Ebay is no longer a viable selling platform

[umie11752]

My opinion. So I’m thinking I just figured out what ebay’s whole operation premise is. For the past year I have been asking myself, why the changes, nobody could possibly be this stupid right, over and over. Then, it hit me. Ebay sales is not what they use to appease their stockholders nor is that their goal. It’s store subscriptions and advertising. I do neither on here so I’m good. For those of you who continue to give them money literally out of pocket because you are seeing little to no return, you are contributing to this malarky and honestly should not even be on here complaining about sales. You are literally telling them, “Here take my money, it’s ok if I don’t see a return.” This is a hobby for you not a supplement to income or a business 💯 (because absolutely any smart business person understands at some point you cut your losses and ties with the money pit and just use free listings) so sales or no sales, shouldn’t even be an issue, cuz ur just doing it for “fun”. To the rest of you who do view this as a business I am truly sorry but you will do yourself a favor to find other platforms. Let the rara’s n pseudo rara’s keep paying them. Your best interest is elsewhere. Like I said, this is my opinion, let it resonate. N no need to make excuses for why you do what you do, that’s your business. I literally could no longer care less. Just thought I’d share 🙂

[hotspotauctions]

Once upon a time I sold exclusively on eBay for my online business, as it was easy and convenient.  Things have changed, and not for the better. I sell all over the place now. The main thing here is I have no way of knowing how to reliably get my items viewed by people who might buy them,  garner customer loyalty, or increase my market share. The system of algorithms is a secret kept by eBay.  What works one week may not work the next. This makes it impossible to do a cost benefit analysis, plan for inventory, or make a growth strategy. 

The odds of selling a large purchase of inventory under these conditions are no better than a Las Vegas slot machine. eBay is now a place where I throw things up and hope they sell. eBay controls everything, they are not my selling partner, and it is not my own business here. When I win, eBay wins, when I lose, eBay wins. If something goes wrong, they make it right, or wrong, at my expense. That is not a partner relationship. That is a servant/master relationship.  It's been said here a million times, use eBay as they use you, to make money.

I provide stellar customer service, and I will continue to do so, even though I do not receive the no 1 benefit of providing it, customer loyalty. I will continue to sell here as long as the numbers work out. I keep a log of all my time, gas, expenses, and work it out to a per hour wage. When the scales tip to the point that it is not worth my time, I will stop selling here. 

[laurabeardsley]

It is just so sad what this site has become. Maybe after the next earnings report something will change!

[cashvaluerecovery2011]

Let me second this motion with a perfect example. I ended 10 listings yesterday of fishing stuff. Lowest on ebay. Would have cost me about $60 in fees and another $60 to ship had they all sold here. I would have had to wait 30 days and pray multiple buyers didnt scam me or want a refund. I would have pocketed a max of $225 after fees and shipping. No traction here anyway.

I made one large ad on the local social media marketplace selling all of it for $250 cash. Sold within 12 minutes. 4 other offers. No fees no shipping no returns and cash in pocket and $25 more in pocket with zero hassle or work.

Had no idea this existed 6 months ago. Had no idea i could get more traction on junk near my house than ebay now gets over the entire world.

"Dear ebay, its not me. Its you."

[divwido]

One of my best selling sites pays cash and picks up the items.  They don't show every time, but they pay cash and don't complain afterwards.

[unique-finds-for-everyone]

It is probably true! Because what's going on e-Bay doesn't make any sense....

Or they are washing somebody's money...

[4everctr]

It is only a viable option for small items.   The threat of returns is too great for large items.

[hawkwind5454]

Of all the friends and relatives you have and even just Associates and acquaintances, how often do they tell you that they purchased an item from eBay compared to Amazon? That is pretty valuable insight to help understand why it is becoming increasingly difficult to sell on this e-commerce site.

[cashvaluerecovery2011]

Sounds like the same one. No joke during my daughters softball practice last night i walked across the road to goodwill. Bought 12 never used high end outdoor lights $6 a piece. And a texas instruments t89 new in plastic but packaging is beat up but only $35. Light sell for $24 on ebay but only 3 have sold over the last month. Sell for $30 on amazon and sell 100s a month. Fees are high because they are heavy. I listed all 12 on the local site for $275 free delivery inside 30 miles. Listed the calculator for $90.

I deliver the lights tomorrow. And shipping the calculator now to new york. They paid cash through walmart moneygram. Shipping is $6.

About $260 profit. Minimal hassle. Why bother doing it any other way?

