Sleepless on Ebay ( Maybe it's Time To Move On ?? ) Calling all Vet's in reselling !!
I have three Ebay store's and all of them not selling item's. I have been trying to figure out why everyone else is making sale's but me?. I have a variety of item a cross three store's. I use only sold item listings with the sold similar option. I share my discounted shipping from Ebay with my buyer's. I use calculated shipping with sale's 15% off created on Ebay. I promote all my listings at 6% all I can really afford. I'm a top rated seller with great feed back. I have over 10 pictures in every listing. I use a drop in text in the condition and use the AI to write the description's followed by a drop in text from the conditions area.(same one) My shipping is 30 day free return's with one day handling time. I pay for one large store and two 1,000 item store's. I'm telling you this because I'm desperate for help at this point. I have a family to feed and no time to waste chasing an unachievable goal. "Please", all of you veterans out there that have any advice to cure my situation or offer me option's I would greatly welcome it. My ship is sinking and I have no choice but to run for cover. Doe's Ebay restrict sale's a cross three store's ? Am I thinking too hard about this?? By the way I do have Best offer's on also ! Can we sell on other Ebay platforms around the world and ship from the U.S.A. ?
tarotfindsandmore
·1 year agoBig fan of the "end and sell similar" method of listing refreshment here! Just this past hour I had a small sale for an item that's been up for several months that I did this with earlier in the week.
You don't have to do them all at once. Sort your listings from oldest to newest on your dashboard, take the oldest fifty, end them. Then go to your ended listings, select them all and sell similar. You can easily see all fifty and quickly review your prices. If they look good, change the final digit from a 9 to a 5 (so 10.99 becomes 10.95 for example) to goose the algorithm with the "new" listing. If they don't look good, fix them. Then hit submit. Be sure to go back and delete the fifty ended listings when you're done (do not forget to do this, you can make a real mess of things if you do).
Tomorrow do another 50 or 100, then go from there. It will give you an opportunity to clean up things while simultaneously poking the infamous algorithm.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoWhat works for me is 'free' domestic shipping.
If you have a lot of items for sale...3 stores...it's time to sell some of these items.
As long as you make a profit...move the items to sell.
We all want what an item is worth...but that is not realistic here.
And...considering what you sell...I am hoping you have 'repeat buyers'....like just an example...grocery store has repeat buyers who return to the same store rather than other stores...why?
The base for 'repeat buyers' should be 25+ % for a good business plan.
Give some good deals...get buyers to return to your site(s).
This will make up for slow periods in selling.
You sell...make money...and you can buy more to sell.
You don't sell...you can't buy.
There will be times I wish I had the money to buy that stuff...but don't.
Sellers are more interested in shipping and getting the cost of shipping(to the penny) than selling an item.
Buyers love to see the words 'free shipping'.
I don't do 'best offer'...buyers want to buy it now...not 4 emails later.
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoI had free shipping on all of my items and my sale's were worse. Buyer are not stupid and already know that in order to have free shipping it just means to stick the shipping cost into the price of the item. When I stuck the shipping price inside of the price of the listing. It placed my items at the very bottom of the list due to the very high cost of the items. Thanks' but not going down this rabbit hole again with free shipping.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoUnless you sell in very saturated categories, promotions aren't necessary. I use them due to my trying to clearance out clothing and I don't have enough to stand out. If I sold almost anything else I wouldn't bother. You can do without them - your items will be shown anyway.
For what you sell, you're actually doing pretty well - just follow some of the suggestions upthread.
And please quit beating up on the apostrophes.
mr_lincoln
·1 year ago@cleanout-deals
You have 377 sales on this posting ID in the last 90 days ... I am not sure that qualifies for "everyone else is making sale's but me?"
tools*
·1 year agoThere are fourteen too many apostrophes in your post.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@cleanout-deals
My brain rejected the red blurb, and I clicked out immediately.
I think you'll do much better using bullet points for your disclaimers and instructions.
gloryglorygifts
·1 year agoPersonally, I do not like the red disclaimer in your listings. It makes me think that what I get will be different from what I ordered. I would remove that. I try and make my descriptions short and concise. People do not read the full descriptions anymore, but if they do happen to read it, they will see that red flagged description.
