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Experienced my first month with zero sales on eBay, after 26 years of mostly consistent selling
I knew it was coming due to monthly sales declining steadily for the past 4 years until there was just 1 sell last month and this September 2024 was the final nail in the proverbial coffin for my stores. Not closing them, just not working them any longer. Hey, I'm certain it is me and not eBay for all the concerned posters. sigh
eBay went online on September 3, 1995, marking the start of its journey as a leading global e-commerce platform. What the heck happened???
47 comments
gurlcat
·1 year ago@isaiah53-57 ? Care to answer the above?
memphischarles
·1 year agoGood news travels fast...bad news just...OK fill in the blanks (I don't remember exact wording of what followed) but unfortunately we can relate to the basic sentiment bemoaning crash and burn of eBay sales recently. We are not big time sellers but we are former retailers/collectors who enjoyed the benefits of selling former inventory and items from our own collections on eBay for many years - past. Nothing much at all in the last several months. Dead in the water...not even any interesting (or silly) questions even. Now we miss them.
What to do? Grateful for past sales, of course. Mourning eBay sales crash, yes - big time. What to do? We have no idea. Adjusting pricing did not help altho we did not embrace that strategy with any gusto or faith.
Thx for the years passed when we did manage to sell old retail inventory and some of our personal collection but in these uncertain (and yes, somewhat unpleasant times) we are still in retired fixed income quandry wondering if there is some secret sauce to reviving the good-ole-days of more eBay traffic and sales?
With gratitude for former eBay sales, maybe we will just make do by bidding our fond farewell the those good ole eBay sales days, my friends. Everything else seem topsy turvey (to say the least) so just hang on,
and hope for brighter and busier days to come. Brighter and smarter ones, too.
But thanks to eBay and eBay buyers for our past sales and success. It meant a lot, did us a lot of good,
and we are grateful...and hopeful, still.
Charles & Barbara Tigrett / Memphis
luckythewinner
·1 year agoeBay went online on September 3, 1995, marking the start of its journey as a leading global e-commerce platform. What the heck happened???
It remains a leading global E-commerce platform whose GMV spiked during the pandemic and has since returned to pre-pandemic levels of around $73 billion per year.
But the marketplace has evolved substantially since 1995. Supply and demand have changed, buyer behavior has changed, and competition has changed. What sells here now has changed substantially from what sold here in 1995, in 2005, or in 2015.
tarotfindsandmore
·1 year agoUnfortunately, what seems to be happening is an "adapt or die" situation. When I created my first account back in 1997 the only thing I sold was Harmony Kingdom. At the time, the little box figurines sold for hundreds to thousands each. Then they started producing them in China and the prices began dropping, then plummeting, so I shifted my focus to creepy toys and comics which kept me going until 2004 when my third son was born and I had to stop selling full time to take of my health and look after him.
I sold part time off and on when I needed a little extra cash here or there when I went back to school to finish the degrees I'd begun before I started a family, and stuck with selling things that I knew would sell (mostly by watching what was already selling) for the next eighteen years. I skipped selling entirely during Covid mostly because I was working full time for various major delivery companies (I had finished my graduate degrees in purely academic disciplines and Library Science which were two areas Covid first shut down so I immediately went to work for UPS) and came back in December of 2022 as a regular part time seller. Basically, I completely missed that false Covid rush that so many new sellers saw and mistook for reality.
In any event, I decided to come back to full time reselling in December of 2023 after a very good "part time" year. I came back when things were basically terrible, but having watched 27 years of ebb and flow, the one thing I knew was that I had to be ready to drop things that weren't working, and take on new things that looked promising. I've been wrong on some of these for sure, but that just tells me that I need to take a look at what I'm doing and regroup.
If you haven't had a sale in a month, it's time to drop your prices on the items you have up, do some research on what is selling (if you can't figure out how to use eBay's research tools, take a look at your junk mail, social media, or go into an actual brick and mortar store to see what's on the shelves and selling), and concede that a change is needed. eBay is no longer easy money, it's a real job. Many of us have had some very crummy weeks recently and Q4 is nowhere near where it should be, but the bottom line is that you're gonna have to adapt if you want to stay in the game.
an-57470
·1 year agoWe've seen a huge change since the pandemic. Pre-covid we would have thousands of sales per week, post pandemic we have seen no where near these numbers, I'm talking a 90% decrease. Thankfully this isn't our only avenue of sales....
