Apparent non-listing penalty?

[goldrushfinds]

I find that whenever I miss just one day of listing new items, that I pay with dead sales for at least 3-5 days after. This has happened without fail. I feel like I am a trained circus animal and must perform daily or pay the consequences. Have you experienced this as well or am I out in left field. 

[chapeau-noir]

Yeah - for number of listings and market, the OP is doing great TBH.  The smaller one is, the greater the swings up and down in my experience. 

[chapeau-noir]

Yeah - for number of listings and market, the OP is doing great, IMHO.  The smaller one is, the greater the swings up and down - in my experience (a lot depending on labels, etc.).

[chapeau-noir]

OK - that's weird, my post didn't post the first time "Something Happened" error, and then did the second when I added a phrase.

[goldrushfinds]

It is a conspiracy. Someone has been following me daily for the past 3 months. In the dark of night, I see a shadowy figure looming just off in the distance. If I try to elude the figure,  he mysteriously appears shortly again. Additionally, I feel that I am slowing being poisoned. Heaven help me. OK, I hope you didn't buy all that (lol). 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

 IMHO, this scales depending on both number of items a seller has, the amount of listings in their category as a whole, the type, brand and consistency of their listings.  Saying "I don't have this problem" is irrelevant if someone is in a completely different market.

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I would add your number of sales to this.  B/C that to me is even more important than how often you list, in a competitive market (I also sell clothing).    For example, I was recently on vacation for almost 2 weeks.  I did not list at all during that time, though I did a few sporadic sell similars.  My sales came in, but were about average - 2 per day or so.   BUT, I also didn't send out any offers during that time b/c of Ebay's Time Away policy not allowing for Offers.  So when I got back home, I had over 250 offers to send, which took my 3-4 days.   I had stellar sales for the next few weeks, based on the sales from those offers alone.  

Like @chapeau-noir  I don't notice it if I miss a day or even 2, but if I have a really busy non-Ebay week & miss 4-5 days, it def reflects in my sales. 

[doug_5857]

I sell coins and My sales have shot up since I turned TRS on Mar 1. I would average 5-7 orders a week before 3-1 and after I am averaging 12  to 16 orders a week. I have to slow some postings cuz I dont wanna sell all at once. The longer I wait on some postings the prices go up due to demand. I also do not post every day. I will post like 20 items at a time and wait till they sell and then list a bunch more. I will keep about 100 posting at a time. Since I run maybe 85 auctions in a 5 day listing week. There are several auctions every day that need relisting at any one time so that maybe helps me stay away from some kind of penalty. 

[chapeau-noir]

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@doug_5857 wrote:

I sell coins and My sales have shot up since I turned TRS on Mar 1. I would average 5-7 orders a week before 3-1 and after I am averaging 12  to 16 orders a week. I have to slow some postings cuz I dont wanna sell all at once. The longer I wait on some postings the prices go up due to demand. I also do not post every day. I will post like 20 items at a time and wait till they sell and then list a bunch more. I will keep about 100 posting at a time. Since I run maybe 85 auctions in a 5 day listing week. There are several auctions every day that need relisting at any one time so that maybe helps me stay away from some kind of penalty. 

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There's no such thing as a  "penalty" but you're consistently active which keeps the pot boiling and that's what you want.  If I run out of inventory, I take down listings I have (I don't do auctions because I don't have anything really auction worthy), revamp them and then relist them as fresh listings - it only has to be a few a day, but again, engagement is important. 

[forward-motion]

I used to do the same thing. But in February, I changed positions at work. I put a lot more time in at work and I don't have access to the parts I used to get. So my listings fell off. However, I have a lot still listed but my sales went way down. One weekend I listed new things and I had several sales, none of which was the new things I listed. Nothing works like new listings to keep my sales going. I haven't had a sale in weeks, and I am up early this morning to list. Let's see how that goes.   

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@chapeau-noir  I agree, I don't believe there is any such thing as a "penalty" for NOT listing regularly. There IS a benefit to listing regularly. Some theorize that ebay's algo itself rewards this. I'm not convinced of that. (Of course, we know "new" listings do get a temporary boost in Best Match, but that's because they are new, not because the seller is listing frequently.) I'm pretty sure ebay has said there is NO weight given to a seller's frequency. 

But whether the algo considers it or not simply isn't important. We know from experience that it IS a good idea to list with some frequency or even every day. I suspect this is especially true for sellers of one offs. It's basically the same principle vendors in antique malls are taught: keep your booth fresh. If you have absolutely nothing new to bring in, then at least re-arrange your booth, so regulars will look closer and maybe find something they had not noticed before.  

This is why you can list new stuff but it's the old stuff that sells...probably because a buyer has looked at something new, and then looked at your other stuff and found something else to buy from you. But it's like the new item helped to get them in the door, and so they started to look around.

I haven't been listing regularly or even frequently, and I want to boost my sales , so I'm going to try to get back into a more regular listing pattern. We had a fun and profitable sourcing weekend, so plenty of stuff to list.

One other thing: If, like me, you sell primarily long tail (including some very long tail) one offs, it's good to have realistic expectations. Most of my stuff is not in high demand, I'm not selling the latest tech gadgets or the hottest fashion. So I fully expect it might take a while to sell. Which is another reason to list regularly...as others have noted, the more you have listed, and the more frequently you list, the smoother your sales will be. (Of course, this still requires having items people do want , and at prices they are willing to pay)

[forward-motion]

I have to agree with the OP, I listed a few items this weekend and I got a sale, not the new items that I listed but an old item. Listing and sales go hand in hand, you can't just sit on old inventory. 

[femmefan1946]

@dnasilver 

think about how you go about buying. Do you seek out sellers who list every day, weekly, let alone monthly?

The daily listing is not for the buyer, but to keep the algorithm happy.

There is a belief that daily listings mean you always show something new, and Cassini likes that.

Fixed Price makes that less important, part of the algorithm probably relates to seven day auctions, which are down to less than 15% of listings now, and have been for over a decade.

At a guess, the idea is that the buyer will be looking for things he hasn't seen before.

[femmefan1946]

@2013grotz 

Problem is I don't always have stuff to be able to list, especially every day.

This is where closing out items that have been in stock "too long" and letting them sit on your Unsold List for a while is useful.

Whether you use Re-List or Sell Similar, they will seem new when you relist them.

[femmefan1946]

@forward-motion 

One weekend I listed new things and I had several sales, none of which was the new things I listed.

I've noticed that with Promoted Listings.

I got a lot more Views when I started using them (at 1% because I am cheap).

The PL items didn't sell all that much better, but other stuff, which was not Promoted, did.

PL seems to bring the boys to the yard, but they might buy a sundae instead of a milkshake.

PL , constant listings, previous sales, all seem to garner eyeballs.

With luck, and great salesmanship, the eyeballs will buy.

Urrgh! That last comment sounds like it was written by HP Lovecraft.

[chapeau-noir]

HP Lovecraft.

 

[slyders_finds]

Unfortunately you have discovered the "wonderful" eBay algorithm. And yes 100% they do penalize you if are not a subservient worker bee. Listing all the time. When I had 80-120 things listed I would get 25-30 a month. Now I have about 20 things 1 or 2 sales month.