More ebay fees.
Summary: calistuff expressed concerns about low sales on eBay and the rising costs associated with promotions. ryry-jj mentioned increased competition and exposure costs, while caldreamer noted potential drawbacks of raising prices to cover promotion fees. tobaccocardyahoo and mam98031 suggested focusing on successful categories and seasonal trends. Some participants like inhawaii and hartungcards questioned the utility of contacting eBay for sales issues, while others, such as jundedh2012, pointed to shipping costs as a significant factor. Overall, there's a discussion about balancing promotion costs with maintaining competitive pricing and potential sales strategies.
Hi Everyone, is it just me or sales are low for everyone this last 2 months? I contacted ebay about the super low sales that my store is having, they said that yes, it is usually the slowest time of the year. They suggested promoting my store and listing for extra fees with it can you up to 13% more. I feel like ebay is getting more and more expensive to sell which in a way is more money to pay for the buyer as I have to pass the some of down the fees to them:(. What to you think?
fm2000
·1 month agoBased on the items you are selling, you are probably going to have to promote for your items to be seen. Most of your items are in supersaturated categories, or are obscure. You may not have to promote 13% but you will probably need some promotion to get them seen, and therefore sold. I won't editorialize one way or the other, I will just say sometimes you have to promote, it just is what it is.
Calling eBay about slow sales is a waste of time. I don't mean that in a rude or snarky sense, just in a purely objective one. The CSRs literally can't do anything about slow sales and their bosses demand they get people off the phone as soon as possible, they will read a script and hope you hang up quickly. It is just screaming into the void.
hartungcards
·1 month agoYou lost me at, "I contacted ebay about the super low sales that my store is having."
shado-x
·1 month agoIf the USPS lowers their rates, you will get more sales.
jundedh2012
·1 month agoits been slow for months at this point, some weeks i sale 5 things, some i sell nothing. shipping has gotten to be too much and current events are not helping
luckythewinner
·1 month ago · EditedIt is not just you, but it is not everyone either. Your question contains a logical error called a "false dilemna" - you only offered two options when there were more than two options available.
Increased shipping costs have been the pimary driver of my increased costs. This is true on all my selling venues, not just eBay.
tools*
·1 month agoWhen fewer people shop on eBay because there are fewer interesting things offered, because there are fewer buyers, there tend to be fewer sales.
lb23cavaliersmvp
·1 month agoIt looks like you've sold 13 items in the last 6 months and a number of the items you are selling can be found at 100s of retail stores. The answer isn't PL or complaining about fees but selling more unique items.
inhawaii
·1 month agoYou contacted ebay about your slow sales?
That is ridiculous.
Should a business owner contact their landlord when their sales are slow?
mam98031
·1 month agoPromoted listings is a personal choice for each seller to make for themselves. Each seller also decides for themselves what additional percentage of selling fees they are willing to pay for a sale. So this is completely within the seller's control.
Summer sales for me have always been weak. Now we are coming out of that and for me, about mid September things start picking up thankfully. If you sell stuff that people are interested in for Holiday gifts, the Holiday season usually starts in early October.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 month ago · EditedYou have a diverse mix of merchandise, some of which would be among those which it is necessary to promote.
Where the number of competitors is huge, the cost of promotion may result in sales, but the net profit might be disappointing. It should be a consideration before you buy these items for inventory, and it could be part of an exit strategy from some types of offerings.
Ebay is getting more expensive to sell items which are available in numbers which exceed the demand for them, so is every other internet marketplace.
You should take this opportunity to consider reducing the categories you sell in and focus on those which you have experienced selling success in and those which require minimal levels of promotion.
caldreamer
·1 month agoI think if you are selling "exact same item" and 100s of other vendors then it is a good idea to promote items.
Of course, EBAY would love you to promote at 13% and make them rich. Also, the idea of raising your prices to cover "promotion fees" can backfire because if your prices too high customers won't purchase your items.
ryry-jj
·1 month agoYa, as competition increases or more exposer for your items is needed, your cost of doing business can easily go up.