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BRING THE OLD EBAY BACK PLEASE!!!!! THIS CURRENT ONE SUCKS
all that needs said. This throttling sales, no views, **bleep** has to stop.. Promoted listings will end ebay as we once knew it, and its basically already done the damage..
59 comments
kh-gary
·2 years agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
Unavailable member
·2 years agoThis thread is entertaining.
sumthingzz4every1
·2 years agoI agree. I’m about done selling on EBay. They have made it a pain to do business with.
selsa84
·2 years agoMay sound crazy but have you tried jacking your prices up double and then use pls?
an-57470
·2 years agoWell if they'd stop checking if I was a human several times a day, I might be able to buy from you more often. I am ready to close my account AGAIN and I usually purchase thousands of items a year on ebay. If I am the demography they want to kick out or encourage to leave, they're screwing-up big time.
This place is handled just like you-tube, they don't want to hear constructive criticism from valued members of the community when things get out of hand. Try to close your account, you will see that they really don't give two shirts about you leaving. Maybe they want robots buying stuff here instead of humans, who knows?
abrio-abrio
·2 years agoNew eBay motors app is terrible use an app like cars.com make it easy to find car the new app is so hard and confusing
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoThat's a problem with eBay's regular app - it's not very good and they keep fiddling with it and making it worse. One thing that these other fast-growing and/or new sites have that eBay does not is they're not so incredibly over-complicated.
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoIn the old days, ebay did not have competition. There is too much competition now. Buyers know that if they don't buy it today, somebody else will list it tomorrow or they can find it elsewhere.
norskmediashop
·3 years agoebay is broken
blurryrobot
·3 years agoI don't think promoted listings work quite the way some people believe that they do. I see a lot of people on here raising their promotions to 10% or 15% in the hopes of getting sales.
Maybe for staple items that are already at a competitive price, being moved upwards on the page does bring a sales boost. Like if you're selling spark plugs or something like that. I could see a 10% promotion working there to sell a (say) $40 plug set that competitors are also selling at $40, but not promoting. But it's likely to be a big tradeoff, because you're giving away that money to gain the sales. If you raise the price to $44 and promote, I am pretty sure that buyer psychology has adapted enough to make this fail, as they'll just scroll past the more expensive listings. Ebay can suggest all the promotion % that they want, they can't change buyer psychology!
But a lot of people on Ebay are selling *curios or impulse purchase items*, not staple commodity items, and for these people, I don't think promoted listings work that way at all. In fact I would say that if these people want to do promoted listings, then stick to the absolute minimum allowable percentage, which used to be 1%. It is really not the same kind of direct competition, as someone selling staple items.
(Ebay's raising of the minimum % to 2%, was pretty much an indication that a lot of Ebay sellers had found this out. Ebay sellers really are far more savvy than some people like to believe, regarding the way that Ebay actually works to sell goods, considering that none of us have access to the actual algorithms involved!)
coolections
·3 years agoYou are very very mistaken. Ebay wants sales they will NEVER not allow a buyer to buy you stuff. If you are not selling you need to do some real research. Check into EBay's SOLD items and get your prices to match your competition and be equal to what buyers are willing to pay. Remove all your old stock no one wants. Start listing new stuff as fast a s possible. You will then see your sales improve dramatically if you take action. If you are in a highly saturated market, it is best to get out or wait it out for a long long time. I am not going to research for you so please take some time to do it yourself.
sakic92710
·3 years agoOnly list items we all know people want to buy because each of us knows what every individual out of the millions & millions of buyers on eBay want to purchase. lol
jupiter_collectibles
·3 years agoHonest question do you work for eBay? I constantly see you on these posts defending them and not giving any actual advice. It's not a smart business plan to lower your prices so low that you can't even make a profit just so you can compete. eBay continues to make changes for the worst that affect Sellers and their profit. Nothing you said was helpful whatsoever.
sextons-sweet-deals
·3 years agoWhat sticks out the most to me is the constant word play you have to use in order to find all related listings.
It used to be all tied to the listing title description, but with all the sub categories / over thought details, it is harder to find stuff.
