eBay

inkgirl-uk · ‎06-28-2019

I have been selling on Ebay for 15 years now, and am shocked at the recent down-turn in sales. Ebay sales have been struggling for a while now but they have now got so bad that it will soon not be worth having an Ebay shop anymore. Our listings are appearing towards the bottom of searches so buyers are no longer seeing them.

We have tried the Sponsored Search method but this has made little difference.

I am scratching my head as to what to do next! Can anyone offer any useful suggestions please?

baantiques · ‎06-28-2019

@inkgirl-uk wrote:
I have been selling on Ebay for 15 years now, and am shocked at the recent down-turn in sales. Ebay sales have been struggling for a while now but they have now got so bad that it will soon not be worth having an Ebay shop anymore. Our listings are appearing towards the bottom of searches so buyers are no longer seeing them.
We have tried the Sponsored Search method but this has made little difference.
I am scratching my head as to what to do next! Can anyone offer any useful suggestions please?

I've been doing surprisingly well the last few weeks. I've started making lots of parts and starting them at 9.99, parts I would have taken to the swap meet, which in turn seems to have juiced my other listings. I'm up 165% over last month and 65% over last year. Still down 30% from June 2017 though and about 50% from my best month on 2017.

The strange part is, Ebay penalizes us for unknown reasons in search, and if you just leave things be, your sales will shrink to nothing. Last October, I sold $245. I had gotten tired of constantly having to figure out why my sales were dropping, have some success, and then see them drop again. So I quit doing anything. The $245 over 95% less than the last 30 days. But the thing is, except for the half dozen auctions I have up, IT'S THE SAME STUFF.

Let me repeat that. EVERYTHING I HAVE UP NOW, I HAD UP LAST FALL WHEN I WASN'T GETTING ANY SALES.

So clearly the reason for choking off visibility in search is not because you have stuff that doesn't sell. Maybe it's my seller rating? It's the same. Everything is the same.

They are trying to be clever with their search algorithm. Fail.

massautowerks · ‎07-22-2019

My June 2019 sales were the worst they have been in a very long time, almost 50% lower than last year and overall we are down 30% compared to last year. May was a great month but as soon as June 1st hit we flat lined..not sure if there was any changes on eBay's end? July has not been any better. Hoping things will pick up soon!

toooldtorock · ‎07-22-2019

"Can anyone offer any useful suggestions please?"

Sell the things people want. That fixes a lot of slow sales problems.

uncseniorsportsfan · ‎07-22-2019

Sell the things people want. That fixes a lot of slow sales problems.

That's easy to say if you sell niche products - not so easy of you sell collectibles, clothing, jewelry, or items you have lying around the house. Niche sellers usually get a number of sales from return customers - selling a wide variety of items that fill one time wants rather than needs doesn't often result in repeat business.

I've been selling on ebay for 20 years, had a brick and mortar store 5 years before that, and at flea markets and craft shows 15 years before I had a store. Never have I experienced the slow down in sales currently experienced on eBay over the past 4 months. This is the third weekend out of four with no sales on any of my four diverse accounts, and on this account most of my sports related sales are usually over the weekend. Even stranger is that all four of my sales last week went to California - haven't had an east coast sale in over two weeks.

Somehow, I can't accept that eBay's search manipulation through changing algorithms and duplicating promoted listings is not primarily responsible for the drop off in sales for the many long time sellers that I have never seen posting here before.

