GTC = The end of My Business

[crownsfieldcellular]

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!!!

[oaklandmaryland]

Reply to: I would suggest trying 3-Day auctions or 5 day.
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But 3 day auctions have an additional charge.

[oaklandmaryland]

Just watching the decline of Ebay stock over the past week is enough to alert you to a very big problem. I expect a new store fee structure and higher selling fees in the near future. I notice that the basic store category that used to have 250 auction and 500 fixed price has already been reduced to 250 auction and 250 fixed price listings. Ebay will continue to just take more and more from the sellers while the difficult rules to follow continue to grow. I would certainly recommend NOT signing on to an annual store subscription as Ebay changes the conditions anytime they want and you are stuck with a big cancellation fee if you don't agree with them. A few dollars extra dollars a month would probably be less than any big store fees Ebay mandates.

[weschurch]

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@oaklandmaryland wrote:
Just watching the decline of Ebay stock over the past week is enough to alert you to a very big problem. I expect a new store fee structure and higher selling fees in the near future. I notice that the basic store category that used to have 250 auction and 500 fixed price has already been reduced to 250 auction and 250 fixed price listings. Ebay will continue to just take more and more from the sellers while the difficult rules to follow continue to grow. I would certainly recommend NOT signing on to an annual store subscription as Ebay changes the conditions anytime they want and you are stuck with a big cancellation fee if you don't agree with them. A few dollars extra dollars a month would probably be less than any big store fees Ebay mandates.

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Its a all they have left.  Just trying to get more cash from the few that remain. Its the default play in the Ebay playbook. They are to inept to do anything else. 

[kittykat.949]

Just wait until Managed Payments is rolled out to everyone & Ebay starts taking a slice for handling your money---I CAN HARDLY WAIT---I closed my store at the end of March & I have not had the slightest regret---I could no longer stand being USED & ABUSED

[alwaysblessed_44]

I AM A LONG TIME SELLER AND I AGREE.

[flo_mingo]

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buyers noted that many listings that were always the same could clog the 'newly listed' filter. A large cause of this appeared to be members running multiple short duration listings to try to remain in the newly listed section, even if the item wasn't desirable for many buyers. 

Moving all fixed price to GTC is a step toward addressing this. In addition to the external search engine benefits it should provide. 

Additionally, this allows us to simplify the listing flow even further for newer members, meaning fewer complications in their process.

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I agree that GTC is a good move to streamline search. I do not agree to be charged 3 times for what is now one listing. 

[mam98031]

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@flo_mingo wrote:

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buyers noted that many listings that were always the same could clog the 'newly listed' filter. A large cause of this appeared to be members running multiple short duration listings to try to remain in the newly listed section, even if the item wasn't desirable for many buyers. 

Moving all fixed price to GTC is a step toward addressing this. In addition to the external search engine benefits it should provide. 

Additionally, this allows us to simplify the listing flow even further for newer members, meaning fewer complications in their process.

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I agree that GTC is a good move to streamline search. I do not agree to be charged 3 times for what is now one listing. 

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I don't know what that means.  Please explain!

@flo_mingo 

[jasoheat_0]

thats ridiculous , its a buy it now, (NO offer) but yet we send offers ...WOW EBAY LETS MAKE IT HARDER TO SELL , no buy it now its really offer only ... SO they should change it to OFFER ONLY because that is what will happen

[micsett-99]

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@mam98031 wrote:

If your sell through rate shows that the vast majority of your items sell in less than 30 days, being a GTC listing will not change that.  And since the item sells, it won't renew.  So for the majority of your listings the GTC mandate should not negatively impact you.  I do understand on the few that don't sell, that could cause you more work if you feel you need to end them and repost them or whatever your normal policy is on those that don't sell in under 30 days.  

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This is really a hysterical this reply.  You must work for ebay or something, because all I see on these boards is you chiming in telling people who are coming on here saying out right that they are going out of business basically? 

That they are wrong, etc, and that somehow YOU know better than everyone about how to run their businesses..Or know more than them about their sales, or anything else..

Wow...I mean just wow

Did you read  this persons post?  I think they made it very, very clear (crystal clear actually) that the GTC change is NOT working for them..

And I think they did a very good job of explaining exactly why that is..

And I personally agree with them 1000%.  I'm experiencing almost an identical problem for exactly the same reasons.

So exactly what sense does your reply make in response to this post? 

How exactly do you get the nerve and have the audacity to come on here and tell someone who is on screaming at the top of their lungs basically, that they are going out of business and no longer getting sales? 

That "this change shouldn't effect them"...

I mean are you serious here?

I have never in my life read a more condescending, arrogant and ridiculous reply in my life.  

Maybe this change isn't effecting YOU..And that's fine and well. 

But who are you to tell this person that they are NOT being affected here, when quite clearly?  They are???  In their own words, and after reading their whole post??

I think actually you and people like you are the entire problem here.  Just like ebay you somehow "selectively negate" the things you don't want to hear, and that don't fit with your "version" of the reality you have constructed for yourself. 

And continue instead to spout on with rhetoric that doesn't take into account anything anyone else is saying, regardless of whether or not what you are espousing?  Even makes sense, or is relevant to anything that is really going on.  

