Is eBay Pushing Out Small Sellers?

[maimaimai90]

First off, I'm not trying to start a b*tch-fest about slow sales, I'm just trying to figure out what happened to my store and see if it's happened to others. 

In my case, sales have declined month-over-month by an average of 15-20% since February.  The strange thing is that the decline is a clean straight line down. Nothing cyclical, nothing seasonal, nothing random and very consistent. I thought there was a practical limit as to how far sales could decline - you have to bottom out somewhere - but I was wrong. This month I'm down 12% again.

The absolute bottom - zero - is now within sight, and probably just a few months off. Well, I have a few regular customers and there are always a few random sales, but I'll be doing less than $25 in sales per day soon. After selling for nearly 3 years on eBay and having ups and downs but overall success, that's a point I never thought I'd reach. 

Yes, yes, I've worked overtime to try to stem the decline. You name it, I did it. No need to make a list. It's been 8 months of trying now, but the effort is all in vain. As best as I can tell, eBay 'de-ranks' accounts, and down you go.  Straight down. Like, in a perfectly straight and very non-random line down.

Whatever, my energy is now on the other platforms. While each has its advantages, eBay was my first selling platform and the sentimental favorite. For small sellers with ambition, it was pretty much the ideal place to start and grow. When people ask me these days for advice on how to start selling, it's hard to say that eBay is the place to go.  Actually, it feels like eBay has told me where to go. 

We know they are trying to become Amazon-lite - FBE, the public catalog model etc. - so are they trying to push out the smaller sellers and cede that market to the 'other platforms' that shall remain nameless, and skew eBay toward the heavy hitters that sell on Amazon?  

Who knows. There's obviously turmoil at the top. Life at the eBay bottom hasn't been so great either. Well, movin' on.

[curious*goods*1313]

YOU are absolutely correct in saying it is NOT most sellers faults that there businesses are dying a rapid death..it IS EBAY unfortunately . Ebay USED to be a good place BEFORE it was sold and managed by ruthless people who want to cater to big businesses and large Chinese volumes. Sad , but true.

[curious*goods*1313]

you are wrong. It is Ebay 's goal to rid itself of small sellers . They want large volume Chinese sellers who can sell and ship for $ 2.00.

[chapeau-noir]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

Oh good grief.  There is no law or other requirement that makes Ebay have small sellers.  If Ebay did not want small sellers, there simply would be no small sellers.  No drama, nothing.  They just wouldn't allow them.  They don't have to do anything to run them off.  That is completely ridiculous.

@lagarto_electronico 

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Not sure I'd agree with the 'no drama' part lol. 

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The drama comes from the sellers, not Ebay.  

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Oh, I think there would be plenty of drama on the eBay side.  Just consider the logistics - HOW would they do this?  Funding the manpower alone to do the vetting of millions of sellers, setting selling levels, issuing new guidelines, revamping search procedures, etc. - who would they onboard? Brands? That hasn't always worked well and brands have their own headaches.  And then the PR - eBay would have to do some handy deflection which, given some of their press releases, should provide plenty of press fodder - second largest selling site in the world (which is STILL known for being a reseller auction site by a significant portion of the public) decides to boutique their way to a curated seller site. I have a feeling that we sellers have to say would be way down on the list. 

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Sorry for any confusion.  I was talking to Ebay pushing out small sellers.  I do not believe there is any drama on Ebay's side because they have zero need to push out small sellers.  It would serve no purpose and is completely unnecessary.  So why would they create drama.  If they didn't want small sellers, there simply would be no small sellers on Ebay.  It is really quite simple.  They don't have to have us and they don't have to push us out because there is no requirement of any kind that they must have us.

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I agree, I don't think they're actively pushing anybody out - however, their past emphasis on new items (OVER 82% OF OUR PRODUCTS ARE NEW!!!) free shipping, and their search manipulation to achieve this (general search used to default to NWT and free - one had to untick the boxes to get complete search returns), the general distaste the CEO but one had for the 'garage sale atmosphere', the general Amazon-Lite initiatives, can lead a lot of us to believe that in the great retail store of life we're being pushed to the edge of the parking lot next to the Porta-Potties, victims of attrition due to benign neglect.

