eBay is "broken"

[patmos-8]

Like many of you, I saw a dramatic drop in sales/impressions/views around May.  At the beginning of this month, I decided to run a little experiment.  I decided to do something crazy; I doubled my daily listing habit.  That's right, I started working twice as hard.  

The results were about what I expected.  My sales/impressions/views are now all higher than they were pre-slowdown.  Now I understand that doesn't definitively prove anything as far as the functionality of the eBay site.  There very well could be something wonky going on.  But my point is that working harder did pay off.  

If eBay truly is "broken", there's not a thing any of us can do to change that.  The only thing we can do is change how we run our businesses.  We can only control what we can control.  For me, that means working twice as hard.  For you, that might mean something else.  

But I can tell you with 100% surety that trying to figure out what's going on behind the scenes at eBay or sitting on our pitty pots will not solve anything.  In fact, it will just make things worse.  

Just thought I'd share that for what it's worth.  Hopefully, it provides some motivation or insight to someone. For the rest of you that have decided to dig your heels into the negativity,  go ahead and call me a cheerleader or teachers' pet or whatever else.  And go ahead and look at my store and tell me how oversaturated used clothing is and how I'm wasting my time.  My kids ate well this month, my mortgage is paid, and my gas tank is full.  

[craft-stash]

Im with you!

I list as many items EVERY day as I can from my endless inventory to boost sales.

✌🇺🇸

[bill.purvis2012]

Yes. We have no control of what Ebay is doing behind the scenes.Just hoping they get their act together. In the meanwhile, I'm doing the same; working harder. Listing, making offers,doing coupons, sales, etc. 

[lakefor94]

eBay is always going to be what I make of it. eBay is not going to do it for me. I have to make it happen. Sell items buyers are looking for at the right price and sales will happen.

[farmalljr]

A couple of things here:

1 If you are listing things that people don't actively seek (aka people don't want it) it doesn't matter how much you list. Having desirable items is key. 

2 Working twice as hard to make the same sales is a poor plan. Eventually you will be unable to work hard enough to have the sales to survive on. 

3 If you are not selling enough of what you list, sooner or later you end up with so much listed inventory you end up having a problem with all the unsold inventory. 

While I think its great you have found a solution for the problem and you are doing better, just listing more and working harder may not be a long term solution. It may cause more problems at some point, as I am trying to point out. 

Part of the problem is the economy. Another part is the loss of market share that eBay has experienced.  Another part is that eBay has made some decisions that have effected buyers and sellers in a negative fashion. Still more are the constant increases in shipping costs. Listing more does not "fix" or change these things. You may temporarily see a boost in sales, but I'd urge you to think long term. 

[dnasilver]

Many good points: working smarter has always been better than working harder. 

Shipping cost increased for everyone thus every seller has that increase and every buyer pays for that increase. No one receives an advantage or disadvantage.

Inventory is cash tied up. Growing inventory while only maintaining historic sales will eventually eat you alive. Comparing last month to this month is shortsighted. You have to look across many years and if you started when Covid struck you have many months that are outliers to what the true market is/was.

Build a cushion so you never have to worry about the roof over your head or the food you need to eat, let alone worrying about transportation.

[siamjane8]

I would never consider you a cheerleader for what you said. You expressed a solution for the issues we face at ebay that worked for you and some good sound advice.

    The 3 or 4 cheerleaders that I wont call out by name, although we all know them, just berate other sellers and blame the poster for not knowing anything. always saying "prove it or show me ONE EXAMPLE"- and when you do- they have another sly response- they are of no value to the community here and are somehow either fulfilling a weird need to be contradictory or are paid by ebay to force a counterpoint......you did none of those things and I personally appreciate you positive outlook and will try to do that myself!

[meme6253]

I Agree to some degree, But The Price everyone wants is give it away & ship it for free

[meme6253]

I Agree to some extent, But there is no way of knowing what people are looking for, I can have a certain category sell well for awhile, then suddenly die, only to come back again & the cycle repeats, People can be looking for just about anything at any given time

[dhbookds]

The only thing we can do is change how we run our businesses. We can only control what we can control.

I wholeheartedly agree.........and the only thing you can do is try different things..........some will work, others won't.  Just standing around bemoaning Ebay, etc.....can't do anyone any good.  Assuming you can't do anything to improve your sales is simply self defeating........in my opinion. 

[farmalljr]

Everything sells in cycles. Everything. Walmart, Target, etc. have WAY more money to dump into buying trends and research than any seller here. Yet every year, they have clearances and sales, right? That's because no matter what you sell, it sells in cycles. What is moving today, might not sell in six months, but 18 months later, there may be renewed interest. 

That is how selling works. The only constant sales are the ones for things people HAVE to have, day to day, to survive. And even then there is nothing guaranteed, because of buying choices and pricing differences. 

Selling online is more difficult then selling in a B&M store. In a B&M there are MANY sales that are impulse buys. People come in looking for something, then browse around and add more to their cart then they intended when they came in. Selling online, there is no browsing around your store. They have to actively search your inventory to see it. Its not laying out on racks and table for everyone to see. Even then, buying online with pictures and not the product in front of you, is a totally different experince. 

[pennysdream]

Hi there, 

One thing I did not see anyone chat about is being excited about what you sell.  I believe being excited about your items, and showing that you are excited creates excitement with your buyers.  Just a thought... 

[inhawaii]

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@siamjane8 wrote:

I would never consider you a cheerleader for what you said. You expressed a solution for the issues we face at ebay that worked for you and some good sound advice.

    The 3 or 4 cheerleaders that I wont call out by name, although we all know them, just berate other sellers and blame the poster for not knowing anything. always saying "prove it or show me ONE EXAMPLE"- and when you do- they have another sly response- they are of no value to the community here and are somehow either fulfilling a weird need to be contradictory or are paid by ebay to force a counterpoint......you did none of those things and I personally appreciate you positive outlook and will try to do that myself!

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Who is this culprit you speak of?

[inhawaii]

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@farmalljr wrote:

Everything sells in cycles. Everything. Walmart, Target, etc. have WAY more money to dump into buying trends and research than any seller here. Yet every year, they have clearances and sales, right? That's because no matter what you sell, it sells in cycles. What is moving today, might not sell in six months, but 18 months later, there may be renewed interest. 

That is how selling works. The only constant sales are the ones for things people HAVE to have, day to day, to survive. And even then there is nothing guaranteed, because of buying choices and pricing differences. 

Selling online is more difficult then selling in a B&M store. In a B&M there are MANY sales that are impulse buys. People come in looking for something, then browse around and add more to their cart then they intended when they came in. Selling online, there is no browsing around your store. They have to actively search your inventory to see it. Its not laying out on racks and table for everyone to see. Even then, buying online with pictures and not the product in front of you, is a totally different experince. 

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[siamjane8]

@inhawaii dont worry i was not actually talking about you- there are several others over the years that are hard core ebay devotees that tow the company line at all expense.... what was interesting is that they completely stopped posting immediately after the sandal with wenig and the the other higher ups that hunted down those journalists.   They only started posting again about a year ago after disappearing for a noticeable time.  They are definitely connected to ebay and were laying low lol.

They never offer actual help or solutions just criticism and belittlement. 

    But kinda sounds like you have a guilty conscious? lol- just kidding

Push comes to shove- if your selling what you want and looking out at the ocean  sunset over the beautiful island of hawaii-and I am able to make a comfortable living by selling things on ebay, allowing me to spend more time with my kids and not have to commute 2 hours to a desk job every day- Then we are both winners lol