Why do people only blame eBay and nothing else?
Whether or not eBay is guilty of "throttling" and other things people who post here often accuse eBay of isn't my concern, my concern is complete and utter lack of understanding of any outside factors.
1. The slowest months for eCommerce sales are January and February. During this time, some people are financially spent from the holidays, and awaiting for their tax refunds.
2. The launch of new eCommerce platform, like Temu, may temporarily or permanently reduce traffic and sales, depending on what these platforms sell and how much popularity they gain. eBay is not some eCommerce "monolith".
3. During times of economic uncertainty, there is a reduction of spending of "want" items. This does not mean "everyone is now poor", it means that if the amount of people with disposable income is reduced, sales volume would naturally reduce as well. So if 1,000 people are selling the same thing for roughly the same price, and there used to be 1,000 buyers, but now only 500, half of the sellers will not make sales.
4. It is important to research your item. Trends come and go, but luckily you can use eBay's free product research tool to see how many items sold, for what amount, the trends of those sales, and most importantly, the sell through rate. A low STR generally means the more time it will take to sell your particular item.
There are no guarantees in business. Just because last month or the month before was great, doesn't mean every month is guaranteed to be great.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoReally...
People come here and complain about an eBay gift card problem...numbers scratch off...hmm
Those cards can be picked up in a store without a purchase or not putting any money on it.
'There's no money on my card.'...well, maybe it was given to you pretending there was money on it.
Don't want to say your friend didn't put money on it in their post...for then the person in the post will get mad at me.
collectintime
·1 year agoAre you saying that sellers blame eBay for slow sales? I was not aware that sellers thought this. The thing you can blame on eBay that may have affected sales, was when they tried to force sellers into paying even more by using their promotional tools. They began by taking away all catergories. Once buyers had no trouble if they were looking for a Lladro figurine, they could find a Lladro category that was broken into even more categories: Lladro angels, Lladro people, Lladro animals, Lladro others. Now everything from a plastic Dakin Bugs Bunny, to an 19" Herend figurine all go in the same category. Many buyers asked me what was going on during that time. I believe eBay lost quite a few buyers because they did not want to work so hard to find what they were looking for. That is all I can think of that slowed down sales. Now eBay does plenty of things to sellers that are frustrating, annoying, and should be changed, but slow sales is not really one of those problems.
pastimpressions
·1 year ago@inhawaii wrote:
"And another thing that sellers often seem to forget...
Ebay wants you tell sell your stuff.
The more you sell, the more they make."
How can I forget?
Every time I create a new listing the "auto-inserted" recommended selling price is beyond rationalization!
Fail to triple check all unrecognizable "auto-inserted" data in price & shipping cost at your own peril.
Priced to sell "quickly" comes to mind 😉
Beyond that pithy quip, I am inclined to agree with most on this illustrious board.
inhawaii
·1 year agoA good salesman will also recommend you get fries with that and get the extended warranty. 😉
zamo-zuan
·1 year agoIt's a misconception to believe that there's not an understanding of outside factors. I've personally put years in to researching the issues eBay has, I've met with eBay in person (who have came to visit us on site multiple times as we were a top performer in our category). And I'm a software developer who works with the eBay API and can not only see a lot of the data that most people can't, but I'm also to more visibly see exactly what is happening and how glitched and broken the site truly is.
1) In regards to this, I am aware of the yearly trends. In our category of Motors, once tax time comes there's an increase in sales that peaks in April, which is the busiest time of the year. eBay representatives have also brought their own data confirming this, including charts that showed the same, and they would regularly advise to set up promotions to take advantage of that month.
Considering this, what if I told you that for the last two years, these yearly trends have CEASED TO EXIST on eBay? It's been a flatline or slow decline. Meanwhile outside of eBay, those trends still happen. And eBay is still getting those sales. But there's been a consistent flatlining for top sellers in the category?
How do you make sense of that, and what implications does this imply?
2) Agreed. But this also means eBay should be at least somewhat focused on competitiveness with outside marketplaces, correct? Meanwhile, their ad strategy has only increased costs and made eBay less and less competitive. This is a concern sellers have expressed since 2018. eBay has ignored it and focused on short-term gains of revenue, at the sacrifice of GMV and marketplace health. Which, in my opinion, is a valid reason for sellers to give negative feedback regarding the direction eBay has taken, as it's hurting all of us and eBay as a whole.
3) We're aware of this. But the same trends are happening with "necessity" items as well. And it does not match with the numbers eBay are sharing with the sellers.
But there's a lot of data to support that the decline is less about the amount of sellers, and more and more a normalization trend based on the increased focus on ads. > 80% of our sales are from promoted sales now, organic traffic has ceased to exist, and organic traffic is also affected by advertising (which suggests either the traffic is not organic at all and all traffic on eBay is promoted, or there's severe glitches that are making your organic traffic drop with promotions when they shouldn't).
