ARE SALES SLOW FOR YOU IN 2019 AFTER EBAY SEPARATED FROM PAYPAL?

[hollywoodreseller]

What is really going on with the reduced number in sales this 2019? 2017 and 2018 were much better, but after ebay began to charge more fees for promotion listings and other new features and after paypal separated from ebay everything seems to have been going downhill since then. it feels as if ebay is screwing over its sellers with major fees and expects to recover from this. How has 2019 treated you so far?

[citrine146]

I'm an on and off seller and for the life of me didn't even know that Ebay and Paypal have parted ways since 2015.

The way it was implied as per OP, it was recent and for a moment was wondering on how I'd get the payments done.

All is well then although there is now news on increased fees. I may have to read through all the announcements within the year and last before I start listing then.

[merchantmom]

My sales have hit a wall, I drop prices and no real uptick in views etc.

Some items I will never give away just to sell. I will never join ebay promotions to expand view on my items/sales. This only tells me they can control how much your site is viewed (GRRRrrr) With this said, I met a Fedex friend who works customer counter were I live and he told me that shipping has fallen off also. 

So in response to economic down turn ahead, it seems others may know something I do not and I have come late to the table. I watch news, storms, massive floods, food prices may go 1000% etc. 

I guess buying ebay is not at the top of survival list at the moment. All I want is for ebay to stay off my page, fix their search engine and make my items seen as far as possible, post it, see it, buy it, they will come.

ME; "After all, tomorrow is another day!"
EBAY; "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a **bleep**"
ME; "I'm so sorry, for everything"
EBAY; "My darling your such a child, you think by saying 'I'm Sorry' all the past can be corrected"

[clevelandclove]

The most frustrating is that ebay has all the metrics at their fingertips. They can easily settle the question, are sales slow?, but they'll never do that. The only data we have is our own (for as long as they let us view it or we download and save it) and a little box that gives no detail beyond a 10% variance over last month or the month last year. 

For what it is worth, everything seems to be pointing to very slow sales from our perspective. It has been on a downhill slide since the summer of 2018 even though we have more that doubled our listing, ran sales, ran auctions, have feeds to multiple social media channels and our website. 

Another indicator is ebay releasing 10% ebay bucks and other deals. They appear desperate. We usually notice this happen when the little box on our seller dashboard shows ebay >10% below last year. 

There are days when it seems like someone flipped the sales switch on. And our local post office gets slammed with ebay boxes. And then it flips off. 

[tabbycat1970]

It is incredibly slow. I’ve been selling since 2011 and this is the slowest I’ve ever seen it. I started selling on Mercari also 6 months ago. I have been selling a lot. I love to sell on this site much more then selling on eBay. I have not had one rude customer or return. eBay spoils buyers by siding with them and letting them get away with anything! Some know exactly how to work the system. Unfortunately, I see things getting worse instead of better. 

[flo_mingo]

---

@tabbycat1970 wrote:

It is incredibly slow. I’ve been selling since 2011 and this is the slowest I’ve ever seen it. I started selling on Mer,,,, also 6 months ago. I have been selling a lot. I love to sell on this site much more then selling on eBay. I have not had one rude customer or return. eBay spoils buyers by siding with them and letting them get away with anything! Some know exactly how to work the system. Unfortunately, I see things getting worse instead of better. 

---

I have moved too. I think that is what ebay wants the small  seller to do. Here since 2003. 

[luckythewinner]

---

@hollywoodreseller wrote:

What is really going on with the reduced number in sales this 2019?

 it feels as if ebay is screwing over its sellers with major fees and expects to recover from this. 

---

Recover from what?

eBay collects a percentage of the merchandise sold here. eBay is not affected by a decline in one seller's sales, as long as that decline is made up by other sellers. eBay collects the same revenue whether 1 seller gets $1 million in sales or 1 million sellers get $1 in sales. 

And the volume of merchandise sold here grew from 2016 to 2017, from 2017 to 2018, and from 2018 to 2019.

So far in 2019, it has decreased just 1% after factoring in foreign exchange rates. 

