Ebay Major Drop In Sales In All Categories December, 2018

[Anonymous]

Give a show of hands! How many have had a major drop in sales for 2018 and very little assistance from eBay? You can’t get any assistance with eBay. It just seems they are blowing themselves up. Talk about stocks going down! Be there for the sellers, be there for the buyers, just by gosh be there. I have plenty I would like to say about this topic, but I want to hear from others. . . Tell me what’s happened with your account(s)? Thanks!! 

[tunicaslot]

We can't see what you sell or tell if you dropship. Some have complained of lower sales but many like myself are having a banner year.

[tunicaslot]

There have been so many changes this year and the algortihms are always changing.

I can tell you that drop shippers are not as highly ranked - especially if they've had a lot of cases opened against them or bad feedback.

Ebay gives more consideration to listings that have item specifics filled out. If they item isn't modified - click no - if it doesn't have an MPN - click does not apply - this is one of the things considered in the algorithm.

The return policy is given a great deal of consideration as is the length a seller offers returns.

Free shipping - being enrolled in guarenteed delivery.

Your sell thru rate - if someone is clicking on your listings but not buying - it will lose visibillity.

As I said - many of us sell on multiple venues. I've had a good year here while others have had better success elsewhere - but it depends on what you are selling, if you're drop shipping and sometimes the the target age of the buyer.

[slippinjimmy]

I hacven't seen a major drop in sales this year or last year or the year before that.....sales are steady and only vary to any significant amount based on how much or hoiw little effort I make.

I'm really not sure what type of "assistance" you want from eBay. I've never wanted or needed their assistance to run my business. eBay provides a platform, the platform attracts buyers, that's all I want but of course I do wish they could attract more buyers but more importantly I wish they could retain more buyers but that would require the assistance of other sellers not eBay.

[kathieskorner]

My sales have not dropped overall in 2018 even though I closed both my stores and opened two new accounts.   However,  my sales were comparable to previous years for the first five months - up during the next three months - down Sept-Nov - too soon to comment on December since I mormally sell more after Christmas than before Christmas.

As for categories - sales of books were up this year - glass and other breakable collectibles were down - everything else was pretty much flat or up marginally.   It should be noted that I sell very little in the saturated categories of clothing or jewelry or anything that is brand new  - and nothing at all that would be considered tech.    My items range in price from $5.99 to $75.00 with most in the $8-$18 range plus shipping.  

I also operate the same way as I did 18 years ago using ebay strictly for the buyer base  - and while I ocassionally will list a few items with free shipping - I have never used best offer and have a stated no return policy, but will accept returns if requested.   I've always felt that if I sell items that have limited competition I don't need ebay's bells and whistles to attract buyers. 

[yuzuha]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

I hacven't seen a major drop in sales this year or last year or the year before that.....sales are steady and only vary to any significant amount based on how much or hoiw little effort I make.

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This.  I find my sales are directly proportional to both how much I have listed and WHAT I have listed.  When I list something in demand, it will sell within a few hours to a few days-- earlier this year I listed something one evening that was a tie-in to a current popular movie and it was sold by the time I woke up in the morning.

It's all about finding those things that buyers want but that aren't available everywhere.

[mynewfindstore]

We have had a major drop in sales since the beginning of November.  A few good days here and there but overall we are down about 2 grand below where we were in October.  We are still listing daily, the same amount we were in October.  Something on the platform must have changed or buyers are going elsewhere to purchase holiday items.  We did have several say they were buying for Christmas so not sure why we are not getting more sales.  Now though, it's too late to buy on eBay for Christmas so that could be why today was NO sales!  Really upsetting as we are trying everything here to sell....changing up listings, relisting as sell similar, promoting ALL listings.  Not sure what else we could do except find stuff in other categories but we don't know where to get that stuff.  

[sakic92710]

Just.  Consistently.  Bad.  Month after month.  Dec. is depressing!  2017 Dec. was 3-4x better.  Able to sell items $3-15 more often.  Try selling anything above $40 is almost like pulling teeth.  Last week, 4 sales for $36.  This week is 7 for $90.  Beyond disappointing.   Good luck to all   🙂    Merry Christmas!