We have always been a Top Rated Seller, and worked hard for that and almost all of our listings were top ranking, now it seems that now matter how many of the old tricks we pull out of the hat, its an uphill battle.
I think its a combination of more people selling and a change in spending habits. We also sell on carboots/markets. Pre-covid people would go the carboots religiously to spend, and they wouldn't go home with a single penny in their pockets. The haggled for a good deal, but mostly they bought. Now they won't haggle, they often don't ask prices and they are spending a lot less. At the same time there has been a huge increase in the number of people selling as a side line to make a bit of extra cash because there wages aren't going far enough. I also sell wholesale and the majority of these customers are simply trying to make ends meet each month.
fbusoni
·1 year ago@treasuresnewandvintage
eBay is obviously aware of the diversification of the online selling market.
So it provides sellers here with the ability to go to the front of the line.
You merely need to provide what eBay considers quality listings and optimal customer service.
For the last several years I have offered same day / 24 hour shipping and 30 / 60 day paid returns.
My sales are consistent, month after month. I sell in about 12 categories.
I reckon I get about 5 or 6 buyers per month who are new to eBay, having found my stuff on Google, where eBay aggressively promotes my listings.
eBay also pushes my listings to the top of the eBay search queue, where they remain week after week, mostly in the top five-to-ten results and always with the "top rated plus" seller designation attached. It makes a significant difference to those who purchase from me.
I am careful about what I sell; my demographic is older, wealthier, and more highly educated American buyers. I have found that as a group, these individuals place a premium on listing quality, good feedback, and top of the line customer service.
I assiduously avoid selling things to buyers who are NOT concerned about such matters.
I've gotten two returns in the last couple dozen years. Items were shipped back to me with great care.
My prices are reasonable and competitive, but because I sell a lot of fragile glass and porcelain, my shipping fees are a bit higher than average. I explain this in my listings, and my buyers are not terribly concerned about paying an extra $4 or so to make sure their item is delivered intact.
Full disclosure: I am retired and do eBay strictly as a hobby. Making money is fun but it is not / not a necessity or a requirement for me, so my whole approach to eBay is no-pressure and relaxed. I net about $3500 a month here without exerting much effort (one of the advantages of having adult kids and no longer having to work). My average investment in an item to re-sell is about $3; my average sale nets about $35.)
isaiah53-57
·1 year agoNope, Nope aaaaaand Nope...
Nobody selling fragile $35 Items with 1 day shipping netting $3500(netting, not grossing mind you) a month in a RELAXED way could EVER POSSIBLY find the time to spam these boards with 15 to 20 posts a day...
And anyone who has sold here for any length of time knows you do not magically have only 2 returns in 25 years or sit at the top of search week in and week out, or have consistent sales month after month...
Have you truly asked yourself WHY are you posting this stuff?? Happy Retirement ...wow...
And dont forget to check your unsold listings that still populate for you well over a year later...
Folks I truly hope you are seeing through this... this... whatever it is...
reallynicestamps
·1 year ago$35 Items with 1 day shipping netting $3500(netting, not grossing mind you) a month
Seriously?
Us retired folk can spend 12-14 hours on the computer without any concerns. More if someone else is cooking.
Making 200 sales a month (if profit is 50 % of costs) is less than seven sales a day.
Not difficult.
I'm only shocked by sellers who make fifty or more sales daily and have no staff.
isaiah53-57
·1 year agoThis HAS to be a joke right?...
With the dismal sell through rate on this site, in order to sell 7 items a day, you'll need to list at least 25 items and thats for in demand items...
And the pulling sentences out of context strategy that is so popular here to make nonexistent points? ridiculous...
