Ebay Uk Pricing

[northlodge]

I have noted an increasing? trend for UK based pen sellers to list items for sale in US$ - such as this example:

 

Item 333267035944

 

Being sold by someone who sells lots of pens this way and is living in Bedford, England; both the item and the postage being quoted in dollars.

 

(Ignoring the over-inflated prices which occur in any currency) Is there really an obvious benefit in this $ approach that I am overlooking??

 

The seller of this highlighted pen has numerous items that are certainly worth a look..... as this "excellent, restored, no faults noted" Parker Duofold appears to be equipped with what looks like a Summit s.75 clip, there is a green CS15 with a CS58 clip ingeniously fitted, a "typhoo" with a "excellent clip" that looks to be truncated, and an interesting Esterbrook Icicle! ....

 

However there are also some very good UK based pens to be found sold in $, I recall seeing (an oxford based?) seller who regularly lists very nice Wahl pens this way (and at finishing times clearly aimed at the US buyer).

 

enlighten me please!

Edited November 22, 2019 by northlodge

[praxim]

A few things which might be influencing it:

• US$ is the most traded currency (followed by the Euro) so if you are looking for overseas buyers as well as local then you are, in effect, speaking the lingua franca of finance.
• In which direction do you believe your currency is travelling in relation to the US$, now and in the near future? It can be a way of preserving value during the time to sell.
• If items tend to be priced higher in the US market than in the British market (after currency conversion), then go with what people read in the US market and make more.
• Payment via Paypal in US$ creates a short term store of currency for direct US purchases, avoiding a conversion (and see the second point above). Short term, because there is no other investment return.

I sometimes put into an ad (when I manage to ginger myself up for the rare sale) that local buyers should contact me for a home currency price. It will be a little lower, because we avoid two instances of currency conversion costs.

[mikey_abz]

I have noted an increasing? trend for UK based pen sellers to list items for sale in US$ - such as this example:

 

Item 333267035944

 

Being sold by someone who sells lots of pens this way and is living in Bedford, England; both the item and the postage being quoted in dollars.

 

(Ignoring the over-inflated prices which occur in any currency) Is there really an obvious benefit in this $ approach that I am overlooking??

 

The seller of this highlighted pen has numerous items that are certainly worth a look..... as this "excellent, restored, no faults noted" Parker Duofold appears to be equipped with what looks like a Summit s.75 clip, there is a green CS15 with a CS58 clip ingeniously fitted, a "typhoo" with a "excellent clip" that looks to be truncated, and an interesting Esterbrook Icicle! ....

 

However there are also some very good UK based pens to be found sold in $, I recall seeing (an oxford based?) seller who regularly lists very nice Wahl pens this way (and at finishing times clearly aimed at the US buyer).

 

enlighten me please!

 

my ebay shows in £'s for this item.

 

Mike

[northlodge]

Interesting observations on how to play the currency market - perhaps explains why I am poor ;-)

However I do not seem to be able to list an item in $ on the ebay.uk site, they offer no alternative to a £ listing.

 

Mike, I can also see these prices in £, but it makes it clear to me that these are converted from the original $ price.

[Uncial]

The US market pays more (especially for Parker) and I would imagine that if its listed in dollars it might come up in ebay.com searches more easily and may help some forget about import duty.

[praxim]

For me it comes up in USD. From comments above, it looks like that is to do with being overseas or not. In fact, the search result before I go to the listing has it only in ebay's idea of a conversion to AUD.

[Inkysloth]

Northlodge, was the items postage treating you as being in the UK?

 

Ive seen a (non pen) item that was in the UK, but the price was in $, and if I tried to add it to my basket it also added international shipping... but Im also in the UK. It seemed like a glitch rather than a deliberate choice.

[northlodge]

Northlodge, was the items postage treating you as being in the UK?

 

 

 

the items i refer to all show international postage rates, although as I would not buy from this particular seller I do not know if it defaults back to UK postage charges after purchase.

 

There is another example I have just come across (item: 264543689994)

 

Here the seller is not a "pen enthusiast" and only has a 67 feedback score so not even a regular seller- which might suggest he has not conciously taking a decision as to the currency being used.

[ImThatGuy]

Odd. Comes up in USD here

 

FWIW I’ve bought from this seller and they were fine (vintage Onoto)

[dapprman]

I see it as a USD item as well. It may be a case he's listing on ebay.com - with worldwide shipping any search on other ebay sites would pick it up unless you block international sellers.

[peterg]

When looking up both sellers E-bay describe them as 'International Sellers'.

 

Her name suggests that she is East European and the postage rates, that she is not actually based in the UK. I thought that trick was limited to the Chinese! Her prices suggest that her market is gullible foreigners.

Greenford man's prices seem quite reasonable except for the Pitmans Fono!