eBay

crownsfieldcellular · ‎03-23-2019

I've been selling on eBay for over 15 years..I'm a Top Rated Plus Seller with over 3100 positive feed backs, and I have a 100% positive rating. I pay close to $1000 a month or more in selling fees, and I have a store subscription...

I really, really have to thank eBay in a big way for this latest update. I had such a good thing going on here, we were both making money, and there's just nothing like that wonderful feeling of watching all your hard work go up in smoke; and realizing that this must have been done PURPOSEFULLY by the venue that you've been paying out the nose to for years.

eBay? If you were trying to put me out of business? For some bizarre, absolutely moronic reason? I can see very clearly now that you are going to succeed in doing this in a very big way with this new change.

I sell ONE OFF high end iPhones on this site, I have no repetitive inventory, and I RELY on the URGENCY that 3 Day BIN auctions create during a certain time every week to make all my sales.

My very tried and true method of selling all of my inventory weekly (which I HAVE TO DO to stay in business and keep cash flowing), was to list everything I buy through the week on Saturday morning on a 3 Day BIN which ended on Tuesday.

This is the peak buying time with my customers, and that 3 Day TICKING CLOCK was SO POWERFUL in creating urgency with them over the weekend? That typically I would sell everything I had in that 3 day time frame..And even if a few phones did not sell in those days? I would simply lower the price a bit and run another 3 day BIN auction starting on Tuesday, and by Friday? Everything was gone and we were both making a great deal of money.

This system I devised didn't happen by ACCIDENT. It took me a great deal of experimentation to find out what WORKED, and start seeing the kind of success I have seen over the past year or so of selling these phones. This took A LOT of hard work and persistence, but I got it done and I was making great money.

This mandatory GTC listing insanity started this week, and SURE ENOUGH, just like I knew it would - It has already destroyed my sales.

I have sold exactly ONE PHONE this week, with 6 other high ticket, high demand phones lingering there getting "watchers", but of course NO BUYERS - Because the buyers no longer have ANY SENSE OF URGENCY TO BUY. This is because there is no longer a TIME LIMIT on my listings where people HAVE TO ACT before a listing ends.

GTC Not only DOES NOT WORK TO SELL MY PRODUCTS, It is going to actively DESTROY my business.

This change TOTALLY undermines the system I have developed, TOTALLY ELIMINATES any kind of Buyer URGENCY or DEMAND FOR ACTION.

This entirely KILLS MY BUSINESS ON HERE...ENTIRELY. The proof?? I have not had ONE SALE SINCE TUESDAY - NOT ONE!! And I'm selling items that used to have an over 85% sell through rate on this site..

With GTC I can no longer TURN MY INVENTORY OVER QUICKLY, TO RUN MY BUSINESS..Unless of course I just want to sell everything for no profits, but obviously THATS NOT GOING TO WORK FOR ME...

I have been selling on this site for over 15 YEARS and I KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT and what I am DOING...GTC listings are for STORE LISTINGS, and for sellers who have LONG TAIL INVENTORY....GTC DOES NOT WORK FOR SELLERS SELLING ONE OFF UNIQUE ITEMS THAT THEY HAVE TO TURN OVER QUICKLY!!! NOT IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM!!

Everyone is complaining about the possible added fees with this change???...Let me tell you something? I would have taken a 2% FVF INCREASE OVER LOSING THE ABILITY TO SELL MY ITEMS COMPLETELY!!!

I CANNOT HAVE ITEMS SITTING THERE FOR 2 WEEKS, 3 WEEKS, 30 DAYS, 60 DAYS - THIS IS NOT THE WAY MY BUSINESS WORKS!!

And I CERTAINLY am not alone...This change has to be affecting AT LEAST 30% of sellers who GTC SIMPLY DOES NOT WORK FOR...GTC IS NOT A BLANKET LISTING THAT IS IDEAL FOR EVERYONE'S BUSINESS!!

WHERE IS THE RATIONALE AND DATA SUGGESTING THAT IT IS????

Do 30% of YOUR SELLERS have to LEAVE THE SITE eBay, or ACTUALLY GO OUT OF BUSINESS ON HERE BEFORE YOU FIGURE THIS OUT??

OR DO YOU HAVE TO DESTROY THE WEBSITE COMPLETELY BEFORE YOU UNDERSTAND THE RAMIFICATIONS OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING HERE??? I REALLY, REALLY WANT TO KNOW...