At times I can't even find some of my stuff even if I select "distance: nearest first". To add to that, it also happens when I'm on my 'active listing page' and do a search for an item I have active. The most recent was yesterday. I wanted to revise 3 similar listings. I clicked on search and typed 'lazy susan'. Zero hits! I then typed 'lazy susan pottery' and then they popped up.
cool.jewels.by.jeff
·3 years agoEvery thing ebay has done over the last 5 years ruined sales and with newer easier to use platforms showing up I do not see things getting better, but hey ebay is full of gimmicky time wasting ideas
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoThe problem with the other sites is that the buyers are here. I too registered on 2 other sites. I never listed nor bought anything. I just never sat down to list something or buy something. If I need a particular toy, I search here. I am not even motivated to check out the other site to see if someone else has it. Don't judge by this 3rd acct. My main account has over 10,000+ feedbacks. So I stick around. Yes, slows are much lower now but again, food and fuel /oil prices are high and folks do not have that much $ to spend on collectible toys.
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoOnly how do you know if you never list or buy on other sites? There's a lot of competition out there, mostly from fast-growing mobile sites (which have matured to web-based sites) - the landscape is constantly changing.
selsa84
·2 years agoAnd yet the collectible toy market is up year after year.
yuzuha
·3 years agoLow views just means there aren't many people interested in that particular item. I can list a bunch of items all at the same time and the in-demand ones will start picking up views and watchers right away while the other ones that aren't sought after will sit around with low or no views.
Case in point: I listed two plush toys (a vintage Pokemon plush and a Peter Rabbit plush) at the same time a couple of weeks back. The Pokemon one had views and watchers within half an hour and sold a few days later. The Peter Rabbit one still hasn't gotten any views. Why? Because Pokemon is popular and Peter Rabbit really isn't.
chris13
·3 years ago"Low views just means there aren't many people interested in that particular item."
This is a simple answer to a complicated question. I respectfully disagree, as I referenced in my earlier reply.
It was, in fact my job (with others) to answer this question when the EVP was fit to be tied because sales numbers dropped.
Think of views as the tail of a snake. When the tail doesnt get food you cant assume it is because there is no food and therefore it must be winter. Similarly, the snake can have an egg stuck in its jaws AND it can ALSO be winter, or it might just be winter.
- You choose words to use in your listing. Those words are used in an index, including metadata selected
- eBay 'flattens' some of this data in ways that the bots can better parse and consume
- Bots scrape pages to make search engines work. A new page is added to the 'to do' list, old pages are 'cached' and not reconsidered. The way they interpret what is 'new' can become fouled. Indexing can fail.
- Users search and algorithms show best, close then similar results. Ordering can be problematic. User search terms can be hampered by language use and low understanding of how to best search. Listing text from us can be crappy or misspelled (Results seen are Impressions)
- Users may see one 'good match' or 100000 (now competition is involved). Newer may be seen first (stale listings, SEO and promotions come into play)
- Eventually, if motivated AND not overwhelmed, a user clicks on an item. (these are page views)
- Reading your page, orientating where they have landed, judging trust of the site, the seller and the listing text they make a judgement. Do I buy, watch or go back to searching? (price, trust & policies factor in here)
- Perhaps wanting your item...they now face Shipping & Payment options. (many Int'l folks get discouraged here)
All of this is 'the funnel'...and there are some things you can influence, some you cannot. Regardless, it is never ONLY a matter of 'Lack of Interest', though of course interest is ALWAYS involved.
If you dont know how it works, odds are you wont know what levers can affect the outcome. Some levers we cant access. Some levers get broken. Some cost money/effort to pull. Still, the snake may not eat.
Always test searching for your own listings. Always use metadata when you can. Always engage support when you see impressions suddenly go away and you have not made changes.
Have a great day.
mightymouse
·3 years agoNot a problem, I dumped my Ebay stock last summer and it is just about low enough to buy it back now
inhawaii
·3 years agoThrottling sales? LOL
chris13
·3 years agoImpressions influence page views and impressions have historically been driven from Google. There are two types of crawls that occur, the free kind and the paid kind. The paid kind come in two flavors usually CPM and CPC.