IAC, eBay was built on the premise that 'anyone can sell' and curating the site would obviate their original mission statement - I doubt they would actually want to do that. But, I have optimism for the future after this shakeup.  There's a lot happening in the reseller market that has little to do with eBay itself (acquisition costs, shipping costs, changing tastes) - the market is evolving and that's inevitable. It's different than even five years ago - I've lost count of how many times I've 'reinvented myself' to stay up, stay (hopefully) relevant.  Some of my attempts haven't worked, others have.  My shop on another site has abruptly gone under after three years of brilliant sales, and that WAS due to website changes - I haven't sensed that here at all and I think I'd know.

[princess802]

Why would small sellers even want to come to EBay right now!? Their holding your funds for the first 25 transactions that’s ridiculous!!

[mam98031]

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@curious*goods*1313 wrote:
you are wrong. It is Ebay 's goal to rid itself of small sellers . They want large volume Chinese sellers who can sell and ship for $ 2.00.

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@curious*goods*1313 

I'm not wrong.  There is no reason for Ebay to do this.  If Ebay didn't want you or me or other small sellers, they simply would not allow us to sell.  They don't have to play games or anything.  We just wouldn't be allowed to sell.

Stuff like this is always said on threads whenever Ebay makes some change that small sellers don't like or something is going on with their ability to sell that they can't pinpoint.  For as far back as I can remember stuff like this is said on threads off an on in the past 15+ years.  Yet here we are, small sellers.  Some certainly have left over the years but others have joined.

[mam98031]

....their past emphasis on new items (OVER 82% OF OUR PRODUCTS ARE NEW!!!) free shipping,...

I don't know if that is an "emphasis" or merely a statement of fact.

[mam98031]

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@princess802 wrote:
Why would small sellers even want to come to EBay right now!? Their holding your funds for the first 25 transactions that’s ridiculous!!

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You typically get past that in a short period of time.  The rule is really a very good one and helps to keep the site a bit safer for both buyers and sellers.  It certainly prevents what use to happen from time to time before the policy was in place.  And that was sellers coming here, selling a bunch of stuff, getting paid, never ship and then transfer the money out of the PP account and then shut it down.  

[imakesugar]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

What I see happening on the net are all these speciality type places like this place wotoba and they have other names too. They are offering some really unique beautiful clothing items at really good prices. And they are getting seem on google with pop ups all over the place. These places will do well because they are distinct, they advertise and offer  different kinds of stuff.

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[rktoyandhobby]

While I appreciated your posts and generally agreed, I think you're overlooking that almost all businesses start small.

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@gamersbaystore wrote:

MonsterToyBox has good products, but 600 listings is not sustainable even in the best economy.

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It may not be a business that will support you as a full time job but 600 listings should be more than enough to compete with a part time job.

Toys are also not exactly in the best spot right now.  There are severe distribution problems that have positively warped the market in very noticeable ways over the last few years.  In short, Hasbro and Mattel have gobbled up many competitors and licenses.  They've shut out all but the largest customers from direct sales, forcing many to go through distributors that siphon off most of the profit.  You literally cannot buy from a distributor to sell on eBay and turn a profit in most cases.

They also seem to have real difficulty producing/delivering toys in volume.  What I often see is that a particular toy has a release date.  A month later, a few people post Walmart/Target receipts on forums.  For the next two months, I search local stores in vain.  Then, sometime during the following month, my order, placed the day solicitations went up a year ago, arrives.  By this time, everybody and their brother already has the toy.  Not willing to sell for half of what I paid, mine sit.  About the time the value starts creeping back up towards MSRP, roughly six to eight months later, a metric ton of them are dumped on Ollies, Big Lots, Ross, Tuesday Morning, Burlington Coat Factory (yes, really), etc at prices so low that those stores can profit at 50%-75% off.

10-15 years ago, Mom and Pop shops regularly beat the large retailers on putting out stock by as much as two months.  I still order from a big (bad) toy store out in Wisconsin.  If what I read on forums is anything to go by, they must be positively inundated with customer complaints about preorders not shipping for months after.  Believe me, these people really have their act together.  This situation is not even remotely their fault.  I do my best to put my money where my mouth is but it's like trying to push back against the ocean.

