eBay

delawareoutdoordecor · ‎10-12-2018

Hi everyone, I have been having a regrettable October, with sales from 10/1 to 10/6 as abnormally slow, then a small spike in sales 10/7-10/9, then a sheer dive to 1 sale over the past 42 hours. I started a sale in all 4 of my eBay stores on 10/11 at 8:30am EST, with one purchase on 10/11 at 5:36pm EST. Yes I have 4 eBay stores, near 3000 total listings, close to 125,000 total available inventory items....and I’ve had a total of 4 sales in 3 days (including the 1 purchase in the past 42 hours). I’ve contacted eBay twice (once today and once yesterday) because this has not happened to my stores before. I generally have 6-12 sales a day as an average (all 4 stores combined), and I have followed slow times and higher selling times as usual ebbs and flows. Every promotion/sale I’ve started (10% off usually with combined shipping) has purchases being made with some consistency everyday. It’s now 2:30pm EST on 10/12, and again no purchases across all 4 stores.

I feel like I seeing a deficit on eBay’s part here. They’ve assured me that my listings are visiable, I’m using the correct key words, I’m running promotions....and yet there is no explanation for the stunning drop in sales.

Is anyone else seeing something similar? I’m very concerned....

romansite · ‎12-12-2018

This month, sales and viewing numbers are dramatically reduced, perhaps by 40-50% on 'hit's of my popular items (Photography). It could be a number of things: People don't have any spare cash to spend on the lead up to Christmas and are concentrating on shopping for family members. A few other areas to factor in is the 'old Chestnut' Brexit and like uncertainty in the UK. However, this should in theory have no or little effect. We are still 'in', so people will still by for Christmas. Another area is that people are shopping on a lot of other sites rather than ebay. OK, Ebay has the largest audience, but I think what has swayed many member to look elsewhere is Ebay's unreasonable policies and extortionate Fees. In addition, those who advertise items as non-returnables, still fall foul of ebay/Paypal docking your account in an instant.

Is this good or bad. In some cases, AND it would increase, is that people will try to sell anything which is 'duff' claiming it is good with 'No returns', so they get shot of the item on some unususpecting buyer who can't send it back. You have to consider your own buying position to be fair on returns. Overall, Ebay is handy and not everyone is a baddie, but in general, their Fees are their Achilles Heel and in many cases, ebay's trading policies are underhand and unfair in favour of the buyer.

I had TWO cases where ebay unreasonably refunded the money to a buyer who wrecked my (or his) item claiming it was received damaged....a long story, but when I stated my case, their assessment team assumed the buyer was right until I phoned them, and they admitted to not reading all my statement which was conclusive and 100% proof the buyer was at fault. I won both cases and one was against Paypal. If I know I'm 100% right, neither Ebay or Paypal will stand a chance one I get stuck in. Even though I have a basic Legal knowledge, I know when to carry on or when to give up. Overall, ebay itself has shot themselves in the foot and are losing and will continue to lose business unless they have a 'Restructure' on their policies in favour of the SELLER, as it's the seller that pay the fees. So ebay, take heed. I am not a Legal Entity but an sometimes, offer an unbiased and Neutral opinion as to whether or not a buyer is being fair or otherwise when it is often difficult to take sides. In general, Ebay sales are down BECAUSE it's Ebay! (written quickly so excuse any grammatical or spelling errors).

ads.ink · ‎12-12-2018

Pretty Much

@romansite wrote:
This month, sales and viewing numbers are dramatically reduced, perhaps by 40-50% on 'hit's of my popular items (Photography). It could be a number of things: People don't have any spare cash to spend on the lead up to Christmas and are concentrating on shopping for family members. A few other areas to factor in is the 'old Chestnut' Brexit and like uncertainty in the UK. However, this should in theory have no or little effect. We are still 'in', so people will still by for Christmas. Another area is that people are shopping on a lot of other sites rather than ebay. OK, Ebay has the largest audience, but I think what has swayed many member to look elsewhere is Ebay's unreasonable policies and extortionate Fees. In addition, those who advertise items as non-returnables, still fall foul of ebay/Paypal docking your account in an instant.

Is this good or bad. In some cases, AND it would increase, is that people will try to sell anything which is 'duff' claiming it is good with 'No returns', so they get shot of the item on some unususpecting buyer who can't send it back. You have to consider your own buying position to be fair on returns. Overall, Ebay is handy and not everyone is a baddie, but in general, their Fees are their Achilles Heel and in many cases, ebay's trading policies are underhand and unfair in favour of the buyer.

I had TWO cases where ebay unreasonably refunded the money to a buyer who wrecked my (or his) item claiming it was received damaged....a long story, but when I stated my case, their assessment team assumed the buyer was right until I phoned them, and they admitted to not reading all my statement which was conclusive and 100% proof the buyer was at fault. I won both cases and one was against Paypal. If I know I'm 100% right, neither Ebay or Paypal will stand a chance one I get stuck in. Even though I have a basic Legal knowledge, I know when to carry on or when to give up. Overall, ebay itself has shot themselves in the foot and are losing and will continue to lose business unless they have a 'Restructure' on their policies in favour of the SELLER, as it's the seller that pay the fees. So ebay, take heed. I am not a Legal Entity but an sometimes, offer an unbiased and Neutral opinion as to whether or not a buyer is being fair or otherwise when it is often difficult to take sides.
@romansite wrote:
This month, sales and viewing numbers are dramatically reduced, perhaps by 40-50% on 'hit's of my popular items (Photography). It could be a number of things: People don't have any spare cash to spend on the lead up to Christmas and are concentrating on shopping for family members. A few other areas to factor in is the 'old Chestnut' Brexit and like uncertainty in the UK. However, this should in theory have no or little effect. We are still 'in', so people will still by for Christmas. Another area is that people are shopping on a lot of other sites rather than ebay. OK, Ebay has the largest audience, but I think what has swayed many member to look elsewhere is Ebay's unreasonable policies and extortionate Fees. In addition, those who advertise items as non-returnables, still fall foul of ebay/Paypal docking your account in an instant.

