Nothing sells on eBay anymore what's up with that !

[4659655]

I remember when things used to get bids on eBay . Now nothing sells that I put up there unless it's so cheap I make nothing then all the fee's it just not worth bothering . Swap meet seems a better option at this point . Anyone else having same issues ?

[felicialou]

In same situation; also I tried opting in for promoted listings, but even that didn't move stuff.  Shipping is so expensive I basically never found it worth my while to sell anything above the first-class 13 oz. in the first place - unless I paid lots of money for it in the first place, like a used Apple Time Machine for parts, thinking 10% ROI and $35 on a dead item that cost $350, was at least better than a sharp stick in the eye. 

Recently it was makeup, which I got from a brick and mortar discount store that has no online presence, for $2.99/item.  Same item at the manufacturer's website retails for $17.99; manufacturer was sold out of that shade at the time.  Finally wound up dropping the price as low as $8.99; other people are still undercutting me every chance they get, and I'm offering free shipping, which some of those competitors aren't even doing.  Hey, I'm a girl; I thought makeup and other girly type items were foolproof; I can't even sell Frozen merch over on Amazon.  To mail a 3 oz. package with the aforementioned piece of makeup to I think Oklahoma, eBay assessed me $5.20.  Yes that's right, $5.20.  How the USPS comes up with these figures, I have no idea.  Is it unrealistic as a small seller to expect to sell one item/week?  I don't think that's overly ambitious...

Onto the travails of other platforms:  I currently have a brand new jacket on a secondhand clothing website, retailed for $150, NWT.  I listed it at $50.  After a few weeks, dropped to $45.  Still hasn't moved.  I paid $15; this is a classy coat.  Somebody finally stepped in and offered me, wait for it, $25.  I countered at $35, and apparently this person wasn't even interested enough to stump up $30 for a $150 coat, because they poofed.  

IMO, if you can't sell brand new suiting obtained at $15, retail $150, for $30; you can't sell anything.  Sure, maybe this buyer could go out and find it at the likes of Goodwill; but I already went out and did the sourcing, so they don't have to look.  Ditto the makeup - who thinks when starting out their part-time selling career, that it's possible to obtain a popular $18 item marked down to $3; and discover yourself lucky to clear $1 on it, with nary an Amazon FBA fee in sight?  These aren't generalities; these are cold hard figures.  I don't call clearing $15/week, if that, a part-time career.  I call that "beer money".

[she-sells]

Personally if your new to EBAY try selling a low priced trinket to get your feet wet.  Why start your ebay career selling an expensive item if your not use to the site?

[loveyourimagination49]

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@she-sells wrote:

Personally if your new to EBAY try selling a low priced trinket to get your feet wet.  Why start your ebay career selling an expensive item if your not use to the site?

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I’ll assume this was a general reply. Even if your not new, don’t sell anything you can’t afford to lose.

[intelligent-threads]

I pay a dollar a piece roughly for nice items, so not too much, but when i take my gas, my time etc. Then wash, iron, photograph, post with all the details and pay the fees for things to just sit there it is different than before, problem: 100m sellers, no buyers..Amazon, Wish and sites like that are not helping.   I have these items priced so cheap that after fees I really am NOT making much actual money.  I called ebay, the gal said she "refreshed my posts" like that was the problem?  I pay to have the large photo, I pay to promote my listings, I pay, pay, pay... so the reply about expecting retail prices is off base..not true, but  sales are so slow I dont know how much longer I will try ebay.  Seems a better market on other sites like Shopify from what I can see, which makes me sad cuz I really love ebay.  My time iui s worth money, so its definately not just the cost of the items to consider when running any business...

[hozbek]

Yes, ebay spouse to be secure for everyone sellers and buyers but they are more fare for buyers or store sellers. Bids are hack you can never get something good, you soled something most likely it will return even you chose return not excepted. They are keeping money to long, buyer is always right because potential customers he might can buy other staff. You receive back your item now used or broken ebay just says they policy they except all returns you also lose shipping money short story is if you are not buyer from companies true ebay ebay is big scam

[oldstuff1800s]

Gee, How would you know that nobody from Ebay posts here???  Do you work for Ebay???

Fact, nothing gets anywhere near the amount of views, watchers or bids that they used to get.

Ever since Ebay started with that selling extra exposure of you listings **bleep**, I notice a plummet 

in views, watchers and bids.  The funny thing is, even when I pay for the extra exposure, it doesn't 

seem to help.  The biggest mistake ever made by Ebay, that destroyed our ability to sell, is allowing

buyers to research sold items.  It took a while but now most buyers now know to go to advanced search

and research passed sales before buying.  Nobody wants to pay more than the lowest price ever paid for any particular item.  You can't blame them for wanting items at the best price ever paid.  Over time this has caused the price of everything to dive down, even the unusual vintage items I sell.   Ebay cut their own throat and that of every seller by allowing everyone to research the sold history.   The sold history should be for sellers only! 

