eBay

djmovers99 · ‎08-05-2018

I don't think that I am alone on this. How can this be good for eBay in the long run?

zamo-zuan · ‎08-06-2018

The buyers are here, the markets being up proves that without a doubt.

Visibility issues are abound, though. And eBay's suggestions have not actually improved, but rather hurt performance of stores.

I believe this should be top priority to fix on eBay right now. It's the #1 most dangerous, volatile, and harmful issue. Even far more harmful and costly than the return issues people are having.

I truly wish eBay would realize this and take this seriously.

Right now, it's an uphill battle for those of us who were affected. Not just in fighting back to get our sales back to where they should be. But to even convince others that there's a real problem.

People don't believe it, until it's too late...

luckythewinner · ‎08-06-2018

@djmovers99 wrote:
I don't think that I am alone on this. How can this be good for eBay in the long run?

What is good for eBay is the aggregate of all sales on the eBay site, not the sales of one individual seller.

eBay's philosophy seems to be that when an individual seller leaves, his buyers will probably just buy a similar item from a similar seller at a similar price.

djmovers99 · ‎08-06-2018

@zamo-zuan wrote:
I actually joined this forum because eBay claimed there was not others experiencing these issues, and after being given the run around for more than 3 months, with a significant amount of data suggesting major technical issues at the very least... I wondered if that was true. I hoped to find just a single person who was experiencing the same things.

I was amazed when my post suddenly became the most active one on the forum. Not only did I find a single person experiencing the same thing, I was given an overwhelming amount of feedback of people thanking me for confirming to them that they were not alone. The post became the most liked topic all-time on this entire forum...

It is obvious that this problem is fairly widespread. Especailly considering the drop is visible on top sellers if you check the sellers at top of your category last year to this year.

At this point, my hopes are that my reports of these errors will ever catch the attention of the tech team. Apparently the CSR's did not pass the message on, because the same statistical errors I reported in February are still going around.

EBay is mostly just silent on the issue.

But one thing I would have never expected, is those who would be most opposed to my work of trying to find these errors & bring them to eBays attention, so they can be repaired.... is that the people who would stand in the way of this issue being resolved, are actually other sellers???

I've been putting in hours of research daily for half of the year on this issue, in hopes of fixing this issue so myself & other sellers don't have to ever deal with the issues we have dealt with this year.

It's a real shame that other sellers are the biggest opposition of getting the serious issues recognized... It's hard enough that you need so much information to prove issues to the tech team. But with other sellers making it even harder? That makes it almost impossible...

Defending eBay may give the impression of doing something good, but in this case, it's just dooming other sellers to randomly lose 50% of their visibility, and never be told why, as they have to let their business and employees suffer...

That can certainly be frustrating. Some of the defenders are most likely eBay employees that were not affected by the recent round of layoffs that are posting under their personal accounts. Don't be fooled and just try to ignore them. Otherwise, I believe there are two types of sellers posting here. The first are people like you (large) and me (small) who have suffered unfortunate consequences due to the lack visibility on this platform. The second group of sellers have not YET been affected by the recent changes. Their day may be coming when they will join the ranks! Good luck to all...

livadia · ‎08-06-2018

I know someone will chime and and say there is/will always be someone else ready to step in/fill the void so it doesn't matter if *you* stop buying or not, but I will tell you @djmovers99 I am exactly in the same spot as you.

Case in point: I have a couple of items I need for my car. Ordinarily, I would use my eBay sales/PayPal balance to purchase whatever it was I needed/wanted. I haven't. The only "purchases" I have made lately have been to cover eBay fees/store subscriptions which I was barely able to cover at the end of last month from the net of my sales which have been in the dumper since the end of March.

I know nobody cares, including eBay, but there IS a cause and effect relationship that occurs when sellers aren't selling. It means, many are also not buying on the site which is my guess why we have seen so many "percent off" flash sale offers of late. Actually, I wish they would unleash a 20% off one right about now. If so, I'd probably just go ahead and bite the bullet and put the purchase on eBay Credit so I can get my car fixed... 😉

emerald40 · ‎08-06-2018

Calling us ebay workers does nothing to help your case.

In fact it makes many of us here believe what you are saying even less.

If you have an item or items you think are being hidden, posters here will look to see if they can find it. Will even post their location so you can get a wide range of views.

zamo-zuan · ‎08-06-2018

@emerald40 wrote:
Calling us ebay workers does nothing to help your case.

In fact it makes many of us here believe what you are saying even less.

If you have an item or items you think are being hidden, posters here will look to see if they can find it. Will even post their location so you can get a wide range of views.

I understand users wanting some validation that these issues exists.

But it doesn't take long to find many examples of items not appearing in search on here. Or impressions suddenly hitting a cliff without explanation.