In order to list 25 fragile glass items a day that can generate any type of real profit so you can sell 7 of them and make the profit the poster is alluding to, you'll need to source those same items on a daily basis at thrifts or garage sales and get **bleep** lucky(no not **bleep** lucky, IMPOSSIBLY lucky) in finding enough valuable items to pull this stunt off...
You'll also need to clean those items, take pictures, create listings, PACK AND SHIP 7 fragile items 7 Days a week - How the he// are you gonna spend 12-14 hours a day on the computer when you have to do all that, in a "relaxed way" mind you, and still eat and sleep REGARDLESS of whether you have someone cooking for you? Unbelievable...
We are also talking about a poster who swears his unsold listings stay in the unsold listings list a year later...
And a poster who brags about being the recipient of a retirement program that was axed 50 years ago and had to work hard to get all the posts that mentioned it deleted... whatever...
gurlcat
·1 year agoWhy do you so obsessively persist with these lies about fbusoni? Do you think everyone just takes your word for it that he deleted the posts where he talked about the CSRS retirement fund? I just found two (quite easily!) where he was specifically talking to you about it.
This one from July of last year (message #46)
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Not-making-any-money/td-p/34575278/page/3
This one from November (message #103)
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/NO-SALES-EVERY-MONTH-I-GET-6-9-DAYS-OF-NO-SALES-IN-A-ROW/td-p/34789248/page/6
And note, he specifically SAID THE PROGRAM WAS PHASED OUT AFTER HE WAS ALREADY ENROLLED IN IT.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoThe Wham-O Hula Hoop fad of 1958 didn't last forever (about 3 years of big time sales then sales dribbled
Nehru jackets, collarless sport jackets and corduroy jackets and big fat ties (4" wide) barely got off the ground in the late 60s/ very early 70s.
This '44 model experienced all these fads and fashion statements. Guess the vintage stuff might bring a pretty penny to the dwindling nostalgic crowd or movie makers in Cali.
Sales activity goes up and down like a good Duncan yo-yo never consistent, some just fade away - time changes every thing - if a seller isn't changing with the times they fade away too - Sears Roebuck & Co is proof positive - they died the death of a ragged doll at the end.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoWith 25 FB left over four years, and no listings, I'm not surprised that a month would pass without a sale.
I have one account with about 100 listings (for reasons) and get about four sales a year on it.
mam98031
·1 year agoCompetition ON THIS SITE.
18+ million sellers and between 1.5 to 2 BILLION listings. So much competition it affects most of us.
Not like the good old days with far fewer sellers or active listings.
wbitems
·1 year agoHi Treasuresnewandvintage,
I am so sorry to hear about September. It has been not as busy as many of us would have hoped as well. I did try to go to your store and it looks like you took a Sabbatical. Hopefully you come back some day!
Happy Holidays!
-WB
goddess_venus_boutique
·1 year agoLockstep, fascism, globalists, crooked politicians, foreign sellers who have low prices and ship for free, no tariffs due to loophole, and A.I. utilized as a weapon against small U.S. businesses AND customers while maximizing ever-increasing profit, greed, Agenda 21, Agenda 30, Agenda 50, loyal customers who "died suddenly." My sales are SUDDENLY DEAD too.....and people just keep buying cheap.
goddess_venus_boutique
·1 year agoWhen I think of something helpful, I will post it.
gamersbaystore
·1 year agoThis platform is not what it once was. ebay is clearly losing to its competitors, especially Amazon and Mercari. Its not all ebay's fault either, the economy isn't so great, even Amazon has resulted to mass layoffs, and retailers are going broke left and right. but ebay made some terrible mistakes along the way that haven't helped either.
I shut my store down here a couple of days ago and started moving all my inventory over to Mercari. My traffic there is easily 5X what my traffic here was. Sales there are like 3 to 1 vs. ebay for the same products.
I couldn't make a profit on ebay anymore given all their ridiculous fees. Even when I did get sales here ebay was the only one making money.
Ebay just takes and takes, gives nothing in return to their sellers. They just enable crooked buyers, reward fraud, and sellers are getting tired of it. The last scammer that ripped me off here is still buying and selling here many months later, this is despite an ebay rep stating they had a quote "laundry list of fraud complaints against them and were currently under investigation."