Google is notorious for frequently changing how their secret patented indexing works and offer almost zero visibility into how it works THIS week. I have in my career tested, run and debugged keyword bidding platforms that drove eCommerce site traffic both buying and reselling ad traffic.
Sometimes a 'release train' for feature changes inadvertently 'poisons' the cache of crawled pages or causes the index stream job to get stuck. This can be a *#$&* to debug and catch up.
Just some context for those who think there is intent at play. When this happens, I remember many round the clock datacenter shifts working to resolve the issue. People get demoted. Vendors lose contracts, etc.
If you see impressions fall off the cliff, report it to the support team. If the issue is real I am sure they were aware before you were via SiteCatalyst metrics that setoff alarms and scrambled IT teams.
Best wishes.
deltilogical
·3 years agomore of this please. In about 100 words you have increased 100x my understanding of the industry you discuss. Its not something outsiders see.
nichtr_78
·3 years agoI built up 11000 listings and had a strong listing routine of 100 listings daily and drafts ready for days off, 15-30 sales per day depending on days, consistent. Have sold over 6000 items in the past 3 years on here. BUT the past 12 months have been brutal. FEES have beat the heck out of me, wonky inconsistent and sporadic traffic clearly from the algorithm and TONS OF GLITCHES have had me remove 7000+ listings and just start slinging them for MASSIVE discounts at local flea markets just to survive! Now I have 3000 ish items up and I am going to be winding this down. Back to my older business, which I am set to revive. Real sad but it is what it is. BTW guys: the eBay stock price has zero to do with actual profit and revenue. It's primary concern is not the real economy known as "main street". Wall street dominates it, they can borrow money at massive amounts and buy back their stock to artificially increase the price. They can place bets on derivatives. And of course, like everyone else, they depend on the Federal reserve.
slippinjimmy
·3 years agoLast three years? So you are using the giant Covid bump as a benchmark? and now that normality (actually lower than usual normality given the current economic situation). How are your sales compared to 2018/19?
Fees have gone up in the past 3 years but only by a small amount, 1 - 2 points. If that has beat the heck out you then you must be doing something wrong. I looked at a bunch of your listings, looks like product you paid pennies for (if that) so how could a a few extra pennies per item give you any trouble?
nichtr_78
·3 years agosmd from the back 😄
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoHave sold over 6000 items in the past 3 years on here. BUT the past 12 months have been brutal.
I agree that most sellers have seen a drop in 2022 and 2023.
Because there was a huge surge in online buying in 2020 and 2021.
If it is possible,comps should be made with the same month in 2022, 2019 ,and 2018.
My sales are off from 2021, but normal for January to March* for earlier years
A Canadian seller has begun a study of his older stale lots. He has been aggressively sending out Offers to Watchers and Viewers at 10% or more and using PL at the 2% minimum on other very similar lots.
So far.....
Sigh, PL at a cost of 2% gets more sales than discounting to customers at 10%.
He warns that this is still a work in progress and he's not ready to present statistics yet.
YMMV
*Unlike many categories, my sales have always been strongest in January through March. This includes sales in our (now closed by retirement)B&M shop. December for us was always the dead zone.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoHave sold over 6000 items in the past 3 years on here. BUT the past 12 months have been brutal.
I agree that most sellers have seen a drop in 2022 and 2023.
Because there was a huge surge in online buying in 2020 and 2021.
If it is possible,comps should be made with the same month in 2022, 2019 ,and 2018.
My sales are off from 2021, but normal for January to March* for earlier years
A Canadian seller has begun a study of his older stale lots. He has been aggressively sending out Offers to Watchers and Viewers at 10% or more and using PL at the 2% minimum on other very similar lots.
So far.....
Sigh, PL at a cost of 2% gets more sales than discounting to customers at 10%.
He warns that this is still a work in progress and he's not ready to present statistics yet.
YMMV
It will be interesting to see how he manages to separate what sold as a direct result of using PL and what sold or would have sold with an organic listing. Difficult if not impossible assessment.
blurryrobot
·3 years agoHmm, you have to weigh the buyer psychology factor with discount offers. If I went to a store, and Hillbilly bread was 10% off, I might buy it instead of Town Talk at the same regular price, but I'd not be motivated to stock up, or to buy something I wouldn't buy otherwise. In a few years of selling stuff on and offline I have found that the minimum discount to pique people's interest is about 20%.
