it would be necessary to frequently adjust the price asked because of currency fluctuations if listed in Canadian dollars which can be a lot of work if you have a lot of listings.

nvdh · ‎01-30-2015

Ended up here as I have the same problem. From Canada bought an item from someone in Canada, even the Canadian Postage which is 100% in US Dollars was being billes as being US Dollars. Today the exchange rate is 25% so who gets that money, not Cnaada Post as they get what is due in Canadian Dollars. I am totally turned off from buying anything at eBay. For books valued at $15 I ended up paying $95, go figure.

msmaggie060 · ‎01-30-2015

As others said, most of the world only understand US dollars and most of my buyers are US or Overseas. However, if any Canadians want an invoice in canadian dollars I am happy to send them one. All they have to do is ask.

femmefan1946 · ‎01-30-2015

For books valued at $15 I ended up paying $95, go figure.

Is there a typo in there? Or did you not include the shipping cost when you were bidding?

It costs about $12 to ship a thickish 3cm paperback from Ottawa to Fort MacMurray (where apparently there are no bookstores, since I got a lot of orders from there.)

On the other hand, Regular Parcel would carry 5 kg for $27.85. And that includes tracking and Delivery Confirmation.