Ebay doesn't restrict sales across stores. In fact, you can link it to websites through GoDaddy and now it is linking listings to Facebook marketplace, so there is no worry there. I've sold across multiple marketplaces since I've been on here.
Here's hoping the tides turn! Good luck to you.
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoThank you Glory ! You sound like a wonderful person ðŸ‘💕
gloryglorygifts
·1 year agoThank you! I try.
caldreamer
·1 year agoDisclaimers in red text will scare off customers. That makes customers feel that if they have a problem you will not stand by your products.
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoThank you, I will be removing it ... ðŸ‘
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoSuggestion receive and noted. Thanks
ittybitnot
·1 year agoBy the way I do have Best offer's on also !
@cleanout-deals
Yes, you do. However, your settings require a buyer provide a payment source first in order to make that offer (aka auto-pay). This limits the payment options a buyer has (No Apple Pay, Google Pay, spendable funds, PayPal Credit, PayPal Pay in 4, some gift cards, etc. etc. and disallows invoicing/combining items for one shipping price. So long as you know how to deal with non-paying buyers appropriately, I would consider getting rid of these:
https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements
Buyer Rules:
*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they place a bid.
*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer.
Click submit or save.
Of course if you do not wish to allow multiple purchases from the same buyer, indeed keep them in place. You will get paid faster, if at all, but likely will earn less. I see that "screen" wanting a payment source up front, I just quit looking at the seller's items and move on to find one that does not require this. If times are tough, it is just something to consider.
Keep in mind also that if you SEND offers or ACCEPT a counter offer, these will all be immediate payment required and must be paid for separately. It sort of defeats the purpose for me when a seller sends me 5 offers with shipping a $6 each ($30 for shipping) for five pairs of earrings that could normally be combined into a 4 ounce package.
Good luck selling!
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoI don't completely understand this comment although I appreciate all the comments receive, but this one needs better explanation because ebay controls all of the payment methods and as a seller I have no control over the payments ebay receives. Ebay pays me after receiving and removing their funds I never receive payments directly from the customer. In this case the method that ebay receives their payments I have no control over .
luckythewinner
·1 year agoYour red "disclaimer" mixes two things that turn me off from listings - (1) denying responsibility for your pictures and description, and (2) playing the sympathy card about relying on eBay for your income.
Using AI for descriptions is a third thing that turns me off from listings.
I am not claiming I represent all buyers, just giving one person's POV.
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoSo you are saying to not be honest to my customer's ? Umm not sure about this answer 🤷â€â™‚ï¸
lawnmowerpartsstore2
·1 year agoStop using AI. I never buy from a seller using AI. As a buyer, a seller using AI tells me this is a seller that doesn't know what they are selling. Makes me very uncomfortable and i just move on to the next seller !!!!
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoConsider it gone ! Thanks'
pickapaper
·1 year agoStop using AI. It's flowery word salad that says nothing about the actual condition of the item you are selling and sometimes the info it writes is not accurate to what you are selling. Write your own descriptions and give specific details to that particular item which you are listing. And I, personally, consider it lazy to use AI and see if a seller is using it, I move on to another seller who doesn't use it.
That red paragraph is hard to read on my laptop; I can only imagine what it would be like on a phone. And most of us agree that buyers don't always read listings and they sure don't care whether you are trying to feed your family or not. They just want to buy an item and have it shipped to them promptly and in the condition as described.
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoI will not use it anymore... ðŸ‘Thanks' for the comment
dhbookds
·1 year agoYou have 2300 listings on this account and 375 solds in 90 days.......so, at least on this account, you are selling stuff.......I presume the other stores do sell also.....and with the obvious large # of listings, it's hard to "manage" them......Researching prices on that many is impossible. Thinking of myself in that position, I'd establish some sort of program to begin reducing prices in mass, especially on the older items, since it sounds as tho you are doing everything else you can. You seem to have plenty of inventory. Cut prices 5/10% the first month, more the 3rd, etc.....idea being to bring in cash flow, even if you may sell some eventually at below cost. I've always speculated that "churn" (selling alot) kicks up visibility......no way to prove that. You can bulk edit the prices by %. You could try sales, but that's a lot of effort with this many listings.......
Just a suggestion.
