Who KNOWS ??? yep its concerning slow sales

[gonetoycrazy]

Something i asked a anchor store CSR today ebay says there nothing wrong no site issues etc but we sellers all know there is something wrong the drastic sales decline experianced by many sellers is just not normal. its has never been this bad for me in 13+ years

how about this thought  and lol when its so slow you have time to think about things .

anyways ebay rents server space from amazon so whats to stop amazon from  doing something thats basically undectable to the servers used by ebay to cause slow sales on ebay . really there is a lot of smart computer techs out there . who says they have not developed something  to interfer with those ebay servers, a small intentional glitch bug they can get away with.   just to cause such a drastic drop in sales.  there has been many business's over the years that have done shady things. so who really knows who you can trust

personally if i owned ebay i would never rent server space from another online competitor as who really knows what that company would/could do to my company

lets face it there is something very wrong with ebay.  the drastic decline of sales for many sellers like me who used to make a decent enough living on the site proves that.  who knows what the real truth is but i do the drastic sales decline is not the fault of  most ebay sellers . this month may be my last.  this week is the worst week i have had in 13+ years. i have  several thousand items listed and like $950,000.00 + total price of all items listed  and only sold 7 items for little over $200 in sales since last sat.  i am one of the largest sellers on ebay with  the biggest and best selection of vintage items in my categorys but still a 1 man show .  but each month it just gets worse and i simply cannot continue to sell on ebay with sales as bad as they have become for me

something is so very wrong somewhere somehow.  i surely wish it would get solved or otherwise i will be forced to quit really soon like end the of the month.  really it is a shame that sellers have to quit over the lack of sales. but you cannot keep robbing peter to pay paul

ebay has forgot thier way and it may be jmho yes sellers are like at least 10% more important then buyers, you know why, if there is no sellers on ebay then there is no buyers either. to get buyers to the site you got to have sellers on the site too.

they can squeeze money from sellers, because even without buyers buying from the sellers they can like still string them along for a few months milking them dry before the seller quits. so really the seller is more important to them and thier wallet then buyers are.  really jmho its so bogus that anyone actually believes buyers are more important then the sellers who still have to pay ebay even if the seller does not make any sales. LOL  how i look at it, is people that give me money are more important to me then people who dont give me money

[liq1000]

eBay made a name for themselves as a place where you could buy things no other site had available, and in some cases that is still true, but more and more sellers are leaving, some because they can't pay their fees and are suspended by eBay who is now stringing out sellers with stores that they can't pay for.

So as millions of these sellers get cut off of eBay in the next 6 months, eBay will be hurting even more because they got these sellers in way over their heads now that things are slowing down due to eBay making so many changes in search, now with their crazy product pages that they are even returning as search results more sellers will be hurt by eBay's so called AI picking products for the customer versus eBay search results producing a selection for the customer to pick out what they really want to buy.

[adamcorp]

I agree with this post.. as a seller of Hobby Shop mostly items (I have several id's here) I will have to forget about some of the things older guys used to do like Balsa and dope covered control line airplanes..people dont do them anymore.Thoes guys have died off or are in their golden years. Train sets are on the decline..model kits only have a few more years.Super hero figures, 90's toys, Funko Pop, limited edition high end movie figure sculptures..Fast & Furious things stuff like that is the new "Dukes of Hazzard" to these kids..I am 51 and dont give a hoot about Howdy Doodie, or my three sons, Dobie Gillis, wagon train its just the generation thing better adapt or pick a new career..

[junkonhill786]

doubledz-a2z
Re: Who KNOWS ??? yep its concerning slow sales
in reply to thingsoldandnew10 05-19-2017 09:41:55 PM
doubledz-a2z
They relist the same stuff that did not sell a month ago, six months ago, a year ago etc. They add many many more ite
.....................................................................................
doubledz-a2z, I'm not arguing but a comment or two may be in order. Your statement saying "HE NUMBER OF ITEMS A SELLER HAS LISTED HAS NO BEARING ON THE NUMBER OF SALES" not only makes no sense but is wrong. Ask the Chinese seller who has 155,000 sales what would happen if he dropped his number of listings from 5000 to 5.
People looking for a particular item will go directly to that item regardless if you have 5 or 5000 different items for sale and never know about or see your other items so advocating smaller number of listings doesn't work for me.

Also your statement saying: " I think sellers need to tweak their selling lists and think outside the box when they list" makes me wonder just exactly what do you mean when you say to 'think outside the box' in the sense of selling vintage items?

That is seen lots nowadays and sounds good and all but what does it mean?

