Regards,
@siamjane8 wrote:@mr_lincoln You hit the nail directly on the head with this statement/ observance ---"Listings are controlled and manipulated by the venue's AI programming letting just enough sell to keep Sellers interested but low enough in hopes they feel the have to do SOMETHING to generate sales. "
The steady decline of sales and ebay platform as a whole started 6-7 years ago as they implemented more and more AI. It was not to make search better or more intuitive as we were told, but instead to give ebay more power over what is seen and sold on the platform.....more control...... instead of just showing people what they searched for (what a novel idea), they wanted to monopolize the search and pit sellers( actual ebay customers) against one another all the while skimming more profits without doing anything.
Its no doubt- this is why the " ebay hides my listings" started..... because they do- in an effort to make sellers desperate for sales while they have "the solution" for just 10-20% more in PL fees.
We have had zero growth for 5 years straight/ actually sell less year over year regardless of the economy and the fact they we have doubled our available listings to around 5000.... There is nothing organic about this. It is completely manipulated by algorithms to maintain a certain monthly gross sales. Its as plain as the nose on your face. If you have a "good" day- sales plumet to "adjust". If sales are slow- then there will be a flurry of sales within hours of the the end of the week or month.... and every month we are at the same amount of sales- no growth / no opportunity to grow a business on ebay.
Sales, times listings are shown, places to which listings are show, certain categories that are shown, and probably a bunch of other variables go into keeping sellers sales at what ebay has determined. Its like a glass ceiling.
@siamjane8 My sincere thanks, some can't see it but the facts tell the truth. In all the years I ran my regular quarterly PLS campaigns (for about 30 days each quarter) I don't ever recall getting messages like I have since I stopped using PLS in 4th quarter last year. PLS worked great until early 2022 when PLA was fully launched, Views counting was changed and PLS ad rates magically doubled and tripled ... overnight. Since late 4th quarter last year I have gotten:
(3) We've missed you - try Promoted Listings Standard again
(2) You have what they want - Promoted Listings Standard sales pitches
(1) Invite to Offsite Ads BETA to increase traffic on external channels
The "We've missed you" message is the real tell. We're talking all those messages in about a 2 1/2 month period - pics below.
Is what we have been talking about happening to every Seller? No, I doubt it. But I am confident that there is some kind of algorithm monitoring accounts and gathering data and when a certain set of criteria is met then what we've discussed begins.
For now I am in "wait and see" mode in hopes that sales will return naturally and get back on a growth curve opposed to the unsustainable curve I am currently enjoying ...
You are correct that PLS worked well at first and right up to when PLA was fully launched. Then it changed, that is what I recorded and observed with regard to timing. In basic terms I understand why. Major eBay site changes have historically been followed by either good or bad results. Prior to 2022 the one that I recall having a big impact on what I sell was the GTC mandate in late 2018 - early 2019. I had just spent the previous 12 months growing a 2nd account (via proven selling items and methods) to the low five figures (annual sales) only to see it killed off in less than 9 months dropping to a ridiculous 1 sale per month ... yes, it died that much and that quickly.
My main account kept going without issue and grew until early 2022 as mentioned ... on a certain level I am seeing a quasi-repeat of the GTC Mandate affects on my main account but its more protracted in its demise ... only time will tell.
@retro_entertainment_collectibles
Thanks for the lengthy post, it's a lot to get through but some things stood out for me. Since you mentioned trains I'll stick with that topic. When eBay dropped all the train gauge categories and lumped them together we had more Buyers posting here and complaining that their old Searches didn't work and they would get a list of trains with numerous gauges, many of which they had no interest in. Per your comment, they had little interest in sifting through page after page of search results to find what they were looking for.
What has been consistent for me over the years is my title format ... it hasn't changed, my approach has enough keywords for specific train cars, locomotives, building kits, etc. to be found as well as for those simply shopping around to see what's out there. It has served both collectors and casual users equally as far as I can tell by who buys my stuff.
By the way, "OB" meanings "Original Box" ... like NIB means "New in Box", NOS means "New old Stock" and on and on.
I tend to be detail oriented and figure at the end of the day more information will never hurt. I often get "as described" in Feedback from Buyers and at first I was curious about that. Then I realized that those Buyers probably had experiences where items were NOT as described leading to a bad Buying experience ...
I have "questions welcome" in all of my descriptions ... sort of like, please ask, don't assume and yes, I may have missed something unintentionally.
