@timemachine777 wrote:
@vintageista wrote:
Time Machine - I feel for you but........
Unfortunately, collectibles are just not were it's at presently! I sold those types of things very successfully at the beginning of eBay, still dabble a bit because I like the stuff, but the current crop of buyers are into collecting the newest and best electronics, phones, etc!
When antiques & collectibles started dying out, I did a lot of vintage clothing, now that isn't as hot anymore and MUCH harder to find, so I sell mostly newer clothes and whatever else I think I can make a few $$ on! With all the Asian competition, even that is getting harder all the time and prices are currently a race to the bottom but I am still here, although making 1/2 of what I did just a few short years ago!
I really have no interest in selling mass-marketed commodities or close-outs for pennies on the $, I crave the creativity of selecting my own merchandise, but to some extend, you have to adjust to the marketplace or get left further behind. Your stuff is great, but just not very desirable to the current eBay marketplace!
I would normally agree if my poor sales extended past eBay and my personal accounts on eBay, but they don't. What's becoming very interesting is that my Xmas sales here were completely dead, yet the same items that I was selling were selling and for more money than mine including shipping.
I could see that happening here and there, as someone views a sellers inventory an spots an item and does the impulse buy, without checking prices. But to happen all the time was no longer a coincidence.
I have a bunch of relatives that have inactive accounts on eBay, so I contacted them, in Jan, and a few agreed to let me run my items through them as a test. Wouldn't you know it. My sales have been pretty good and fairly steady on their accounts. It's the same stuff that I keep adding to this account that doesn't sell.
So the question is...Why does it sell on their accounts, and not on mine? That's the million dollar question that only eBay can answer.
I believe it has everything to do with the year each account is opened, the server your accounts are on, and the tests those accounts have been subjected to.
Those undisclosed tests serve to undermine your business model, create friction between seller and buyer, and cause general havoc through no fault of yours.
I have 3 accounts that were on completely unequal footing, though I saw ebay scrambling to get all 3 equally into the worst case scenario. I had considered opening a store, and then came the summer update. Not gonna happen.
Rather than subject myself to more failure, and seeing that even my most favorably positioned account was headed fo disaster, I removed all items from my accounts in May, hoping the dust would settle. Waited a few weeks, and reformatted, relisted, only to see that views were even worse now.
Bringing these failings to light is our only recourse, as if it matters. Nothing but spin from the talking heads here. I'm not hopeful that management of listings will be reverted back to sellers, rather than fodder for ebay and their poor programming skills. Everything is broken here.
