Switching to a new seller platform

Question

Iâ€™m being forced to consider switching from eBay to a different selling platform. No views unless I pay additional promotion fees is not cutting it. Anyone have any suggestions?

windycityart4u · Accepted Answer

I feel your pain. This is the first year I have started selling locally. Find some auction houses that will take your stuff. Like other posters said, don't put your eggs in one basket. Try Liveauctionners for antique/ vintage items. The economy is bad but eBay has also gone down. Don't listen to the people who are negative about your experiences on here. It is very difficult now. eBay is for sure losing its market share. But take the bull by the horns and see which options work best for you. For...

kh-taylarie · Answer

Due to the age of this thread, it will be locked in order to keep discussions current. If you have the same or a similar question/issue we invite you to start a new thread on the topic.

femmefan1946 · Answer

ZOMBIE THREAD FROM JULY 2023. The problem with zombie threads is that the information and advice may be out of date or now incorrect. The OP is still here and sold 126 items in the past 90days, from $8.00 to $910.00.

slyders_finds · Answer

I have used Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist with good luck and best of all no Fees! Just meet in a safe place. Some police stations allow you to meet there. And I literally meet a minute drive from my House in case the person is a flake. Years ago a guy wanted me to meet him halfway(25 miles each way) and he was a flake. He didn't buy the guitar case because he didn't read the dimensions in the description. Luckily I only drove 3 miles from my house. And as I am about to drive away I can hear his car battery is dead. He starts honking hoping I will stop and jump his car. Nope, drove off. I am not AAA.

femmefan1946 · Answer

Apparently Mercari makes their money by charging customers to buy there. Sellers get free listings.

isoldmytreasures · Answer

I went along with their promotions grudgingly even though it felt (because it is) like voluntarily giving them more fees. I have been on ebay for about 30 years but the new ADDITIONAL promotional layer got my goat! Just found out about a new site called District.com aka niknax, that takes a straight 10%. People are going over to them like wildfire and I'm going to give them a try.

ed8108 · Answer

@antiquelady57 wrote: No views unless I pay additional promotion fees is not cutting it. Loyalty dictates you to do more than just want ebay to remain profitable .

inhawaii · Answer

@antiquelady57 wrote:
No views unless I pay additional promotion fees is not cutting it. Anyone have any suggestions?

I don't pay promotional fees.

I'm on track to have a record year.

My suggestion is: Sell stuff that people want to buy and you wont need to promote it.

chapeau-noir · Answer

That's something that's pretty easy to research - only you know your own particular business needs and what will be a good match.

ebeths_eclectic_collectibles · Answer

I guess if I had a really great suggestion I wouldnâ€™t be here. For all itâ€™s faults I still do better business here At EBay than at any of its competitors and I have tried a few.

rugerskick · Answer

Many sellers are on multiple platforms. Find what sells best on each one, and divide your items across the platforms that way to expedite sales.

bergenline · Answer

As one other seller noted, I don't think there is a better platform, offering the broadest scope for selling products than eBay. My own viewpoint is that you need to regularly re-evaluate what works...and what doesn't. Sometimes, there are items that go unsold. Then you relist them months later and they sell. Of course, these are only two factors that go into getting sales.

On the other hand, sometimes you need to decide whether selling on another eCommerce platform would be a better option. A few years ago, eBay made substantive changes to one product category that I sold successfully for many years. After that, sales tanked dramatically. So I opened a store on another platform. My sales are modest, but are are growing.

Lastly, I've had some success selling via consignment to a few auction houses. Any commissions I pay are worth it since the volume sales I could never achieve on my own.

dbfolks166mt · Answer

You have sold 159 items in the last 90 days and given that you currently only have 87 items listed a lot of sellers would consider that to be pretty good given the current economic situation. That being said I diversified across multiple sites long ago some out of necessity since I could not list the items on eBay due to either the constantly growing restricted items list or the VERO program. More of my items are selling on other platforms/venues these days due to a number of factors. While I still list on eBay it is no longer my primary platform for moving items.

Unknown · Answer

Dip your toes into another platform. I donâ€™t understand the all-or-nothing approach.

reallynicestamps · Answer

Promoted Listings is an option not requirement. And you can choose the percentage you are willing to pay. And you only pay the PL fee if the promoted item sells. Viewers view. I find on my PL listings (@2%) I definitely get more Views. But I sell a lower percentage of my PL listings than I do of my non-PL listings. (Anecdote is not data. ) My thought is that while PL does bring in browsers, they then have a look around my Stores and buy something else entirely. (Anecdote is not data. )

ms.rodriguez* · Answer

Frankly, I doubt if you find a better site. Unless you have new stuff that you can unload on Amazon. I sell used toys. There is NO better site than this one for the items that I sell. Summer is always slow.

martin2001 · Answer

Frankly, there are no "other" platforms where you would get better results than on ebay, even if some claim otherwise. You can try Etsy, where I get some sales, but nothing like ebay.

I use ebay's promoted listing option. Currently, at 4% (I think their recommended rate is 11% in my category). I see that you do sell items. Why don't you try with 2% (that's the minimum rate) an go up to see whether you will see an increase in clicks/sales. Is it really a dealbreaker to pay extra few % for a sold item?

a_c_green · Answer

@antiquelady57 wrote:
Iâ€™m being forced to consider switching from eBay to a different selling platform. No views unless I pay additional promotion fees is not cutting it.

Those "views" are simply users who actually clicked on your listing to open it. That doesn't count the many who see your listings in their search results, generally with enough information about it (the image in particular) to decide whether it's worth opening.

Obviously your listings are being seen, given that some have bids on them, but you might want to consider going to Fixed Price listings, which will stay visible long enough to catch prospective buyers who don't visit eBay more than once a week.

iamalwaysright · Answer

Try some where else.

evry1nositswindy · Answer

You have bids on a couple of your items. Summer is always a slow time for me too. I have never, and will never, pay extra for promoting my items.

ten_o_nine · Answer

They are all just as bad or worse.

Unknown · Answer

It really isnâ€™t necessary to announce your departure. That aside, Best of luck wherever you go.