People are still buying, just not on ebay.
sakic92710
·1 year agoAfter more than 20 years on eBay I drove into a ditch with my sales. It's been 3 years since I've seen any success here. It took me 2 years before telling myself I need to settle with the realization that I have to focus my sales on other sites; especially Marketplace. FBM isn't booming but it keeps me going --- at times. Online sales in Sept. were worse than July/Aug. That was unexpected. TOO MUCH to sell & not in a position to give up entirely on any venue. Best of luck to all! 🙂
johnrj1226
·1 year agoYou must have a different eBay account you are selling on as I see no items for sale on this account or any items sold in the last 90 days. Hint: Can't sell out of an empty bag. "What say you???"
namebrand
·1 year agoI've had an ebay account since literally day 1
Ebay champions greed and clueless morons fresh out of marketing school screwing around with everything. The outrageous fees are the frosting on the turd cake that is now ebay. Try and get help from ebay? Forget it!
I put myself through collge in the 1990's by trading/selling on ebay and a part-time job. Ebay was fast, simple and smooth. Fees were fair and if you filter out the scamming buyers it worked great.
I absoltely DETEST EBAY now. I despise having to sell on ebay but it is the most effective means for me at the moment.
asset_liquidators
·1 year agoThis is my worst year (on eBay) ever. On pace for less than 50% of my yearly average. Of the other three sites I use, two are the same and one is up.
While covid was a boon for most online sellers it was not for me do to so many businesses not being open. Ironically, during that time my local sales went through the roof. (never could quite figure that one out).
Edit: That should have read "one is the same and two are up".
sfau
·1 year agoWhat are you selling and how many items do you have listed?
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoLike many retail businesses Ebay seller's business differs by what they sell and who they sell to.
Many is the business which found itself dramatically impacted by the opening of a Walmart in their town. And many other businesses could yawn when asked about the impact of the coming of Walmart.
The time has come for many Ebay sellers to decide what they can do to allow their business to survive. Some will need new types of merchandise, some will need a new venue, and some need to close before they lose all they earned before.
It is a tough decision, but I have made it for some of my businesses which had had a great run but were never going to see enough profit to justify their continuation. I pulled the plug early and did not lose what my more stubborn competitors lost when trying to beat a dead horse.
I have always changed my merchandise to reflect changing buyer behavior, and left Ebay for quite a few years for a more active marketplace.
I have been back here since the end of the pandemic because there is no better marketplace for antiques, collectibles and related products. There are no accommodations for the needs of these markets at Amazon or Walmart, and policies which make it impossible to offer our products.
In the "it never rains but it pours department" (sorry Florida and Tennessee) buyer tastes and pocketbooks are being affected.
I have adapted my offerings to what is easiest to fulfill, have adequate inventory without needing to desperately seek more, and can control some aspects of my sales. Listing more still means selling more, and I have more to list.
I have not yet seen a money losing month on Ebay, even when my sales are off. It will be a long time before I see a money losing month.
I am not getting rich selling on Ebay, but I am already wealthy. That comes with having worked to earn for a lot of years and not spending it all.
The daily change in the value of my investments often exceeds the whole of a year's Ebay revenue for me.
If Ebay does not get you an adequate return on your invested capital, find a way to get a better return,
There is some shame in losing money when you fail to know you are and delay acting. There is no shame in pulling the plug.
grand-and-glorious-purpose
·1 year agoIf you have been selling for at least 4 years and you haven't figured out how to source and sell then ebay might not have been a good fit.
selsa84
·1 year agoI'd give a lil while before stopping. eBay has been nonstop changing the entire site around which ALWAYS wreaks havoc on some sellers depending on the server you're on. Today is the first day in 15 years that I've only sent one offer, and that one offer didn't even go thru, went to blank screen again. Just wish they'd leave it alone till after Q4.
stephenmorgan
·1 year agoHeck, I would be happy with one sell a week.