4) Those of us who are top performers do. But this is another thing that shows major issues in how eBay is functioning. One example? We can see our sales reach a certain point every day then stop, which leaves us at around the same "Sales/31 days" as we were left at the day before. But at the exact time our sales stop, suddenly other local sellers who literally purchase from us, will begin getting orders and then picking up their items from us.
Meanwhile, their listings are more expensive than ours, shipping is slower, their metrics are worse, their feedback is worse, and their ad investment is less than ours.
So this begs the question, why on earth are our sales suddenly stopping and they being highlighted in the algorithm ahead of us and receiving sales ahead of us? Because if the customers were aware, they would certainly not be purchasing from listings that are inferior in every way.
In response to your last paragraph, that is a given in business. But there's a difference here. There's an expected amount of fluctuation in sales and real life traffic. eBay no longer has that type of fluctuation. The algorithms keep everything tight. There's no yearly trends. There's no "random fluctuations" in traffic. As I said, I've researched this for years, and I can 100% confirm that it is NOT the customers that drive your success from month to month, it's the algorithms.
This is all besides the fact that there's been enough evidence to suggest that the traffic numbers we see on eBay are calculated and not even the real numbers.
In addition to the fact that there's been major bugs (such as handling time literally not working in our listings and there being TWO DIFFERENT SHIPPING SYSTEMS that eBay is running on every since Guaranteed Delivery was removed and they have NO IDEA that this is the case) which are affecting the algorithm and sales of sellers, and they have not been fixed for YEARS now.
So we are taking all the things you mention in to consideration. But the reality is, eBay has not done their part to keep eBay as a site that is working as intended, they have built algorithm changes ON TOP OF BROKEN CODE AND STATISTICS which means it's impossible for the algorithms to be working as intended, they have become parasitic with their ad strategy to the point that they are no longer competitive with other marketplaces, they have removed any sort of "healthy competition" for eBay sellers, and they have treated sellers very dishonestly, especially after ADMITTING they have done "tests" which affect sellers livelihood on the LIVE EBAY SITE.
Can you honestly say eBay doesn't deserve any blame, or to be held responsible for their wrongs?
pidgeun1
·1 year agoYou can't blame the sellers when Ebay as a product has remained the same over the years and keeps increasing the fees every cycle and tightening the screws on the seller. Their margins are already stretched thin. Sellers should form a union and negotiate better terms with Ebay
inhawaii
·1 year agoSellers can't form a union.
We don't work for ebay.
You can negotiate better terms (fees) with ebay by not using their platform.
If enough sellers leave their platform, they MAY lower their fees.
strugglinlikeyou
·1 year agoI knew and old farmer who didn't work hard and his lifestyle showed it. He told me: "When you point your finger at someone there are three fingers pointing back at you."
inhawaii
·1 year agoI have this crazy, wild theory.
Ebay is a place to sell your stuff.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
If your stuff is desirable, it sells.
If your stuff is not desirable, it won't sell.
If i'm selling vintage belt buckles for $1,000 each, sales will be slow.
If i'm selling brand new Playstation 5s for $100, sales will be brisk.
And another thing that sellers often seem to forget...
Ebay wants you to sell your stuff.
Why would they hide it or throttle it?
The more you sell, the more they make.
paxilill
·1 year agoBecause they do and i've experienced it. eBay has bowed to Chinese sellers offering everything from wear it once clothing to counterfeit auto parts being sold as genuine.
eBay doesn't care about small sellers, it's all about what Temu drop ship USA can offer for churn, throttle that pissant down the line with his genuine stuff.
janet9988
·1 year agoIf i can't use or enjoy the item then I do not need it.
I tend to spend my money on experiences....not things.
iamalwaysright
·1 year agoBecause no one likes to be told they are a dumb seller and made an error. Blaming something else is an attempt to lie to themselves then they start to believe it. It's more difficult for these people to learn from their mistakes since they don't believe they make them.
Why else is it so tough to have my buyers realize that it's their account who gave me their wrong or old address? I didn't just pull it out of thin air and hit their old address by coincidence. It's gotta be something else that caused it.
slippinjimmy
·1 year agoWhy? Because it's easy.
I have been involved in about 20 start-ups over the past nearly 50 years, of the 20 a handful closed down by choice rather than lack of profitability. Most of the rest went through ups and down and in the end were shuttered as no longer worth the effort. Then there was a small number that were big money losers from the get go. Fortunately there were a few that were quite profitable, either as an ongoing concern or sold off for a nice payout.
While I might offer some excuses in casual conversation for the money losers, in my own brain I know that it was a failure on my part, not able or willing to adapt to current conditions.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoI had fewer startups.
I had at least one which I should have known better than to start, but I let my ego get ahead of my brains.
As part of an exit package when I left my last corporate job, I discovered I was an executive. It had not occurred to me when I was employed there. I decided to leave and we negotiated a big fat check and they offered me a distribution contract for one of their product lines. I set up a company to distribute the products. It was a mistake. I leveraged that product into contracts to distribute products from other sources but error was intractable. Shut it down.