It's like Walmart and Amazon are squatting on sales by hoarding more inventory than they can sell in an effort to starve out the competition.  Hasbro deserves to be right where Mattel is, floating just above single digit stock prices, for their part in this.

[imakesugar]

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@imakesugar wrote:

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

What I see happening on the net are all these speciality type places like this place wotoba and they have other names too. They are offering some really unique beautiful clothing items at really good prices. And they are getting seem on google with pop ups all over the place. These places will do well because they are distinct, they advertise and offer  different kinds of stuff.

My family does a lot of purchasing online. I'm trying to understand why but none of them use eBay. I suspect Most of attracting "NEW USERS and KEEPING "OLD BUYERS" is related to the eBay search engine. One example: I wanted to buy My grandchildren’s "underwear" for Christmas. I have 2 granddaughters. searching Girls Boy shorts sized 10-12 lots, USA checked in Box on the side. This should be simple right? I probably spent at least 2 hours to find what I was looking for. 

Girls Panties

1. Size needed. 10-12 girls This was mixed with women’s panties. size 10-12. 
2. Style needed...Boy shorts style, I ALSO ENDED UP GETTING BOYS SHORTS.
3. LOTS ended up getting many 1 or 2 items "panties." 
4. USA  ended up getting China goods from China when I asked for the USA. 

First search 

Girls  sized 10-12 lots,  underwear USA Second search 

So following the item specifics to get what I want is not working.

• I have found IF I can drill down and find ONE or Two items I want, Put them on My watch list, eBay will generate a little bit later, hundreds of the common things I am looking for such as:
• Some as Sponsored listings,
• Many "higher-priced items on Best Match, Out of those suggestions I will get some "budget-friendly" singles also.
• Then I when watch the cheaper items. later on, I will start getting WHAT I was wanting to find before.

Eventually, I have eliminated what I don't want based on what I do want by putting that item on my watch list...I guess that Is ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AT WORK...The goods are ON eBay they just don't come up on search like they should do the first time. Required Item Specifications should be sorting the site and generating what I want the first time and not waiting for AI to come along and sort the request out. 

 what?

• Underwear, panties, knickers, briefs, girdles, 

Sizes?

• Babies, children, teens, Women, Men.

Styles?

• Boy shorts, Bikini, briefs, high waisted, long legs for men, briefs for men. Briefs for boys, Diapers and rubber pants (for Babies) OR MAYBE NOT!

Material?

• Nylon, cotton, cotton blends, silk, latex,

Condition?

• New, used, (UNSPECIFIED?) Why does UNSPECIFIED even exist? underwear ARE EITHER NEW OR USED...

Selling platform?

• Auction, buy it NOW, best offer, etc. 

There might be some other things at play here that I haven't thought of here that are important to have in the item specifications. Then as a Buyer, I can drill down what I want quickly IF ALL the proper item specifications are at play. I can buy what I am looking for and then get on with life. Many of the "New Generation" Buy goods online to save money on the things they need or want. They have quit going to stores to be with their families more, they have uncluttered their houses to make cleaning more efficient, they are putting in their groceries and fast food on apps so they don't have to get out of the car or wait, and they are having delivery services To deliver their food to the door. The days of people enjoying spending lots of time on eBay are done. 

In my humble opinion, there are things wrong that are hurting sales and repeat Buyers. 