jsst_94 · ‎07-22-2019

I have been selling on ebay for around 20 years & have a couple of stores...I have never had a good JUNE-AUG never, I don't sell the inventory for these months & most people are outdoors on vacation or have kids running around less time for eBay but this year has been very very bad. I think a lot of the decline comes from the new Good Till Canceled listings, the search engine is going to keep lower these items on the search list & I have to end items the last day of viewing I have to do this each morning on item's I do not want to relist so that can cause anywhere from the last min. to a full day where item's are not being seen in the best selling time there is on eBay. I also had a whole store full of Christmas items relisted so I can not list anything else for the rest of the month because I forgot to end them 1 day. Also another reason for the sells to decline is the shipping cost. USPS went up and they went up ALOT. For me to send a 2lb package to CA it cost $17 for me to ship that same package to AR it is just $7. You may want to check your shipping I bet depending on what state you live in the shipping for further away states is WAY WAY to much. No one is going to pay $17 to ship a pair of used jeans. eBay missed the mark on GTC & has not done a thing to lower shipping people will not pay these high shipping cost. If either of these things are a contributor to your store...Call eBay let them know fill out the feedback tab on the right of your seller hub page. Shipping & GTC both need to change or we are going to keep losing out. Amazon can make deals all day long with USPS and eBay can't?

jsst_94 · ‎07-22-2019

eBay changes are GTC & higher shipping cost.....GTC lowers your item on the search list every time it relist & some sellers are having to end listings the last day to avoid the item from relisting another month. The last day of a listing is the best selling time. Also check your shipping for different states for me to ship a 2lb package to CA it's $17 but for AR it's only $7. I won't get the CA, WA ect ect sales bc of shipping prices which I have no control over. I can't ship item's for less bc I still have to cover shipping & the fees from eBay & Paypal charged on shipping. If this could be effecting your sells let eBay know...The more sellers speak out the more eBay will look into it.

toooldtorock · ‎07-23-2019

"I have never had a good JUNE-AUG never"

Same with me.

I am not sure about the GTC issue. There are a lot of factors, such as stock goes stale as buyers

change. Ups and downs in interest rates, buyers can purchase cheaper buying directly from

China and so on.

Having unique or limited availability products helps.

mr_lincoln · ‎07-23-2019

@inkgirl-uk Multiple choice:

1. Sell off your eBay stock

2. Join the club, many reporting sales are down

3. End every single listing you have and then relist them using the Sell Similar function

4. eBay goofed with the GTC mandate back in March and is now paying the price

5. eBay's servers are old and outdated, they need a new CRAY computer

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

turquoisetulips · ‎07-23-2019

@inkgirl-uk wrote:
I have been selling on Ebay for 15 years now, and am shocked at the recent down-turn in sales. Ebay sales have been struggling for a while now but they have now got so bad that it will soon not be worth having an Ebay shop anymore. Our listings are appearing towards the bottom of searches so buyers are no longer seeing them.
We have tried the Sponsored Search method but this has made little difference.
I am scratching my head as to what to do next! Can anyone offer any useful suggestions please?

The same useful suggestions don't always make any difference . I've had the same never ending watchers on dozens of items for weeks until I've simply lost hope . The e bay top brass aren't listening to the sellers when we ask for them to stop changing things around until every buyer out there is dazed and confused and are no longer comfortable buying here .They won't listen to suggestions of possibly parting with some of the millions THEY make each year and invest a bit of it in advertising . The interest they had in the prosperity of their sellers is long gone and has been replaced with more intense corporate greed . So the only useful suggestion I can offer that I KNOW works is to venture out . Using only one selling site nowadays is not a good idea. Tulips

whatmorefabric · ‎07-23-2019

Many who have slow sales are selling collectibles and used clothing. The 70's and 80's are coming back and the Glam look, brushed gold, is slowing replacing the industrial country look...brushed nickle. Are you selling clothing and collectibles that are reflecting that trend or are you selling the same old same old Banana Republic and Gap look. Are your items unique or can they be found on other sites cheaper? Is that tank top used the same price as a Targey new? Young consumers are not so brand orientated.

The way any search engine works is that they will bring to the top items that are new or items that are popular. If you have an item that has been hanging around for a while and not selling, it will drop to the bottom and take the rest of your listings with it. The same holds if you are a seller and you sell a lot. Your items in general will rise to the top.

Titles...put what you are selling in the first 21 spaces. Do not use words that do not reflect the item. Do not use caps. Do not use new. Do not use fantastic. It is clutter and search engines do not like clutter.

Descriptions should be in bullet form. No lengthy terms or descriptions that do not reflect what you are selling. Words that describe your product should be at the beginning and the I found this in Grandpas attic should be eliminated or at least at the end.