Another company I started had a good run, made good money, and by every measure was a success. But the products dropped dramatically in price. Gross margin percentages dropped as well as dollar margin.
I would have had to add sales staff to attempt to grown the volume enough to make up for the decreased margin. Most of my competitors did exactly that. Most of my competitors loss the bulk of what they had made. I pulled the plug and passively invested my profits from that business. One of my better business decisions.
I kept a couple of small hustles running so that I would not have to sell any of my investments into a down market.
Far too many entrepreneurs try to adapt to conditions which cannot lead to success. More need to know when to close up shop. And how to survive if you do.
simba6
·1 year agoPeople are clueless. Lack of understanding can be dangerous.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoNever look at items for sale when drinking ðŸ·.
Waking up the next morning you ask tell yourself I didn't buy that.
We get a lot of posts here where buyers stated I never bought that....hmmm.
dnasilver
·1 year agoFound it to be completely true that drinking and gambling do not mix. Woke up and the wife was gone. Grabbed a cup of coffee and leaned on the table eyeing a note. Opened the note and wife said spending the day at the spa, thanks. Went for a second cup of coffee and realized I had no idea where I was. Grabbed the newpaper off the table and there it was...........hundred dollar bills, stacks of them. No idea where they came from. Wife made it back from the spa. Told me it was like I was printing money. Still to this day I cannot remember gambling that night. But from what I was told I was having a blast.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoThere was a time that I would travel to Vegas, drink and gamble. It was very enjoyable, and I could tolerate my losses.
They I decided to learn how to card count and manage my betting and stopped drinking and losing money.
I traveled to Vegas and played blackjack for 18 hours. At the end of 18 hours, I had broken even. I also gave up gambling because it was then too much like working, and other ways I worked paid more for my effort.
iamalwaysright
·1 year agoMost likely they have cats who love to type.
bonjourami
·1 year agoEbay has always been the scapegoat for the professional whiners.
inhawaii
·1 year agoWho makes more money, professional whiners -or- professional cheerleaders? 😉
inhawaii
·1 year agoIt's a lot easier to blame ebay then consider any other factors.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoWhich are the key influences on a seller's sales differ by what they sell, and who their buyers are.
What is common is widespread feelings of fear and loathing depress sales of broad swaths of items which have little in common.
The plane crash in DC, the fires in LA and many other negative stories being covered in the news sources people use have some impact on buyer psychology.
I had an unexpected burst in sales after the votes were counted, and a drop off when negative news was back in large amounts.
No one is feeling richer than they were before the election. They might at some point, or they might not.
The stock market is adrift, nothing is forcing it up but little is forcing it down either.
Whatever the next few months bring, some group of people are going to be disappointed. They will probably become depressed. Some people shop to raise their spirits, others hunker down and buy only necessities.
I am in a position that I can whether any storm which is likely, though our NH/ME earthquakes literally shook me.
meme6253
·1 year agoI agree with just about everything in your assessment, except the product research tools, I do not trust the accuracy, ebay has all ways been about selling cheaper,sending offers, etc., So those #'s they give make you think your item is selling for less but not the actual value of your item, only that you should sell it cheaper.
luckythewinner
·1 year ago1. The slowest months for eCommerce sales are January and February. During this time, some people are financially spent from the holidays, and awaiting for their tax refunds.
Online:
redlinear
·1 year agoExactly!
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoI've tended to think that the theories sellers have for falling sales (tax return, Superbowl, etc) reflect their personal life situation more than anything objective.
pickapaper
·1 year ago@chapeau-noir wrote: "I've tended to think that the theories sellers have for falling sales (tax return, Superbowl, etc) reflect their personal life situation more than anything objective."
I agree with this. There are also people who complain about the election, school starting expenses, vacation times, yadda, yadda, yadda.
I don't have an answer. I know that for us, this January was a really bad month but I don't remember previous Januarys being that way. I, personally, am blaming a lot on the weather this year because it has not been good and I think people tend to curl up by the fire with a hot toddy and watch Netflix rather than shop.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoNumber Three is very important.
It doesn't matter if the customer can afford it, they have to feel they can afford it.
A friend with a butcher shop says that January is "hamburger month". Even in the wealthy area his shop is in, he sells more cheap cuts in January than any other month of the year.
Then the customer drives away in their Jaguar.
iamalwaysright
·1 year agoThen there's the buyers who don't even know or care what the prices are and buy the filet mignon just because they want it at that moment. Then drive away in their Pinto. They don't care about the fact that their credit cards and car payments are past due, their kid needs braces, or they just got a pay cut. They just know they want that filet mignon right now to make them happy. The impulse buyer. They are likely the people who help keep places like ebay running during the "slow sales times".
They are also likely the same people who post on here trying to sell some stuff complaining about their low net profit and high fees because they never bothered to find them out in the first place.
I know many people who get online orders delivered to them literally every day.