If I'm selling an old wooden Winchester ammo crate in good condition with tight finger joint corners, good lid and good graphics with a burned spot on one side and I detail each description along with the crate size and any known history added to several good pictures then what can I add to that to help me sell by 'thinking outside the box'?
Thanks

[yuzuha]

---

@adamcorp wrote:

I agree with this post.. as a seller of Hobby Shop mostly items (I have several id's here) I will have to forget about some of the things older guys used to do like Balsa and dope covered control line airplanes..people dont do them anymore.Thoes guys have died off or are in their golden years. Train sets are on the decline..model kits only have a few more years.Super hero figures, 90's toys, Funko Pop, limited edition high end movie figure sculptures..Fast & Furious things stuff like that is the new "Dukes of Hazzard" to these kids..I am 51 and dont give a hoot about Howdy Doodie, or my three sons, Dobie Gillis, wagon train its just the generation thing better adapt or pick a new career..

---

Exactly.  Every generation has its "big things" that the next generation comes along and looks at and goes "Why were you guys so into those things?"  Give it ten years down the line or so and people will think the Funko Pops are odd and nostalgic because the "it" thing at that point will be something completely different.  As an 80s kid, it's next to impossible to explain the appeal of a Skip-It or slap bracelets to someone who has never seen or owned them!

[doubledz-a2z]

---

@junkonhill786 wrote:
doubledz-a2z
Re: Who KNOWS ??? yep its concerning slow sales
in reply to thingsoldandnew10 05-19-2017 09:41:55 PM


If I'm selling an old wooden Winchester ammo crate in good condition with tight finger joint corners, good lid and good graphics with a burned spot on one side and I detail each description along with the crate size and any known history added to several good pictures then what can I add to that to help me sell by 'thinking outside the box'?
Thanks

---

If I had a nice old wooden Winchester ammo crate to sell I would take it to one of about a dozen swap meets/ second Sunday collectible markets in the area and sell it there.   You can add on the cost of what you would expect a buyer to pay for it to be shipped here on ebay and pocket that money.   Outside the box refers to items being listed.    I do well with items that cannot be found at big box stores.  I am about to turn 62 and I know that baby boomers are downsizing and younger generation with extra money do not collect the same kinds of stuff.  We we not raised in era where we need a new gadget everytime one hits the market, we do not need a Starbucks or drive through coffee several times a day.  We were happy with a new pair of keds.  Heck Nike Adidas etc were not in our vocabulary.   Our self worth was not based on the brands we wore.  There is a huge disconnect between what sellers have to sell and what buyers want to buy.  Sometimes it is not the platform.

[tunicaslot]

Funny - that for years those on this board kept on saying but WE Are Not Amazon - and now you want Ebay to create something like Echo?

There are so many reasons while sales are down - some Ebay's fault and some the seller's fault. The search does need to be fixed as does the glitches in the mobile app. I'd be thrilled to see a separate tab for overseas sellers. Can't find what you're searching for on the US site - click tab and you'll find the results of overseas sellers that may have what you are looking for.

But a lot of the problem, which have been discussed time and time again - are outside of Ebay's control. Seller's decide what to list even if it isn't a sought after item. The younger generation has different buying habits and interests. Us old timers are clearing out - and there's a lot of us getting rid of granny's china - most of us are selling collections we've had for years - but guess what - everyone else who may be interested is selling their's too.

Styles change so quickly these days that the younger people want to keep with the current trends - clothing sellers suffer, purse and jewelry sellers suffer - the younger generation is looking for the newest and trendiest - not the most comfortable or long wearing items.

Postal increases have taken a big chunk out of sales - many people can find what they are looking for at sales, thrift or a regular B&M.

There are more e-commerce sites that compete with Ebay.

Ebay does need batter marketing - but I think Ebay needs to stay true to themselves and what they were as there will always be buyers - only what they are lookng for will change and to be successful - you have to change with it. Sears opened their site to 3rd party sellers - they still continue to go downhill.

We can continue to moan and groan about sales - but it's we the seller who have to make due, change, and make our items  appealing to a buyer. Sell the old stock off at a garage sale, flea market ect...

There are new sellers coming here everyday as well as buyers - don't kid yourself - could we use more new buyers - yes - but again - use your social media sites to spread the word about your items and stores here.

Heck I'm starting to sound like an Ebay cheerleader - but really folks - all the complaining is not going to change anything - only you can make adjustments and work with what you have.

[aramintaca]

That's when it hit me. It was the Spring seller update. Something went wrong and never changed back. May has been a complete waste here.

