Hard to understand
Summary: La discusión comenzó con dadsbeermoney planteando un tema que parece ser "difícil de entender". tarotfindsandmore respondió inicialmente, seguido por una serie de interacciones entre varios participantes, incluyendo dadsbeermoney, unemployed_husky, y sakic92710. Aunque hay múltiples respuestas de diferentes autores, es evidente que el contenido específico de las interacciones no fue compartido, dejando en ambigüedad los detalles exactos del debate. A lo largo del intercambio, algunos participantes parecen haber intentado profundizar en el tema o dar respuestas, como lo sugieren las múltiples respuestas y las interacciones posteriores, pero el objetivo y la conclusión de la discusión no quedan claros debido a la falta de contenido detallado en las publicaciones.
I sell pocket knives. I can list a pocket knife that is close or identical to a high volume seller and they will get lots of good bids and I lose money. I have even copied their listing style and verbiage and I still get way fewer bids. This has really started happening more and more in the last year or so. When I first started years ago I don't think this really ever happened.
I mean if buyers are searching for something, then all of those items that fit the description should come up, but I cant see that its happening that way. I've tried the promotions and all it does is insure I loose more money!
Ebay needs a serious competitor, I mean the money is there obviously.
kibble-net
·4 months agoGosh golly, someone should tell Jeff Bezos about this business idea.
luckythewinner
·4 months agoYou are the one who sets the starting price for your auctions. Top stop losing money, stop setting a starting price that loses money.
bennotbill
·4 months agoUltimately I think this sort of thing reflects badly on ebay's own BBE.
I've had this happen a few times. Big seller number of items described as well worn. My item very good condition at three quarters of the big sellers price. They sell a couple a day while mine takes weeks to sell.
It has to happen that sometimes the buyer or more likely a friend will want one so they google it and buy one like mine. And they will say to their friend why did you buy that expensive battered junk when you could have had a cheaper better one like this.
unemployed_husky
·4 months agoeBay sold the site to AI data brokers. The whole thing is AI everything. You are not selling anything because you are not a name brand store with a business license. That's all there is. The algorithm pushes private sellers lower down because ebay does not want those sellers on the site. Their entire goal is to be a amazon competitor, they do not get that from individual sellers. They want mass market 500 sales per hour companies to only be the ones making money, because eBay makes more money.
fm2000
·4 months agoI looked at the knife set you have currently listed. Buy It Now with offers, price is similar to similar (though not identical) sets, yours is currently the cheapest, all on point. I wouldn't include anything in the photo that is not included with the item. Might want to be more specific with your item condition description, don't just say it is in "great condition", explain why it is; I'd point out lack of browning on the knife, lack of age/foxing spots on the paperwork, that is comes with all paperwork and not missing anything, if the case still opens and closes cleanly or does it stick or creek when opened etc. Think about the kind of details knife collectors would be concerned about and address them in the description. I know that may go against the "AI slop" no-one-reads-descriptions-anyway-who-cares trend your bigger competitors are using, but for collectors those details matter. It helps you stand out, and as a small seller you need every single advantage.
Your listing is a nice background, but you run the risk of an INAD from someone... let's just say not paying attention. If you run auctions, don't. Just put it up Buy It Now with offers. Auctions are good for some items, but for most items it is a good way to lose money.
Beyond any improvement in your listings and offering the best price, all you can really do is promote. Without editorializing... it is what it is. Your listings may be buried otherwise. Believe me, I have the same problem, I get it..
tobaccocardyahoo
·4 months agoThe Best Match Search is an attempt to provide results most likely to make a sale.
Your high volume competitors are more likely to make a sale than you are, in the opinion of the algorithm, it is not the only factor that benefits them, but it is a big one.
