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 Replies: 20 / Views: 4,837 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2366 Posts |
The following advisory is from ebay. My first thought was that listing in US $s is a bit of a barrier to Canadian buyers while the high Canada Post rates are a bit of a barrier to US buyers. So this doesn't really apply to people on the border like @pacificcoin who use USPS. But it matches our experience being far from the border and the majority of our buyers being Canadians. What do you think? ***** We recently conducted a significant and in-depth analysis of Fixed-price sell-through rates and auction conversion rates for Canadian inventory listed on ebay.ca and ebay.com. What we found may surprise you! As illustrated in the table below, our analysis found that Canadian business sellers' aggregate Fixed Price sell-through rates(1) and Auction conversion rates(2) perform better when their listings are in CAD on ebay.ca. ebay has historically suggested that Canadian sellers should list in U.S. dollars to maximize sales. However, as a result of our analysis, we find that listing in U.S. dollars is no longer the best practice for most Canadian business sellers. We are confident that listing in CAD on ebay.ca is the right strategy to improve overall selling success for most Canadian sellers (3) Some exceptions apply. Table - Summary of findings by vertical (except P&A) for Canadian business sellers Vertical Comparison of Fixed Price Sell-through Rates(1) Comparison of Auction Listing Conversion Rates(2) Collectibles More than 10% better for CAD listings More than 5% better for CAD listings Electronics More than 5% better for CAD listings More than 15% better for CAD listings Fashion About the same for CAD & USD listings More than 10% better for CAD listings Home & Garden About 5% better for CAD listings More than 10% better for CAD listings Lifestyle More than 10% better for CAD listings More than 15% better for CAD listings Media About the same for CAD & USD listings More than 15% better for CAD listings The e-commerce landscape has changed and we want to make sure we're giving you the most up to date tips to help you and your ebay business. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1192 Posts |
My first thought on that email was that they cherry picked the wording to make CDN$ listings come out ahead. Notice that their measuring stick is "sell-through rates", not profit or average selling price. Sell through rates are what matter to ebay, as that is what generates them money. Buyers also like high sell-through rates, as that implies more deals, higher inventory turnover and newer stock to see. Sellers also appreciate higher sell-through rates, but not if it is costing them a lot of money on their bottom lines. I also think ebay is tired of dealing with complaints of buyers who see an attractive price, buy it, then realize it will cost them 30-35% more than they thought due to the exchange rate. |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
2366 Posts |
True. But with PayPal charging 2.5% per currency conversion I think most buyers subtract that from the price they're willing to pay. So if most of the buyers are Canadian that ends up coming out of the seller's pocket. And if the seller wants their money in CDN $s at the end of the day then it's a double whammy of 5%.
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
5393 Posts |
@kuh you are right in your comments and since we have been shipping from the USPS what a difference in sales. Makes our move from Vancouver Island a smart move. When we got the email you are telling us about we chuckled. To list in anything but U.S. Dollars is not a very good move for any Canadian seller. Long run you will sell less even though you are trying to be a good guy and work with Canadian buyers. By listing on .com and selling in U.S. Dollars is the best way to go. Over 80 per cent of our better Canadian ends up in the States anyways and Americans are want to deal with any currency except green backs. Just the way it is. My take is that with the U.S. Dollar really creaming the other currencies these days E bay is probably losing a lot of fees from Canadian and Australian sellers amongst others. The email is an ebay cry for business. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5324 Posts |
As mentioned the paypal surcharge stops me bidding on unless a must have item from a Canadian seller.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2366 Posts |
It would be great if eBay/Paypal would let you pay in the currency of your choice and let the seller accept that currency 'as is' if they want. That would make the currency exchange fees optional. And if I sold something to a US buyer I could keep the proceeds in US $s for my next purchase from a US seller. No technical reason it couldn't be done that way. Just add a checkbox on the listing saying "Accept payment in local currency" and maybe provide a sub-list of specific currencies. But since it would reduce Paypal's profit per transaction I don't ever expect to see this. Even if it might boost the total number of transactions and provide a better buyer & seller experience.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2845 Posts |
While I appreciate the fact that some Canadian sellers selling in USD have an established customer base, but otherwise for the average seller I think it's a distinct disadvantage to do so, aside from surcharges, because of the present exchange rate. It's a psychological irritant to observe a ebay selling price of $70 being morphed into $100 via PayPal and I think it's enough to scare off buyers who aren't familiar with foreign currency transactions. On the surface it appears they are getting ripped off. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5393 Posts |
Not getting ripped off at all. Who is ripping Canadian buyers off is the Bank of Canada and their insane race to the bottom monetary policies. Reality bites but that is life. We did not hear too many complaints when we were getting only 93 cents on the Canadian Dollar. As an ebay seller it will be US dollars only for us. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2845 Posts |
I didn't suggest folks were actually getting ripped off - but it may appear so because the value of our loonie is so low when converted to USD. Reality is most Canadians have little reason to follow US exchange rates other than impending vacations, so to simply accumulate a collection of Canadian coin, why would they. But I will say for someone like myself who is not a seller, I have become very selective in purchasing Canadian coins from another Canadians in U.S. Dollars and will always choose sellers in Cdn dollars if all else is equal. Call it patriotic, I can't say exactly why that is, but it is. I understand you to have mentioned on more than one occasion that you have created an excellent market with customers in the U.S. But for the average Canadian ebay coin seller who's not a dealer and does not live close to the border. I'd be very surprised if that's common. I'd assume it's not due to shipping costs. Without a U.S. market, I'm curious what other valid reasons are there for it to advantageous for Canadian ebay sellers to sell in U.S. Currency - because I can't think of one. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5393 Posts |
Shipping costs are a huge part of it. The cost to send a small tracked under 3 ounce package from WA state is $2.04 to any where in the U.S. . To send the same tracked package to a major international destination is $7.00 . Both quotes are of course USD. Shipping in Canada is just ridiculous by comparison. Also since we buy most of our inventory in the U.S. ! our purchase cost and related travel expenses are all US as well. The ebay and PayPal fees are also USD. Makes no sense converting back and forth. All that does as Kuh previously stated is add more expenses. Another advantage to listing on .com in USD is your items show up in almost any search quicker than if you list in CAD on .ca.. One thing that we do is adjust our prices downward as the dollar drops on Canadian coin listings and do our very best to entertain reasonable offers. Also many Canadian buyers who deal with us appreciate the quality that they receive and often times the extra little gift we include to offset the high Canadapost charges. It is not an easy time staying competitive with ugly exchange rates, and you just have to dig deep and do what you can to make it work. Edited by Pacificoin
08/29/2015 7:59 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5417 Posts |
I am a Canadian seller who's from Calgary and so can't ship via anything but Canada Post.