It's not too late!   Ebay should require customers to either sell a minimum of items or pay a research fee in order to use the advanced sold search area.  They would attract more sellers, get paid by buyers willing to pay a small research fee and prices would start to rise again making Ebay even more money!  I can't believe that with all the crazy ideas that Ebay dreams up in their attempts to pinch more money from sellers, (shipping fees for example), their geniuses haven't figured this out yet.  Penny-wise and dollar stupid!  I have thousands of curious and unusual items I want  to sell but I only throw a few on Ebay because I know they just don't sell like they used to and I'm not yet willing to give them away at half the price those same items were getting just a few months ago.  I hope Ebay reads this and wakes up.

the advanced search "sold" information.  

[oxm223]

hi

[loveyourimagination49]

Hello 👋

[girlcat99judy]

Its terriable nothing I sell sells anymore I dont' even get questions or watchers and I sell all kinds of antiques and collectibles, I wish I knew why this is happening

[lindyslucky]

I'd love to have your sales!! 

You have amazing things, I cant imagine how you find them.

im getting views & watchers with using (sometime heavily) promoted listings.

But there's not a lot moving.

I know I probably should list more, but it's hard to get the motivation. 

My prices are rock bottom. I think I have some unusual things.

But......

[juroy.320]

Definetely, Ebays been very slow lately, especially when they first started the impeachment on trump. Hopefully things will pick up soon or im gonna look for some new selling sites.

[theguitarpartsguy]

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@zbay wrote:

MONTHLY STORE FEES ARE ALWAYS THERE 

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Hi, I'm sorry I didn't see your response until now, I've been busy with both my main business and my eBay one and my other online sales outlet, too.  Anyway, I don't use an eBay store, I just use regular listings.  I have always viewed having a store that you have to pay a monthly fee to have is nothing more than a subscription service that I do not need.  I don't see any point in having it.  I understand that it works for many, but I sell guitar parts that are pretty much ALL in the 10 dollar range.  I'm a manufacturer of those parts (well, in the modern world sense, I am.  I own the design and have them made for me to my spec and buy them in pretty large numbers, as I don't exclusively sell on eBay.  I also sell to a few custom guitar builders now, and have a growing list of stores that buy from me on occasion, too.  I do know that prices are constantly being driven down, I see it when I look for something to purchase for myself.  However, I am still getting as many sales as I ever have.  The trick to making profit on eBay is in what you initially pay for your item.  Since I sell my own items (meaning items I designed and am selling as MY brand name), I don't have any real competition anymore, although this move did not garner me more sales, it just set me apart in terms of being able to build a reputation as THE person to get parts from.  But buying in as big a number as you can, in order to keep your costs down is HUGE.  I generally make 400-500% margin on 10 dollar items.  I DO realize that you can't do this if you are selling items that are popular and that are in dozens of stores. 

The issue I see here is that a LOT of people, especially those selling clothing, are sourcing from goodwill or sourcing new from places like TJ Maxx... the problem with that is that there are MANY OTHERS who are doing the same thing.  There are SO many sellers in many categories these days that you really have to study your competition and learn what they're listing and at what prices they're listing at.  You might even find that your place you source from is selling in competition with you here.  This is especially true if you source from Goodwill stores, they sell on eBay as well as having their own auction service that they host.  It's definitely a lot harder market to break in to and make money in, but there ARE ways to do so, I'm proof of that.... but eBay is just a sidebar for me, I'm not sure I could make a living at it these days unless I started selling higher dollar parts, so there's that, too. 

It definitely isn't the same eBay it was when I started here so many years ago.  It CAN still be profitable and fun, though, you just have to find your niche and stick with it.  If you can't make anything in one category, or if you have trouble getting sales in that category, find another category that you're knowledgeable about and interested in, and try an item or two in that one to get your feet wet, you never know. 

[see_saw_sold]

Because at the end of the day everything is always bull$h..t

I cannot sell anything... Well others seem to sell the same items I'm listing... Basically life is just unfair... No rhyme or reason just bull$h..t

I would wish you good luck but there's really no such thing...

[allthegoodthingsforyou]

Ebay has done what Instagram, Twitter and FB have done...made it so that unless you pay them, no one (or very few) will ever see your products.  It's just a scam to get more money out of people.  Honestly, it's not fun anymore.

[masterhd03]

You can only control the quality of the items you sell not the quality of the buyer. Tools are available to minimize selling issues. At no time do you ever need to except an offer or sell an item if your not happy with. A sellers history can tell you a lot along with buyer history. A good quality product will eventually find a buyer.