[thenobletuckylife]

---

@tunicaslot wrote:

Funny - that for years those on this board kept on saying but WE Are Not Amazon - and now you want Ebay to create something like Echo?

There are so many reasons while sales are down - some Ebay's fault and some the seller's fault. The search does need to be fixed as does the glitches in the mobile app. I'd be thrilled to see a separate tab for overseas sellers. Can't find what you're searching for on the US site - click tab and you'll find the results of overseas sellers that may have what you are looking for.

But a lot of the problem, which have been discussed time and time again - are outside of Ebay's control. Seller's decide what to list even if it isn't a sought after item. The younger generation has different buying habits and interests. Us old timers are clearing out - and there's a lot of us getting rid of granny's china - most of us are selling collections we've had for years - but guess what - everyone else who may be interested is selling their's too.

Styles change so quickly these days that the younger people want to keep with the current trends - clothing sellers suffer, purse and jewelry sellers suffer - the younger generation is looking for the newest and trendiest - not the most comfortable or long wearing items.

Postal increases have taken a big chunk out of sales - many people can find what they are looking for at sales, thrift or a regular B&M.

There are more e-commerce sites that compete with Ebay.

Ebay does need batter marketing - but I think Ebay needs to stay true to themselves and what they were as there will always be buyers - only what they are lookng for will change and to be successful - you have to change with it. Sears opened their site to 3rd party sellers - they still continue to go downhill.

We can continue to moan and groan about sales - but it's we the seller who have to make due, change, and make our items  appealing to a buyer. Sell the old stock off at a garage sale, flea market ect...

There are new sellers coming here everyday as well as buyers - don't kid yourself - could we use more new buyers - yes - but again - use your social media sites to spread the word about your items and stores here.

Heck I'm starting to sound like an Ebay cheerleader - but really folks - all the complaining is not going to change anything - only you can make adjustments and work with what you have.

---

Tunica...the above highlighted areas are bang on!

Here is an area where ebay can be PRO seller and PRO buyer. Once they understand how significant this has impacted folks here especially those that have been loyal and contributing to the backbone of their success I think many sellers would be encouraged to over look some things because they know ebay has our backs in this area.

Of course many folks may differ with me on this but in these areas I think there is room for ebay to be proactive far beyond what we currently see.

Mr C

[toooldtorock]

"People keep saying this over and over again and as a member of that generation

(well, technically Gen Y, but I have a lot of friends who are millennials), I will say

that it is simply NOT TRUE.  Millennials do collect, they just collect different

things than the older generations.  I sell lots of things that millennials collect

and they do quite well here (see: those Final Fantasy XIV figures I sold just a

little while ago.  All three of them went within their first listing cycle)."

---

No group is all one thing. I was speaking of broad patterns and as a rule, when brought

up by marketing people they do the same. 

My greater point is I think ebay search isn't as much of a problem as it is suggested.

Markets have changed, buyers have changed and needs have changed.

The fact you sold some items relatively quickly indicates search is working for those

interested in buying.

[toooldtorock]

"I'd be thrilled to see a separate tab for overseas sellers."

In some categories, the repetitive Chinese listings make shopping

on here a mind numbing experience.

On ebay when I search for some items I have to be as exacting as possible

or I get 40-50 pages of listings.

I was looking for a certain type of connector and I finally found it on page

13. That was after going through  12 pages of what were Chinese look a

like listings. There were more pages to go but I didn't have the stamina

to go through them to find other dealers who might be offering a package

deal.

On Google's shopping I found the same item in seconds with several

dealers offering packages.

[tunicaslot]

Search is indeed a problem - or maybe it's those that are promoted over US sellers. I've often searched for an item using the 3-4 relevant keywords to find my item. Best match gave me 3 listings that indeed had the keywords scattered throughout the title - but that were not what I was looking for - while under similar items I found the exact item I was looking for with the keywords - the first 4 of the title. To me - this would have been a best match - not the other 3 - all three of which used a keyword I specified - but in no way actully described the item presented. It was keyword spamming.

[pauliesthriftshop2016]

Its not that. Its 2017 and eBay has lots of competition like social media that doesn't charge you a .30 listing fee then 10% of your sale and 10% of postage. EBay needs to drop the .30 fee to list and get with the times and advertise more or they are going the way of the pterodactyl.

[kathieskorner]

I agree.

I would add that Ebay needs to differentiate itself from Amazon - not compete with them.  And the only way I see that they can do that is to split used/vintage/collectibles apart from the new and overstock as well as making ebay USA strictly USA based sellers.     Market what is unique about ebay - not what is like other ecommerce sites. 

[cookie650_1]

Agree!