The last six sales I have had, 4 requested a immediate cancellation after they paid.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoI'm flabbergasted that anyone asks "what happened" in the face of 26 years of rapid etailing evolution. Hopefully, the question was rhetorical. The answer may lie in not having changed up one's product selection for all that time. Agree with @inhawaii that that might be a good next step.
inhawaii
·1 year agoIf you went a month without selling anything, you definitely have to re-think what it is you are selling.
redlinear
·1 year agoSeems with the search function leaning more and more toward Browsing instead of Finding...
Along with tons more competition.
Along with phone shopping.
Most sellers are going to have to diversify in order make more than spare change.
No more specializing in one thing.
chariot_badges
·1 year agoSo, for the last four years you just stood there and watched it ... slowly .... die?
Sounds cruel.
ckimodog
·1 year ago@treasuresnewandvintage
You're not the only one experiencing slow sales. Many are. Hang in there.
gurlcat
·1 year agoCompetition. Tons of people over the years realizing they could sell their old stuff here. And not just here but other sites where you can sell your old stuff.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoCompetition. Tons of people over the years realizing they could sell their old stuff here. And not just here but other sites where you can sell your old stuff.
I would tend to agree that sales are not really declining but diversifying across multiple venues and platforms. Every indication from market research points to a constant rise in the use of the ecommerce marketplace. The biggest change is eBay is no longer has the quasi monopoly that they once had. They have also been a bit slow about adapting and changing with the market place and have been primarily focused on the buyers and ignoring seller needs and/or wants.
At one time eBay commanded about 90% of my sales by volume that is down to a little less than 20% these days.
dirk12955
·1 year agoI've been selling on ebay for almost 25 years. It's been an adjustment to
accept that it is no longer 2020-2021 and Covid brought uncounted new buyers (And sellers)
to buy and sell on this site.
While I lay awake at night wishing my sales weren't down almost 50% from 2020-2021-2022
it's a simple fact that they are and I have to suck it up. On the other hand, 2023 and 2024
are going to be similar to 2019 before the Covid thing happened.
Trends evolve. Sellers have to adjust to whatever the trend is today.
I'm always sorry to see a good, long time seller leave.
gurlcat
·1 year agoBeing an eBay seller made the surreality of the pandemic even weirder to me, in a sort of 'survivor's guilt' kind of way. I was actually still working a part-time jobby-job until July of 2021, when I decided I would rather stay home, stop risking exposure so much, and focus all my effort on eBay instead. Very quickly I was high stepping and feeling like a queen, making much higher income than I had been making from both sources combined. Everywhere I looked people were suffering, but here I was feeling more secure and happy than I had in many years. For a long time I thought it was just my due reward because I was fully devoted to my sales and customers; it didn't occur to me that the pandemic was what brought them to me, this whole new base of bored people who couldn't go to brick and mortar shops anymore.
I get it now, though. Because it's over. 🤣
chariot_badges
·1 year agoLate last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Big Yellow Taxi, by Joni Mitchell
chariot_badges
·1 year agoA "good" seller would just watch his business burn to the ground over four years?
dirk12955
·1 year agoChariot. Good or bad sellers all have the same issues to deal with. There are some situations
that a seller can't control.
Over the last 40+ years of being in business for myself, I've had good times, Great times, and
horrible times profit wise.
Many sellers (Good or bad) find themselves on a downturn and the only thing
that they can think of, "How the Hell did this happen?" Some focus on the
outside influences that hurt sales and stagnate. Some adapt and adjust
and struggle to find a way to profit.
This thread reminds me of all those posters that have a garage or attic full of Beanie Babies
they invested the kids college money on 20-25 years ago and now want to cash in. Some
troubles are self inflicted and some are totally unearned.
"Burn to the ground over 4 years?" Sometimes that's all you can do.
chariot_badges
·1 year agoIt wouldn't take me that long. I don't believe in 'slow cooking'.
I had a B&M once that I ended up putting online. Way back when Al Gore first invented the internet.
Used books.
In the beginning Amazon bought books FROM US. We were bigger.
Yea, I've told people that before and they didn't believe me, but I could prove it if needed.