[div_style]

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@yuzuha wrote:

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It's all about finding those things that buyers want but that aren't available everywhere.

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Exactly.  And most likely why my sales have remained steady.  I don't sell anything you would find at Walmart, mostly not on the river, certainly not from China (well, except for Chinese stamps).  My sympathy for those who try to compete with those other places--it's a tough row to hoe.

[usp_grade]

Last week of Nov (Nov20-30 precisely) was getting 800usd off 1 popular item for the 10 days

now i've added several new popular items including the original above

now i'm lucky to get 200usd a week

brok. en. pile of.

[tunicaslot · Accepted solution]

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@mynewfindstore wrote:

We have had a major drop in sales since the beginning of November.  A few good days here and there but overall we are down about 2 grand below where we were in October.  We are still listing daily, the same amount we were in October.  Something on the platform must have changed or buyers are going elsewhere to purchase holiday items.  We did have several say they were buying for Christmas so not sure why we are not getting more sales.  Now though, it's too late to buy on eBay for Christmas so that could be why today was NO sales!  Really upsetting as we are trying everything here to sell....changing up listings, relisting as sell similar, promoting ALL listings.  Not sure what else we could do except find stuff in other categories but we don't know where to get that stuff.  

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I looked at what you sell and you have great pictures and descriptions - but Ebay is really promoting those with more than 3 picture. Plus many of the brands are no longer as trendy - at least on Ebay as they were in the past. Other clothing venes are where the younger folks are shopping at the moment that are interested in those brands - plus when you look at solds - you're asking about 40-50% more than most are willing to pay.

I sell clothing and 2017 was a bad year - I had to revamp everything - so started researching the trends and moved in a different direction - donating many of the items that were no longer popular. I'm always checking sold prices before relisting to make sure I'm in the ballpark. If the prices have dropped too much - I donate the item. 

Everyone has to do what's best for them - but if things aren't moving - than Ebay will give better visibility to those who items are selling. You have to constantly work your store in many of these categories that are competitve.

[robot-hands]

Somehow my Dec this year is worse than my Feb....the last 10 years or so it's been tripple.

Good new I guess is my rolling brownout has newly revealed Peurto Rico...I've had 9 transactions there in the last month...more than the rest of the year combined.

[thingsoldandnew10]

WE sell in Outdoor Toys>Kites. E$bay is down 2.2% from last year, up > 9% from last month. Last month e$bay was down overall > 9% from last year and from the prior month. Our sales are up 519% from last month and up 35% from last year.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Give a show of hands! How many have had a major drop in sales for 2018 and very little assistance from eBay? You can’t get any assistance with eBay. It just seems they are blowing themselves up. Talk about stocks going down! Be there for the sellers, be there for the buyers, just by gosh be there. I have plenty I would like to say about this topic, but I want to hear from others. . . Tell me what’s happened with your account(s)? Thanks!! 

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[baantiques]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Give a show of hands! How many have had a major drop in sales for 2018 and very little assistance from eBay? You can’t get any assistance with eBay. It just seems they are blowing themselves up. Talk about stocks going down! Be there for the sellers, be there for the buyers, just by gosh be there. I have plenty I would like to say about this topic, but I want to hear from others. . . Tell me what’s happened with your account(s)? Thanks!! 

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I'm up 470% since last month.  I'm still down 55% from last year.  Last month was down 95%.

I downgraded my store in September and dropped from 1000 listings to 100 - no sense in spending the $70/mo for nothing. 

I've started adding new listings every day and if they don't sell after 30 days they get the ax.  I plan to keep them off for 3-6 months before relisting them, with the idea they will have fallen off Ebays radar screen.

So far, I have as many views and impressions with fewer than 200 listings than I had with 1000 last summer.  Sales are still way down from my peak a year and a half ago (when I was selling 6-8k/mo) but things are improving. 

[numisnorway]

Not even gold is getting any views on this site anymore. It has gotten really bad lately at least for me, but i suspect its the entire site, but we cant know for sure since they cook the books in order to keep the shareholders happy.

Lots of things pointing towards eBay struggling.