For example, no matter how many times you call ebay and scream at them that "I"M NO LONGER GETTING SALES SINCE GTC!!  CHANGE THIS!!"?  They routinely go to a "talking point" sheet they've all been given to shut sellers up who complain about this. 

Thinking that somehow if these "talking points" make enough sense?  

The seller will forget about the fact that this is NOT working for them, they are NOT getting sales anymore, and they are being put out of business thanks to this.  

I'm sorry, but no amount of "talking" is going to help someone, once you shoot them in the knee caps as business, with a horrible decision like this.  You can "talk" until you're blue in the face, but that's not gonna bring sales back.  and it certainly is NEVER going to make the other person "wrong", because obviously they KNOW what they are experiencing...

Your reply reminds me very much of this attitude, and frankly it amounts to nothing more than I can label as "malevolent delusion"...And t's exactly this?  That's going to sink this entire site I think.

Along with the arrogance, condescension, "dismissiveness" that management is displaying now in response to all their sellers voice their complaints about this.  Which is exactly what you have also just demonstrated, in exactly the same fashion.

[mam98031]

There are lots of upset members over this change and it is very understandable for many.  This change just doesn't work for everyone, there is no doubt of that.  

Just the nature of discussion boards is that most come here to vent, share stories, find help, learn and/or lend a helping hand when they can.  All Ebay employees are well labeled when they respond.  For the most part we call them Blues.  It is also not uncommon for those that disagree about something someone else has shared to call them an Ebay employee or something else in an effort to dismiss or minimize what the other poster said.

The boards to not represent the majority of sellers for this subject or any other.  While each and every member that comes here to post are important to the community as a whole, we do only represent a fraction of the sellers active on the US site.

I NEVER said anyone was wrong.  Not did I say that I "know better than everyone".  Those are your words, not mine.  

Some of the upset over this change is simply because it is a massive change / disruption to any given sellers way of doing business.  When that happens, whether it is a good change, bad change or otherwise just a change, it causes upset.  It happens every single time there is a big change.  I'm not saying that to minimize anyone's concern over this change because it is extremely impactful to those that were using other listing options.  

Some will be able to adapt and some won't.  It is something that each seller has to decide for themselves.  Your viewpoint is not the only viewpoint nor is mine.  There are a variety of opinions here and that helps us all learn.

It's OK to disagree with the opinions of another.  This is a DISCUSSION board.  I hope whatever you decide to do works well for you.

[she-sells]

Your so correct. I have seen foot dragging buyers wait till the end of a 30 day fixed price listing.. Some will buy in the last hour & some will wait to see if you flip it back at a lower price.. Now I have to DATE & KILL listings & it is awe-full because more work & if I take down 1 day early i could lose a sale. Ebay is run by DOLTS! and I think they want small sellers GONE this is how they can nudge you out

[buggybandit]

i totally agree. i normally have over 2 thousand items on there in which i pick and chose out of my inventory. right now , i have less than 400 listed because i do not have the time to go on and cancel the items before they end so they do not relist automatically. i should have the right to control how i want to list my items and when. not ebay!!!!!!!!!!

[evita1955]

You put it so clearly and have elaborated on the detrimental effect of GTC rollover. URGENCY is a subliminal sales tactic that Ebay should be familiar with. Ebay decision makers obviously do NOT understand that buyers fear losing out (FLO) so they will buy before the item goes to another buy. When I put myself in the buyers shoes, and I see GTC, I have NO REASON to buy. I can take my time, and soon realize I do not need or want the product.....There you have it.....buyers have no reason to need or buy the product. Like you, I have sold nothing for weeks. I specialize on language learning books, and I was selling a few books a week. Since GTC, I have sold nothing even though my inventory has trebled. When I look at the views, they are minimal because there is a glut of merchandise and it is taking many page views to get to certain items. Ebay has created stagnation by rolling over GTC.......Oh dear, we are doomed.!!!!!!

[dadepfan]

This change also screws me - my limit of 50 free fixed pricing insertions a month gets reduced every time a fixed pricing item renews!  I have thousands of one-of-a-kind collectible and vintage items that I have been listing for 30 days.  My items do not sell for much, so I cannot afford insertion fees.  I am now going to have to start ending my fixed pricing items when they get close to being relisted.  This makes it twice as much work to sell on Ebay.

Greedy Ebay, this sucks!.

Dave

[mam98031]

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@dadepfan wrote:

This change also screws me - my limit of 50 free fixed pricing insertions a month gets reduced every time a fixed pricing item renews!  I have thousands of one-of-a-kind collectible and vintage items that I have been listing for 30 days.  My items do not sell for much, so I cannot afford insertion fees.  I am now going to have to start ending my fixed pricing items when they get close to being relisted.  This makes it twice as much work to sell on Ebay.

Greedy Ebay, this sucks!.

Dave

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With that many items to sell, maybe you should consider a Starter Store to begin with and see how it works for you.  They are very inexpensive and you may find the benefits of having a store helpful.

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/run-your-store/subscriptions-and-fees.html