Individual veteran sellers
Summary: The discussion revolves around veteran sellers sharing their experiences with ongoing platform changes and their impact on sales and visibility. sakic92710 questions whether these changes make established sellers feel like newcomers. Some participants agree, feeling the constant algorithm changes can be challenging, while others, like dhbookds and lakefor94, highlight the importance of adaptability. sin-n-dex emphasizes keeping informed and communicating effectively to manage changes, while mam98031 and yeswayrecords mention that understanding sales cycles and maintaining perspective are crucial in navigating these challenges.
Do some individual veteran sellers have a sense as if they have been put in the position of feeling like new sellers due to the endless changes? Their established stores are actively lacking sales & visibility as if they are new on the scene? Even if they do "pay to play" their chances of better success is a never-ending struggle?
chapeau-noir
·2 weeks agoDespite being in an over-saturated category for years I've never felt that way. I've felt frustrated at times, but that goes with the territory.
yeswayrecords
·2 weeks agoHonestly, for us it is all about perspective and tempering expectations.
We have adapted to the changes ebay has made over the years, and are still selling well.
We really benefitted during the pandemic when many brick-and-mortar stores were closed - sales increased dramatically. Then when everything opened up again and the competition returned, we resumed selling consistently at the level we did before.
Consistency has certainly been a benefit of selling on ebay. As it stands, there is no where else a seller will get the kind of global exposure for their resell items like on ebay.
mam98031
·2 weeks agoI don't feel that way. I don't feel Ebay is making changes any faster than they have for the past decade or so. They have been fast and furious with changes for a long time. I guess I've just gotten use to it.
I don't use any of the pay to play functions, never have. For me, summer months have always been slow since I started selling decades ago. It is the same every year. Typically for me August is the worse month of the year for me. Things start picking back up by about mid September and continue upwards. January and February being my best months of the year for sales. This has held true all but one year that I've been selling. And one time August was a really good month. I always hope that will happen again, but so far no repeats darn it.
IMHO there are so many sellers now using Promoted Listings, it is really diluted. Ebay likely has more sellers using the program than they can rotate to the top of any search in an amount of time I would like as a seller. Last time I did a Google inquiry about half of all listings on Ebay use Promoted Listings. That is over 1.3 BILLION listings. That is a lot of listing to get preferred treatment. Its a head scratcher for sure.
tsme35
·2 weeks agoI feel like a old horse ready for pasture, getting too old for this ?##? lol. As much as I hate the constant change, forget trying a set business plan, when you figure out a challenge, almost a feeling of joy. After 19 yrs, I have a year before I can retire, even then I'll still sell but for extra play money if the USPS doesn't price themself out
lakefor94
·2 weeks ago@sakic92710 , most everything on this planet is continuing to change. Always has, always will.
Adapt to the changes, or drown in them.
Adaptation is not that complicated when one is bent on success, every day. It becomes second nature and is ingrained.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 weeks agoNope.
I am always analyzing and changing. Far more than is needed.
Success is what you define it to be. I have modest goals, and can meet them most of the time.
The only struggle is when you are forced to do business in a way which is not the way you do business. My business practices are consistent with customer service at a level which is only exceeded by Costco. No matter what my listings say.
sin-n-dex
·2 weeks agoNo, I've been navigating the changes and researching stuff that matters to my business. I send almost daily reports to the shop owner (of the B&M store) to tell him about things like USPS increases, Rural surcharges, high shipping costs to Hawaii, phasing out of tiered shipping under 1 pound, new or changed eBay fees, SNADS, INRs, great sales with good profits, regular customer activities, and the deposit for the payout.
I might spend 30-60 minutes a day reading stuff and writing these emails. If all is good with him, it's one way communication, if something needs to be done, I get a reply back very quickly with instructions on what to do. It's an important part of the business to discuss changes on eBay and with shipping with the shop owner so he can keep tracking of how well (or how poorly) we are doing from week to week.
Plus in addition to all these reports, I need to include what I'm planning to do to fix problems or how I handled situations. And I need to also come up with ideas for improvement (maybe things I'm thinking of but haven't thought through). TBH, chatting about the inside details of selling here is a fun part of the job.
C.
squinkercat59
·2 weeks agoNo, not really. I've learned to roll with the punches. I don't have common merchandise in over-saturated categories, so my sales are good relative to the time I put into it.
broto_64
·2 weeks ago · EditedAll the time, but I don't so much feel "new" than I feel like I'm being punished.
mianoak
·2 weeks agoMany experienced sellers seem to feel the same. Constant algorithm changes can make even established stores feel like they're starting over.
dhbookds
·2 weeks agoNo.......been here since 2004........changes have always happened and will continue. Sales go up and down....a fact in retail...... Work of any kind is a struggle at times.......
44012
·2 weeks agoYes.