Add new things. I list my bolt ends every day. I make about a 1.00 profit. They sell and it shows I have an active store people shop at . It is like on line advertising.

Now as the usual Ebay bashers come out....my sales were up 48 % this month.

namtrag1 · ‎07-23-2019

After all the ...."sales are sooo bad", " I've tried everything possible", " sales were going gangbuster for the last 3 years then poof..nothing".." the search engine is broken",

Let's face it. eBay randomly allows sales to be spread out with no logical reason.

We are at the mercy of eBay.

kathieskorner · ‎07-23-2019

The way any search engine works is that they will bring to the top items that are new or items that are popular. If you have an item that has been hanging around for a while and not selling, it will drop to the bottom and take the rest of your listings with it. The same holds if you are a seller and you sell a lot. Your items in general will rise to the top.

Maybe that is how most search engines work, but I'm not sure that is how eBay's search is currently working especially with the addition of sponsored listings, and algorithms focusing on lowest price, free shipping, and free returns. I'm not even sure newly listed works beyond Day 1 - despite over 125 newly listed items in June over four accounts - only one sold. That is highly unusual as is the lack of July sales.

Yes I sell collectibles, but very little used clothing. I am used to sales fluctuations but not the steady down turn in total sales experienced over the past four months. Usually if one account is down - another is up. That is not happening. With a 20 year history on eBay and monthly numbers for each year - I am pretty confident that it is the 2019 changes eBay has made that is affecting so many sellers.

I have been really surprised that so many auto parts sellers posting here are having slow sales - my cousins had always done well until this year. Used car parts have been worth more than the used cars for quite a few years.

nky-photos · ‎08-10-2019

I have been selling on eBay full time since 2004 and this is the worst summer I have ever had.

Sales down over 50% from a year ago from July - August.

When I first started selling on ebay August was my worst month of the year along with January but the pattern changed and August and January became OK and September to October became my bug-a-boo months.

What made August so bad when I first started selling was I had "1" day that I did not sell something. I was just shocked that could happen. This July I had "6" days I did not sell anything and if you added in the days I sold 1 item it would about to 10 days I had minimal to no sales.

With that kind of drop in sales and the economy is supposed to be booming I cannot help but wonder if ebay made a background change that has effected sales.

Peace, Duane Bass

(1st Armored Division 1971 - 73)

flo_mingo · ‎08-10-2019

@inkgirl-uk wrote:

I am scratching my head as to what to do next! Can anyone offer any useful suggestions please?

Selling here since 2003, Summers were always slow for me. This year sales are DEAD.

I sell on 3 accounts. No sales anywherere.

But here is what has worked in past.

1. Clean succinct title. no punctuation marks no terms like cute- great- NEW

---that is always ebay advice. we noticed an item exactly like ours priced higher than ours had more watchers. Only difference was that title had "adorable" in title. 4 of us sellers did an unscientific trial of adding " adorable " to title and all 4 items sold that week. We have no idea why that worked it was an empirical unreplicated experiment.

2. List something brand new every day. not a relist or sell similar.

- listing new items every day used to cause the sale of other stale items, don"t know the magic of that strategy- it just worked. Cant do this since GTC all available listings are already used up.

3. When you cancel items because of GTC- only select "relist item" for items with watchers. -Select "sell similar" for items items with out watchers. This is rumored to give them a moment of search relevance as a new item.

4 Make your own decision on promoted listings. I used it, didn't use it, no increase in sales just increase on fees for few items that did sell.

5. Always have a short sale 3-5 days going on selected items if you have a store.

6. always have a buy #/ get something off if you have a multiple listing.

7. Always have buy # items / get somthing for all items if you have a store. It used to ensure that your items were shown on the page with your items instead of big box and china advertisers, This does not seem to work anymore- I see a lot of interlopers on the item item space that i have paid a st fee for.

These steps always worked for me in the past. NOthing worked this summer

8.My advise- What has worked. I have moved all inventory to another site.