Store sales just dead

[infiniteatticonline]

My ebay store has had one sale this year. I spend way more keeping my store subscription active then I make in sales. Did anyone else ditch their stores and return to standard ebay use because of the lack of activity?

[fern*wood]

I would try fixed price rather than auction.

Since search shows store and non-store items just the same, I don't see how dropping the store will change sales.  I have a store to lower my listing costs, but if nothing sells or I don't use up most of the "freebies", then that is a waste. 

[irinahat]

I sell anywhere from 120-150+ items per month. The issue isn't sales being down, it's that you don't have enough listings up. I try to make a conscious effort to list 20-40 items per day. I slacked off yesterday because it's Easter and I'm exhausted today so may not get much done today either, but, once I'm feeling up to it, I'll go right back to listing at least 20 items a day. I sell over 100 items a month, sometimes 200. Sales aren't down, visibility just increases somehow the more you list. I upgraded my store from basic to premium, got way more free listings, and I went to town going on listing sprees, sometimes listing 50 items a day. I noticed that things that hadn't been selling for YEARS were now flying off the shelves. I had an item that hasn't sold in three years finally sell when I started listing a lot more. Even if I'm having a very slow day with little traffic and views, I'll get right on listing 20 more items, if not more, and suddenly things will start to sell like crazy. With 30-40 items (especially if you sell hard to sell vintage / antique stuff just like I do), these types of items can sit on the shelves for months, if not years, without selling. I have almost 1,000 listings up now and plan to hit 2,000 listings over the next few weeks, and, this is how I keep profiting and selling things. Listing, listing, listing. Otherwise, things really will start to collect dust, trust me, I know. Been there many times myself.

[richards*rock*collection]

eBay used to be way better for both of us, Ebay these days is really bad, and I would have to recommend to my friends and family plus anyone I meet to avoid selling and buying on eBay because it has really gone downhill, I barely have enough sales to pay fee's plus am finding way better deals on amazon and ali baba and discogs.

[kathieskorner]

Since January I went from two accounts and two basic stores to four accounts and closed my last store on Saturday.    After a slow January and February - my total sales for March were the highest in five years.    One non-store account had higher sales than the store account and a second non-store account equalled the store.  

I sell collectibles and list 99% at fixed price - I listed over 50 items at auction in March before closing my store, and sold none so far.   The traffic for the auctions has been almost non-existent.    I don't think I could justify the expense of a store to just run auctions especially if I wasn't running 250 per month. 

I look at it this way - the buyer pool for vintage and antique items has been shrinking as has those who bid on auctions so the odds of a buyer both finding what they want and being willing to bid on it aren't all that good.   Adding a BIN that must be at least 30% higher than the opening bid doesn't encourage many buyers to use the BIN.

With a store I might use an auction for a new listing, but would use fixed price to relist items that didn't sell at auction.    

JMHO

[nhfd4976]

I had a good year so far.  I sell Sports shirts and collectibles.  I also started selling things for other people and most have been giving half the profits some have agreed to give me 15%.  Mostly  work friends and family members.  At the high point I have listed 1,200 tyo 1,400 items I have a premuim store.  The 50.00 off supplies a quarter was worth having a store for me.  I have not bought a box or padded envelope in almost 2 years.

[irinahat]

To further add onto my advice, I'll just echo what everyone else is saying here plus give out some pointers.

1) Almost nobody looks at auctions unless it's something like a bulk lot, something fancy, in demand, unique, or super rare. Switch everything to buy it now and see the difference.

2) Good quality photos, lighting, and contrast play a role in people clicking on your listings.

3) List more items, as I said in my previous post, if at all possible. I started listing a lot more than I've ever listed over my 15 year Ebay career, and things that have been collecting dust for 3+ years on my store started selling when I started listing more!