And it works on me, too, the cynical old market man, because I have absolutely bought things on Ebay, tools and such, that I was kinda' idly watching, but got a 20% off offer on. One item I remember was about $100, the $80 offer looked great and I sure did bite. No regrets either, the item in question was very nice and I have used it a lot. But at the same time, I freely admit that I tend to pass up offers of 5% - 10% off. I guess even I am not immune to psychology!
So, as we people are funny that way, it doesn't surprise me a whole lot that a 6% promotion (which casts a somewhat wider "visibility net" though who knows how much) works better than a direct 10% offer. It would be very interesting to see other percentages compared, particularly when you get up into the 20% discount range.
slippinjimmy
·3 years agoMakes perfect sense to me, at least for some categories. PL (which is use sparingly) increases my Impressions four to sixfold, a 10% discount to someone who isn't interested enough to have already bought isn't that likely to be swayed.
Getting the listing in the face of 5 times as many people gives you a better chance of a sale. This would be especially true for "browsers" , buyer who want to buy something but they don't really know what, if they see something they may just divert from whatever they were looking for originally.
As an online buyer that gets "spam" from dozens of ecommerce sites, it takes more than a 10% discount to even motivate me to open the message.
fashunu4eeuh
·3 years agoYou have removed a majority of your listings over the last year, while 40 year-high inflation is running rampant across the country and the globe. Yet you focus the blame of the decrease in sales on eBay’s algorithm, of which very little is empirically known.
Having significantly fewer listings could well impact sales negatively. And one cannot overlook consumers being deeply affected by inflation, with an attendant fear of a recession. It is quite possible those factors, among others, are a likely source of fewer sales.
Additionally, it is also quite difficult to compare sales today against the sales that took place during the unprecedented online sales surge during Covid.
shar_27
·3 years agoThis statement is somewhat evasive though, and the analogy "no one wants your items".
Yes, inflation plays a role on the economy, but You should be selling to buyers who have not been impacted by inflation, rather than those who are constantly seeking the lowest prices or even haggling with you.
If you sell on multiple channels, it's really easy to spot the fact.
I even have items selling for seven times their lowest price I put on eBay, and these items sold repeatedly at these higher prices.
People are buying, although paying higher prices.
I am not a fan of price war.
You can't make money from everyone in the market, so it's better to carefully choose your buyers.
It's all about visibility.
With eBay's current flawed search engine, sales will certainly take a big hit.
If buyers can't find what they're looking for on their first attempt, they will simply move on to other platforms. There are better places to go.
This is the heart of the issue.
-
nichtr_78
·3 years ago**bleep** you **bleep** YOU
gamersbaystore
·3 years agoThe issues sellers are experiencing right now has very little to do with the economy and everything to do with ebay's ridiculous algorithms that favor a tiny handful of mega sellers while throwing the rest under the bus.
Wages have skyrocketed much faster than inflation has. I earned close to $1,000 a week flipping hamburgers the past 3 months. Any able bodied person who's willing to work is making money right now.
You'd think with wages being through the roof people would be shopping online, and they are, its just that ebay plays favorites with mega sellers, the rest get no traffic. No traffic = no sales, its not rocket science.
Of the hundreds of listings I made over the summer last year, almost all had zero views coming the end of the year. With 1,500+ listings last year, I was lucky if I broke 30 to 40 views a day. No one is going to drive any meaningful sales with 30 to 40 views a day.
The reality is ebay's ranking algorithms are horribly manipulated, there is no level playing field here anymore.
Search for any DVD or Blu-Ray on ebay, just a few sellers literally hog up the majority of all search results in this category, page after page.
As for the economy, the labor shortage has reached a boiling point and employers are forced to pay more or fail to retain workers if they don't. While the economy might be a train wreck for investors right now, its great for the average American worker.
harafkac0
·3 years agoI won't argue with that, in fact I love your Wall Street comment but I am certain... I am absolutely certain there isn't some employee at Ebay holding their finger over the red "throttle sales" button and pressing it whenever the whim strikes.
