eBay

pennycache · ‎10-21-2019

Since Ebay forced the automatic renewals upon the sellers I have found the process to be more time consuming. Also it has caused a drop in sales for us. Not sure exactly why. Anyone have an idea? The only reason behind this policy that I can figure is it benefits those who a are selling the same new items over and over. These listings are usually paying for premium spots and therefor do not have the headaches the rest of us do now. How do the rest of you feel about this automatic renewal?

gwzcomps · ‎10-21-2019

It hurts one off listings. I don't know why or understand why it matters for categories that are highly driven by price. All I know is I can take one of my items that has been up for months, relist it with no changes, and it will sell in a week. Well it could also sit for months again I guess. Now it is a game of ending and relisting items if you want stuff to sell.

mam98031 · ‎10-21-2019

It has a great deal to do with Google [or other outside search engine] searches. Short term listings cause a lot of dead links in the search returns. Which tend to have potential buyers go elsewhere. Longer duration listings don't produce as many dead links in the search returns, therefore less frustration for potential customers.

That is likely not the only reason, but it would be a big one, maybe even the top of the list.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

e-cheddar · ‎10-22-2019

@mam98031 wrote:
It has a great deal to do with Google [or other outside search engine] searches. Short term listings cause a lot of dead links in the search returns. Which tend to have potential buyers go elsewhere. Longer duration listings don't produce as many dead links in the search returns, therefore less frustration for potential customers.

That is likely not the only reason, but it would be a big one, maybe even the top of the list.

that was the theory. hasn't worked for me.

femmefan1946 · ‎10-22-2019

I've used Good Til Cancelled Listings since they became available because they are less work.

Nonetheless, I do monitor my listings (currently about 5000 over four active selling accounts) and end those that have had too many views* without selling, or which get the eBay "16 month" notice.

@gwzcomps

Now it is a game of ending and relisting items if you want stuff to sell.

Which is basically what you did when your FP listings ended automatically, isn't it?
A closed listing cannot sell because no one can see it.

My items are basically unique, rarely multiples. I expect them to be long tail.

*Because a Fixed Price listings that has had 100 or more views without selling has some sort of problem. I close it until I can work out the problem.

mam98031 · ‎10-22-2019

@e-cheddar wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
It has a great deal to do with Google [or other outside search engine] searches. Short term listings cause a lot of dead links in the search returns. Which tend to have potential buyers go elsewhere. Longer duration listings don't produce as many dead links in the search returns, therefore less frustration for potential customers.

That is likely not the only reason, but it would be a big one, maybe even the top of the list.
that was the theory. hasn't worked for me.

I personally have found it to be annoying.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

m60driver · ‎10-22-2019

@mam98031 wrote:
It has a great deal to do with Google [or other outside search engine] searches. Short term listings cause a lot of dead links in the search returns. Which tend to have potential buyers go elsewhere. Longer duration listings don't produce as many dead links in the search returns, therefore less frustration for potential customers.

I have doubts about that. I find my new listings show up on Google rather soon. That implies that my former listings are taken off rather soon as well. And when I search Google for items I don't find many dead links on Ebay. There might be a few, but only when there are no current listings for any one widget on Ebay. So that makes the argument about sellers gong elsewhere a moot point. Not to mention that Google also gives me false leads on Amazon where an item is no longer available. We, us sellers, should be given our choice back between GTC listings and limited time listings as this experiment has not worked out all that well for many sellers, especially smaller sellers with limited listings available.

It will be interesting to see (along with the exposure of sponsored links as a bit of a fraud) if this past full quarter of GTC has helped Ebay's bottom line. It certainly has been, at best, a neutral development on sales for many smaller sellers.

mam98031 · ‎10-22-2019

@m60driver wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
It has a great deal to do with Google [or other outside search engine] searches. Short term listings cause a lot of dead links in the search returns. Which tend to have potential buyers go elsewhere. Longer duration listings don't produce as many dead links in the search returns, therefore less frustration for potential customers.
I have doubts about that. I find my new listings show up on Google rather soon. That implies that my former listings are taken off rather soon as well. And when I search Google for items I don't find many dead links on Ebay. There might be a few, but only when there are no current listings for any one widget on Ebay. So that makes the argument about sellers gong elsewhere a moot point. Not to mention that Google also gives me false leads on Amazon where an item is no longer available. We, us sellers, should be given our choice back between GTC listings and limited time listings as this experiment has not worked out all that well for many sellers, especially smaller sellers with limited listings available.

It will be interesting to see (along with the exposure of sponsored links as a bit of a fraud) if this past full quarter of GTC has helped Ebay's bottom line. It certainly has been, at best, a neutral development on sales for many smaller sellers.

I can share my personal experiences. How you can "doubt" that my experience was as I stated IDK. But OK. I hope at some point you get the answers or information you desire.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999