SOMEONE AT EBAY NEEDS TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION HERE TO CORRECT THIS AND GIVE US OUR SHORTER TIME BUY IT NOW OPTIONS BACK, THIS IS TOTALLY, TOTALLY INSANE AND YOU ARE PUTTING PEOPLE OUT OF BUSINESS!!!

mvls1 · ‎03-24-2019

All I can say is this seller says he was successfully running his business, making sales with a high sell through rate on a regular basis. Enter Ebay's new and improved GTC forced policy. Unless the seller has changed something else in addition to the new GTC listing time frame then that is most likely the underlying problem.

This is typical of changes that Ebay rolls out. Some sellers businesses are negatively impacted by the changes.

Two quick examples of epic fails:

1. The 14 day restriction on running markdown manager sales. Many sellers impacted with fewer sales and lost

revenue to Ebay. So many complaints that Ebay eventually reversed the change.

2. The new shipping label page is missing shipping options that are costing sellers REAL $. Example, no USPS

regional rate boxes available on the new shipping label flow, yet they are available on the classic label flow.

Why?

These changes, like the GTC never seem to be well thought out or checked for unintended consequences BEFORE they are implemented. One size does NOT always fit all or even most.

One last thing. All this nonsense about GTC being good for one of a kind in google search because it will not result dead links may help for a while, but what happens when a one of a kind item sells three days after listing? Same as before, another dead link. I do not think google will be any happier because it was a GTC listing that sold than if it had been a 10 day listing that sold. A dead link is a dead link.

crownsfieldcellular · ‎03-24-2019

@mvls1 wrote:
All I can say is this seller says he was successfully running his business, making sales with a high sell through rate on a regular basis. Enter Ebay's new and improved GTC forced policy. Unless the seller has changed something else in addition to the new GTC listing time frame then that is most likely the underlying problem.

This is typical of changes that Ebay rolls out. Some sellers businesses are negatively impacted by the changes.
Two quick examples of epic fails:

1. The 14 day restriction on running markdown manager sales. Many sellers impacted with fewer sales and lost
    revenue to Ebay. So many complaints that Ebay eventually reversed the change.
2. The new shipping label page is missing shipping options that are costing sellers REAL $. Example, no USPS
     regional rate boxes available on the new shipping label flow, yet they are available on the classic label flow.
     Why?

These changes, like the GTC never seem to be well thought out or checked for unintended consequences BEFORE they are implemented. One size does NOT always fit all or even most.

One last thing. All this nonsense about GTC being good for one of a kind in google search because it will not result dead links may help for a while, but what happens when a one of a kind item sells three days after listing? Same as before, another dead link. I do not think google will be any happier because it was a GTC listing that sold than if it had been a 10 day listing that sold. A dead link is a dead link.

Thats so right on the money it's almost eerie..One of the biggest things I've heard from all the kool aid drinkers of this policy is "It's going to get you more google search finds, so more sales"..Ok, but what you just said completely destroys that theory for people like me who are selling ONE ITEM AT A TIME..Once my listing sells, its gone..There is no GTC longevity, because I only have ONE PRODUCT to begin with in a listing. And guess what? So far in the past week? I have ended and then restarted my GTC listings 4 times!! And each time? That has resulted in an immediate sale..So my desperate attempt to mimic what I had before with short term auction bursts has actually worked quite well..

How is that going to help me with google, when I am constantly ending ,my listings to refresh them and get a sale? And how does that help me when my item is gone QUICKLY which I need it be, shortly after I list it GTC (which is what I WANT TO HAPPEN)??

The bigger play I see here, and the sadder one, is that eBay so desperately wants to move over to Amazon's format with this move? That it's almost pathetic.

I have news for you eBay: YOU ARE NOT AMAZON. And heres good news on that note as well: I have NO interest in selling on AMAZON, I LOVE(D) selling on eBay!!!

Why? Because on eBay I had the FREEDOM to do things like SETTING my listings duration, making my listing unique, communicating openly with my buyers, and a WHOLE HOST OF OTHER options (including selling USED or OPEN BOX items) which I simply do not have with Amazon - So I do NOT go and sell there. I know what I have here, and my buyers know what they have and they like the system, so we all have a good thing.

eBay needs to EMBRACE its STRENGTHS for sellers. We LOVE the options of duration, price, listing wording, the ability to be unique and stand out, etc, etc, etc. Many, many many sellers ALSO LOVE GTC...I did too at one point, until I started selling products that DID NOT FIT THAT MOLD. Then I had the option to EXPERIMENT with options that I COULDN'T FIND ANYWHERE ELSE, AND IT WAS PHENOMENAL!! I had the freedom to try all kinds of different techniques, durations, HTML options, and I could use these till I got it RIGHT on YOUR MARKET. And I DID!!

