Thinking About Quitting

[as915b]

I am thinking about throwing in the towel as well.  I have been working my tail end off but all the returns, cancels, fees, postage increases are driving my share down to next to nothing!  I think I have actually lost money in January so far!  Now granted some of it it my own fault as I have been trying to list so much that I have made several errors in my listings and gotten a few returns on that but a lot of the returns are not my fault and the quantity has gotten out of control!

The problem is I have been at it so long now I just dont know what I will do if I quit.   I have been working on couponing and cutting monthly expenses but  I cant afford to keep at Ebay much longer. I am literally terrified of taking on a part time job. Those of you out there that have quit what are you now doing with your time post Ebay? Do you end up spending more money on activities now?

[wigmaddness]

I have been thinking about quiting as well.  I have a store, and sell quite a bit, But so many returns, not as described, just so they don't have to pay return shipping.  I don't even offer returns, since I sell wigs, and I can't sell returned wigs.  Ebay favors the buyer, and all they have to do is say not as described.  The fees for ebay and paypal are high,  Shipping is high.   I actually lost money last year, and I'm working a second job.  Time to find a new way.  Thinking about Shopify,  has anyone tried them?

[cal_w62]

Yes, good option for sure.

This is good too, works with eBay also

[leftcoasttrading]

Feel your pain, had to get a part time job!   Was full time eBay for over 10 years but it has gotten so bad...  oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

Good luck to all

[wearitlikeadiva]

I am slowly selling off inventory.  When they updated the ebay app a year ago, thats when ebay took a turn. Chinese box sellers have tons of duplicate listings and gey away with murder but ebay continues to roll out the red carpet.  Small sellers get punished to death. Sick to death of it all.  I have nothing positive to say anymore.  

[daneiac]

it's not always grossing a lot of $$$$ selling, that determines profit.. we all forget sometines how much we "have" $$$-wise  in our inventory

[partial*eclipse]

I just want to point out that the seller who started this thread over 5 months ago currently has over 1,100 active listings.

The first person who replied to her on January 20, saying "I"m working on the same thing right now", currently has 261 active listings.

[chasity2009859]

I completely understand your frustration. It is a roller coaster and the unfortuante thing with returns is usally NEW ebay members. They try to work the system to gain something for free at hard working peoples expense. I have expressed this to EBAY numerous times and the response that I get is everyone has to start somewhere. I get that, completely understand. Usally if your honest in your description and provide pictures etc......., the experienced ebay members that buy from you will enjoy the transaction and keep the item. I do wish ebay would put at least more restaraints on the new members. If you have alot of listings that you try to get out there quickly, my suggestion is reduce that by 50%, at least get it to your 250 FREE LISTINGS per month, so you don't have to pay any insertion fees. Always provide free shipping and adjust this in your purchase price. By reducing your amount of listings you can focus more on the listings you have left and chances are you will make fewer mistakes. These are all suggestions, its how I do it. I maintain my Top Rated Seller Status, 30 day returns with re-stock fee, and 1 day handling time.

Best of Luck to You!!!!

[pauliesthriftshop2016]

EBAY is getting less traffic of buyers and sellers and they dont care about small sellers. Your fears are justified. Its not a crime to stop selling on EBAY and liquidate large inventory or to stop selling all together. Remember you control your business and sales and who gets the profits not ebay.

[leftcoasttrading]

Well, from our own point of view, we can totally understand it.  We have a ton of inventory and are in the process of selling it off at much lower prices than even purchased.  It's either here or a flea market? 

I suppose it all depends at what point you can still break even and keep the store open. 

We cannot deny that sales are extremely low compared to even 5 years ago.  We used to have several family/friends help us with the amount of buckets (postal buckets full) of packages.  Down to maybe 3-5 packages on a good day.  Today is 1.  Some days is 0.  We have the stats and reports for the last 12 years to prove how sales have completely fallen off a cliff.  We also see a myriad of reasons.   It's acceptance now and adaptation to do something else.  Like I said before, at least it was good while it lasted 🙂

[authentic*vintage]

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@partial*eclipse wrote:

I just want to point out that the seller who started this thread over 5 months ago currently has over 1,100 active listings.

The first person who replied to her on January 20, saying "I"m working on the same thing right now", currently has 261 active listings.

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Closed my store around this time, started using the free 50, took advantage of all listing promos I was offered, then they offered me 3 months free store sub, which I also accepted. 

Closing my store a few months ago was the best move I ever made. The stress was gone and my sales went up. My profit increased. Should have done this a long time ago. 

[paradox04]

I am quitting ebay as a buyer
Too many times I was not sent what was pictured, then forced to pay shipping. 27 $ for a 100 taillight. My pay, their fault. Going to buy elsewhere!

[kh-gary]

Hi everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began, we have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread here: https://community.ebay.com/t5/forums/postpage/board-id/selling-db.

Thanks.