I sold it right after 9/11.
B&M. URL. Database. Inventory, store cat and employees. A turn key operation.
I saw the handwriting on the wall. The business was doomed without a major overhaul.
The guy I sold it to said he was going to do that, and he didn't.
The business does not exist any more.
GentlyUsedBooks dot com is no more.
HE watched it slide away ... I didn't.
I won't.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoI've been selling on ebay for almost 25 years. It's been an adjustment to
accept that it is no longer 2020-2021 and Covid brought uncounted new buyers (And sellers)
to buy and sell on this site.
While I lay awake at night wishing my sales weren't down almost 50% from 2020-2021-2022
it's a simple fact that they are and I have to suck it up. On the other hand, 2023 and 2024
are going to be similar to 2019 before the Covid thing happened.
Trends evolve. Sellers have to adjust to whatever the trend is today.
I'm always sorry to see a good, long time seller leave.
While my sales on eBay are off considerably from what they were several years ago from an aggregate perspective my sales are up considerably from a few years ago. Most of that is probably due to diversification across multiple platforms and venues.
I am fortunate that I am in a large metropolitan area. The majority of my sales these days are from local forums and venues which offer multiple advantages for both the buyer and the seller. From a seller perspective I can lower my price since I am not paying 13.25% in fees, I am operating in a lower risk environment with regards to scams and bogus returns, I don't have to worry (in most cases) about shipping damage, lost packages or late deliveries. I also don't have to worry about the constantly growing list of eBay prohibited items and the VERO issues.
From the buyers perspective they can purchase the item at a lower cost, they don't have to pay for shipping and they can inspect the item before they actually take possession. Like me they don't have to worry about logistical problems so it works out to be a win-win situation for both of us.
I also use a number of other online venues that tend not to have the buyer base that eBay has but the buyers that are on those sites are focused on a specific item category such as coins, Comics, Cards........ I also run some items through local auction houses that will handle items that are somewhat difficult to move elsewhere like firearms, ammunition and other weapons and military items.
dirk12955
·1 year agoThere are ways to thrive. You found some that work for you. The days of listing an item
and having it sell immediately are long in the past. It might happen occasionally
but when I list a stamp, And 30 other sellers are trying to sell the same stamp, something
has to give.
Over the years I've tried several venues other than ebay. Partly to expand and other
times to wean myself from ebay. I always come back to ebay and none of the other venues
ever worked out for me.
I'm not wild about doing face to face transactions. I did it for years with 2 different B & M
stores and too many collectible shows to count.
kabilab
·1 year agoDb, you have not "hit the nail on its head," you have "driven the spike with a sledge hammer." My compliments on your adaptability and success. For without the first, there would not be a second.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoI've been selling on ebay for almost 25 years. It's been an adjustment to
accept that it is no longer 2020-2021 and Covid brought uncounted new buyers (And sellers)
to buy and sell on this site.
While I lay awake at night wishing my sales weren't down almost 50% from 2020-2021-2022
it's a simple fact that they are and I have to suck it up. On the other hand, 2023 and 2024
are going to be similar to 2019 before the Covid thing happened.
Trends evolve. Sellers have to adjust to whatever the trend is today.
I'm always sorry to see a good, long time seller leave.
I have not left eBay but it no longer is my top selling site as far as moving merchandise. As other venues and platforms began to stand up and buyers began to gravitate towards those sites as a seller I did also some by choice some because eBay pretty much forced me in that direction. I still find eBay to be a viable selling platform.
dirk12955
·1 year agodbfols166mt
Your experience mirrors mine regarding eBay sales 2019-2024
My sales were good in 2019
My sales were thru the roof 2020-2021-2022
2023 and most likely 2024 are back to 2019 levels
Hard to accept. Hard to adjust. Hard to adapt.
meme6253
·1 year agoWe should all band together & form our own site, & call it the sell your old stuff site!, Yeah
inhawaii
·1 year agostuffnobodywillbuyonebay.com
sakic92710
·1 year agoGreatStuffNoOneOneBayHasTheGoodSenseToBuy.com 🤣