2 page views from 20+ items in 10 days

[lovebomb]

I started off listing on eBay.ca. After about 1 month with no significant amount of views despite the fact that I was using promoted listings, I moved to .com. It is like coming home in a sense, as I sold from here in the past, as I did better here than on .ca (because our shipping rates suck to mail domestically).

However, I have had listings live here for ten days now. Listings have gotten 2 actual page views from 1160+ impressions. Nothing is moving. Nothing. No questions, no views, no nuttin'. I get that the global world is problematic. Is this something most new sellers deal with now, or is it more related to that the products I sell are not essential/the global state of affairs?

Oh, and I can't promote here like on .ca.

[krazzykats]

Take a closer look at your mineral competition.  

[dhbookds]

Delivery time has got to be part of it..........I'm in PA........Delivery to me is 12/20-1/9

[dbfolks166mt · Accepted solution]

     You are selling some niche items that have a demand that is pretty much elastic (in simplistic terms any change in price has a significant impact on demand). You also have the cost of Canadian postage to deal with. While eBay has a large potential buyer pool you may be better served checking out some of the sites that cater to this type of item(s) and there are a number of them out there. You could also expand your product line into other areas. 

     A lot of sellers have diversified across multiple platforms/venues, myself included, rather than keeping all of our eggs, or rocks in your case, in one basket. 

[lovebomb]

I know there's a way to do it successfully, but yes, shipping costs are outrageous here in Canada. CP employees want to resign millionaires, apparently. Someone has to pay for that. 

[onefootflipper2]

People are selling multipound lots of some of the same things as you for less than you are selling single small stones for. Everything I looked at had competitors which much cheaper stones and generally also much larger.

And when I say selling, I mean attempting to sell. When you search for sold results you see that only the absolute cheapest or most fantastic specimens ever seem to sell.  In the case of small stones chinese sellers generally have them for $1 or $2 shipped.

Sorry, it isn't going to work at all. 

[pjcdn2005]

You might want to use standard shipping from outside of the US as it gives a shorter delivery time. 

If you can promote on .ca you should be able to promote on .com.

[sakic92710]

Shipping a sports card from Niagara to Alberta is less than $2.50; unless you want tracking.  Then it jumps to $28.00!!!!   $20 + $8!! for fuel.  Complete rip-off!  Going to do my best to sell locally.

[coolections]

If you expect more sales, you will need to list a lot more than 25 rocks. Make it 2,500 rocks.  People are not going to spend $20 for a little rock.

[lovebomb]

Yes, I thought the same, that if I could promote on .ca I should be able to here. I will ask them what's up. Thanks for the idea.

[lovebomb]

I hear you. And, nearly none of the items I sell can be sent lettermail. The ones that can fit are risky to send that way. Other mail services are trying to get foothold. When one or more does, CP is going to lose bigtime. Their price-gouging has gone too far. 

[5594shelleys]

Hi. Read the posts for the past several months. It is not you. It is eBay.

[firesteel_surplus]

@lovebomb 

I think you got some pretty good advice here. Take a look at a seller here called worldincensestore  that I looked at just to give you an example for your competition. They are selling upwards of 1/2 pound of stones for less that one of your stones. I tried to match up exactly the type but that was difficult even doing a search.

There is something else as far as page views. Ebay modified how page views are calculated. They *supposedly* did away with bot views and are only counting real page views by real people with real money in their pocket to spend.

My page views have gone WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY down since that change. Of course I do believe that all the lost page views were bots. I really really believe that. I am even clicking my ruby red slippers together as I say that and wishing Anty Em were here.

So yeah...take a look at that seller. See what your competition is doing and how they are branching out and keep clicking the ruby red slippers!

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[lovebomb]

Interesting advice, but for the record, it's comparing a wholesaler to a retailer, and comparing specialty sales to bulk sales. Still, I get that it's on the same platform, but that differential would exist on any platform as well. I cannot align my retail prices with wholesale prices. 

[lovebomb]

I see we can't edit posts here, so this separate response. I forgot to say--thanks for the advice. All advice is appreciated and considered accordingly. I noticed eBay seems a vastly different animal than it was in days of yore. My aunt became wealthy selling here. I cannot do what she did, as marketing that way is no longer possible...or so it seems.