Where are the Customers Gone

[garage-workshop]

Where are all the customers gone / going,

Our sales this year are down by over 80percent to the previous year, and yet we have paid more in fees,

The sales are so low we have had no choice but to pull all the new buy it nows off ebay, high fees no sales, and yet we were very competetive on pricing if not the cheapest,

In view of the past, we have had many accounts with ebay over the years and in fact we were one of the first in the UK ebay members, always been great, many changes over the time, always been a superb selling hub and viable sales,  power and volume sellers,

But I think now, in todays market place, other sites have taken the lead, one of the problems for sellers is the amount of bogus items not received claims,  this means we have had to stop selling the low value items, and no longer offer free postage, esp letter and large letter, we now have to use couriers with full tracking, and even then we get people putting in claims, and get the goods and the money back, 

regardless the delivery service used, in one month we averaged 45 percent items not received, really, buyers know they can get the goods and there money back with a click of a button, great buyer protection, but what has happened to the sellers protection,?

[3d-styx]

We would all love to know the answer to that question.

[ed8108]

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@thallidguy wrote:

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@nawlinsron2 wrote:
"That's like saying that dishonesty needs to be eradicated from human nature."

If you're saying that's impossible, I agree...BUT...it can be CONTROLLED.
Hence...police and the FBI.
Point is...ebay gives lip service to control of scamming and fraud...and goes on collecting it's fees. By neglect, the onus is on buyers and sellers for self-protection.
Plus, after the fact, sellers have virtually NO PROTECTION.
It's a stacked deck, and ebay never loses.

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My point is that this has always been true and always will be true. I was reacting to a statement that suggested that this is somehow more applicable to eBay as it is now than as it has been in the past and will be in the future, and that's just silly.

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Explain why is it less applicable in the present?  Why the hostility to ebay undertaking more corrective measures to control fraud and

scams ?

[garage-workshop]

I am not fully sure why this post is getting moved around so much by ebay MODs, I have simply stated the facts, sales are down and fees are up, perhaps some think this is not good for other buyers to see and join in,
Heres reality at peak we with our other accounts were averaging a comfortable 2000 sales per week, we are equiped for 5000 parcels a week,
2017 first 6 months sales down to 150 parcels a week, 2017 final months 50 to 60 per week, December 10 per week, we have had many days with no sales,

another point to mention, Wheres all the advertising gone, perhaps went with the customers, Wheres the TV Media and Radio advertisments, years ago ebay was advertised everywhere you looked ,

We / I am not in no way complaining, but there is a drop in sales, and non seller freindly activity, How can we work together to increase business, and sales,

[kathieskorner]

Since you are in the UK - there may be factors affecting your business that do not affect sellers in the US and vice versa.  

[inthepastcollectibles]

Advertising would be an expense and diminish their bottom line to stockholder......poof, there goes your smoke and mirrors. The rope is very thin that eBay is walking and one day (hopefully sooner than later) it will see its "Black Friday". What sellers must understand is that it is only their "clamor" and reduction of money to eBay's bottom line that will catch the eye of shareholders and it is SHAREHOLDERS (not management) that has power to make changes (like firing a CEO/MARKETING and revamping how eBay does business). Has anyone ever thought to put up a sellers vs. eBay page on Facebook and then "float" the link on various sites that cover eBay (including entities that cover eBay's stock.....like seekingalpha or motley fool) These discussion boards on eBay are nothing short of a punching bag or a tree that falls in the woods that no one hears......and that is exactly WHY eBay has created them (to quiet the masses, so that real people do not hear).

Just a note, if such a page were created it would garner people who were sellers in the past as well as the present and there are a TON OF SELLERS that have left eBay with bitterness. This is the mass that eBay needs to confront and it probably would create quite a stir on Facebook.

[tunicaslot]

If you have so many INR claims - then it seems you're not using tracking - although more expensive - you'd win your cases.  Ebay is not the only game in town. There are so many sites to sell on and what's in trend this month is obsolete next month when a new venue opens and buyers go there.

Sales have been down for me as well - but this is where I receive the greatest amt of sales still - don't think other sites don't have return issues - just google and you'll see complaints from sellers, similar to what we experience on all these other sites.

[lookng2015]

I don't believe Freight has tracking. Not online viewable like eBay requires anyway.

One of the issues with tracking is that eBay, as usual, doing the one size fits all, doesn't take into account not all countries have the same easy free access to tracking we have in the states.

[tunicaslot]

But it may very well be typical for the amount of sellers here - they just don't come to the boards to complain as they take the problems as a "cost of doing business". 

My sales are down - but I sell mostly clothes - it's over saturated - I accept that as I chose to sell in that category. Others don't see that buyer trends have changed. The younger buyers want tech - not so much antiques. Collectibles are over saturated as we seniors are looking to retire and getting rid of our own collections.

We seem to keep repeating the same lines but some people just don't understand we are not back at the turn of the century where the net was new - Ebay was king and there were few other options.

[tunicaslot]

No offense - but have you seen the reviews on Seeking alpha - pretty bad.... there are even petitions to submit to the SEC due to the concerns of what this site is publishing.

[coolections]

I do not know what you charge for shipping in the UK, but in the U.S. you are not going to get many sales. Selling $1-5 items and expecting $15-20 for shipping does not look good. Buyers normally hit the back button on those types of listings.

[beautybylynn]

I used to be a full-time seller on Ebay. When Amazon started, I could see the potential (wish I had bought stock) Ebay had been the "top dog" for so long, it didnt know how to compete. When the "A" started to diversify, I moved to other sites. Man was I surprised at what I took for granted the other sites did for me at no charge! There is hardly any counterfeiting, no double standard for Chinese and Big Box stores. And No Glitches every time you turned around!!!!!!! I mean everyplace has its downturns but it wasnt constant. if those other places dont have half the problems (I realize there not as big) but dont keep expanding if you cant keep up. Sometimes you have to fall back 10 yards and punt,not go for the touchdown. Sales are down overall for most ebay sellers, but times have changed. tThe Net has Changed. Buyers have changed.Sellers have to diversify and adapt to survive

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

Things aren't as good as they used to be when Ebay was the only place to go. However I've been reading the same posts about Ebay in a "death spiral" since I started posting on the boards in 1999.

Good stuff in my vintage niches are still selling well. Maybe people are just tired of buying a gazillion used clothing items? Especially when stores are tanking and you can buy new things for the same money.

[nawlinsron2]

Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba and the growing number of "byte" players weren't in that 1999 til recent spiral scenario....we shall see what we shall see

[luv3labs]

We used to spend back on eBay at least 75% of what we earned by Selling here.

Now no selling, so not much buying, either.

It was so easy to use my earnings out of my Paypal account to buy goods on eBay.

Now need to make the conscious choice to dig the credit card out of my purse & out of the paper sleeve it is in, which has these words in large print on it:

"Use of this card is hazardous to your financial future"... thank you to Dave Ramsey for that.

[castlemagicmemories]

Where have the customers gone?

Where are the customers going?

With so many more sellers, and a smaller buying pool, that can account for less sales.