Some weeks, I run a lot of auctions which generate sales. during those weeks, I also see an increase in sales of my fixed price listings. I tend to batch my auctions together with no auctions some weeks. It helps my sales results overall. Can I prove it works, only to myself.
nyr134
·4 months agoYou have 20 followers. Perhaps your high-volume competitors have nurtured their customer base for years and they have many more followers. Those satisfied buyers may limit their buying habits to just occasionally checking what their saved sellers are offering and looking no further than that for pocket knives.
reallynicestamps
·4 months agoBTW - when an item is produced as a 'collectible' the manufacturer will produce as many as they can sell. The market is then saturated and there is no more market.
dadsbeermoney
OP4 months agoin the collector knife world, the production quantity is usually a known number
reallynicestamps
·4 months ago@dadsbeermoney
Production numbers are usually private information.
But when sales fall off all these collectibles manufacturers stop producing.
The only fairly reliable numbers are perhaps lithographic prints where the print is numbered as it comes off the stone. And production stops when quality falls.
reallynicestamps
·4 months agoand they will get lots of good bids
Are you using Auctions? Don't. Most sellers are using Fixed Price listings which buyers strongly prefer.
and I lose money.
You are setting your opening bid too low.
Set it where you will at least break even, after fees etc, and you cannot lose money.
When I first started years ago
Times change, have you?
then all of those items that fit the description should come up
They don't .
Nor are you promised that they will.
With literal billions of listings, and thousands in your category, eBay will rotate visibility through different markets. Everything is up... somewhere.
But if something sells in Idaho, that seller's listings will get a boost in Idaho.
If your purple doodewhacker sells, all your doodewhackers will get a boost.
Sales beget sales.
I've tried the promotions
That's a start.
I've done PL (standard and at the lowest fee of 2%). I found it was increasing Views and Sales, until it didn't.
Do you also use Best Offer?
I use Best Offer with set Accept/Reject parameters and it works well enough, but most items sell at full asking.
Do you also use targetted Best Offer?
I use targetted Best Offer and find it has a small effect.
and all it does is insure I loose more money!
Because you are setting your asking price too low to begin with.
And then not adjusting the asking price to allow for the higher fees that promotions pay to eBay.
As a side note-- are you aware of "aspirational marketing"?
That means describing your product, which may be identical to other products being offered, in ways that make the buyer more trendy, more intelligent, more wealthy, more classy,or more discerning.
Pictures, titles, and descriptions are an important part of that.
However.
The point of aspirational marketing is that price is much less important than many sellers, especially those who are selling out of need, may think.
The buyer is not thinking "what is the price?" They are thinking "How will this make my life better?" "Will this impress my friends?" and to some extent "How does buying from this well known seller make me feel more confident in my purchase?"
christworks
·4 months agoMany sellers wrongly believe that is how the algorithm works. That's just not the case. eBay does not hide it either. They make clear the following in their User Agreement:
Pay close attention to that blue box. That section is telling you that eBay, regardless of how the buyer searches, may not see your listing. The section I've highlighted in red gives you some (but not all) of the variables eBay's algorithm looks at. It is not in eBay's business interest to overwhelm buyers, especailly with listings that don't match a buyer's previous buying history.
Let's take return policies as an example. It isn't directly listed as a variable, but it is wrapped up in the "terms of service" variable. eBay has a tremendous amount of data on buyers — not just from eBay, but from what else they do on the internet, their searches, etc. If Buyer A only buys things that have a good return policy, it would not be in eBay's interest to present that buyer with your listing. Why would they? That's a wasted opportunity for eBay to get a sale. That's right, I said for eBay to get a sale. Only a small part of eBay's business model is to ensure you get a sale. They need you to have enough sales that you stay on the platform and keep feeding the beast, but if you are a mere casual seller who sells an item here and there, does not accept returns, and has a 3-business-day handling time (as you do), they are less likely to have your items come up organically in search. There are ways around that, mainly by selling highly in-demand items so that you are not depending on the algorithm.
You cannot compare how things were back when you started. This is 2026. Things change. You either adapt or you get crushed. It looks like the latter is what is happening to you. If you want things to change, you need to change. Your expectations need to change. Trying to be a knock-off of a successful seller by copying some text isn't going to turn things around for you.
