Ebay sales are slow

[dollface18]

How is everyone doing with eBay sales, It's so slow.

[baantiques]

I didn't say you were arguing.  People are divided on this issue and the naysayers aren't going to believe anything that contradicts their existing beliefs anyway, and none of it will change the fact that it happens, so posting anything is rather pointless.  I looked into it because I noticed repeating patterns and was curious to see if it was something I had control over.  I discovered I don't, really, so it was a means to stop worrying about it and diversify.

[ulfesharpe]

What sales? I thought we were here because we've committed terrible crimes in a past life.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@fbusoni  Obviously, I can't speak to the exact results you and your friend were seeing, but for some years now ebay has been VERY clear that the Search algo considers a range of factors, including whatever ebay knows (or the algo thinks it knows) about the BUYER. So, just a simplified example, assume both Buyer A and Buyer B have a long history of purchasing on ebay, and Buyer A has ALWAYS bought items with free shipping and Buyer B has never done so....Buyer A is more likely to be shown items with Free Shipping, and Buyer B is more likely to be shown a mix. 

As I say, that's a very simplified example, the algo is so complex that in a real test results are unlikely to be so obvious.

But knowing what little we know about the algo, I would say , particularly for broad search terms and search results with many matching items, we should have NO expectation that Buyer A and Buyer B will be shown all the same things, much less in the same order. 

Also, keep in mind , from ebay's perspective, search is about showing items that the algo believes will convert. Sellers tend to see Search as something that should provide all the exact items the buyer is searching for, but ebay search (as with most ecommerce platforms) is not designed to be a simple response to a query, it is designed to provide an item the buyer will buy. (How well ebay succeeds at this is, of course, open to debate) However, and I wish I could recall the exact statistic, some years ago (pre PLS as I recall) ebay provided the percentage of items sold that were purchased from, I think it was the top three slots in search results) and it was a VERY high number. Which suggests that either buyers are not as "comparison shopping minded" as many sellers believe, or that ebay's search results ---at least the top few slots---are often better attuned to what the buyer wants than we tend to think.

[schloopertz]

Frequent posters on this board love to gaslight.

As a twenty year full time seller with two stores (four at one time) I totally have experienced the hidden limits.

They exist!! Anyone with eyeballs can read the ecommercebytes article, but it's just deny, deny, deny.

I too have learned to stop fretting over how to grow my business here, and have learned to diversify to other platforms...it's saved my sanity.

I agree it's an algorithm thing, not a personal attack coming from management at Ebay. 

Thank you for speaking up, no matter how much certain posters will pooh-pooh you, it's the truth.

[schloopertz]

Hysterical! Ha! I knew I was here for a reason!

[movieman630]

Mine were up, had a couple excellent days, but just as always my excellent days are followed by slow days to "even out my allowance". 

[vintageflair2]

My sales within the last 5 months have dropped at least 50%. I'm told it's the algorithm, but I don't know what to think anymore.  I'm guessing that they show the categories that sell more, such as high tech, computers, games, etc. Not sure what to think anymore, but not happy with these low sales. I am hardly getting any views. 

[mam98031]

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@schloopertz wrote:

Frequent posters on this board love to gaslight.

As a twenty year full time seller with two stores (four at one time) I totally have experienced the hidden limits.

They exist!! Anyone with eyeballs can read the ecommercebytes article, but it's just deny, deny, deny.

I too have learned to stop fretting over how to grow my business here, and have learned to diversify to other platforms...it's saved my sanity.

I agree it's an algorithm thing, not a personal attack coming from management at Ebay. 

Thank you for speaking up, no matter how much certain posters will pooh-pooh you, it's the truth.

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I think to say that some posters "love to gaslight" on this board is rather harsh.  To ask someone to prove what they are saying is happening to their account isn't "gaslight[ing]".  Unless you have a more unique definition of the word.

Ebay does hide listings as they deem necessary, this is outlined in the User Agreement AKA Terms and Conditions.  But that is not throttling.  To hide everything from a seller is not something Ebay does or at least not something anyone has come here and offered proof for but the accusations are thrown out there from time to time.  Once a poster offered some info from well over a decade ago, but as we all know, things change fast around here it is hard to keep up.

I'm willing to listen to most any point of view if the poster can give proof to something that is likely not true.  I can keep an open mind about it.  But time and time again, when asked, no proof is forthcoming.  So no one is Gaslighting anyone, unless it is the poster that throws out accusations with no support whatsoever.

[chapeau-noir]

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@fbusoni wrote:

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@sakic92710 wrote:

It was proven to me.  Many can see it if they test it out.  When 1 friend & I do a search only to find completely different results; whether it is current or sold listings, that shows me I was correct all along.  Not everyone can see every listing.  Leaves plenty of room for sellers to lose out on a sale because a certain buyer does not see their item in his/her search.

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This reminds me:  I asked a friend who lives a mere 35 miles away in a bordering state (our zip codes share two of five digits) to do a similar experiment a few months ago.  Same result as you reported:  he and I saw completely different items for the first three pages of results, using identical search terms.

He buys frequently on eBay, but is not an eBay seller. 

I sell on eBay, but do not purchase here.

Very easy to execute these sorts of results with a line or two of code, or just let AI handle it.

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Not quite that simple, but it is true, results are personalized and thus variable. It's why trying to nail a certain ranking on search returns is really impossible, between complexity of metrics, attempts at SEO, semantic search, previous search behaviour, etc. etc. The results are never going to be the same because variable are always changing, and the relationship of one variable to another also changes.

[ulfesharpe]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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Ebay does hide listings as they deem necessary, this is outlined in the User Agreement AKA Terms and Conditions. 

You mean, the ones we are charged for for exposure?

I'm glad they just write their T&Cs really well and sleep a loose sleep at night.

[mam98031]

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@ulfesharpe wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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Ebay does hide listings as they deem necessary, this is outlined in the User Agreement AKA Terms and Conditions. 

You mean, the ones we are charged for for exposure?

I'm glad they just write their T&Cs really well and sleep a loose sleep at night.

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They don't hide them forever.  We may have a hidden listing in a buyer's search return.  The listing is not hidden on the entire site, just for that single buyer return.

You've been a seller for quite a while.  If you haven't read the User Agreement that YOU agreed to when you became a member on Ebay, that is on you, not Ebay.

FYI, I didn't write the rules, so don't shoot the messenger, it serves no purpose.

[inhawaii]

Well there you have it.

End of debate.

Throttling indeed does exist.

@schloopertz  says so.

[sfau]

I made an offer and sold an item today in five minutes  - I will call that a win.

[chapeau-noir]

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@ulfesharpe wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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Ebay does hide listings as they deem necessary, this is outlined in the User Agreement AKA Terms and Conditions. 

You mean, the ones we are charged for for exposure?

I'm glad they just write their T&Cs really well and sleep a loose sleep at night.

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If they did a better job at the T&C they could sleep tight and the bed bugs wouldn't bite.

[petercrowell_artgallery]

Well, way better slow...."than none"...like I have on 1100 items for 30 days (total 4 accounts).   Good Luck !