Based on my experience it is still much easier to sell when listing items in USD as a pose to CAD, albeit, 90% of my sales come from US buyers.
I sell Canadian coins almost exclusively, with a few oddities here and there. Most of my sales are in the $200-1200 range.
When listing my items in USD I will make sure that after conversion to CAD, my item only ends up being about 90% of CCN trend. This has worked quite well for me so far.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2845 Posts |
Interesting. I don't for a moment question US interest in Cdn coin - obviously the Canadian market is small and probably still shrinking, for whatever reason, and U.S. buyers greatly assist in creating demand. For that same reason I can understand why sellers are attracted to the U.S. market. It's a matter of business - you do what you got to do. However from a buyer point of view - and I'm only expressing my opinion, nothing more - but somewhere amidst such things as converting metric measurements to imperial or vice versa, flipping around packaging boxes or upside down instructions looking to a language that I'm able to read, calculating USD to CDN especially for ebay auction maximum bids to fit my budget is yet another reminder of why this country lacks a strong, viable identity. And because coin collecting is supposed to be fun and enjoyable, therefore I endeavour to remove all possible irritants to keep it so. I have no idea if other Canadian ebay buyers feel as I do, but it's the reason why I firstly support Cdn $ sellers. Edited by wildflowerAB
08/29/2015 10:34 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4233 Posts |
Sheesh, what's so hard about converting and displaying any price using the current exchange rate in the country a user's IP address logs in from? Every other international commerce website does it. I don't get what the issue is here. Plus, psychologically for the typically clueless ebay buyer, why would they recommend listing an item as $100 CAD instead of $76 USD? Clearly the latter is cheaper! :) |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2845 Posts |
Quote: Every other international commerce website does it. I don't get what the issue is here. Plus, psychologically for the typically clueless ebay buyer, why would they recommend listing an item as $100 CAD instead of $76 USD? Clearly the latter is cheaper! :) I'd be interested in seeing an example of a Canadian company's website that sells their product in USD to Cdn customers because it certainly isn't common. Every example of an international commerce site that I've ever visited has a separate linked webpage for Canadian or US customers in the respective country's local currency. Secondly, just a casual observation, it strikes me as somewhat contradictory the numerous discussion threads by many Canadians sellers who feel ebay's policy pertaining to US approved grading companies is unfair --- yet at the same time selling on ebay.ca in U.S. Dollars is supported....... Seems we want to have our cake and eat it too! |
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Valued Member
Canada
147 Posts |
Only this year have we started listing and selling products on ebay.ca in CAD. I have found it to be a positive experience because we're able to sell a lot more of the cheaper things (marred, problem semi-keys in lower grade for $10-40, especially). I think our overall Canadian sales have gone up. However, its still the shipping costs that have forced us to remain more competitive. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2984 Posts |
Quote:I also think ebay is tired of dealing with complaints of buyers who see an attractive price, buy it, then realize it will cost them 30-35% more than they thought due to the exchange rate. Unless buyers live in a cave they know that the CDN$ has dropped drastically over the last 9 months Quote:
Sheesh, what's so hard about converting and displaying any price using the current exchange rate in the country a user's IP address logs in from? Every other international commerce website does it. I don't get what the issue is here. ebay.ca listings are shown in Canadian dollars even if the sellers chose to sell in US$. Quote:
True. But with PayPal charging 2.5% per currency conversion I think most buyers subtract that from the price they're willing to pay. So if most of the buyers are Canadian that ends up coming out of the seller's pocket. And if the seller wants their money in CDN $s at the end of the day then it's a double whammy of 5%. Conversion fees can be avoided by opening a US$ dollar bank account. So you take out US$ without any fees should you travel in the USA. Also, have you should have 2 currencies in your Paypal account: One Canadian and US. So if you buy/sell in US$ the transaction will go to your US$ balance while CDN$ transaction go to your CDN$ balance. In other words, there are no conversion fees if transaction is Cdn and your bank is Cdn. Edited by MoneyPenney
08/31/2015 03:17 am
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Replies: 20 / Views: 4,837 |
Posted 08/28/2015 12:25 pm
