eBay

xanomalisx · ‎10-18-2015

so im totally new to selling on ebay. what i would like to know if it is easy shipping with fedex, and is it cost effective. for all orders domestic and international. do canadian sellers get the same shipping discounts as us sellers using fedex?

pocomocomputing · ‎10-21-2015

@rose-dee wrote:
@pocomocomputing wrote:
If you want to be competitive for your patterns, you need to buy discount postage stamps from stamps sellers in this forum at 20 to 30% off regular postage rates and they will not charge HST or shipping for most of them. This means you can ship LP 300 grams $11.50 for a cost of $8.60 (25% off used) or Small Packet Air International Europe 250 grams $9.49 for $7.11 (25% off used).

Using discount postage means using the manual CN22 forms. It means sticking on an envelope lots of stamps (up to 50+ sometimes). I Have done this for years now for Lettermail, Light Packet, Small Packet (200, 250, 300 usually, sometimes 500 grams).
This may work for sellers who can rely on a significant level of international sales. It's simply not worth all the time and trouble for me for the dozen or so international sales I might get per year, especially now that sales generally seem to have taken a nose-dive on eBay. Keep in mind that my international sales (outside the U.S.) are very targeted -- primarily English-speaking countries (my patterns are written in English only), which means, for me, U.K., Australia and NZ mainly.

I actually grappled with, and solved, this problem a year ago by making a decision that has allowed me to sell internationally (via another site) without having to deal with shipping issues, so although I still offer international delivery on eBay, if 2016 Canada Post rates kill that part of my business, it won't be the problem it might have been 2 or 3 years ago.

The current low $Cdn has been a surprise boost this year which has allowed me to avoid losing money on every single international shipping cost, so as long as the $Cdn stays low I may be able to continue. If CP raises international rates in the coming year, it will probably be the end of my desire to sell these items internationally on eBay.

It is not a question of relying on international sales. It is how to encourage sales by lowering shipping costs significantly that your items become attractive to international buyers and even to Canadian and USA buyers. Or leaving the shipping costs the same and making more profit per sale from the postage charged. Like with the dropping loonie exchange rate.

Putting stamps on a package is not difficult. You already do it for domestic Lettermail. Filling out the CN22 customs form is a pain but worth it if you save $3 on a package.

rose-dee · ‎10-22-2015

@pocomocomputing wrote:
It is not a question of relying on international sales. It is how to encourage sales by lowering shipping costs significantly that your items become attractive to international buyers and even to Canadian and USA buyers. Or leaving the shipping costs the same and making more profit per sale from the postage charged. Like with the dropping loonie exchange rate.

Putting stamps on a package is not difficult. You already do it for domestic Lettermail. Filling out the CN22 customs form is a pain but worth it if you save $3 on a package.

Hi 'poco' - While I appreciate this may apply to some sellers, it doesn't to me. What I meant by "rely" is that many sellers do have some idea of their expected level of international sales on eBay, if they've done their homework and some experimenting.

I do understand, after all these years, how to price with shipping and encourage sales. But it's not cost effective for me to chase international sales in that manner on this particular venue, nor it is an efficient use of my time. Another factor in my dealings with international shipping on eBay is that my markets really are restricted to the U.K., Australia, NZ.

As I said, I could see the writing on the wall a year ago, and radically adapted my business model accordingly to appeal directly to the U.K. and Australia especially. I now sell quite well to those locations through another means without any shipping involved at all. In fact, sales to the U.K. through that means outstrip sales to the U.S. most months. So getting an occasional international buyer on eBay who really wants one of my products and is willing to pay the shipping is fine with me.

I experimented on eBay for a couple of years (prior to the big CP rate hike) with offering heavily subsidized shipping (and free shipping promos) internationally to attract overseas sales. It made very little difference. I think the VAT was the coup de grâce. I can understand that buyers in the U.K. especially simply didn't want to pay VAT and the collection fee on it to buy a ca. $25 item.

Admittedly my situation is quite unique, being a designer and "manufacturer" of my primary products. I have a lot more control over commercial arrangements elsewhere than many sellers would have. In the end, continuing to beat my head against the wall on eBay in an attempt to increase international sales was just not cost or time-effective for me. I'm actually very happy with the results of the shift I made, sales are good, and with far less input from me.