Sadly, EBAY has been dying on its feet for antiques sales over the past roughly 5 years or so (I've been selling on 3-4 ids here in different languages since 2004).
The reasons for this have largely been covered but just to hear the sound of my own voice, to repeat, yep it's EBAY's insane lemming-like policies, their seeming determination to go to war with their client base (i.e. the vendors), their greed, their childlike efforts to shoot for an impossible corporate mission - to become another Amazon etc.
They have totally lost sight of their original USP that gave them such a powerful place in the market. So, they're in terminal decline, though perhaps acting as just a distribution outlet for low-cost Chinese mass producers will keep their leadership levels in bonuses for a few years yet. What they perhaps never thought of though was that in driving serious vendors onto other platforms, they also lost a lot of their potential buyers who went with them. It's a textbook case study of how not to do things. They'll be studying it in business schools in 10-15 years.
To be fair though, there are some factors they couldn't really control - and I am speaking here of my own area of antiques - I know less about other sectors.
In Europe and North America, even 5-10 years ago, very many public auctions were not on line. The role of the antiques dealer was often to buy at public auction using their painfully acquired specialist knowledge, (notionally public auctions then were 'wholesale' or 'trade source'), clean/repair/research and re-sell through a shop or EBAY. There was a value-add and a consequent margin.
Today, that world has gone. Most public auctions are now online and buyers know that. Why should they pay say $150 dollars to a dealer on EBAY for a piece of silver when they can buy the same thing online from a public auction for perhaps $60?
Unfortunately, far far far too many wannabe dealers just haven't grasped this. Prior to COVID, every single week I saw literally hundreds of new entrants (in 2 countries) at public auctions frantically bidding on items until the prices hit the stars. What were they basing their bidding levels on? Yep, EBAY advertisements! Their idea of an item's potential re-sale value was based upon the price being asked by another dealer on EBAY who, they failed to notice, hadn't actually been able to sell their item as it was too expensive.
Quite often the winning bidder would show those around them the object and proudly proclaim they'd gone a bargain.
If they were near me and asked me, what could I say? I would sometimes ask these guys in a friendly fashion if they knew they could EBAY select based upon 'sold' prices not what other dealers were asking. Many hadn't a clue. Some reacted quite badly when they looked up the realistic price and implied I was trying to frighten them off from bidding in the public auction (as if it was my fault they didn't know how to use EBAY). Many others re-looked at the prices realised of something they'd just purchased and then went into near shock at how much money they were likely to lose.
Some told me I should mind my own business - which was fair enough and probably right I guess. I don't do it any more. I now just smile and say "great!" when a newbie dealer shows me something they've just paid miles and miles over the top for based on a poor understanding of EBAY pricing.
Think I'm kidding? I promise you I'm not. The auctioneers are privately splitting their sides in laughter at this behaviour and continue laughing all the way to the bank. It happens online too of course. Why people think you can buy something at a public online auction in COVID days and then put it back onto EBAY and make a big profit is simply beyond me.
Why does that matter? That's because I very very often see those same items popping up on EBAY a day or so later at 75-200% more than the person bought them for. The result is predictable - no sale.
EBAY is now stuffed to the gunnels with ludicrously overpriced antique items. That has also driven buyers away in droves. I know many big-spending collectors who now openly laugh at any suggestion they would buy on EBAY.
This phenomenon is being caused in part at least by the plethora of TV shows perpetrating the myth that antiques are an easy way to make money. The story goes - wander along to a public auction (or online), buy something, stick on a big profit, then put it on EBAY. Easy money isn't it?
Except it's not and doesn't work like that - nor has it ever done so.
This is hugely inflating prices and demoralising the few remaining buyers who scan EBAY. In my opinion, about 95% of the antique watchers on EBAY are now dealers looking at each other losing money and sometimes hoping for the odd bargain when one of their competition has become so desperate they've been forced to offer something on open low-start bidding.
One thing I do know as a fact is that today, where I live, a typical antique business lasts between 24-36 months after startup before they go bust or need to close down. A very high proportion of those are people who ran their business on the assumption they'd make sales through EBAY. Wrong!
It's sad. Again to be fair to EBAY, there are simply too many dealers and insufficient buyers now in the antiques domain. EBAY's woes and errors have just exacerbated that position (as has COVID because now vast numbers of people sitting at home think they can make money by trading antiques). I can't see it changing in the near future.
I do still advertise a few bits and pieces on EBAY. Honestly, I don't know why. It's mainly nostalgia but also a bit of market testing. Yes, you can get the odd good sale on EBAY - statistics are a funny thing. Generally though, it's dead, has been so for years and will continue to be so.
Gloomy but