[jtropics11]

Seeing a lot and I am doing the same.....buying items on Amazon or Walmart....some items MUCH cheaper. I do NOT trust the sellers from China....as we know.....JUNK...If the item breaks/stops working...like ANYTHING you buy with batteries...you already left a good feedback, you cannot change that feedback. If you notify the seller...they ALWAYS offer you 5% back on your purchase....!!! If you are to get a refund....you will NOT get it back right away....reason being like most companies they hold you money drawing interest...x's millions of people that shops...! Try shopping on ETSY...also......You buy solar lights...the BATTERIES cannot be removed, they are glued or soldered into the lights.....!!! They go out and YES, after you leave a good feedback..Ebay, the seller and shipper has YOUR money....you??? You own a big pile on useless junk...and again, you notify the seller, yep, they offer you ONLY 5% back...shop local....you can return them!!!

[omoinle]

It's a combination of many factors, but the main problem is when you have these new know it all college grads into a company convincing executives that small moves like changing a fee or "adding" a "feature" will increase sales "on a speculating chart or model" by some percentage, and the old executives buy those ideas, some time down the road, when things start going south, they look for something or someone else to blame, but the original person who suggested that fixing something that is not broken in the first place, will work. The same applies in a much larger scale with politics and everything else. And another factor is that every online selling platform is trying to mimic Amazon, and imitating sometimes can be the perfect recipe for failing. 

[mid-century*lane]

Awful! I've never in the 5 years I've been selling on Ebay, experienced anything like this! This can't continue! 

[jeweltyme]

Selling on Ebay since 1999 and it has been good and bad times that we managed to make it through.  This time however we are sinking fast & not much hope left.  The changes Ebay has made have "improved" things..for the Chinese.  No way we can keep up with them in quantity and that is where the money is for Ebay.  Ebay is a business and they follow where the money is.  Separating from Paypal sure didn't help things any as sales slowed after they did that, but weren't dead.  Now they are.   Have truly enjoyed Ebay, but guess it is time to say Bye Bye.  Nothing lasts forever.  "Thanks for the memories"

[lundbergbro]

I went from averaging $2,500 a month to my $900 for the last three months. Something is seriously wrong, my inventory is better than ever and sales are the worst they have been in 20 years I have been wth eBay. I think eBay is shooting themselve in the foot to try and make more money in fees and promotions than just taking the nearly 10% cut. eBay was making more money from me when my stuff was selling, now no one is making money.  I am seriously thinking about pulling out from eBay. Not worth the trouble anymore.

[thekuriosityshop]

I don't think sales are slow due to sep from paypal because buyers can still pay with paypal. Sales are slow because there are too many businesses dumping their overstock on Ebay. Businesses should have a separate site. I used to do really good with vintage pottery/glass/books and unusual stuff, but now I hardley get a look. I've only sold 2 items in the last 12 months . I voiced this to Ebay and then suddenly before I could click list I had several looks. But now it's back the way it was, nothing.

[morrisjer]

I have been selling my product on ebay since Oct. 2013 and have had good sales each month. Now it is May 2019 and I am experiencing another snail slow month. It started with me in about late summer 2018 when I began seeing changes ebay was making and from a representative from ebay that told me so. Afterwards I saw "promoted Listings" and other things that ebay can use to SUCK more money from it's sellers. It is not good enough for them to be billionaires so I guess they are aiming for trillionaire status. I fell for the promoted listings in order to keep food on my table so to speak. But now I see a message above each of my listings from ebay for me to send an offer to a buyer they might accept! WHAT??? I hand-make my items and already sell them dirt cheap. I tried to sell on Bonanza and Etsy, but no sales. I believe they also want a monthly fee. I wish I had my own website as ebay has fallen to greed. Help!

[lolalou82856]

I'd love to know what's going on this month.  Yes, sales are down from the old days, have been for several years now but the last 2-1/2 years have run just about the same.  I average $2100-2500 in sales of an average of 65 items every month.  All of a sudden May was going along, on the 15th I was at $1100 and 33 items.  In the past 10 days I have sold 4 items for a whopping $80.  No feedback has been left, views are down 59%, I am a TRS, 7500 feedback, 100% and a Powerseller.  I list things almost every day and have 500 + items in my store.  I am at my wits end trying to figure out what is going on.  

[birchy-36]

There are many reasons and none of them really matter. Take your pick: tax bills, too many sellers, the weather, competition...The fact is eBay has been a virtual dead zone for more than a year. New CEO, same problems. I wouldn’t expect it to improve. My advice, which you probably don’t need, is to stop buying, clean out inventory and find a more rewarding hobby (those small sellers who were trying to make a living there have long since bailed), 

PS— I also sell on Amazon where my sales are regular and consistent