Is this good or bad. In some cases, AND it would increase, is that people will try to sell anything which is 'duff' claiming it is good with 'No returns', so they get shot of the item on some unususpecting buyer who can't send it back. You have to consider your own buying position to be fair on returns. Overall, Ebay is handy and not everyone is a baddie, but in general, their Fees are their Achilles Heel and in many cases, ebay's trading policies are underhand and unfair in favour of the buyer.

I had TWO cases where ebay unreasonably refunded the money to a buyer who wrecked my (or his) item claiming it was received damaged....a long story, but when I stated my case, their assessment team assumed the buyer was right until I phoned them, and they admitted to not reading all my statement which was conclusive and 100% proof the buyer was at fault. I won both cases and one was against Paypal. If I know I'm 100% right, neither Ebay or Paypal will stand a chance one I get stuck in. Even though I have a basic Legal knowledge, I know when to carry on or when to give up. Overall, ebay itself has shot themselves in the foot and are losing and will continue to lose business unless they have a 'Restructure' on their policies in favour of the SELLER, as it's the seller that pay the fees. So ebay, take heed. I am not a Legal Entity but an sometimes, offer an unbiased and Neutral opinion as to whether or not a buyer is being fair or otherwise when it is often difficult to take sides. In general, Ebay sales are down BECAUSE it's Ebay! (written quickly so excuse any grammatical or spelling errors).

ads.ink · ‎12-12-2018

@altherionsilver wrote:
So we are all saying the samething. My sales are down 85% for the l;ast three months. It is as if I have nothing up for sale. Then< out of nowhere, I wil get a rash of sales, 95% from Texas and Florida. Obviously there is a problem with Ebay, not us. But what do we do? Something has got to be done. We are still paying the fees but there is a big problem. I have addressed it with Ebay and they pretty much blow it off. How can we all ban together and take formal action against Ebay. This has got to be investigated. I don't do this for fun, this is my sole source of income. If any other "Employer" had an issue satisfying their "Employees" work flow success, they would act on it immediately. Obviously Ebay could care less. They get their money whether we sell or not. Who do we call? What agency should be contacted? What investigative service would look into this? My only thought is to get an attorney at this point and have this opened up as a true case against Ebay but legal fees are rediculoous. We all can't just sit on our computers wining about this. I am just at a loss of what to do to light a fire under Ebay's you know what... This has cost me a a lot in sales and maintenance. What do we all do to get this resolved? This is not a passing fancy. It is now going on 4 months. If it corrected itself tomorrow, what about the last 4 months? Insertion Fees, etc... HELP!

your Story is mine! I think Ebay is throttling sales, maybe by state or whatever, but something IS going on

ads.ink · ‎12-12-2018

I think Ebay is manipulating when our listings are seen and by how many people how else to account for the dramatic sales spikes then nothing ?

ads.ink · ‎12-12-2018

problem is ebay doesn't care, sellers of 20 years can go there will always be new suckers to line up and pay ebay for services that are not rendered.

honeybuggmusic · ‎12-13-2018

Yeah, everyone wants to blame eBay, and maybe that's part of it, but I wonder if it isn't the economy in general. The lies coming out of the Bureau of Lies and Statistics... sorry, I means, Labor and Statistics... are just that. I'm 65 and I've never seen it so bad. The chickens are coming home to roost on the economic front as well as the climate change front. Take a look at their stock price. Down from 45 to around 30 in less than a year???? That's not just eBay effing up.

johnsonsales-wisconsin · ‎12-13-2018

I think we need to be prepared for things to get a lot slower if the predicted recession hits as is being predicted by real economists. I am paring down inventory now so I won't be sitting on it when sales tank

thesmallbenchjewellery · ‎12-16-2018

Oh yes, my sales have dropped off a cliff, last year at this time I was working non stop

terryjoel1 · ‎12-18-2018

If you told mind na asking are you dropshiping would Like to add more items to my store and Like to k ow if it's working for you thanks for any and all help

skishack2016 · ‎12-19-2018

even this trick does almost nothing for sluggish ebay sales.

skishack2016 · ‎12-19-2018

Yeah, plus with the sponsored sales, the total fees go sometimes upwards of 20 %, PLUS the paypal fees at the end.

The only big benefit comparing to Amazon is that you don't have to wait 45 days to get your money.

jeekiteen · ‎12-20-2018

Same for me. I had about the same number of listings a year ago as I do now. But I made a quarter as much money this year. (I had thought that it was because I wasn’t able to be actively listing much because of a surgery, but as I talk to friends and read these messages I don’t think that’s what it is.)

My sales are so bad that I think I’m going to have to look for other work. I can’t even afford to buy new inventory. Super bummer.

selsa84 · ‎12-21-2018

Not just you. Im down a whopping 85%. Last month here

allcashmereboutique · ‎12-21-2018

Since August my sales dropped by 33% in both stores. It is far from profitable - this year I have to file loss. I am debating if I should quit after 13 years on EBay, but my inventory huge and I am close to retirement. I think one of the problem that eBay doesn’t attract enough new buyers

dgressette · ‎12-22-2018

I already closed my store and have not relisted anything. I am done with ebay. It's been super slow since October and has only gotten worse. Randomly, I'll get 2-3 sales & then nothing. It's ebay's manipulation of their "search results". They do it all the time. It's not the economy.... in my other accounts, I sold during the recession around 2009 through 2010 and had no problems selling it all.