This might be interesting to many of us.
I was checking my Pokemon PayPal records and noticed something.
2016 Purchases: USA 51% The World 49%
2017 So Far: USA 68% The World 32%
That is a major swing. What do you make of it? What do your trends say?
You can check your PayPal under Reports then Transaction 2016 or 2017 etc,
I thought for sure the world would be at 100% 
Question about the numbers, is that based on number of transactions or dollar amount?
Transactions…
I think the quantity of transactions would play a big role in determining whether the data proves anything in particular. You’re one of the sellers that have free world wide shipping which of course is more attractive to international buyers. So…
For example you may have:
2016 full year: 100 transactions world and 50 U.S.
2017 2nd quarter: 50 transactions world and 50 U.S.
This example would would prove that the variable for U.S. transactions is higher but world wide sales are the same full year is equal to the previous year, etc.
Perhaps to do with exchange rates? How are European currencies doing against the Dollar?
www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=USD&To=EUR
For months now the US$ is worth 0.85 to 0.95 EUR.
Dunno what’s happening in the USA at the moment but I really like the 0.85-0.87 EUR for a Dollar right now.
Maybe the supply in Europe is getting better and therefore people shopping at UK sellers?
Maybe Europeans are being scared away from the US sellers due to the Global Shipping Program and having the feeling they overpaying for shipping and looking for options closer by?
Right now it’s 1 euro = 1.14 USD, been in same range during whole 2017 so far. I could swear in 2016 the rates were 1 euro = 1.04 USD at worst.
Btw. when I started doing ebay purchases in 2013/2014 the rate was constantly in range of 1 euro = 1.30 USD, I really miss those days.
USA always has more English items at cheaper prices usually. So of course sales will be higher.
I don’t know. You guys had so much more card stock than Australia for instance. We have no choice but to buy from America mostly
But why is it way different than last year? What changed? That’s the question here.
Just hypothesizing, but if the UK’s growth is lower it could mean less people buying non-essentials.
you are US based so i would expect more transactions from them due to imports etc into Europe and around the world.I avoid purchases from outside the UK and Europe and I would be reluctant to ship abroad via ebay etc…If I struck a deal on here or another site for specifics yes but on Ebay I wouldnt offer worldwide shipping(for now, maybe if I become established but at the moment its too much hassle)
I miss the days of when it was nearly $2 to the pound lol. I hardly bother buying from USA now because it works out being as expensive because the ÂŁ is so weak.
I do not bid on items if they use eBay’s Global shipping system because it’s just retarded to pay 15-23$ for a single card. And some sellers are just not willing to go down in their price while I know single cards can be shipped for 3-6$
I don’t think you got the question.
I’m asking why is there such a percentage difference between my 2016 and my 2017 to date transactionwise?
No I understand I was just expressing my opinion aha! sorry 
Went off a little.My reply was purely based on why the percent may be different stats only wise.
Maybe the percent will sway further on int he year? if your looking at 2016 as a whole then it may change later on.Or it could be with the recent surge of people getting into pokemon again and psa + tv advertising Pokemon more this year?
Poor!..very poor…the dollar is currently strong and the pound is nearly pointless ha! I remember getting 1.6+ dollars to the pound and euro to pound was great a while back. Its now nearly 1 for 1 to euros and like 1.26 dollars to the pound 
EDIT: Transactions individually or per user? could play a huge part in it?@garyis2000(my first reply was purely based on reading the % becuase i was in bed aha too lazy to read it all)
To really figure this stuff out you need set up the math to work properly. Since we’re in the 2nd yearly quarter it would be half the 2016 U.K. year total compared with your current 2017 U.K. 2nd quarter sales quantity (YTD). Then compare half the 2016 U.S. total with your current U.S. 2nd quarter total.
Then figure: Is the U.K. sales quantity (or $ amount) up/down from last year? How much %?
Then: Is the U.S. sales quantity (or $ amount) up/down from last year? How much %?
THEN compare the percentages canculated for US and UK. This information will help you decide which of the two markets/economies is down. Ideally you would compare each yearly quarter separately… but again The U.S. Vs U.K. % comparison doesn’t tell anything significant.
Edit: Hopefully I didn’t fudge it up, its early
2016: 780 sales out of nearly 1500 were USA
First half of 2017: 520 of 800 were USA.
Average dollars per transaction are both up equally
I was wondering if any other usa sellers have noticed this trend…and why
I think it is the USD is strong right now and more competition. I know I have lost a lot of sales to France, at least one French seller here in Japan is offering listings in French and I think more people importing cards to France and Europe in general. Don’t have to worry about VAT when the cards are already in the country.
I know there were big swings in MTG when the Euro vs USD or to a lessor extent Yen vs USD. Power and Dual Lands etc would leave the US and get harder to find when the dollar is was weak and be easier to find when the dollar got stronger.
780 transaction…so could be 50 from one person? thats what I mean…if you ahve regulars in the US this year then that could sway it even more…coupled with the poor exchange rates elsewhere and the fact Pokemon is being advertised even more now?