Where are the customers? WHY aren't we getting any sales lately?

[debk255]

Been on ebay for 18 yrs.  top rated seller with 100% approval ratings. Over the course of that time, I've grown and added many new product lines & put thousands of dollars in new items online here this year alone. 

This year it seems is the year that ebay has died, for in spite of discounts, and sales, I am now lucky if I get 100 dollars in sales in a week!  (used to be 3-5x that much)  I have 1400+ current active listings on ebay and not a single sale in 2 days now?  WTH is going on here?   I do price searches for similar items.  Our prices are competitive, nearly always lower than others.  I share several product posts daily on facebook, instagram ect. (free advertising)  Still nothing.   Some say its the new algorithms, but how do we counter or fix that if this is the problem?  (you'd THINK ebay would be more on top of this issue)   I'm not going to be able to hang on here if things don't perk up.   😢 Open to suggestions.  

[uniwarehousewares]

in my opinion and base on my selling experience over years on ebay, i would like say,  ebay ship is  sinking due to its lack of proper actions and one of major reason is to impose the dimensions of packages on packages, usps, ups, amazon does not impose to use dimensions on packages but only ebay does and how its hurting sellers in term of high shipment charges already carrier increase 3 times shipping charges and still not happy and ebay is becoming a part of their race and loosing buyers and sellers, when ups, usps and amazon do not impose dimensions what super idea ebay has to force it when some sellers have high volume of selling. i can see history of there was once a nokia and blueberry. both gone so.

other problems are carriers and scammers. ebay policies are not clear about return process and about feedbacks and also feedback about products. its need clarity, you cannot win with hidden policies.

[pdshir]

i have been on eb 23 yrs , things are worse every year , ebay is turning into a-- buy--try--return  store , i sell mostly golf clubs i had bought on ebay and after a while i wanted new models so i sell the older ones on ebay , what is going on now on ebay  people buy and try the clubs for 2/3 weeks , cannot hit  them as good as Tiger W . then return them saying " not as described " ebay will always refund ALL their money so i am so i am stuck with shipping both ways , sometimes  for a set of irons $25 x 2 , ebay will never side with the small seller , no one can talk to a human anymore .'

I HATE FEB 

[mr_lincoln]

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@pdshir wrote:

i have been on eb 23 yrs , things are worse every year , ebay is turning into a-- buy--try--return  store , i sell mostly golf clubs i had bought on ebay and after a while i wanted new models so i sell the older ones on ebay , what is going on now on ebay  people buy and try the clubs for 2/3 weeks , cannot hit  them as good as Tiger W . then return them saying " not as described " ebay will always refund ALL their money so i am so i am stuck with shipping both ways , sometimes  for a set of irons $25 x 2 , ebay will never side with the small seller , no one can talk to a human anymore .'

I HATE FEB 

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@pdshir   I imagine shipping is not cheap for the clubs since the boxes might often exceed 34" right?  I know Drivers and most woods will and most irons.

I have actually cut out selling larger and longer items on eBay due to carrier surcharges and higher shipping costs.   Granted those items were a very small part of what I sell but I did the math too and on a return one could potentially eat up profit pretty quickly if the item was not expensive.  They just aren't in the "sweet spot" (pun intended) for selling online ... 

[vintagecraze50]

HEARD on the news yesterday about the Chinese deflation issues and they probably will be offering more stuff at better prices because of it.

[vintagecraze50]

Well. I have bought many extremely nice and affordable items from Chinese sellers on many platforms and I buy it because they do a good job on many things like patio furniture etc and it costs a lot less. They are very competitive and that’s what they are successful. We could learn a lot from them.

[lawnmowerpartsstore2]

We could learn a lot from them.

I think NOT !!!

[chapeau-noir]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

Well. I have bought many extremely nice and affordable items from Chinese sellers on many platforms and I buy it because they do a good job on many things like patio furniture etc and it costs a lot less. They are very competitive and that’s what they are successful. We could learn a lot from them.

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Their largest companies are state owned.  So, like that?

[wil_483592]

I agree. Business is good at all the retail shops where I'm at. Restaurants are full , parks are packed. 

[ranie86]

Simple.  As a buyer, eBay is a bad shopping platform and has aged poorly.

Stiff competition from E*** and Ali******* and of course Ama***'s amazing shipping/logistics network.

All sellers on eBay list with buy-it-now or a starting bid price that is ridiculously high.  It's not a real auction site any more, which is what made it popular back in the day.  It's a storefront.

For pure storefronts, as a shopper, both eBay's interface and search algorithm are both horrible.  Return policy is a hassle and is a tossup whether you'll get ripped off. 

Fees are crazy here high at around 20%.  Fees were never close to that high back when it started.

There's very little value proposition to visit eBay other than habit/familiarity.  You're on a dying platform that's racing to the bottom.

[vintagecraze50]

Do you think that is what is really happening or is it because the lower value buyers just are not spending much on here because of the economy.  Personally I have NEVER in at least 10 years seen sales figures as low as I have had this year. I do not know the answer to this.

[the-metal-formula]

Other platforms are fine.

It's not the economy.

More jobs available than ever.

As someone else pointed out, a total house-cleaning

from top to bottom is desperately needed.

[ulfesharpe]

Too many seller updates over the years — every 6 months your store has more limitations and less exposure and becomes less flexible (for your own sake of course!) and Ebay raises their fees and concentrates the procedures a bit more around automation which allows them bigger margins by shrinking your own margins.

It's not a brave new world, it's an even more philistine one.

[crewnail]

It's most likely the economy, blame Biden or whoever is making these stupid decisions. Food and gas prices have doubled since the election was stolen. People just don't have money to spend on things they collect or like, which is mainly what I sell. I'm getting way less views, watchers and sales. 

[lawnmowerpartsstore2]

It is definitely slowing down out there.

[buy_at_less_123]

I died once school started, and to compound the slow sales, I see a lot of desperate sellers lowering prices. When in fact those sellers should either keep the prices the same, raise the prices, or throw the products away. I see their prices, and I know what fees they are paying. They can actually lose money on most of those items. I was on another thread and a seller was complaining and I see other sellers saying the SALES are the best ever, however there is an obvious catch. They claim that they are moving old inventory out and reducing their products up to 60% off. Not only are the sellers destroying eBay in general, they cannot be making a dime. Not after paying eBay fees and postage. I have seen this a lot. They are simply not good with Math. I see items for $4.00 / free shipping. Fees for those items are over 18% (I know because I pay those fees), and postage is $3.92. That is a loss of 64 cents. Not only are they killing the listings, but they are better off chucking those items in the garbage, because that sale is a waste of time. And when buyers see the prices drop, they want to see everything sell for a loss!