Does buying a starter store decrease customers?

[fredgsanford712]

About 2 weeks ago, I subscribed to a starter store.

My partner's mother has dementia and had to be put in an assisted living residence.

[For those wondering, this place is great.  At first I felt guilty for having to put her in there. But now I feel guilty that we waited so long.  These places are superb and take care of her so much better than we could.]

So I needed the listings to sell her estate to make money for her costs.

Prior, I had been having decent sales and likes as long as I kept listing and active on eBay.

Now that I have the store, it seems dead.
No sales.  Hardly any likes on items.

What gives?

I'm still keeping up the pace I did prior to subscribing to the store.
I'm not sure if there's something else I can be doing to draw interest. 
I hate to think I'm wasting money on this store if it will hinder more than help.

Thank you for any advice you can give me to increase my sasles.

[mam98031 · Accepted solution]

@fredgsanford712 

LOCATION: Middle, book shelf /water closet.  You say that in some of your listings.  What is does it mean?  For many people a water closet = the room the toilet is in.  Not likely a selling point.

LOCATION: Book pile by TV stand /living room.  This is in another one of your listings.  What that says to me is that you don't take care of the books since you keep them in a pile.

This type of information adds nothing to your listing but potential questions and likely problems.

[chapeau-noir]

---

@mam98031 wrote:

@fredgsanford712 

LOCATION: Middle, book shelf /water closet.  You say that in some of your listings.  What is does it mean?  For many people a water closet = the room the toilet is in.  Not likely a selling point.

LOCATION: Book pile by TV stand /living room.  This is in another one of your listings.  What that says to me is that you don't take care of the books since you keep them in a pile.

This type of information adds nothing to your listing but potential questions and likely problems.

---

Seems obvious that that is their inventory location system. @fredgsanford712 - you need to put that in the SKU/notes section. You'll see it, the buyers won't. 

[mam98031]

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

---

@mam98031 wrote:

@fredgsanford712 

LOCATION: Middle, book shelf /water closet.  You say that in some of your listings.  What is does it mean?  For many people a water closet = the room the toilet is in.  Not likely a selling point.

LOCATION: Book pile by TV stand /living room.  This is in another one of your listings.  What that says to me is that you don't take care of the books since you keep them in a pile.

This type of information adds nothing to your listing but potential questions and likely problems.

---

Seems obvious that that is their inventory location system. @fredgsanford712 - you need to put that in the SKU/notes section. You'll see it, the buyers won't. 

---

I get that.  I still stand by what I said.  There are better ways of doing that.  As a buyer if I saw that a book I was going to order was stored in a bathroom [lots of moisture] or in a pile, I would not think they are being stored correctly.

Sellers can use SKU's as you suggested or a coded type entry in a Item Specific Box.  There are ways to do it without doing this that may cause concern to a buyer.

[mtgraves7984]

@fredgsanford712 

FWIW... I see a couple of duplicate listings with very different prices. Check 'Jif' and 'Fan Fair'. 😉

[powell-collectibles]

I don’t want people to think the cats are now chasing dogs,, but I’m pretty much with you on this one. No way I’d want something that was stored in someone’s bathroom.  I’m more worried about backsplash than I am about the general humidity of a bathroom. Yuck.

[bdmh-enterprises]

As an old school metal fan, I'd find it very amusing if the 666 pricing structure had some hidden meaning.

However as a long time seller, I gotta say those numbers are annoying to look at. Maybe it's just me but I try not to have the same number repeated in a price for visual appeal.

[bdmh-enterprises]

---

@powell-collectibles wrote:

I don’t want people to think the cats are now chasing dogs,, but I’m pretty much with you on this one. No way I’d want something that was stored in someone’s bathroom.  I’m more worried about backsplash than I am about the general humidity of a bathroom. Yuck.

---

Since using w/c for bathroom is kinda European, I'd guess it means a large "closet" where the water heater and often electrical/heating stuff is located in homes w/o basements. Still not much better...

[mam98031]

---

@bdmh-enterprises wrote:

---

@powell-collectibles wrote:

I don’t want people to think the cats are now chasing dogs,, but I’m pretty much with you on this one. No way I’d want something that was stored in someone’s bathroom.  I’m more worried about backsplash than I am about the general humidity of a bathroom. Yuck.

---

Since using w/c for bathroom is kinda European, I'd guess it means a large "closet" where the water heater and often electrical/heating stuff is located in homes w/o basements. Still not much better...