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoHello voice of reason ! Thanks' for your wonderful advice without scolding me like other's. I will try to reduce some, but can go too low or I will loose money. I'm not making much off the items now.
liawri-75
·1 year agoThe Resell space is crowded oversaturated. But I'm in the same boat, nothing selling on EB, but on other sites. Very very slow.
You should heed the suggestions here and get "store" advice.
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoI was going to try and cross list, Do you know a good cross listing program that is cheap ? Thanks'
klhmdg
·1 year ago@cleanout-deals -
None of the things you are doing guarantee sales.
Since you are needing to "feed your family" I have a couple suggestions. I suggest you stop sharing the shipping discount and then the extra pays for supplies and some eBay FVFs.
Stop using promoted listings. As a buyer I never even look at promoted listings. Just like the stuff at the grocery on the ends of the aisle, they are not always the best deal. I dont even look at them until after I have looked at items not "paying to play."
Stop with the AI. Write the description yourself.
AI is flowery and wordy and tells the buyer very little about your item.
Get rid of the big red block of text. It is off putting from a buyers standpoint.
Look at what others are charging for the same items and price yours accordingly.
I also think Best Offer means you dont know the price and are willing to sell at a loss.
I would only do Best Offer on items you want to get rid of cheap and everything else price it for the market.
Good luck!
liawri-75
·1 year agoStop using promoted listings. As a buyer I never even look at promoted listings.
^^ This!
fbusoni
·1 year ago@liawri-75
Yet by your own admission, you use and are disappointed in them.
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoIf I don't promote my listings Ebay wont show them, but on the last page of the search ! 🤷â€â™‚ï¸
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoBut I was told if I don't promote then Ebay won't show my items ! I'm confused now 🤷â€â™‚ï¸ðŸ˜ž
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoFrom a Ebay Mentor I was told if I don't promote my items ebay won't show them at all and if they do they will be on the last page. But you are saying that isn't the case at all ? I'm confused now ! 🤷â€â™‚ï¸ I was told Ebay is a pay to play platform ! Thanks' for the comment and I'm trying your other suggestions as well... I'm not claiming to know all that's for sure...😊
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoI would hope no eBay Mentor told you that. That's absolutely false. Promoted Listings benefit some sellers/items and not others, but the fact is the majority of sellers do not use promotions and their items are seen just fine.
mr_lincoln
·1 year ago@cleanout-deals
Urban legend
worldcoinauctions
·1 year agoI've never had much luck with promoted listings and have completely stopped using them. No effect.
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoI'm going to stop promoted listings and see how it goes.
candd205
·1 year agoYou have good pictures and nice items, but your prices are too high. I picked 2 random items.
You have a Bass Pro used stuffed dog for sale for $22 plus shipping. It is still listed on the Bass Pro website for $20 new and Bass Pro sent me a message to save $10 on my first order.
You have a Ashton Drake Kaitlyn doll for sale for $46 plus $10 shipping. A new one is listed on eBay for $22 with free shipping.
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoI go by the Ebay price research for what items have sold for in the last 90 day's and price mine lower then theirs. I also use calculated shipping so Ebay make up that price. Thank you for the comment 😊
fbusoni
·1 year ago@cleanout-deals
You are definitely not the only one not making sales. It happens to every seller at one time or another.
Having said that -- and no offense intended -- the "drop-in" text block of text (below) -- what with all its loopholes, its declaration that the items you sell are possibly dirty and uncleaned, and extraneous information (especially about "feeding your family") in hard to read format to boot:
Meantime, I looked at the first page that was displayed to me of the items you are listing.
To me, those prices seemed quite high... and this, at a time when consumers seem to be tightening up on discretionary spending.
Having sales is a good idea, but unless I am mistaken, you did not indicate above that you otherwise undercut the prices of others.
Using AI to prepare your descriptions is generally regarded here as the kiss of death... I know from my own experience that such listings are mostly ignored by the big search engines and quite possibly ranked low by eBay own internal search engine.
There has been some discussion here about "stagnant listings." Have you thought about ending your listings and then re-listing them anew? That will almost certainly push them to the top of the query results queue and render them a bit more visible.
Others might have better ideas.
cleanout-deals
OP1 year agoThank you very much for answering. 😊 I'm going to try some of your methods