I really hope they think this through and see the devastation this is going to cause to NON AMAZON type sellers and change this back.

eBay: YOU CAN INTICE MORE BIG AMAZON TYPE SELLERS WITHOUT COMPLETELY DESTROYING YOUR SMALL ONE OFF, UNIQUE PRODUCT SELLERS...IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE EITHER OR. THE SMALLER, UNIQUE GUYS LIKE ME ARE WHO MADE YOU WHAT YOU ARE..WE MAY ONLY BE 30% NOW, BUT THAT IS A LARGE NUMBER. PLEASE START LISTENING AND NOT WIPING US OUT. ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL ON EBAY, AND THATS WHAT MAKES YOU GREAT!!

DONT DESTROY THAT IN ONE FELL SWOOP

ultimate_collectables · ‎03-24-2019

This is killing my sales as well. been selling since 2003. ive tied every possible way to sell/list. 3-5 day buy-it-now was my nitch! i sell wrestling collectables and majority of my items sell when there is a day or two left, BUT BUT BUT they cannot be up too long or people lose interest in them. 7 day listing used to cramp my sales.

my sales seem to be urgency of an item they just found, and only have that couple days to decide or have to worry another might grab it. 3 day BIN's were what i mostly used due to this. Ive tried 30 day and good til cnaceled before it was mandoatory and got NO sales. Ive tried auctions, no sales. dont know why, they just dont sell on auction. I used to get sales with auction and buy it now just a $1 or $2 more, but with 30% hike on BIN, i either have to set auction to low or buy it now is to high and never get any BIN sales. even auctions set to low for me are hit or miss. This is why it should just be our frikin choice! why Mandatory! WHY! You dont have to it and dont hurt anyone to have 3/5/7 days listings. F**KING HATE corporate america who choose for us!

Thanks for choosing no sales for me and making me beg my church for help with my medication for heart problems medicare dont cover. Ive litarally been buying things on ebay for last 3 months to get ready to re-sell (list them diffrent or different ways then how other sellers had them, and buying tv guides to sell ads in them) and NOW ebay starts this just as im getting ready to sell stuff for wrestlemania April 5th, the hottest time to sell wrestling stuff! PLEASE note ebay, check my listings, ive done your good til canceled & tried auction w that **bleep** 30% higher buy it now since you made this change = ZERO sales so far! THANK YOU!

ultimate_collectables · ‎03-24-2019

and like OP said, he tried everything 1st just like I did, so all ebayemployees responding and defending this **bleep** decision, please explain to us how if it didnt work or whatever reason 3-5-7 day BIN only auctions worked, and we TRIED your othrs way, are we supposed to do now? Check my F**King listings. NO sales with good til canceled or auction and 30% buy it now, UNLESS I want to set auction lower then i paid for the stuff im selling! 3-5 day BIN workdefor me! GTFO with your **bleep** saying it wont matter. And if you say in doesnt matter and GTC wont affect me, next month when i have no sales, can i call u guys for the cash i need for my meds?

flo_mingo · ‎03-24-2019

markart
Re: GTC = The end of My Business
in reply to click2buyusa 03-23-2019 05:09:19 PM
markart
Today I canceled all of my listings.

I cancelled akk of my Fixed price listings this week and let my auctions run. I am waiting with you

flo_mingo · ‎03-24-2019

I have closed my store too. ARe you listening big brother.

fabreedwar · ‎03-24-2019

A buyer will NOT see any difference in how a 30 day FP listing presents and a GTC listing. They look the EXACT same way to a buyer and they return in the searches the same way if they search by ending soonest.

mam98031, this is simply not true. On my 30 day listings (I had a few for items I put out to pasture, to relist every 30 days), the description has a line item showing how much time is remaining. My GTC discriptions do no have a time remaining line item. The ONLY similarity between 30 day fixed and GTC is that if you do a 'ending soonest' search, then the time remaining will display on the list results...but if you click on the item itself to read the description, there is NO time remaining information. Stop saying there is no description between 30 day fixed and GTC, because there is. A savy buyer can tell which is the 30-day fixed vice the GTC (or the will until the 19 of April, when 30-day fixed listings disappear).

fabreedwar · ‎03-24-2019

I'm also another one of those sellers more worried about loss of sales rather than more listing fees. With my basic store and 250 free listings, I never come close to the 250 threshold, and that was even with relisting unsold items every 7 days. I have a running total of 30 - 60 items listed at all times. I price my items near the top of the price range, drop the price with every relist, and eventually they sell. This scheme probably won't work for me anymore because a 30 day-relisting time frame is too long (and I don't intend to quadruple my listings to keep the same throughput in theory as I get for 7-day listings). I fully expect a drop in sales (if my sales actually stay the same, then everything I think I know about business goes out the window).