I just as seriously doubt that it's in the software, whether random or otherwise.
There is no intentional or accidental "throttling" or governing of individual seller's sales going on.
Simple as that.
The problem, is some sellers like to believe that traffic and sales are like some automatic thing. They fail to comprehend human whim, seasonal changes and what is it wall street market experts call it? Oh yes, public sentiment! Nobody can predict this, humans are a fickle bunch but again the worst mistake sellers can make is to assume that sales figures are just a number.
They are not just a number.
Sales happen because of real people.
And if they've stopped buying from you there exists a reason, and that reason isn't always available to us. It may have something to do with our actions, or someone else's, or nothing of that sort at all. We just don't know and I certainly don't have the answer to the mystery of slow sales of what was once a booming and bustling enterprise but once again, there is no actual "throttling" going on.
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoEven large merchandisers have trouble predicting footfall, ordering patterns, etc. Predictions of anything that depends a great deal on human whim is going to resemble either a macro model of chaos theory, or a dartboard and blindfold.
gamersbaystore
·3 years agoYes, there definitely is an employee at Ebay holding their finger over the red "throttle sales" button, his name is Jamie Iannone. He made it clear to the media last year his intentions were to focus on their top 20% of sellers. The result is the other 80% watching their businesses get destroyed.
I can get more views on Mercari for a single listing today than I could with 1,500+ on ebay last year. I think its obvious ebay is sending a clear message, they don't want my business, so I moved it elsewhere.
isaiah53-57
·2 years agoIf you believe this, then you must not sell here...
I have seen this going on at least since they started best match search back in 2008, which in and of itself is a form of throttling, but not the throttling that these posters are talking about
I have seen Pods of sales, all in just a small region of the country, just in time to pay your monthly fees, then back to ghost town like sales for a week...EVERY MONTH like clockwork...
A monthly sales cap, that no how much we listed or how hard we tried to break the barrier we just couldnt sell more than that certain dollar amount EVERY MONTH - We could get 75% of the way there in the first week of the month and then the faucet would turn off... and again, just enough sales would come through just in time to pay the monthly bill and get right to that barrier number again...
Watching your highly sought after items, well-priced and wondering why they aren't selling, especially when you check sold listings and see many have sold at a much higher dollar amounts than you have yours listed for...
These examples and others just like them are STATISTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE without search manipulation and throttling...
yuzuha
·2 years agoI'm always surprised that it never seems to have occurred to anyone that the reason one tends to get more sales right around when fees are due is that it's at the end/beginning of the month, which corresponds with when most people receive their paychecks.
Most people get paid at the beginning and/or end of the month, so seeing more sales around those periods shouldn't come as a surprise.
lawnmowerpartsstore2
·2 years agoWow that would be tough getting paid once a month (at the beginning and/or end of the month). Thats when the house or rent payment is due. Insurance, Electric, Water and the list goes on.
yuzuha
·2 years agoMany salaried jobs pay once a month. The first job I had out of college did. The job my mother had before she retired also did. It's no more difficult than getting paid bi-weekly; you just make sure to keep enough in your account from your last paycheck to cover your bills.
isaiah53-57
·2 years agoYeah well, that might mean something to someone, obviously you as you took the time out of your life to post it, but that doesn't mean jack to me or anyone else who was billed in the middle of the month... Thanks though...
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoEBay finds it very important to throttle sales so they can charge less in fees and make less money so their shareholders will be unhappy.
**selling**stuff**
OP3 years agoit really makes no sense at all. I really thought when the new ebay CEO took over that he would make some good changes, but nothing has changed. I dont think ebays servers can keep up with the uptick in resellers, and it has caused major major issues. its sad that this continues to happen, going on 2 years now.
chapeau-noir
·3 years ago@**selling**stuff** Don't sit and watch your views - that's the sure path to madness. They're not even real time.
downunder-61
·3 years agoI agree with this 100%.
eBay seems loathe to spend money on upgrading antiquated equipment, and far too keen to waste enormous amounts on severance packages and salaries for the upper echelon staff, CEO's and the like.
albany_sellers
·3 years agoSure, it makes sense that by throttling sales, eBay is losing money, but look at it a little deeper and you will see why it's a great idea for eBay to throttle sellers.