[eze-right1]

Word. I was thinking the same thing, then I read your comment. I'm with you, these guys running eBay practically kissed feet to get up the ladder and now that they're there, they run the company on arrogance and speculation. Those elements and a nickel will get them a nice, hot cup of jack squat in time. Looks like the time's arrived.
AND IF ANY OF YOU FOLKS RUNNING THE SHOW SEE THIS AND RESTRICT MY ACCOUNT, YOU'RE WASTING YOUR TIME. Just have one item for sale now. After that, I'm out. Tired of representingf a company that appears to not need my money, which if true, is a stupid business model.

[soccerteeth]

We were on target to hit 600k/yr last year until June. Then we barely squeeked out another 100k in 6 months. It happened overnight with the summer "update".  Now were getting the same dead days many are getting, returns through the roof. Gas-lighting on this board. Attempted anyway.

I just saw another seller had a transaction blocked by ebay. I couldnt buy a coupon from a seller just a few days ago. One who had sold over 1000, then could buy the higher priced one.  Then of course the bullet pointed questions for why it couldnt have been ebay came live. Many of us spend tens of thousands of hours here and have sold millions and were decent at using it to get to that level.  Here we are just gas lighted constantly, that what were experiencing could not be what were experiencing.

i started tuning up the website aggressively recently.  I didnt have to do much there as I used to sell 400K+ year here for years and that was plently.  So instead of working both aggressively, I just made money here until the music stopped which it just about has. Then plenty in reserves for other endeavors.

Een if they sell this company off, I dont think it will ever receiver from what Devin and the shareholders have done to it.  I suspect, they'll all be jumping ship.

I just read last night that the head of communications Steve Wymer also left the company in quiet around the time Devon left.   As many executives that have left this year spells something fishy and they can leave but, they still presided over this destruction of a once virile site and now have helped through petty greed to artificially create economic insecurity for many people who gave a lot to ebay over the years.  Weve sold 3 million bucks here so we definitely put a lot of energy into this platform.

[richard1rst]

For the moment that is true. For the benefit of those who have not yet thrown in the towel:

I am a firm believer that the essential fact about Capitalism is incessant Creative Destruction.

Somewhere, someone, some time will create the proverbial “better on-line mousetrap” and Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand will take over and replace the existing with something better..

I remember when AT&T was the only phone company. Dismembered.

I remember when General Motors sold more cars than all other companies combined. Bankrupt.

I remember when Sears was the largest retailer in the country. Bankrupt.

I remember when Toys-R-Us was the largest toy store in the country. Bankrupt.

I remember the 100+ year old CPA firm Arthur Andersen. Out of Business.

Radio Shack, Circuit City, Blockbuster, Howard Johnson’s

Well the list just goes on and on.

OK it is not going to happen “overnight”. But considering how quickly Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, etc and even eBay itself, rose from nothing to prominence it is not going to take “forever” either.

Hope springs eternal.

[flyingmvp]

Jeff Bezos to employees: ‘One day, Amazon will fail’ but our job is to delay it as long as possible... (NOV 2018)
I wonder what would Ebay's ( Temp) CEO has to say about it 

[mr_lincoln]

@umie11752   I'll share this, maybe some have already read this, is so pass on ...

I spent 12 months on a 2nd ID building it to the low 5 figures in sales.  I used known good selling items flipped back and forth between accounts.  I used Promoted Listing campaigns several times a year but only ever one per quarter to optimize the $ 30 PL Credit ebay gives Stores ... I opened a Basic Level store during that 12 months.

Then along came the GTC mandate march 18 ... by the end of April (6 weeks) sales had dropped 50% ... May and June sales dropped to 1 per week (let me repeat that, 1 PER WEEK).  This despite the regular PL Campaign.  I dropped the Store level to 100 ... July sales we 1-2 per week.  On August 1 I infused the account with new inventory, sales went back up but then died again in September ... last week I cancelled the Entry Level store, now its 50 freebies and today, for the first time this month one item sold ...

eBay said they would make adjustments in June if the GTC mandate did not work out the way they expected ... well, it was all about fees for double relistings in months with 31 days but as to improved sales and an item's history moving forward with each Relisting??? Errnt, not seeing that, not seeing increased sales, not seeing GTC sales increasing ...

So, the other account is dead in the water ... inventory for the most part has been liquidated, shifted to another account or to other venues ...

This I would bet is a recurring theme and keep in mind, with lost sales, downsized stores Home Office is not getting the fees they hoped to NOR the advertising either.

I am hoping the new CEO makes some broad brush changes to improve things ...

[stockjedi]

This site is completely broken. I have multiple sellers account and was averaging 800-1500 a day in sales since end of June sales are down 80% across all accounts. I'm getting errors on every page, dashboard, etc not seeing any sales that are coming in etc. Not sure what they've done but eBay will is going down FAST. Many sellers who've been here for many years like us (10+ years) are complaining of the same thing, if they don't revert what they've done the past few months I'm not sure how much longer this platform will be viable.