Low or no sales

[vintagemelrose2009]

Hello - the discussion I started seemed to have disappered.

Is anyone else experiencing drastic drop in sales or no sales at all for days.  We have no sales at all for almost two weeks now during the day from 7 am to mid night.  there are couple of exceptions.  any sale that happened only after mid night and maybe early before 7 am. 

Is anyone aware of anything that is causing this drop in sales.  I appreciate your input.  

Why did my last discussion I started on this disappear?  Am I not supposed to talk about that here?

thanks.

[wigan_no._1]

Items are not showing up because eBay have made everything `one-liners` in eBay Shops. However, the `one-line` does NOT allow for the 80 characters of the descriptions. Our items only appear when we put the Country Name in. If we put item specific info in, nothing there. It has to be within the first 40 characters of the full title. They won`t tell you that though. The main problem with eBay is that it is not the same level playing field that everyone thinks it is. Some Countries eBay sites can flout every so-called `rule` or `policy` whilst others cannot. They give FREE SHOPS to some countries but not to others. Whilst we sympathize with Sellers who have been affected by the devastation from the Hurricanes, etc. when we in the UK were suffering from massive Floods, eBay just shrugged their shoulders and offered UK Sellers no help whatsoever. We were not given 3 months of our Shop Fees for nothing. At the same time, however, Sellers based in Ireland were given a FREE SHOP for several months. In fact, since the UK started the exit from the EU, all other member countries have had deals. All the UK got was a 20% VAT slap in the face and everyone`s accounts reported directly to HMRC. and they wonder why Sellers are leaving in droves. The worst part is that they do nothing about the so-called Private Sellers whom we know have been in our trade for 30+ years with High Street Shops of their own. We have told them of over 250 suchlike sellers and thus far, only 3 have changed to Business Sellers. eBay is now a joke. We could go on for hours, telling people what we know about this scenario but you would just get bored.

[lindainng]

Our sales have dropped by 20% this month for some reason? Anyone else experiencing this? We are listing the same type of merchandise and even have dropped the price on some of the items?

[dreamalittledream]

2 of my accounts are completely dead. The 3rd is getting cluster sales where I go for around 5 days with no sales and no views and then I'll get 9 or 10 sales and some views within a couple hours. Then back to no sales and no views for a few more days. Then  3 sales in 10 minutes.  I'm grateful for any sales, but it's hard to work this way.  And discouraging.  Someone else described this as if there is a switch being turned off and on - mostly off.  And it sures feels like it.  Christmas is coming, but maybe not to my house this year.....

The other odd thing I'm seeing is that when I'm listing, if I don't get that immediate bot view, I never get any views on that item, even if I let it run for 30 days.   The only fix is ending it and creating a new listing (without using Sell Similiar) and wasting a free listing.

[foranation]

I have less items listed on Etsy (where they charge way less fees, no ridiculous shipping fee, and show your item for 3 months for the same listing price) and I officially sell more there than I do on EBay. Keep in mind, I don't sell a lot on Etsy, but it still performs better than eBay. Stop wasting your time here. It's a scam. Most of us are making below minimum wage when you do the math. It's time to leave and let them slowly die trying to pathetically mimic Amazon. And don't come back when they're desperate because they'll just suck you in and do it again. What they do should be considered fraud and I don't know how they get away with taking people's money and not provide the service they're paying for. 

[luckyladydi]

In my category, it is very hard to sell now. The undersellers have completely diminished the value of these items. This has caused a different type of buyer for these items. They will watch your item until you have to relist it for a lower price in your zest to sell., and also if another seller will list it cheaper. They also just for the fun of bidding and sniping at the last minute, will bid a $20.00 item up to $200.00. Don’t know if that seller actually gets paid, I have heard that some do not. The buyer has very little accountability and takes advantage of this. Some, when they do buy an item, are returning the same other damaged item saying they bought it from you and want a refund. Being afraid of the negative feedback, and the lack of support from eBay, the seller is *bleep*. Meanwhile the seller can’t give that buyer negative feedback. I have bent over backwards trying to get some positive feedback - hoping it would help - get some but not all. Trying to decide now whether to quit - very discouraged.

[collins53422]

My sales have been slow or non existent since 9/11/2017. I don't know what is causing my sales to be slow, when others are going great! I'm looking at my pricing as a possible problem. I'd love to hear what works for others.