Or, as in my case, impression issues starting on the exact date of the march update, followed by a number of different statistical errors with listing numbers not adding up correctly. The statistical errors persisted the entire time, until the issue resolved itself in the June update. Then the statistical errors started to repair themselves.

Coincidentally, the problem started & stopped on dates of eBay's updates.

Considering there's many examples of issues such as this affecting other sellers, shouldn't the burden of proof be on eBay to prove the issues are fixed at this point?

If those of us have already proven to several eBay employees or supervisors or sellers health department, and have had confirmation that there's a problem from them, why do sellers need to prove, over & over again, that there's a problem?

A problem exists. There's a lot of evidence of it. It really needs to be fixed by the tech team.

Why are sellers obstacles to the marketplace being fixed, in order to make sure those same sellers don't have to go through the same losses?

EBay is our primary marketplace. I have no reason to wish ill will for eBay. I actually hope eBay does BETTER. But the problems need to be fixed in order for that to happen...

djmovers99 · ‎08-06-2018

@zamo-zuan wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
Calling us ebay workers does nothing to help your case.

In fact it makes many of us here believe what you are saying even less.

If you have an item or items you think are being hidden, posters here will look to see if they can find it. Will even post their location so you can get a wide range of views.
I understand users wanting some validation that these issues exists.

But it doesn't take long to find many examples of items not appearing in search on here. Or impressions suddenly hitting a cliff without explanation.

Or, as in my case, impression issues starting on the exact date of the march update, followed by a number of different statistical errors with listing numbers not adding up correctly. The statistical errors persisted the entire time, until the issue resolved itself in the June update. Then the statistical errors started to repair themselves.

Coincidentally, the problem started & stopped on dates of eBay's updates.

Considering there's many examples of issues such as this affecting other sellers, shouldn't the burden of proof be on eBay to prove the issues are fixed at this point?

If those of us have already proven to several eBay employees or supervisors or sellers health department, and have had confirmation that there's a problem from them, why do sellers need to prove, over & over again, that there's a problem?

A problem exists. There's a lot of evidence of it. It really needs to be fixed by the tech team.

Why are sellers obstacles to the marketplace being fixed, in order to make sure those same sellers don't have to go through the same losses?

EBay is our primary marketplace. I have no reason to wish ill will for eBay. I actually hope eBay does BETTER. But the problems need to be fixed in order for that to happen...

You will find that the "obstacle" sellers either have zero listings or they use a secret posting ID. I too have always loved eBay as both a buyer and a seller. That is why I am taking it so hard that eBay, speaking just for me, is broken...

myjunqueyourtreasure · ‎08-06-2018

@richard1rst wrote:
@myjunqueyourtreasure wrote:
One day (hopefully not too late) ebay will realize what we've known all along. That the big box stores, mega sellers and the offshore sellers rarely buy here.

But somebody is buying their products. And isn’t that really what eBay cares about - the SALE not the source of the sale. I can’t see that it makes a bit of difference to eBay as to who buys what - as long as somebody buys something. Who buys it or who they buy it from is irrelevant.

The point is that they want buyers, but it always costs less to retain current buyers than source new ones. Yet they're happily thowing away a lot of the buyers they already have who just happen to be sellers as well.

Reality is the leading cause of stress.

emerald40 · ‎08-06-2018

a

@djmovers99 wrote:
@zamo-zuan wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
Calling us ebay workers does nothing to help your case.

In fact it makes many of us here believe what you are saying even less.

If you have an item or items you think are being hidden, posters here will look to see if they can find it. Will even post their location so you can get a wide range of views.
I understand users wanting some validation that these issues exists.

But it doesn't take long to find many examples of items not appearing in search on here. Or impressions suddenly hitting a cliff without explanation.

Or, as in my case, impression issues starting on the exact date of the march update, followed by a number of different statistical errors with listing numbers not adding up correctly. The statistical errors persisted the entire time, until the issue resolved itself in the June update. Then the statistical errors started to repair themselves.

Coincidentally, the problem started & stopped on dates of eBay's updates.

Considering there's many examples of issues such as this affecting other sellers, shouldn't the burden of proof be on eBay to prove the issues are fixed at this point?

If those of us have already proven to several eBay employees or supervisors or sellers health department, and have had confirmation that there's a problem from them, why do sellers need to prove, over & over again, that there's a problem?

A problem exists. There's a lot of evidence of it. It really needs to be fixed by the tech team.

Why are sellers obstacles to the marketplace being fixed, in order to make sure those same sellers don't have to go through the same losses?