The only good thing about this GTC change is the timing of it. My store is up for renewal on May 1, so I have all of April to confirm what I suspect, after which I will close the store, and just go with 50 freebies a month...I'll have the same number of listings up, though with lower sales (I suspect), for which I at least won't be adding store fees to the final value fees.

I have not sold a single GTC item yet, which confirms my suspicions.

dazzlecity · ‎03-24-2019

I've been thinking about this for a few days now - seems no one is very happy about this. Why would ebay do this? It's not going to make me bump to anchor store. Premium is $60 and anchor is $300. That's way too big of a jump for a one woman show. I've said it many times - if there was a middle tier I'da already be there by now working my way up to anchor. I need ebay to help me grow my business so we can both make money. So do any of you think it might possibly be a ploy to cut down on the amount of junky garbage from chinese sellers? They LOVE those 3 day listings and won't be able to list them anymore. (of course unless ebay gives them special treatment) Maybe ebay is actually trying to help us - what's your take?

weschurch · ‎03-24-2019

@dazzlecity wrote:
I've been thinking about this for a few days now - seems no one is very happy about this. Why would ebay do this? It's not going to make me bump to anchor store. Premium is $60 and anchor is $300. That's way too big of a jump for a one woman show. I've said it many times - if there was a middle tier I'da already be there by now working my way up to anchor. I need ebay to help me grow my business so we can both make money. So do any of you think it might possibly be a ploy to cut down on the amount of junky garbage from chinese sellers? They LOVE those 3 day listings and won't be able to list them anymore. (of course unless ebay gives them special treatment) Maybe ebay is actually trying to help us - what's your take?

Ebay NEVER tries to help sellers. Every change in the last decade has been unpopular with sellers and led to many leaving. They are hellbent on failure and they are doing a great job!

myjunqueyourtreasure · ‎03-24-2019

ebay is trying to help ebay - period.

Reality is the leading cause of stress.

rock_crushers_unlimited · ‎03-24-2019

Thats why I loved the 5, 7, and 10 day it put my items in front of the other 6 million similar items when buyers search like I do with ending soonest. See now with the GTC all the big sellers get priority and will get listed first. THATS what ebay wants. Yea its the PAY US MORE option that just dont work with the little sellers.

rock_crushers_unlimited · ‎03-24-2019

Yea and then we get these stupid notes saying "Your item has been listed for 16 months with no sales. Consider lowering your prices" NNNOOOOOO I dont want to lower my prices I want to raise my sales by getting it in front of the other 6 million similar items by doing a 7 day BIN seeming most people seek by listings ending the soonest.

fabreedwar · ‎03-24-2019

I've been thinking about this for a few days now - seems no one is very happy about this. Why would ebay do this?

dazzlecity, the only thing that makes sense to me is that ebay expects to increase revenue with this change. Well, they certainly aren't going to get it from me, because I expect my sales to tank, so the fvf revenue from me will go down. In fact, switching from 7-day fixed to GTC, it makes more business sense for me to close my basic store altogether, saving my my store subscription fee, and then really pay no listing fees going forward, just using the free 50 each month.

Businesses have made mistakes before. I believe that there are many unforseen consequences that the pinheads have not considered.

weschurch · ‎03-24-2019

I'll spell it out exactly for you. Ebay is trying to increase revenue BUT NOT FROM SALES!

Sound crazy? Not really. Let me explain.

Ebay has essentially given up trying to grow revenue from increasing SALES. What they are doing now is essentially doubling-down. They are creating a structure that plays on sellers who are getting no sales. They are basically saying "you are getting no sales because YOU are doing something wrong, and we can fix it for you "FOR A FEE". A seller pays for promotions to be placed higher in the structure, FULLY CREATED BY EBAY, Without this structure Ebay has nothing to dangle in front of sellers and would have to take responsibility for lacking sales. This is why the structure was created.

Now they increase revenue from people trying to get placed higher. Of course no more sales will actually occur but they have now made money off the sales that did happen, PLUS the money people paid to get higher in the structure. REVENUES INCREASED!

Now we go to the GTC thing.

Ebay knows it can't grow sales so they essentially are betting on your items NOT SELLING. If they do, thats fine as well but they were going to sell whether you used GTC or not. Now when they don't, and you don't cancel, CHA-CHING! - REVENUES INCREASED

Nothing in Ebays changes are going to, or were even intended to, actually obtain more sales. These were ways to bleed sellers on the allure of using an Ebay that they know they can't fix. 100% desperate money-grab