[luckyladydi]

I feel  you make a very good point here. The sellers are the ones that are paying all the fees. Ebay should provide better Customer Service to the seller.

[luckyladydi]

I wish I could give you some helpful ideas, but for sure I have tried every which way and backwards to sell. As you can see from this blog subject, many have been having the same problem. IMHO, EBay has updated its mobile app and it is terrible, no matter what the reviews on the App Store say. In this technologically astute world, most are using their iPads and phones. It’s highly likely they are not even seeing your items, because I know that when I search for mine I’m told I do not have any items for sale (?)  Perhaps, when all the glitches are straightened out, things will pick up.

[drinkwine1204]

well, day 10 here without a sale. I have had items on markdown (10-15% off) every day for weeks. Read many times about the failure of GTC listings after a few months and how sellers sales zoomed upwards when they canceled those. So, I started for likely the 4th time this year, revising everthing. Have ended about 150 GTC listings and changed them over to 30.

I am glad to hear that worked for most,  but not even ONE sale for me after all these hours of work. Free shipping on all, 30 day returns. I think maybe the promoted listings are getting the looks, don't know. I will continue to end the other 100 GTC listings but after that, I guess it's a race to the bottom to sell something. Like many others, this $$ is vital to me. Good luck to all.

[chris5000stamps]

We are also seriously looking at other channels and have been suffering the same unexplained drop in sales for days in a row.

[wigan_no._1]

Another point of note on this thread, is the way in which eBay are using your listings without you knowing anything about it unless, you check through the myriad of eBay sites and, without checking every item listing.

We only list on the UK version but, obviously, every listing is available on every eBay site Worldwide. However, this new-fangled Thumbnail system they are using lists all of your items in the respective Countries currencies and, if like us, you list in the UK, your Postage Charge is listed at the lowest rate on all the other sites. It does not tell the prospective buyer this and we have had several buyers demand we mail at the rate listed on the Thumbnail. Likewise, if you are listing on the US version and say you mail in the US for $1, it shows up on our version at that price. The whole system is wrong.

We believe this is being done on purpose, as they want everyone to list items as FREE POSTAGE only. That way, they can dispense with the Postal Rates on every site and then just increase the Fees to off-set what they would lose on the 10% charge on your Postage.

If you are UK based, take them to task on the following point. Postage in the UK is VAT FREE! Just look at the Royal Mail web-site. However, they are charging everyone 20% VAT on whatever your Postage Fee is. What they are not doing, is passing that particular VAT charge onto HMRC as HMRC would query it. We queried direct with HMRC and thay told us that eBay CANNOT charge VAT on Postage and if they do, all a seller needs to do is inform HMRC when submitting their Tax Returns that this has happened and HMRC would then take it up with eBay and demand a refund be made to every seller affected by this fraudulent activity. Therefore, the question would be, WHO is pocketing that 20% charge?

As for sales, we have just about given up. Mark them down, mark them down further. Offer Free Postage and further discounts and all in all, no change. In fact. things are getting worse day after day. 

eBay are tying everyone`s hands behind their backs and laughing all the way to the bank. Now it is all change again. No watermarks, No borders, No Contact details. What will come next?

And there was us, like millions of other sellers, thinking that eBay was just a `platform` to sell on, where you could offer an item to anyone at any price and even offer it elsewhere at the same time. No bleeding chance. 

[amazonclothing4less]

I think the email went out that Florida would get the help on fees after Irma, but it has not happened.. sad... But I do feel for everyone that is dealing with no sales! I'm at the end of the road trying to fix something that is broke...
We had a great system a few years back.. we could list and sell within hours! great stats we had letting us know where in the world our customers were logging in from and by what mode they used... It helped me plan! now I have no buyers from overseas! Our Info system doesnt work and NO SALES! sounds like a sinking ship..sad as I enjoyed what was good about ebay in the past! They must have some crazy decision makers and engineers! taking the company down the Swanee River!

[humminbird-heaven]

before the hub, I sold at least 2-3 items per week international...now zero international sales...I did turn off mymap app subscription due to the contacts issues...but I wouldn't think that would do it...just not being seen

[nawlinsron2]

i'm waiting on the 3rd Quarter results like a kid waiting on Christmas...
...the September results will be in the toilet.
Best of all...it was all SELF-INFLICTED.

[shmizz]

Did you happen to opt into the guarantee delivery option? I am wondering if signing up for this has messed something up. My business is down drastically - and I have been doing this consistently for over a decade.