Ebay Sales completely stopped in last 2 months October 2022

[ad2030]

Hello, I have been on ebay for 20 years selling off and on. I opened my ebay stores in 2013 and have been having great sales until the last 2 1/2 years. Sales have been declining slowly and steady for the last year and a half. 2021 and 2022 have been horrible nothing but a downward spiral..

I have done updating, relisting, sell similar, new listings, new pics, updated coded listings, added promo, having sales 10%-15% off. new titles Nothing is giving. 

I know my listings are not being found on the search results. I'm pretty much ghosted even though i can see them myself. No page impressions.. Not to mention china sellers are always at the top of the search results because of multiple never ending new accounts from the  same seller and low prices.

This is it I'm calling it quits as the business has dwindled to $100 dollar weeks. 

I sell industrial filtering media so the demand will be there. I keep reading how online shopping  is down all around ebay, posh, mercari etc. This is an ebay issue.  Looks like they are weeding out sellers quickly.

ebay sent me a message to try the new beta marketing campaign $500 off **bleep**! to get listings at the top of search results. 

Anybody having a similar experience, I would like to hear from you. 

[kathieskorner]

I've been viewing the listings of those that are saying they are doing well and those that have seen their sales all but disappear -  and there does not seem to be many patterns.    In clothing it does not seem to be about new or used, brand, or price - in fact some of those with higher prices seem to be doing better than those offering similar lower priced items.   Those selling new merchandise with multiples currently seem to be doing much better than those selling vintage or used, but that could be a seasonal thing.   Those charging shipping are doing as well or better than those offering free shipping.   Sales as a percentage of  the number of items listed is hard to determine because of multiple quantity listings.   Feedback does not seem to be a factor. 

The unknown of course is ebay' s ever changing search algorithm and whether it is favoring some sellers and merchandise over others. 

[analva.yqj2hhk]

Dear seller

I know that heating oil prices food prices and a 47% hike in electricity

Has effected my spending. Shipping hikes in the post office

I would shop on Ebay several times a month.

It's almost down to periodically or no shopping at all.

Thanks to all who voted for this administration. People are struggling.

I will as many will go back to thrift stores and yard sales.

It's not your fault 🙂

[performancesunglasses]

We have also been selling on eBay for almost 20 years and we have experienced the same thing you are describing. We’ve done everything we know to do, but are still not getting any results. This was the lowest December we’ve ever had!

[performancesunglasses]

What other platforms are you using?

[neve2]

15-20% sales aren't enough. I've discounted up to 50% on the items for sale on my other account....with minimal results.... This has been the worst November and December in the 24 years I've been selling on eBay. But the decline began in July.

[lawnmowerpartsstore2]

In one way your a little lucky. As sales started going down for a lot of sellers starting in March.

[yasmin3220]

same here! I dont expect much just a fair shot at having my listings seen... im not being promoted and have new in demand inventory.. means nothing if not seen!  im down 90% of normal selling!

[yasmin3220]

Yes im the exact same and could have written this myself! no matter what I do or ask for a fix nothing works! i know im not being seen! if I get sales the odd time its usually within an hour time frame and then nothing! Ive increased promoted from 4% to 7% and nothing! what isnt working now is sell similar and no communication to me that listings have ended and when I list in bulk sell similar, no emails! why? no one can explain why that communication has stopped!  I upgraded my store and sales dropped further! I used to sell multiples very easily becuase they were promoted and now they are not so I get stucck with multiples of the same item! how can we get a business plan going when ebay keeps chnaging the plan without telling us!

[yasmin3220]

Ive noticed that when listing new items Ill get a suggested price range that doesnt even look like the item im listing! itll be a used item for much less when mine is new and branded!  so already by me listing an item much more expensive than the one  shown im low in the chances of it being shown!!  

[wild-man]

Un-real! 25 years of selling comes to a STOP, selling other venues, nothing on eBay

[wild-man]

Why are Etsy & Face Book Market Place doing so well ? Nothing...nothing on eBay

[paraquip]

Certainly this is a complex issue to try and figure out.

Selling fees are now beyond what Walmart and many other marketplaces are charging.... 14.99% plus your promoted listing cost.    For items I am not promoting and have the lowest price on ebay for......they are simply not selling which leads me to believe ebay has somehow altered how the listing might be seen.  Having an average selling fee of 20%+ is a bit stiff.

If what I am reading on the ebay forums is actually true.....sellers are leaving the platform....so let's say that I decided to stop selling on Ebay......I have 55 or so listings active, which by number is not a lot.   Seller hub shows me I have 6M+ impressions and 15K+ direct page views (these stats really suck because they are down 60%+ from mid-2022).......but if I left as a seller that would be somewhat of a hit to ebay's impressions statistics as I am considered a medium to large seller in the category I sell in.  So what do those stats look like when thousands upon thousands of sellers leave the platform?

The emergence of boutique websites and auction houses is another issue..... Etsy is 10% selling fee, FB marketplace free and a host of other sites selling at 6% fees.  So logically if you are a seller on Ebay at a 20% selling fee and on Etsy at 10%..... you might look at giving away some of you margin on Etsy and displaying a lower price.   

Ebay customer service .....has turned a lot of buyers and sellers off......the high rate of negative experiences there make is another downer.

Economy starting to take a hard bite into sales.....there is no denying it......again....is a consumer is looking for the lowest price......it might not necessarily be on ebay or amazon.

Shopify is a real wildcard in the whole selling equation.....if their "Shop" app ever gets any air under its wings all 3 of the large marketplaces will feel the effect.   The fact that ebay and amazon are no longer linkable to shopify might be an indication that the platforms see shopify as a true threat.

One thing for sure......ebay as a company has failed to act/react to changing market conditions that go all the way back to March of 2022.

It will be interesting what ebay has in store for sellers in 2023

HK

[balkan_sale]

Same here I use to sell up to 36k in December now I sold 3k all started after seller update in July. eBay told me add more pictures lol like that will help . I try editing listings promoting offer up to 20% off nothing works 

[tk1717]

I was going to look at your listings to see if there was a problem. You have 453 feedback which is very low for a seller who has been selling since 2013. Thats 45 sales a year. All of your feedback was as a buyer. 

[majdonh]

Is the economy really all that bad? I get inflations high prices, but unemployment is low. I am more and more convinced that all these sellers talking about poor sales (and I'm one of them) are victims of the eBay sales algorithm. Maybe I'm wrong, but it would be great if eBay was more transparent about what sellers need to do to make sales and be competitive on ebay. I have been on eBay since 1996 and selling for about 12 years now, and this is the worst it has ever been. I am trying to decide the future of my business. My choices are: 1. Get my own website and move sales from ebay to Amazon and perhaps Wal-Mart markets. 2. Continue only on eBay but not investing any money of additional products until/unless sales improve. 3. Stop selling and shutdown my business. It's a toss up right now which way I may decide to go - but if sales do not improve, eBay will be out of the picture for me.