EBay is our primary marketplace. I have no reason to wish ill will for eBay. I actually hope eBay does BETTER. But the problems need to be fixed in order for that to happen...
You will find that the "obstacle" sellers either have zero listings or they use a secret posting ID. I too have always loved eBay as both a buyer and a seller. That is why I am taking it so hard that eBay, speaking just for me, is broken...

I have been here since 1999. If you read my ebay feedback in reverse, you will see I am a long time seller and buyer.

So that should speak for itself. There is no need for me to post on my new sellers account, as my listings are not in question.

zamo-zuan · ‎08-06-2018

@emerald40 wrote:
a
@djmovers99 wrote:
@zamo-zuan wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
Calling us ebay workers does nothing to help your case.

In fact it makes many of us here believe what you are saying even less.

If you have an item or items you think are being hidden, posters here will look to see if they can find it. Will even post their location so you can get a wide range of views.
I understand users wanting some validation that these issues exists.

But it doesn't take long to find many examples of items not appearing in search on here. Or impressions suddenly hitting a cliff without explanation.

Or, as in my case, impression issues starting on the exact date of the march update, followed by a number of different statistical errors with listing numbers not adding up correctly. The statistical errors persisted the entire time, until the issue resolved itself in the June update. Then the statistical errors started to repair themselves.

Coincidentally, the problem started & stopped on dates of eBay's updates.

Considering there's many examples of issues such as this affecting other sellers, shouldn't the burden of proof be on eBay to prove the issues are fixed at this point?

If those of us have already proven to several eBay employees or supervisors or sellers health department, and have had confirmation that there's a problem from them, why do sellers need to prove, over & over again, that there's a problem?

A problem exists. There's a lot of evidence of it. It really needs to be fixed by the tech team.

Why are sellers obstacles to the marketplace being fixed, in order to make sure those same sellers don't have to go through the same losses?

EBay is our primary marketplace. I have no reason to wish ill will for eBay. I actually hope eBay does BETTER. But the problems need to be fixed in order for that to happen...
You will find that the "obstacle" sellers either have zero listings or they use a secret posting ID. I too have always loved eBay as both a buyer and a seller. That is why I am taking it so hard that eBay, speaking just for me, is broken...
I have been here since 1999. If you read my ebay feedback in reverse, you will see I am a long time seller and buyer.

So that should speak for itself. There is no need for me to post on my new sellers account, as my listings are not in question.

For the record, I think you have conducted yourself pretty well in this topic, and even if he might have done a message in reply to you, you are not one of the people who has acted most negatively.

The only negative thing I wanted to note in response to you here, was that I am aware you are quite active on this forum. Regarding that, I think it's a bit unfair to put the burden of proof on the sellers for issues with visibility. I'm sure you seen it just as often as I have on here. Anyone who reads this forum enough should be well aware the issues are real and true.

Anyone who checks these forums enough has seen the same symptoms with sellers big and small, that our store went through personally. Sudden drops of more than 50% impressions, item visibility on and off, eBay not being able to explain why & putting the blame on different things, which ends up proving itself false in time.

In my opinion, anyone here who is reading this, if they really wanted to help eBay improve, both their success & their reputation... those reading this should desperately want eBay to repair these issues. These issues are making eBay a very unsafe market place.

I know many people have been here for 20 years and never had issues. I'm aware of this too. But it is of the utmost importance that you realize that there's some legitimate issues going on here, and it has affected many top sellers.

Denying it doesn't do any good, and only puts more sellers at risk, including each and every one of the sellers who are reading this.

If this issue were fixed, I would shut up about it. But just today I've seen more people posting with the same exact symptoms we had in the beginning of the year, that I reported to over a dozen people at eBay.

The same unexplained drops, accompanied with technical issues, are still happening to other sellers.

This needs to be taken seriously and fixed. That's all that really needs to be said about this.

savent-0 · ‎08-06-2018

Ebay is flushing your search results. They have been doing it for years. When you search for an item and your ip is close location wise to the listing IP you will get a hit. For everyone outside your area the listing does not even show up at peak searching times. Chinese junk sellers and huge accounts get all the hits. When the trottle it back you get sales. You ever notice you will be selling like crazy and then all of a sudden it is like someone turned off a faucet? That is Ebay flushing your search hits.

emerald40 · ‎08-06-2018

I buy as well as sell.

As a buyer I know ebay does not show me every listing.

WhenI type in platinum wedding band for instance, I get a message that I am not seeing everything. And that is fine with me. What would I do with 10,000 hits. And I blame this on the drop shippers who list thousands of items with same title and picture. I wish those would be the ones ebay does not bombard me with rather than the smaller sellers who have 3 or 4 listings up.

Again I will say, ebay should limit how many listings one seller can have under all their accounts. This would even the playing field so that all of us have a chance to be seen more often than not.

