An Abrupt and Complete Stop in Sales: Why? What's Going On?

[getitright1234]

An Abrupt and Complete Stop in Sales: Why? What's Going On?

The baby needs formula!

The light bill needs to be paid!

The mortgage needs to be paid!

The cupboards are getting bear!

..........................................................I do not have time for these abrupt and complete stop in sales.   Sheesh!

PS:  I am not referring to this acct. 

[turquoisetulips]

Not a conspiracy theory at all, and more likely based in total reality. Customers didn't just suddenly stop buying your games because of the economy. And it was VERY sudden for many small sellers. It's the games ebay is playing to get you to pay them more. hioctane to danieldj 

I tend to agree something very fishy has been going on here that's causing  the poor sales .It seems most of the sellers are reporting the loses   began  about  4 to 5 months ago . I can tell you this is not happening on other selling sites . Last night I sold three items  that each had multiple watchers  on  here ,, but they didn't sell here . The same exact thing has been repeated  over and over again  since I decided not to rely solely on e bay  for sales . The economy hasn't crashed  by any sense of the word . People obviously  do have money to spend . Tulips 

[618unicorns]

Interesting...never hear of bot watchers...but makes sense.  Only a few items I have a watcher but not able to send an offer.  Most watchers I have sent offers and it has not generated anything.  A few items I have more than 1 watcher and several views and nobody has sent an offer??  That was not the case a month ago.  I would start to get watchers and eventually somebody would either take my offer or they would send an offer.  It's a ghost town in Ebay land.

[turquoisetulips]

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@johnrj1226 wrote:

Watch how fast that the  fast food businesses will convert to 100% kiosk ordering & paying and replace those order taking counter/drive-up people that have a tendency to  mess up orders frequently &  consistently.  The technology is  already here & is in  use.  McDs  has been testing the system around the country & read somewhere also in Europe.  We  have one in lil ol' Covington GA & have 5 McDs in the county w/a population of 108K.  Buc-ee's a  smal  but  rabidly growing chain of convenience stores and gas stations located in the Central, North, South, and Southeast regions of Texas and Robertsdale, Alabama have gone to them  100%.

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Of course ,, for most employers  it's going to have to be a balancing game . The mom and pop business especially are not going to be able to afford  to pay their employees the   big increase in minimum  wages that are hopefully not  on the horizon . If indeed this is their future  then they  will NEED to cut costs  which will in turn raise the numbers of the unemployed . That's just how  it works .  Tulips 

[iart]

The key word is 'abrupt.'

In the last 10 days or so our sales have tanked to about half.

But then, so have our sales on that 'other' site.  Same timing. Same amount, roughly.

So, I'm thinking it's something about the economy. Not the platforms. But, who knows?

[turquoisetulips]

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@movieman630 wrote:

Look at the stock market and the economy.  This week was a bloodbath on the market.  The Chinese are in a full blown trade and currency war with us.  It's not impossible that the Chinese are launching cyber attacks on us too.  Whose to say the Chinese aren't effecting online commerce with shadowy hacks?  They could effect search results without the host even being aware. 

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The Chinese are in full on panic mode right now  . They've been stealing U.S intellectual properties for years and years without a single penalty . It's about time they felt some heat . The Chinese cyber attacks begun a long time ago.  Tulips 

[turquoisetulips]

So, I'm thinking it's something about the economy. Not the platforms. But, who knows? iart

Except there's been so sudden abrupt crash of the U.S economy.  If that were true ,, it would be reported all over  the place by every news media outlet . Tulips 

[keziak]

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@turquoisetulips wrote:

I mean this nicely - not critically - if you are selling well on another site (if you are selling jewelry you make I can assume what site you mean) why bother with ebay? keziak 

That's a  good question  and frankly  I don't  have a reasonable  answer  for it . I may be afraid that as soon as I cut the e bay  umbilical cord  some miracle will happen and sales will be booming again  here ,, or it could be I've grown so used to coming here every day  that there'd be a big hole in my life  if I  suddenly  closed up shop .  The holidays will be coming again soon  and I've always done well  during those seasons . It usually begins before Halloween  for me . However sales have been so bleak here   the last 5 months   I don't know whether or not  to even be hopeful  for that. I need to go check out another selling venue I've been  thinking about  . I'd like to be selling on at least three  sites  in order to make enough  profit . So I don't know ,, just  need to see how all this works out  I guess . Tulips

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I totally understand that. Some time ago ebay went off the rails for me and in 2018 for the first time I didn't get a 1099 from PayPal. That hurt. I see how many sales I get on a fairly large inventory  and have to ask myself if it's worth the bother.  My sales ratio used to be 40/60% ebay/Amazon and now ebay is probably more like 20% so if the trend continues it will be time to leave. I've just been here so long. Guess I'm kinda stubborn. I feel closer to retirement than to an age when I'd throw myself into finding other products to sell.

[gamersbaystore]

I never stated it was just the economy. That's only part of it, and I agree ebay has a lot to do with it. Its also been obvious for a while now that ebay intentionally cut their traffic to force sellers to promote more of their listings.

But ebay is going to lose as those promoted listings only pay out when items sell. They lost a ton of sellers this year! I've lost count as to how many thousands of threads there are with another seller stating they closed their store.

That promoted listings money train is going to run out for ebay if sales continue to lag and more sellers continue to leave. They have no choice but to either start advertising, or let their platform fail.

[kataggr-44]

Unless you live under a rock, does anyone not know about ebay....Younger people do they just avoid it.  For me it's just not competitive anymore on everything but vintage items...and with the added costs handed down to the buyer I have to wait longer to make purchases.  Between the dollar store, Walmart, and coupons I can get everyday items at great prices, and they're new items.  Sellers charging here more for used ones.

[kataggr-44]

The increase in wages will just be passed on to the consumer unfortunately.

[kataggr-44]

As a buyer I hate seeing the same item twice.  It's kind of insulting to think if you shove it in front of me more than once I'll buy it...All it does is add to my search time so I may leave and not buy anything.

[kataggr-44]

I wish my husband could retire with a pension.  He has that hybrid 401k which can be very unstable.

[kataggr-44]

I'm going to try a little experiment.....I'm going to write item numbers down for listings I'm interested in and see if after a few days I can still find them.

[kataggr-44]

I was thinking McDonalds before I read the rest of your post.  I have encountered them when ordering inside.

[hioctane62]

They are tightening the pressure on sellers (blackmailing) to use promoted listings during the third quarter. Hopefully they know that if they keep the current algorithms going into the fourth quarter/holiday season, their holiday sales numbers would be dismal. And buyers are learning that you can't find "IT" on ebay, but you likely can elsewhere. Most of the sellers that have left are still selling, just not here.