---

Even if that were to be true, it is still a very bad place to store things made with paper.  The extra heat from the hot water tank would be harmful.  Books need a DRY place for storage.  

Basements are fine as long as the are completely dry and void of moisture issues.

My hot water tank and the heating unit for the house is located in my garage.  I would never store stock anywhere near them or even in my garage as it isn't properly insulated and set up for safely storing paper products.

[fredgsanford712]

Did you READ the part about my sales DECREASING since I bought the store?

No one here seems to have noticed that part.

Nitpicking on stupid stuff like "what does 'water closet' mean?"
Instead of focusing on THE NONEXISTANT SALES SINCE I BOUGHT A STORE.

UGH!  Common sense isn't so common anymore, apparently.

This 'community help' section is full of duds.

I never get any decent answers on here.  Just inane stuff like all these answers.

[mamacassidy]

@fredgsanford712 

you said "Thank you for any advice you can give me to increase my sasles."

So that's what we have been doing, giving you advice to increase sales.

We told you very clearly that having a store does not make you lose sales. 

If you don't like the suggestions, fine, but don't come here looking for advice then act like we're crazy for giving you that advice.

[powell-collectibles]

Looking at your sales history, it doesn’t look out of place to have a 10 day or a two week drought in sales.

Open a store shouldn’t have a negative impact on your sales.

[fredgsanford712]

That's not addressing the issue of DECREASED SALES 🙄 *SINCE I OPENED THE STORE*.

I've been putting the locations on my listings ~clearly, cuz they're on ALL my listings~ for months.
THAT clearly isn't the problem.
I've noted that I had DECENT SALES since I opened the store.  Now it's dead.
No likes, no sales.

I made a very small sale today. Maybe cu of this question. Maybe someone saw it and felt a desire to help my situation of raising money for my MIL.

But clearly putting the location
(no matter what the wording. Which no one understands anyway. Just ASSumptions.  But who knows where anyone stores the stuff they sell. Truly. Someone could have urinated all over it, bleached it, then put it on eBay. Soooooo . . . . .)
wasn't the problem. Cuz I had the noted DECENT SALES.

I'll just wait till you read this than delete the question.
you people are no help.
I'll never return here to ask another question.
Every time I ask, I get silly answers like the ones given.

[chapeau-noir]

"Thank you for any advice you can give me to increase my sasles."

Okey dokey - you don't like our advice, garnered from a collective hundreds of years of selling experience...unless it somehow supports the idea that yes, opening a starter store will doom your sales? 

Obvs, I have not had enough coffee yet today. 

[fredgsanford712]

No dear.
I said the interest in my store has DECREASED since the opening of the store.

Most of you are saying the problem areas might be stuff that's been on my store for years.
My pricing
(which, BTW, has INCREASED interest in my store.  When I had 'legit' pricing, I had very few sales.  The current pricing wasn't a flippant thought. I been selling for years on eBay.  Just within the past couple years have I did this type of pricing and my sales have skyrocketed since.)
clearly isn't the issue cuz it's something I've been doing for a couple years and, as previously mentioned, my sales were decent.

Putting the term 'water closet' must not be much of a deterrent. Cuz, as previously mentioned, my sales were decent pre-store opening.

People are pointing out things that have been on my listings for quite a while.
Why?
As mentioned, that clearly isn't the problem cuz my sales were decent.

Do I need to boost my store?  Boost my listings?
Does opening a store mess with the algorithms?  Is there a glitch that eBay might not know about, but the clients HAVE?

Further info:  I usually get at least 15 likes per week, to which I send offers. THAT is how I typically get my sales.
I usually put my prices a bit higher than expected as it seems, IMO, people are more likely to buy after a discount of a higher price than without, even if the price is inexpensive to begin with.

I really think this stuff through.

I wouldn't mind answering why I do what I do IF people would answer my question THINKING FIRST before answering.
THEN I would answer why I do my pricing that way and IF THEY ASKED I would tell them that it seems me putting 'water closet' as a location hasn't seemed to hinder them sales.

But just pointing out 'this thing that you said has been working for you should be changed to something that might not work for you' is just a waste of my time.
And I asked a legit question. 

[fern*wood]

Your question was addressed based on our own experiences.  You are the only one feeling that opening a store was the reason for a recent lack of sales.   That doesn’t mean that was the cause, though, but it seems you are convinced it was.  It seems the only answer you feel acceptable is one telling you that was the reason, when often a slump in sales just happens.