Sudden Sales Plummet

[sweetish_meatball]

I've had the oddest several months, with NEARLY NO SALES. That's become a trend this year.  

eBay once outsold my own website and Amazon. Now eBay's a distant third. I'm hoping the eBay Open will answer some questions for me, but that's not the route it's taken in prior years.

I've optimized listings, experimented with different kinds of promotions, tried listings with many and few photographs, removed listings for a week then relaunched them, tried different keywords, used Terapeak, and more.  Some tactics have worked for a week or two, the others have not.  All listings are within the same product category. 

Is anyone else facing this challenge? Do you think it's temporary or permanent? Do you have any suggestions?

[mr_lincoln]

@sweetish_meatball 

Many Sellers reporting bad sales ... 

[heckofagame]

I don't think consumer confidence is at an all-time high. Strikes, gas prices, food prices, looming government shutdown. All kinds of goodness going on. 

[sweetish_meatball]

Thanks, heckofagame, 

Seems logical. Let's hope it doesn't continue.

[sweetish_meatball]

Yes, Mr._Lincoln,

I should pay closer attention to the news.

Thanks. 

[the-hook-and-the-loop]

Have you experimented with promoting your listings at 20%-25%? Because that's where eBay wants you to be to receive the traffic and visibility you once did. All eBay has is it's wide reach, so they are trying to capitalize on it.

[ed8108]

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@sweetish_meatball wrot

eBay once outsold my own website and Amazon. Now eBay's a distant third

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Is there a reason to be optimistic ?

[monroe67]

I noticed that there will be a session in the eBay Open that looked like a discussion of the economy and people's buying habits.  Don't recall if it's on today's agenda or tomorrow's.  'Course these breakout sessions are only about 30 minutes each, so it can't be a deep, deep discussion.  

I didn't take the time to look at the OP's listings, but I will say that just yesterday I was thinking I should cancel most of my selling ID's (Good 'Til Cancelled) listings (only about 24 listings currently), wait maybe until the first of the year -- three months away -- and relist with slightly higher prices.   THEN, overnight, a buyer purchased one of my items that was had been listed for a good six or seven months!  

Every seller's situation is different.  I don't have an eBay store.  I never promote my listings.  I'm not selling high-end products; the item that sold overnight was a 30-year-old sewing pattern.  After fees, I'm only going to net $3.92.   In my area, that would buy only about 2/3 of one gallon of gasoline.  But it's a sale.  So I'm pleased.  

I think, historically, economic booms and slowdowns are all temporary.  As I type this, I hear a TV announcer remind everybody that there could still be a government shutdown in three days, affecting the incomes of millions of people.  Unfortunately, all this stuff is out of the hands of eBay sellers.  Hang in there!  

[b86fiero · Accepted solution]

You have some nice looking reading glasses for sale at reasonable prices.

I am sure you know that every dollar store, department store, grocery store and some gas station mini marts are selling reading glasses these days.  Many inexpensive and some are 2, 3, or 4 per package.  

Given the economy I have to think many people are buying these cheaper models and making do with them. Especially the older population on fixed incomes. Sorry.

Hope sales improve for you soon.

[meme6253]

20%-25% Insanity!!

[coolections]

My guess is most all the other sellers selling glasses like yours has the same story. Anything with tons of competition goes that route.

[mr_lincoln]

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@heckofagame wrote:

I don't think consumer confidence is at an all-time high. Strikes, gas prices, food prices, looming government shutdown. All kinds of goodness going on. 

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@heckofagame   Oh my, bad sales have been happening for well over a year and a half ... it's not the economy, otherwise I would have a surplus of inventory acquired at a ridiculously low price and that is not happening ... sell through rate on eBay has fallen off so bad I have had to move more inventory to other venues in the last 2 years than any other time during my selling on the venue.

BIN sales have dropped to around 25% (or lower) ... I sent offers on 19 Watched item last night and 5 sold already ... without doing that I would have no sales  during that time period ... the drop in sales I see corresponds to eBay rolling out new features that are touted to increases sales ... quite the opposite happens in most cases ... 

[mr_lincoln]

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@the-hook-and-the-loop wrote:

Have you experimented with promoting your listings at 20%-25%? Because that's where eBay wants you to be to receive the traffic and visibility you once did. All eBay has is it's wide reach, so they are trying to capitalize on it.

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@the-hook-and-the-loop   Spot on with those %s ... I posted that same thing on several other threads AND after experimenting with PLS and %s ... eBay's "Suggested" rates from last year to this year "magically" doubled and tripled ... and that was in OOAK items and low volume categories ... not Depends or Men's T-Shirts ... 

PLS started to severely underperform in early 2022 around the time of PLA and the new Views counting roll outs ... they underperformed ALL year into 2023 ... so I did a test PLS for 17 days and jacked up the ad rate to 12% ... oh my, sales shot back up to 2-3 per day which is historically what I saw prior to 2022 when I only used FIXED ad rates between 5% - 10% ... mostly 6 & 7%. 

So ont eh 17 day test PLS at 12% the net Fees to Home Office were right smack dab in the middle of the 20% - 25% range you, me and others have figured out.

[myfrugalboutique]

Yes they have tumbled. My sales are usually consistent month to month, week to week..not getting rich but steady. Now they are down 50%. I promote, have sales, make offers, do everything we are supposed to do, and nothing changes, Oh for those who say the market is “oversaturated” I am still selling the same mix as I was. 

Ignore “the economy folks” ( naysayers) I believe this is a problem with eBay. They have tweaked things so much that it is certainly not helping. I don’t know what to do, but I did want to reassure you that you are not alone. 

I was looking for a specific tote bag, and my searching on Google brought up more results on eBay than the eBay search did.  Something is broken, and they need to fix it. 

[the-hook-and-the-loop]

It's not broken, it's exactly where eBay wants/needs it to be.