Sales way down since switching to managed payments

[merlyn8804]

I've had a collectible items store on eBay for many years and am a top rated seller. Suddenly, my sales are down 70% since having to switch to managed payments. Is anyone else seeing this with their sales? Has something else changed with eBay in the last month or two that I'm not aware of?

[wrong66]

Although the timing might seem to be relevant to you, it has nothing to do with managed payments. Sales are in flux right now for so many people.

[chapeau-noir]

It's normal to look for connections, but buyers see no difference in their checkout, so I doubt MP has anything to do with sales frequency or search. 

[kensgiftshop]

Don't think it has anything to do with MP, because most buyers won't see any difference.

I think it has more to do with people buying what they need and not what they want.

[mam98031]

Buyers have more payment options when we move into MP.  So if anything, MP should increase your sales.

It is likely there is something else going on.  I've noticed my sales have slowed this month too.  But I've been in MP for over 2 months.  Hopefully things will pick up for both of us very soon.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@chapeau-noir 

From my understanding there can be differences how search works between MP and the old way. Especially for international listings with visibility/traffic and display of shipping options.

-Lotz

[wrong66]

Can you share where you got this information?

[chapeau-noir]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

@chapeau-noir 

From my understanding there can be differences how search works between MP and the old way. Especially for international listings with visibility/traffic and display of shipping options.

-Lotz

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I haven't been able to test international sales as I had to stop shipping internationally when mailing got so borked up with the pandemic.  I do know that my own purchase experience plus my sales here didn't change before and after MP - it all had to do, as always, with how much I listed and how consistently.  I'm also curious to know where the information on changing search and visibility comes from and how that would work - there's no reason to change visibility due to MP as the buyer-facing experience doesn't really change.

[mam98031]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

@chapeau-noir 

From my understanding there can be differences how search works between MP and the old way. Especially for international listings with visibility/traffic and display of shipping options.

-Lotz

---

MP is not a factor in the search algorithm for search returns according to Ebay, so I'm not sure how what you state could be possible.

[dandfmarinesalvage]

This is a widespread issue right now that's picking up steam. It has nothing to do with managed payments at all. I've been in managed payments for 14 months. Sales rocked right along at an unprecedented pace.

About 2-3 weeks ago sales started to dive more than usual. Now they're abysmal for me (even more so than a typical fall as I do sell seasonal, mostly summer items). Other local brick and mortar shop owners as well as service industry owners have been calling me the last 2 weeks asking me what I think is going on and why their phones have stopped ringing as well. Too many people just didn't realize that this was coming.

The REAL economy is in ruins. I don't care what the stock market numbers are, there's such a disconnect between wall street and main street economics that it's not even fathomable. Folks have simply run out of money and accrued FAR too much debt over the summer buying pleasure items that they did not NEED. Now those same folks are struggling and struggling badly. Those with money have REALLY tightened up.

Some very wealthy folks in my area are cutting back on capital investments to their businesses as well as personal purchases. This is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a thought that the holiday season will bring sales right back but I fear that also is a false assumption. I'm just guessing that holiday retail sales will be down more than 10 percent year over year. The winter could be a bloodbath for many families economically. Defaults across the entire loan spectrum are rising. From consumer loans to commercial real estate.

To combat this. Personally I will not be partaking in any of the usual winter inventory expansions and acquisitions that I generally do every winter (off season for me). Instead I intend to conserve cash and work with the inventory I have and to diversify more into providing more local service based income streams to compliment my brick and mortar shop as it requires very little capital and overhead as compared to acquiring inventory for online sales. Good luck to all on whatever approach you take but please don't assume that "good times" are around the corner as I fear they are not. This isn't a managed payments issue, it's much much worse. This is a world wide economic issue.

[detectorwarehouse]

I think this has more to do with overall eBay traffic down. When was the last time you saw an eBay TV commercial. Our Amazon numbers are steady so I think it is more of ebay losing market share and not bringing new traffic to the marketplace. 

[dennis_fastone]

Agreed on all of your points. Hope you (me) are wrong but my ebay sales plummeted about two to three weeks ago and are now at the point of non-existent, yet my watchers number is way up. I also believe ebay is having some type of issue with listing in some categories.  After speaking with ebay yesterday (there phone service was prompt, less than a minute for the return) I found the representative just as concerned as I about my low sales. Every suggestion she offered, I had already tried so I now sit here wondering whether or not to put more listings on ebay. After awhile I feel like a jerk sitting here, working on listings, and having no results. After many, many years with ebay, I am truly thinking of closing my ebay store because of this situation.  I'll keep reading the discussions for the time being and hope somewhere, somehow sales will change.  I greatly appreciated your thoughts and will keep my struggle going for a few more weeks.  Thanks

[waverider2074]

Ebay is blocking buyers from making payments. I have been having issues making payments almost 80% of the time an error comes. I have spent countless hours talking to customer Service deparment and managed payments department and they tell me there is nothing that they can do to solve these issues.   I think they will drop their company down. We need this fix or another ebay alternative to do business in.,

[reed-sales]

Perhaps unrelated to MP, but my sales dropped 50% the month I was added to MP and have been down 60-70% each of the past 3 months, a signifigant drop.

Maybe the latest round of item specific requirements is the cause.?  I doubt this, as I was an early adapter of them (quite a few years ago at this point).

Maybe the 2020 Bike Boom is over.?  I dont think that is it either, I still receive enough phone calls to my brick and morter store that I need to turn of the ringer to handle the workload, but eBay remains flat.

[northwoodstacklebox]

My sales have dropped off this month as well. Managed payments was a small nightmare for me early on. There was a hic up between Ebay and my local bank. Took 4 weeks to get my first payment. Smooth sailing since. I honestly don't think it is a MP issue. I think it is simply a reflection of the times we are in at the moment. Too many uncertanties have buyers rethinking what is important. Hang in there with the rest of us, and hope this slump passes soon.