When someone posts their listings are being throttled the first thing I ask for is item numbers. In my history here I can only remember 3 instances where listings fell of the edge.

I guess I am a show me person. But I am not technical.

If I can find the listing and others can as well, then it is there. No not every buyer is seeing it every time they search, but ebay just has too many listings for that.

That is why I search new. I try to see every listing for the day. I try to catch them before they get buried and I have to use exact wording to find it again.

yuzuha · ‎08-06-2018

@emerald40 wrote:
@richard1rst wrote:
And you can not see that this is just a self fulfilling prophecy.

You stop buying because there are no sales, so there are no sales because you stopped buying, so you stopped buying because there are no sales, etc.

So what do you propose?

____________________________________________

All I can say is based on what I see in my categories, people are definitely buying.

Not everything like 20 years ago. But if it is a good product for a great price, then yes, those items are selling.

So while some have said they stopped buying for one reason or another, it is not haaving much of an impact, imo.

San Diego Comic Con just recently finished so my categories are full of all of the exclusive loot/merchandise from the convention, and boy are people EVER buying. Massive bidding wars, extremely high prices, and crazy competition-- just do a search for "SDCC" and look at the solds. Obviously buyers are there and they're having no trouble finding the things that they want.

zamo-zuan · ‎08-07-2018

@emerald40 wrote:
I buy as well as sell.

As a buyer I know ebay does not show me every listing.

WhenI type in platinum wedding band for instance, I get a message that I am not seeing everything. And that is fine with me. What would I do with 10,000 hits. And I blame this on the drop shippers who list thousands of items with same title and picture. I wish those would be the ones ebay does not bombard me with rather than the smaller sellers who have 3 or 4 listings up.

Again I will say, ebay should limit how many listings one seller can have under all their accounts. This would even the playing field so that all of us have a chance to be seen more often than not.

When someone posts their listings are being throttled the first thing I ask for is item numbers. In my history here I can only remember 3 instances where listings fell of the edge.

I guess I am a show me person. But I am not technical.

If I can find the listing and others can as well, then it is there. No not every buyer is seeing it every time they search, but ebay just has too many listings for that.

That is why I search new. I try to see every listing for the day. I try to catch them before they get buried and I have to use exact wording to find it again.

Completely understandable.

It's quite hard to reproduce these issues sometimes, for example we've had reports of some of our regular customers contacting us becuase they can't find our items, but we were able to search them okay.

Sometimes our marketing team will not be able to search our own items, logged in or out of eBay, using sorted by price lowest/highest, meanwhile the computer right next to them is searching it okay.

But I am less concerned about the occasional hit or miss.

The problem that brought me to these forums is the issue that seems to affect sellers suddenly, for a few months, whereh they go below 50% of their impressions, like walking off a cliff. After 3 months of actually having eBay reps tell me directly they believe there's an issue, some of them being very outgoing and helpful, regularly calling me 3x a week telling me they are doing so because they do believe there's an issue... and then tell me they found something... and disappear? Never call or respond to messages ever again? That's what originally brought me here.

So it pains me to see this happening to other sellers still. People still respond to me for the topic I made months ago, and send me screenshots of the same thing happening to them.

Anyone with technical experience on the web or with marketing/SEO, knows what a penalty looks like. The question is what is causing this?

When eBay reps go over it, they would go over the whole list, and we had hit all those points already. They were stumped and escalating me all over the place. One of the guys who was on top of Sellers Health I was told has the most tools to figure this out. He told me he recognized there's an issue over the phone. He emailed me saying he didn't forget about us and he's still working on it. Then we never heard from him again.

I did notice many technical issues during this. The sellers hub numbers didn't add up. The MSO seller health printouts did not add up.

I've mentioned this quite a few times, but also our listings were up each week, and we got messages saying active listings down during our issues.

Once our problem on our store started resolving itself, we got active listings up messages, and all the technical issues seemingly repaired themselves.

Some sellers have been arguing me that my theory is wrong about all this. But even the top people you get escalated to at eBay could not explain these technical issues.

And the "cliff-like drop" in impressions was definitely related to these. Once our drop started we had those technical errors. Once our technical errors finally resolved, impressions went to normal.

Sadly, it's been an uphill battle of trying to convince other seller that these things are really happening.

But I hate the feeling I get every time I see another seller in the situation we were in.

I've recently got screenshots from a seller who went from $15k one month, to under $100 the next month, without any significant change or problems in their listings. Can't stand seeing things like that...

selsa84 · ‎09-28-2018

Same here, as a reseller i use to purchase about 800-1000 every few months. Now with my sales so bad (50% down) i have no reason to buy as much. Every month it gets worse and worse. My store will be closing soon as i can get rid of some items.(catch 22)