eBay

bazaaragogo · ‎04-17-2019

I sell clothing and jewelry in my store, some pre-owned from my own collecition, some new as part of liquidation from my brick and mortar, and sales have been pretty good up until 2 weeks ago, and now literally nothing. After browsing the forums here this morning and hearing that some were decamping for Etsy and Poshmark, I decided to delete one of my Ebay listings and list it on Poshmark. This particular item got 5 views since I listed it a month ago on Ebay and within 1 hour of listing this morning on Poshmark, it sold. What am I missing?

duncanvr · ‎04-17-2019

My sales are strong. You should be running promoted listings to get more views these days especially with clothing. Also use the 4 social media buttons seen top right corner of your listings in computer view. Running your own social media to boost your views is critical these days as especially the clothing market is flooded.

weschurch · ‎04-17-2019

@bazaaragogo wrote:
I sell clothing and jewelry in my store, some pre-owned from my own collecition, some new as part of liquidation from my brick and mortar, and sales have been pretty good up until 2 weeks ago, and now literally nothing. After browsing the forums here this morning and hearing that some were decamping for Etsy and Poshmark, I decided to delete one of my Ebay listings and list it on Poshmark. This particular item got 5 views since I listed it a month ago on Ebay and within 1 hour of listing this morning on Poshmark, it sold. What am I missing?

You are not missing anything. Ebay has ran off the majority of its user base and that user base has gone to other sites. People are over Ebay and the constant changes and awful management. Its overly complicated, ever-changing, and the returns don't justify the hassle.

bazaaragogo · ‎04-17-2019

Its ever-changing for the sellers, not the buyers. Where are the buyers?

weschurch · ‎04-17-2019

@bazaaragogo wrote:
Its ever-changing for the sellers, not the buyers. Where are the buyers?

Sellers are buyers as well. Also when the inventory and selection evaporates buyers just choose to not to consider Ebay. Ebay worked because of selection. That selection has been drying up for years

marinermikes · ‎04-17-2019

Yep. As soon as I start getting the old "top tips for selling your items on Ebay" B. S. my sales stop! Every time!

I will never ever offer thirty day free returns so I guess it is what it is.

rschissler · ‎04-17-2019

@weschurch wrote:
@bazaaragogo wrote:
Its ever-changing for the sellers, not the buyers. Where are the buyers?
Sellers are buyers as well. Also when the inventory and selection evaporates buyers just choose to not to consider Ebay. Ebay worked because of selection. That selection has been drying up for years

I don't know where you get the idea that there is no "inventory and selection." Most categories are more swamped than ever before with inventory. There are more sellers than before as well, so there should be plenty of buyers, according to your interesting logic.

The problem is that the ratio of buyers to sellers is less than it used to be.

weschurch · ‎04-17-2019

@rschissler wrote:
@weschurch wrote:
@bazaaragogo wrote:
Its ever-changing for the sellers, not the buyers. Where are the buyers?
Sellers are buyers as well. Also when the inventory and selection evaporates buyers just choose to not to consider Ebay. Ebay worked because of selection. That selection has been drying up for years
I don't know where you get the idea that there is no "inventory and selection." Most categories are more swamped than ever before with inventory. There are more sellers than before as well, so there should be plenty of buyers, according to your interesting logic.

The problem is that the ratio of buyers to sellers is less than it used to be.

The problem isn't the quantity of listings, its the quality. There are 3 types of listing on Ebay

1. Chinese junk noone wants

2. Big Box stuff people go to Amazon to buy

3. Ebay "business" type listings where sellers depend on profit, than have to add on so many ridiculous Ebay/Paypal fees thats they are just not an attractive option.

Gone are the everyday sellers with cool stuff they found in their attic. If you look at the selection now and think it is anywhere near the selection that was available 8-15 years ago I'd have to question how much time you've spent on Ebay. Its ENTIRELY different and to be honest, totally unattractive to buyers now. Ebay is just another poorly ran run of the mill website with the same garbage thats on every other website.

Unique inventory built Ebay. The people that had some stuff to sell, anything and everything at one time put it on Ebay, not for massive profit, but because they could get a few bucks out of something they had in the closet for 10 years. Now those sellers are all but gone. Noone wants to figure out Ebays overly-complicated selling matrix and deal with the DOZENS of issues this site has. Its not fun, its not profitable and its a giant timesuck. Overall its to much of a PITA to even deal with. That same unique inventory that built ebay, and now the lack there-of, is whats destroyed this one time giant. Ebay created that deficit by years of incompetent, out of touch management running off users and all but destroying what used to be to a sense of enjoyment.

blingrescue · ‎04-17-2019

" you're all caught up is the message I get each day- translation -no sales today. I used to ship at least one item a day. I have moved to sites stated above.

blingrescue · ‎04-17-2019

This the biggest disappointment. It used to be fun to buy and sell on ebay. Now it is neither

tatku-0 · ‎04-17-2019

@weschurch wrote:

Sellers are buyers as well

Exactly! I was selling on ebay, used clothes/shoes as well - and could shop with that money.

Sales went to zero - - > my ebay shopping went to zero...Poshmark now. Ebay is not for used items, with its nightmare return policy

parkersparrow · ‎04-17-2019

I sell clothes & jewelry as well. I started selling on Poshmark too around October. I did have some luck selling things that I have had up on ebay for sooo long. Their fees are higher but I like how it's upfront and tells you exactly how much you'll get from the sale. But you always have to be active sharing your listings. Plus you have to deal with constant low ball offers. I still feel ebay works out better for me with sales. I do use facebook & instagram a lot to get new buyer by directing them back to my ebay store.

jz-5682 · ‎04-17-2019

Same here. Very little sales. My Seller Hub tells me I'm down 23.5% from last month and down 26.8% from last year. I was hoping it was just because it's tax time and people who thought they were getting a refund aren't because of the Trump tax changes. It's depressing and scary.

I also sell jewelry and was very disappointed with the 2018 Christmas season compared to 2017. I've been spending more time on EBay listing, promoting listings, and keeping up with all the changes, for way less money. It's really messed up that EBay is making us pay to promote our listings, which in turn means we have to raise our prices, which means we sell less. It's either that or practically give it away in an auction. Either way it seems we make less.

coolections · ‎04-17-2019

@weschurch wrote:
That selection has been drying up for years

@weschurch

Member numbers have DOUBLED in the last eight years. I would not call that drying up.

greg5000 · ‎04-18-2019

@bazaaragogo wrote;

Its ever-changing for the sellers, not the buyers. Where are the buyers?

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@weschurch said it best in his reply to you.

I was a very frequent Buyer until Feb. when a lot happened at eBay (Numerous Technical Issues, Poor Buying Experience, Poor Customer Support, Unable to Access eBay via the Home Page, Sellers Unhappy with GTC and other changes). There were always issues here, but when endured in a cascading waterfall of negative experiences ...... the only way to breathe is to escape. I just opened an Amazon account for the first time last week and have already made six purchases.

Amazon - 6 eBay - 0

When eBay starts listening to their Customers, adhering to policies regarding Feedback, and making the site safe for all users, I might come back. Right now there is a lot of Adult Material that can be viewed by anyone, including children. Amazon doesn't allow this on their site.

alan@ebay

brian_burke@ebay