1. Proper Item specifications in place to identify what the buyer wants.
2. Standardized ORDER of title pages. (for example, What size first, what category (women, men,etc.), how many, what color, etc.)  EVERYONE should be required to use the same order so a search would bring up more of what You are looking for instead of them guessing and waiting for the time for AL to come to the rescue. AI works for me many times, it is just slow. (people leave the site thinking eBay doesn't have what I want so I'll have to check A. AL also causes problems when it is too slow to give PROPER suggestions and shows what a Buyer just purchased for substantial savings. This leads to Buyers canceling a sale and buying something cheaper that they wanted.  
3. Multiply listings that are "cons" one cheap piece of ribbon for .99 and everything else at $5.99.  Buyer’s don't have the time to click through the garbage that is listed as cheaper only to find out it is a "SWITCH AND BAIT"
4. Sellers that bloat the site (mostly from foreign countries; eBay doesn't seem to let American Sellers get away with that ) by listing one item in pairs, fours, singley, etc so Buyers lose time when they are overwhelmed by thousands of items.  
5. Bloated Coding that makes a Seller/Buyer have to click more to get what they want.  My grandkids 8-12 have accounts at some competitive sites that are easy to navigate with their VERY ONLY CHARGE CARD LISTED, (not debit card) they shop, or Parent asked them to shop for ???  they call Daddy Warbucks to see or approve their order then they buy the GOODS with their own accounts sponsored by Dad. Kids LOVE GETTING PACKAGES in the mail...(I DO TO! )    
6. I have sat them down with My eBay account and they get bored rather quickly when I can't find what they are looking for (underwear?) rather quickly. The current eBay search is slow to bring up Your requests. 

eBay has one of the BEST MONEY BACK GUARANTEE in online sales. They should have informative public advertising some of the “new Sites” sponsored by Foreign Countries entirely and stating how eBay’s MGB is better. Every Site I check the return policy generally states “YOU PAY FOR SHIPPING BACK TO SELLER” When Buyers see that they just get stung and throw the item away. It is too costly to send the item back to foreign countries.

They need to require ALL snads include photographs of the problem with the item. With today’s smartphones, almost everyone has the technology to send Pictures they just might not KNOW HOW...easy peasy. Write simplified directions for common phones or systems. I think that alone would cut down returns for frivolous reasons. 

ANY Terms of Service rules set-up on each Sellers listing needs to be Flagged and the Seller needs to be warned to correct the terms that go against eBay rules and terms. 

 They need to be at least ONE step ahead of the “cons” on eBay and make it a priority to close all loopholes immediately! 

I am just adding My Opinion at the end of this conversation as much as I love eBay I see broader problems that have been swept under the rug for so long that it is hard to turn the bloated ship around. I still have some shred of faith. Saying that I too am looking at Seller friendly sites that seem to manage online fraud better than eBay does.

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[chapeau-noir]

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@mam98031 wrote:

....their past emphasis on new items (OVER 82% OF OUR PRODUCTS ARE NEW!!!) free shipping,...

I don't know if that is an "emphasis" or merely a statement of fact.

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It was a banner on the home page for a long, long time.

[mam98031]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

....their past emphasis on new items (OVER 82% OF OUR PRODUCTS ARE NEW!!!) free shipping,...

I don't know if that is an "emphasis" or merely a statement of fact.

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It was a banner on the home page for a long, long time.

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Yes, if you Google it, among Ebay states, it has said for years that 80+% of the site is BIN listings.  At least I remember seeing if for a few years now.  Free Shipping I don't remember what that percentage was.  But buyers tend to like it, so it isn't all that bad.

For me I have found that free shipping works on some products and not so well on others.  So I think we each have to find what is right for what we sell.  I have a mixture.  Lots of my listings are Free Shipping, but then I have many that are stated shipping as it seems to work better for certain things I sell.

[chapeau-noir]

The push was that 82% were NEW listings, not just buy it now - a banner along the splash page, small blurbs across the top of SERPs and in emails, referred to in a number of the interviews, etc.  And of course, the general search which defaulted to "new" and "free shipping".  This last was what got me - I could live with the rest, but bold-faced search manipulation was not OK.

[mam98031]

@chapeau-noir wrote:

The push was that 82% were NEW listings, not just buy it now - a banner along the splash page, small blurbs across the top of SERPs and in emails, referred to in a number of the interviews, etc.  And of course, the general search which defaulted to "new" and "free shipping".  This last was what got me - I could live with the rest, but bold-faced search manipulation was not OK.

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IDK, I didn't see it.  And I don't know how they defined new.  GTC listings renew every month, so it is likely that plays a part.  Or if it is absolutely just a stat on brand new listings, since there are now only two options for listing types, it is highly likely to be quite accurate as auctions are not as popular as they once were.  I know for me, I use to run about 500 of them a couple times a month.  Now I may do it a couple times a year and the return on it is hardly worth running them.