Look at your competitors. See if they accept returns. If they do, then you did not copy your competitors' listings. You lifted some fluff text, which does not convert shoppers into buyers. Accident or not, cancelling that order does not help you.
meme6253
·4 months agoThe conditions are a hard pill to swallow & leaves you guessing on how to exactly list & or promote your product, Frustrating.
dadsbeermoney
OP4 months agoyou don't understand. logically if there is an item that fits a description it should show up when a buyer searches for it, period. if ebay is doing all of this weird unnecessary stuff then they are doing a disservice to both buyer and seller. furthermore its not my intention to "knock-off" other sellers it was a test. also, usually only people who know and collect knives buy the ones that I list, all they really need is a good price, good description and photos, they don't need all the extra whistles and bells, these are not dumpster or flea market finds that you have to make look like they are something special.
participatrophy
·4 months agoYep. Hit the nail on the head. Trouble is having a functional search and having promoted listings are mutually exclusive, and...well I'll keep the rest of that thought to myself.
christworks
·4 months agoRespectfully, I do understand. I can read eBay's very words and they make sense to me. They have their reasons why they operate the way they do. You can continue moan and groan, but me? I keep moving forward, making sales, and making plenty of money - because I do understand and I don't complain.
sakic92710
·4 months agoSelling on eBay if completely inconsistent. I've seen items sell for $35 while someone else has theirs listed for $8.00 & it isn't selling. Prices are all over the place. If I have something & see there was only 1 other & it sold for $100, I'm lucky to get $50. I had an item & saw someone else's sell for $42 with bids. I posted mine for $45 or best offer. I only got 1 offer & it was for $27. I expected more offers since the $42 auction had 7-8 bidders. Nothing! 2 years later, it sold on eBay for a lousy $9.99 in auction - 1 bid. There is no rhyme or reason to how buyers behave. Ohhh......and BTW, that item was refunded because he did not receive it in time. 2 days later, tracking showed it arrived, so he got it for free. On top of that, he left me a negative. You wonder why some leave the site. lol
tarotfindsandmore
·4 months agoNo offense, but your shipping to the U.S. is at least part of what is wrecking your sales. It's obviously not your fault, but it's a massive pain in the backside to buy anything from Canada at the moment. The cost of shipping coupled with the totally erratic postal service has put a lot of U.S. buyers off.
grann-4629
·4 months agoThe cost of shipping coupled with the totally erratic postal service has put a lot of U.S. buyers off.
Exactly the same situation for Canadians trying to buy items from US sellers, plus we have to deal with the nebulous 'import fees may apply' note on all US listings. That graft might result in a huge extra cost and the sellers I have contacted have no idea of what, or if, it might cost.
So I buy from Canadians only and I assume the buyers you are referring to buy from US sellers only. Both of our postal services are erratic, strike prone, and in huge amounts of debt.
Perhaps a plot to make us buy stuff from our own countrymen only?
😎 <~~~~~~ !
sakic92710
·4 months agoI hear you! I would like to be able to sell items that are small enough to slip into a greeting card & send it first class mail with $3.00 S/H. However, the prices would be low & not worth the time. Part of the blame falls on the criminal in the W.H. who totally destroyed cross border shipping.
unemployed_husky
·4 months agoThere are 41.5 million people in Canada. Another country's president has nothing to do with your lack of sales. Look at your own president.
sakic92710
·4 months agoLOL Right! Causing it to be more difficult to mail items to the US & it costing more has nothing to do with the tariffs & the removal of the $800 exemption. What world are you living in? BTW - we don't have a president. He is called a Prime Minister.
grann-4629
·4 months agoYou wonder why some leave the site.
I wonder why some stay 😎
tarotfindsandmore
·4 months agoIf you're not promoting and your competitors are, your items are probably not being seen. Add to that, the fact that your "high volume" competitors have proven track records with larger stores, more variety, more activity on their accounts, and a significantly larger customer base...and there's your answer.
Like everything in life, you have to put in the work. Just showing up isn't going to allow you to beat your competition.
dadsbeermoney
OP4 months agoI guarantee you my competitors aren't paying another 15% in promotion fees.
unemployed_husky
·4 months agoYes let's all waste money spending $7 per listing promoting a $3 knife. IDK what it is about eBay forums being full of the most boot licking entitled people that ever existed that clearly never sell anything and are only here to get comment karma. Just as bad as reddit.