While searching for several different items I wished to purchase I began noticing what appears to be a more frantic desperation by many long time sellers to maintain a minuscule market share. Relevance if you wish to call it. Frantic because many items I placed in my Watch folder almost immediately received an offer from the the seller for up to 50% off. Sellers are listing items where they can't be making more than 50 cents or a dollar in profit. I prefer to purchase from my fellow real Americans with some history here and if I want something I'm willing to pay the asking price. I have purchased from overseas sellers and will not do that again.
I've had this account since 2001. I've switched my inventory several times over the years, as I'm sure a lot of you have. When the competition becomes overwhelming and some sellers list items for less than you can purchase at wholesale prices - and offer free shipping to boot - how does that make you feel? What do you do? Do you give up or do you approach the issue from a different angle?
Do you view the situation as motivation? Do you think 'I'll show you - eat my dust' and begin frantically listing every item you can get your hands on? Do you search out new and unique inventory? List your handmade crafts? Investigate means to advertise your listings instead of relying on eBay to bring customers to you? Do you cull your non-sellers so you aren't reminded daily that only a small percentage of your listings actually do sell? Do you decide to pare down to one category of items?
Or do you view the situation as aggravating, frustrating, maddening and cause you to think less than nice thoughts? How do you channel these feelings? Inward where you may be damaging your health? Are family and friends a tad leery of being around you as you're always in a bad mood and constantly complaining about what happens on eBay? Do you complain so much that eyes roll and people attempt to change the subject when you're speaking? Has eBay turned you into a constant crab? Where once you were excited to see how many items sold, do you now dread the let down of finding just one or two sales or that nothing sold?
New sellers get a taste of selling a few items on eBay then expect the future to be bright with sales galore and no stress. I think we all thought that way when we began. And for many of us virtually everything we did list found a buyer. that was then and this is the new reality.
We are all in this for the money. We have inventories, small and large. We have money invested in that inventory. Our monthly fees are an investment in eBay the corporation. We strive to make a profit, sadly sometimes any profit, to recoup our investment. We dread having to take a loss to move inventory.
Sometimes I have my head in the sand ignoring the millions of competing sellers. And then an occasional search for an item I'm interested in buying drives home the overwhelming fact that I am less than a tadpole in this ocean. Then I get motivated, until I decide to get out and actually enjoy living without this stress.
How about you?
