ex-UK seller moving to Cyprus (EU), which subdomain/eBay site to list items for sale?

[astutus.watches]

Hello all,

I am a seller of custom wristwatches and I have recently moved from the UK to Cyprus (European Union). I am in the process of setting up my business here to start selling again, although it looks like I will have to use another account (eBay support chat staff say that because my Business Account is set up for Managed Payments, changing the business' country is not possible and another account will have to be used, but I have raised a complaint on the issue and waiting to hear back).

However, I feel a bit lost as to which European eBay subdomain site (Spanish - .es, Italian - .it, German - .de or French - .fr) it would make more sense for me to log in to and make product listings under. My understanding is that you can log into any subdomain with your eBay account, and the listings you make are "hosted" under that localised eBay site, although they will be visible to users from other eBay subdomains (as I have sold to buyers in the US and European Union while listing and operating within Ebay.co.uk ).

So, my case now will be:

- Selling from and operating in Cyprus (tiny country in the European Union)

- My payout method for the shop will be local to Cyprus (not sure if Managed Payments are available for CY-based accounts, but setting up PayPal for payouts should not be an issue). 

- Selling worldwide (duty-free to EU countries)

- I do not speak German, French, Italian or Spanish, but I assume I can use any of the subdomain sites by translating them to English using my browser).

Given the above, is there any recommendations as to which eBay site I will be listing products under? Also, would listing under ebay.com also be a good option or not (since the vast majority of my customers have been EU or UK based in the past)?

I did search online for similar cases, but could not find a case similar to mine. Your input will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

[mi-294]

The best to do is to sell on ebay.com or ebay.co.uk to not have problems with the language, they are also much larger than the .de .es .fr .eu etc

If the buyers of your goods are more living in the UK and EU choose ebay.co.uk

if you choose ebay.com your listings will be more visible to US buyers

if you choose ebay.co.uk your listings will be more visible to UK buyers

keep in mind that your UK buyers will be charged VAT either way

The managed payments are available for CY

[astutus.watches]

Thank you for your feedback.

But selling on ebay.co.uk forces listing to be in GBP, so I guess going down the ebay.co.uk route I won't be able to sell/get paid in EUR? The linked Cypriot account is a Euro account and I wish to sell/bill/issue invoices in Euros...

[lacemaker3]

@astutus.watches 

There is an eBay website in Europe that uses English. You can use eBay Ireland www.ebay.ie. The currency is €.

[astutus.watches]

Thank you, that seems to tick the boxes! And I assume the exposure of my listings to other EU customers will not be affected through eBay.ie, right?

[slippinjimmy]

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@astutus.watches wrote:

Thank you, that seems to tick the boxes! And I assume the exposure of my listings to other EU customers will not be affected through eBay.ie, right?

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They should but one never knows but no reason they would not get as much exposure in other EU countries as when listed on .uk

You should should check the fee schedule and important policies to see if there is anything different on the EU sites from what is policy on .uk (pretty sure within the EU zone fees are all the same but perhaps Brexit affected the UK rules/fees (Better to check athan find out later).

As far as exposure, do a few listings on .ie then  after they are showing in search sign out and search as if you were located in Germany, France or any other countries that important to you (just change your Ship To on the search page) and see if they are showing up in a regular search.

[lacemaker3]

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@astutus.watches wrote:

Thank you, that seems to tick the boxes! And I assume the exposure of my listings to other EU customers will not be affected through eBay.ie, right?

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Most eBay websites give some preference to listings that are in the language that is used in that country. So eBay Germany would give preference to listings in German (from the several eBay sites that are in German) and so on.

English is typically understood and used throughout Europe, so I don't suppose there would be much penalty for your listings being in English. No more than when they were on eBay UK, at any rate.

[aerospace650]

Hi.  I found this thread and wondered if you could provide any advice or feedback on how you got on.

I'm in a similar situation—I'm a UK eBay account holder who relocated to Spain.  I'm not a business seller; I'm just selling family items, mostly tech, that we no longer require.  I'd prefer to avoid losing my selling history, but I understand it might not be possible.  So, I'm considering using the Irish site eBay.ie to simplify language issues, even though I would be physically located in Spain.  Have you done that, and how did it work out?  

Thanks for any pointers you may have.

[ckimodog]

@aerospace650 

This is an old thread from January.  The OP doesn't appear to be selling anymore, so I doubt they'll reply. 

Should you have any questions or concerns it is always a good idea to start your own thread to get the help and advice for your specific issue. 

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.