eBay

dotyprints · ‎02-25-2022

Is it me? After being a on again off again Seller on eBay for 20+ years, I am finding that the volume of sales of my flagship offerings are hardly getting looked at anymore… coincidence that I don’t accept the increase in costs associated with ‘promotion’ from eBay?

It wouldn’t take much for me to bail on these guys after nearly 24 years…

southern*sweet*tea · ‎02-25-2022

I don't see anything in your post about extortion. I thought this was going to be about a buyer threatening a neg.

You only have 49 items listed. Competition is fierce, list more.

Remove the "no repro" and "original" from your titles. It's not needed and it seems like you're trying to convince someone that the item is real. Don't do that, the item should speak for itself. Repro should only be in the title if it actually IS a repro.

Raise your prices, they're too low.

Set a higher fixed price and use best offer.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎02-25-2022

@southern*sweet*tea I think the OPs reference to extortion was meant in the sense that she believes ebay is deliberately constraining her visibility to "force" her to use Promoted Listings....so, PL fees are seen as extortion.

We've seen this theory a fair bit here. I'm not sure why the assumption is that ebay is hiding listings rather than "my competitors are using PLs effectively, and thus are getting more impressions/views than I am." PL provides sellers with a tool to gain a competitive advantage. We can choose to use it or not, and if we don't use it and our competitors do use it, it should not really be too surprising that those who advertise gain an advantage over those who don't.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎02-25-2022

Hi, i took a look at your listings and they are excellent, so i don’t think this slump is much related to anything you have done or not done there.

It is a coincidence that this downturn occurred despite your not promoting items. Ebay doesn't punish sellers per se for not promoting, but it may mean your listings fall lower in Search as a result, and that could have an effect.

With inflation, unrest, the cost at the pump, the pandemic et al, this could just be the ebb and flow of retail.

Hang in there!

maxine*j · ‎02-25-2022

"Extortion" involves the use of force or the credible threat of the use of force. So who is extorting you, for what, and how?

.

iart · ‎02-25-2022

The 'promotion' fees are basically helping sellers to compete against each other. So, while eBay added the option, it's really other sellers who are taking advantage of it.

So, yes, if your categories are competitive, eBay will give search preference to sellers who offer them more money.

I don't like it. But it's sometimes the only way to move your items.

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎02-25-2022

@maxine*j The OP is using the term very, very loosely. No one is "extorting" anything. She simply means that she feels ebay might be reducing her visibility/sales in order to push her into using PL, which she apparently doesn't want to use.

espresso_warehouse · ‎02-25-2022

@dotyprints wrote:
Is it me? After being a on again off again Seller on eBay for 20+ years, I am finding that the volume of sales of my flagship offerings are hardly getting looked at anymore… coincidence that I don’t accept the increase in costs associated with ‘promotion’ from eBay?
It wouldn’t take much for me to bail on these guys after nearly 24 years…

It's not just you. Wall Street doesn't have a high opinion of this place either. eBay reports it is losing users and guidance projects no growth. Maybe they will make some changes.

You're not exactly ahead of the curve on this, but at least you aren't oblivious like some others.

collectfest · ‎02-25-2022

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
@maxine*j The OP is using the term very, very loosely. No one is "extorting" anything. She simply means that she feels ebay might be reducing her visibility/sales in order to push her into using PL, which she apparently doesn't want to use.

agreed. Thank you for trying to help the OP. Need more folks like you on these boards.

Now if you could only fix the issue of folks/me not being able to load images, LOL...sorta hard to sell if u cannot load images...

Regards

buyselljack2016 · ‎02-25-2022

Not directed at the OP.

I worked in an independently owned retail store for a few years.

Policy/belief was.

1) If it doesn't sell, raise the price.

2) If something is on the shelves long enough, someone will buy it.

3) Never underestimate the lack of taste of the buying public.

redmodelt · ‎02-25-2022

Don't bother me, but you might think about not selling those groups of post cards here or using well-placed piece of paper if you get my drift. Art or no art, some of those are, or close too, full-frontal nudes.