eBay

gratescape · ‎04-07-2019

Well, no idea what is going on but this is the first time ever I have gone 10 days without a sale. I have been through slow times before but this takes the cake. Hopefully things readjust soon.

kosbik84 · ‎04-08-2019

Yes, i agree! There is something weird in sellers visibility.
For instance, my average daily sales used to be $450.
Since january 2019 they have dropped to $200/day.
And last week i had 3 days with a level of sales above $1000/day. I was really happy, thinking that now everything gonna be allright, but no...
After-the same thing-$150-$200 per day. This is extremely weird, i had never experienced such things in the past, however i'm selling on Ebay for years....

evodoor · ‎04-08-2019

The only sales trend I'm seeing for the past month is UNPREDICTABILITY. I think sellers are trying to work around the GTC change, using different methods, switching to auctions, ending early, relisting, etc... My overall numbers are not down, but there is no rhyme or reason to the sales. It's creepy to me, makes me feel completely out of control. I hate that! And personally, my motivation and creativity has taken a huge hit with this change. I had just got in a good groove, with 5-7 day FP listings, and my sales were predictable. Now I can't figure out what makes people buy, or watch, or make offers. Very unsettling!

dcmerc2012 · ‎04-08-2019

You are correct, I believe that it is ENTIRELY the fault of the new ridiculous GTC policy. I never do auctions, always sell via BIN, and my sales have plummeted ever since the new policy has been put into effect. Before this I would always do my BIN's at 3 days, which gives the buyers a sense of urgency. Now, my listing will get a few views for the first two days and then NOTHING..... Why? Because the listing is shown in the "Newly Listed" search for the first day or two and then it falls into the abyss of back pages. Unless someone searches for the item specifically it will not be seen again, ever.

Before, with the 3 day listing it would be in the "New Listed" and then directly after be in the "Ending Today".... both of which get by far and away the most impulse and browsing sales on eBay.

I really don't understand why they have a GTC to begin with because all it does is make them less money in renewal fees and clearly does NOT help with sales. If they want to have a GTC then fine, but making it mandatory on any and all BIN listings is just another stupid eBay idea in a big long hairy line of bad eBay ideas.

I believe it's time for me to start thinking about another form of income, but I think eBay is on life support and it seems bound and determined to die.

kathieskorner · ‎04-08-2019

Congrats on your sales!

However, you are a business-to-business GTC seller with a niche market favored by the current eBay management so you will not be impacted by the same things that many of us long time sellers of collectible/vintage/used items are. I doubt that any of your buyers are the least bit concerned about the GTC uproar and technical issues that are currently hurting our segment of the eBay marketplace.

Many years ago eBay management was smart enough to know that eBay was not a one-size-fits-all venture and split off eBay Motors. The same should have been done with new merchandise when stores were introduced.

evodoor · ‎04-08-2019

I've seen several people in the last couple of days suggesting a separation of Brand New/ Mass Produced items, and Vintage/One of a kind Collectibles. I would love to see that! I sell vintage and handcrafted/upcycled jewelry, and absolutely hate that my stuff shows up at the bottom of pages filled with new Chinese **bleep**. When searching for things to buy, I am really frustrated by this. I often search only USA based listings, but that keeps me from seeing great vintage items from other countries. I wish I could just block all items from China!

mah_battery · ‎04-08-2019

I quit my job in 2015 to sell on Ebay full time. Things were great until 2017, sales began to decline. Ebay reduced top-rated seller discount, then required free returns to qualify for top rated seller. We tried free returns, no thanks. Sales are down 30% from last year. Looks like it's time to go back to work....lol

westmichiganpropeller · ‎04-08-2019

sales are all over the place for me. i have 2 accounts that both sell the same thing. my business account with 3000 items is up 47% over last year. my personal account with 300 items is down 30-40% over last year.

westcoastetraders · ‎04-08-2019

I had a sale on feb.20th and then nothing till march 10th(18 dats) , that sale was the only one I had in march. Seems pretty obvious to me that it's ebay doing it's thing again. I know what kind of sales I have normaly and this is most definitely not normal, 8 days into this month and I haven't had any sales. I know for a fact the problem isn't my inventory or prices, I sell it with this kind of inventory and prices all the time. So it's ebay and it's garbage it does.

evodoor · ‎04-11-2019

I noticed that eBay sales overall are down 10% this morning. That seems pretty significant to me!

gardeltango · ‎04-11-2019

@lex-talon wrote:
@gratescape wrote:
Well, no idea what is going on but this is the first time ever I have gone 10 days without a sale. I have been through slow times before but this takes the cake. Hopefully things readjust soon.
It has been 4 days since my last sale. Spring Break has just ended in my city, people are returning from vacations.

I expect sales to pick up soon, hopefully they will.

Despite the GTC rollout I've had a good March, in fact it was a little better than March of last year. But having said that, it's been six days since I had a sale. My usual pattern is after a flurry of sales for several days, it will be quiet for 4-5 days on average, and then after that the cycle will repeat.

I'm thinking, and hoping, that all it is is tax time that's slowing things down right now. The summer slowdown from people on vacation, and away from their computer, seems to be less of a thing these days thanks to smart phones and iPads.

laurabeardsley · ‎04-11-2019

I honestly believe GTC is not the only problem for smaller sellers. This has been happening over the course of several years and GTC has only made it worse. I believe Ebay is giving most of the visibility to the larger sellers with catalog number items and multiple quantities of each item.This is the direction they want to go and the rest of us have to take the leftovers. At some point I think they will find out that this will not be a good choice as Ebay will NEVER be able to compete with Amazon. It will only be then that they might change directions and put some value on all their sellers. In the mean time they will probably lose a lot of their sellers and income as well. I know they won't be getting much from me this month.

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎04-11-2019

I noticed that eBay sales overall are down 10% this morning

Just wondering what you mean by "ebay sales overall"? And your source for that info?

evodoor · ‎04-12-2019

It is from the market assessment from my seller hub page. I guess I misspoke saying "overall" sales, as it really just in the two categories they use for my data. I do consider it significant though, as that is the biggest downturn I've seen.

castlemagicmemories · ‎04-12-2019

@joshuacbraun wrote:
Same here. About a week for me now too and i normally average about 25 sales per month. Not sure whats going on? Maybe everyone is outside doing yard work??

Or working on their taxes. Or preparing for Easter. Or...

lizual · ‎04-12-2019

This is what I've been dealing with. I was $250 - $450/day and climbing. Jan started off a little slow, Feb was better and March was great. Since beginning of April, I've see a slow decline, most days $150-$200ish (one day was over $300), day before yesterday was a whopping $25, yesterday over $200 and today is up to a whole $7 but its still early. I just can't figure out what's going on. It's frustrating. I'm down almost $1,000 in sales from where I had gotten to in March. April is usually not a terrible month for me. But something is just off. I sell one offs but many similar styles and I haven't changed anything with my inventory (except keep adding more daily), I do all the "stuff" ebay wants (free shipping, free returns, promotions, promoted listings, give my youngest born away for free, etc) and yet still I'm seeing these wild inconsistencies in sales and an overall decline. Also, my traffic metrics are all in the green and about the highest they've ever been, so what gives?