Think about it like this, if for example there are 100 sellers on eBay, and 10% of them are getting the lion's share of the sales because their prices are better, listing quality is better and generally they are just better sellers, the other 90% are eventually going to give up and leave. What can eBay do to prevent that and keep all those subscription fees, insertion fees and listing upgrade fees?
Simple, they let the top 10% do well on their own merits.....for a while before they turn the lights out for a bit to funnel those buyers to the less successful sellers who are on the verge of bailing. Those sales start coming in, and those sellers think "oh, I guess it's actually not so bad here" and get encouraged by their new found success.
Happy sellers who see sales coming in get encouraged. They list more items, and some open eBay stores. After a little while, the lights go out and the sales start being diverted to other sellers who were getting discouraged and the cycle starts over with a new batch. When the previous sellers start thinking it's time to pull the plug, the floodgates open and they decide to stick around.
Have you ever noticed how when you are having a terrible week and start looking at other options, suddenly you start having record breaking days where you just can't seem to lose? Old stale listings are selling, you are moving items you almost forgot you even had listed, and all is right in the world.....for a while.
If eBay just let the best sellers win, then they would lose a ton of those fees from the sellers they string along and keep on the hook. Of course they throttle sales, it was never about who has the best items for the best price, it's about how they can set the hook to keep us all hanging around and paying fees and for stores.
monster-deals
·3 years agoPromoted listings. They make plenty of money on not letting items be seen.
For every poster that says there is no such thing as throttling there is another full time seller experiencing it.
house*of*paws
·3 years agoHi @**selling**stuff**
Which of the 'Old eBays' would you like? It changes so often that I can't keep track. 😕
**selling**stuff**
OP3 years agoExactly.. Well, for starters, it would be nice to have views on my listings. I've been watching my ebay traffic for the last 3 hours. i have 1600 listings on ebay. I've gotten a whole 3 page views in 3 hours.. Something, or someone at ebay is for sure throttling sales. I'm over it. I'll have a really good 3 or 4 days, and boom, ebay will shut me down for a couple days where its crickets to meet their algorithm. Just let us sell our stuff without jacking with our site. it's obvious.. it's happening, and whoever thinks its not is a fool.
714ricki
·3 years agoWhy are you so worried about views? Do we even know if the view count is accurate 100% of the time?
Isn't the scoreboard all about sales? You have had at least 9 sales today & about 9 sales yesterday. That isn't too bad when compared to other sellers on the platform & with a shaky economy.
I say take a deep breath, relax, enjoy the weekend, & stop monitoring the traffic so much. ðŸ™ðŸ˜ŽâœŒï¸
Hang in there!!
laststopgeneralstore
·3 years agoPlease post screen shots of your traffic & sales over the past 90 days. Curious to see what the fuss is about. Also, I don't believe you that you've only gotten 3 page views in 3 hours. Also also, don't waste time watching your traffic, that isn't going to help you sell items. Start listing better items that are more in demand than the stuff you're already selling. If you're not getting sales then it's an issue with you and what you're selling, not eBay.
Now if you had 1600 $100 bills listed for $90 free shipping & you weren't getting any views, then yes, I would say that's an issue with eBay but I also highly doubt that would happen either.
reallynicestamps
·3 years ago@laststopgeneralstore
Since the OP posted with their selling ID, we can go to their listings, scroll down the left hand column to Sold items then put those sales in calendar order.
So far in March, the OP has had sales every day, averaging about nine.
Which is steady and similar to their December sales.
I did not look at selling prices.
rugerskick
·3 years agoThey do throttle sales, 100%. They divert traffic away from you for days.
inhawaii
·3 years agoWhen will they learn that throttling sales makes the sellers less money and makes them less money.
It's a lose/lose situation.
Stupid ebay.
hess-house-toys
·3 years agoI am going through the same thing this is crazy
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoI want my "old self" back, too, but which one?
toomuchstuffagain35
·3 years agoThe body I had at 18 with the brain and experience I have now would be awesome.