GTC - One Month In

[mr_lincoln]

54% Auction & 46% Fixed Price = The sales split from January 1 to March 31 (first quarter)

62% Auction & 38% GTC = April sales split

[coolections]

Most are just looking for excuses of why no one once to buy their items instead of looking at the real reasons. Buyers do not care at all if the item is GTC or 30 days as it makes no difference to buyers. No one is rushing in at the last second to snag their item. Either they want it or they don't. The only exception is auctions.

[luckythewinner]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

Keep this thread going Mr. Lincoln, I'd like to see it updated over the next couple months. 

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I only use free insertions, so I get 50 each on my two selling accounts plus any free insertion specials tha come along (I get them pretty regularly on both accounts).

I decided that managing GTC listings was a hassle, so I am using my 50 free insertions for my "core" products that will renew each month, and will use any free insertion specials as auctions so that I do not have to track them and end them before they renew. 

My sales over the past five years have been extremely consistent - low sell-through on most inventory but steady sales on a handful of items for which I basically control the supply (and thus the market for them).

Since GTC began, my monthly dollar volume is in line with the previous five years. Granted it's not a very large sample size but so far I see nothing that alarms me. 

[mr_lincoln]

@luckythewinner   That's a good approach if it works for the volume of items one has for sale AND if the Promotions kept coming..  Before opening a Store I pretty much did something similar.  Some of those promotions would run for 6 days which would allow one item to be run twice on Auction format, the first time on 5 days and then before the promo ended Relisted on a 10 day auction so you could get 15 days of listing time for one item.

[textile_rescue]

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@2....1....0....sold! wrote:

@mr_lincoln 

I have a relative that manages a physical consignment store...business is BOOMING!

Long story short, a tremendous amount of stuff that years back would have went on ebay is now going to consignment and the buyers are following.

From a sellers perspective:

No shipping, paypal/ebay costs.

No returns or losses to scammers.

You put it all in a bin, hand it to them, and they sell it.

From a buyers perspective:

You see it, you touch it, you try it, you buy it on the spot...

I'm not talking coffee cups and DVD's...I'm talking expensive/nice stuff. I suspect the junk that is rejected for consignment ends up being dumped on ebay...

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This is one of the changes I mad after GTC, I take clothing to a clothing consignment store. Sports equipment to a resale store specializing seasonal sporting goods, and collectable and vintage to a store that specializes in home decor. I sell vintage reconditioned, restored and reconstructed vintage jewelry at craft fairs. I am only listing leftovers and out of season on eBay. Soon that will all go to flee markets. I used to love selling on eBay but now they want to be the river, I never had fun seling on the river either. So the joy and the sales are gone here. 

[textile_rescue]

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@coolections wrote:

Most are just looking for excuses of why no one once to buy their items instead of looking at the real reasons. Buyers do not care at all if the item is GTC or 30 days as it makes no difference to buyers. No one is rushing in at the last second to snag their item. Either they want it or they don't. The only exception is auctions.

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I don't think decreased sales are related to the rush to purchase ending items. With GTC and promoted listings search sorting and visibility has changed.  I noticed this week that my items do not come up on search even if I use my exact title. I get redirected to other sellers and off ebay marketplaces. 

[kathieskorner]

Well, we are now almost two months in, and while my total sales are in line compared to previous years for the typically slow months of April and May - they are more erratic.   On three of my accounts I have had no sales for two weeks - never came close to that type of dry spell before on any of those accounts.    Yet, on this account I have had twice as many sales in May as March and April combined.   New listings are not selling (1 out of 36) - no GTC rollovers have sold.  

Traffic is a mystery as well.    Some of my items that have been relisted multiple times all of a sudden are getting 5-10 times the hits as before - while new listings are getting little to no traffic.  GTC rollovers get few additional views - so much for the Google effect.  

Whether GTC is a factor in the past months results - I don't know, but something is going on.  

[frenchblueshutters]

If they would allow store owners to Have the Durations Back I am Sure things would improve. But Hey I Use My Brain. I am Not Paid a Million Dollars to come up with Things That look Good On Paper But Don't work in the Real World. GTC DOES NOT WORK FOR EVERYONE, Those That want it should Use it and Those of Us That Don't shouldn't Have it forced Down our Throats.. I am Down Close to 50% from Last Month which Was pathetic to begin With and almost 60% from last Year, This Is Just Sickening for the Business I Built for 11 Years and I know what works for me. I am again in Poverty in Any State in the USA yet I am a Business Owner. COME ON EBAY I NEED SALES I WANT TO WORK ON MY BUSINESS..

[mr_lincoln]

Update:  Earlier on this thread I mentioned a another ID here where sales had dropped significantly.  After slowly building that account up over a year's time sales just dropped ... like many other posters have stated on their accounts.  Anyway, before May ended I dropped the store level there from Basic to the 100 pre-paid level, didn't hesitate, just made the change.  Then this week I get an eBay message about improving sales with Promoted Listings.  So, if my tin foil hat is working properly they turn off the sales spigot then hit you with the Promoted Listings pitch to try and squeeze just a little more blood out of the turnip.  I already ran one PL Campaign this year and probably would not have run another one on that ID until 3rd quarter ... now of course I won''t run any unless sales got back above where they were on the growth curve.

The pic below sort of tells the whole story ... the average number of sales in a weeks time WAS a whole lot higher.