GTC policy has stopped my income cold...

[dcmerc2012]

I have read all of the threads about the GTC issue and most of them are people **bleep**ing about fee renewal... which, honestly, is the least of my concerns at this point.

I am not a high volume seller but made at least a living selling various items on eBay. It covered my bills and was my main form of income. MY concern is the fact that my sales have effectively ended since the policy was implemented.  Here's the thing...

I list (or used to list) all of my items via a 3-day Buy-it-Now with Best Offer. It was simple, direct, quick and I had a very successful turn around, selling pretty much everything I listed for at least 3-5 times what I paid for it.  The fact that my sales were only going for three days meant that they were browse-friendly. In my experience, a HUGE number of buyers browse eBay by looking at the "Newly listed" or the "ending today" in their favorite category and my 3 day listings made sure that my items were seen in either category at any given time.

The moment this new policy was implemented my sales have effectively stopped.... dead. Nothing has changed in regard to what I sell or the quality of items I am offering, in fact, several of the items I am selling at the moment are ones that would have normally not lasted a day without someone grabbing it up. But now? Nothing..... 

I am showing lots of views and plenty of "watchers"... but no sales.... nothing.

I am not seeing a decline in items selling, I am seeing effectively a dead stop. 

I have converted all of my items over to the Auction format, which in my experience from the past is NOT nearly as successful but it seems that it makes little difference because as of right now I have 61 listing and only one of them at the time of this posting has a single bid for $15. 

In the 60 days previous to the GTC policy being implemented I had nearly $8,000 in sales. Since GTC started I have made about $400 or so.

The problem as I see it is the fact that via GTC items will show up as newly listed for the first day or two, then they simply vanish into the abyss of back pages, never again to be seen unless someone actually searches specifically for it. Many of the things I sell are collectibles and are not things that a person searches specifically for but instead will browse a category, checking to see what has been listed in the last couple of days or what is getting close to ending and ripe for a "best offer"... Now all of that is pretty much gone. The GTC policy has effectively ended the impulse buyer from my sales, which was pretty much all of my sales.

At this point I am considering just listing my items via GTC and then cancelling them after four days and then relisting them so at least they will always be in the "Newly Listed" browse window. I don't know what else I can do. I certainly cannot survive at my current rate of sales.  

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@mokagroup wrote:
GTC is only good for people who sell constantly the same type of items that can be replenished in their inventory. However, sellers who sell individual items, not **bleep** by the thousands from China, is not so good.

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I’ve been using gtc for a while and I’m not one of those sellers.  I seem to get more moving in the long run.  I’m a very very very small seller and gtc has worked for me for a while.  One of the benefits is that it stays on a buyers watch list.  They can add it and until you cancel it it’s there and it reminds them it’s ending soon ever time it’s about to relist 

[greenacresvista]

Which platform allows for more control? I’m new.

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@dcmerc2012 wrote:

What the hell are you talking about???

Not everyone is selling chinese t-shirts by the millions.... I am selling antiques and collectibles of all sorts. My "inventory" doesn't need to remain visible because what I have posted today will not always appeal to the same crowd that I will sell to tomorrow. One day I am selling a vintage portrait camera and the next I am selling a parachute from 1961. No single individual is keeping an eye on my "inventory" because my inventory is never, ever the same. I rely on buyers the same way a person who runs an antique store does. I rely on someone browsing and finding something they want on impulse. The GTC policy effectively cancels out browsers and impulse buyers, which by the way makes up well over half of what ebay sellers sell.

EBay has shot themselves directly in the foot and they will either have to reverse this decision or I absolutely believe that eBay's days are numbered, because this lack of sales is going to hurt them... big time.

The GTC has effectively ended my business on eBay. I currently have a little over 60 items listed and NOTHING is selling, nothing.... I have items on there that without GTC would have absolutely sold by now. Instead they are just sitting there.... gaining views, getting watchers.... BUT NOT **bleep** SELLING.

And on a side note, I don't even trust the view counter anyway since the last thing I posted had 7 views literally the moment I posted it. The next had 20 views within seconds of posting it. 

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Items like that are exactly where I would figure longer listings would work better.  That’s not something your every day buyer is looking for and not something your everyday buyer is just going to see and buy if they weren’t looking for it.  That would seem like something that requires the right buyer coming along and finding it which can take a while.  Longer listings give more time for that. 

[lizual]

I feel kinda silly but not sure if we are allowed to mention other platforms by name here. It's a platform for selling fashion items. I'm not in any way advocating to not sell on ebay. I am still listing and selling here and am thankful for any sales I receive on eBay. I just think it's wise to diversify in both merchandise and selling platforms. Best of luck to you. 🙂

[artdecorri]

GTC has nothing to do with no sales, I've been GTC sine 1997 and all of a sudden my sales have dropped to zero.

[nkpina2014]

I for one, would not have renewed my store at a yearly rate had I known this change was coming.

As it stands now, I plan on cancelling my store subscription when it expires and not renewing it.

I see no point in continuing to feed Ebay money for a store when there's little benefit to it. Due to the GTC change, I find myself listing far less for fear of missing a day or two when the listings auto-renew. The main draw (for me) of having and paying for a store is the free listing thresholds. The GTC change works directly against this idea.

[bermudawrecktangled]

Yeah, that was going to be my cancellation approach also, but what I noticed was that on certain listings I was picking up watchers. So now I have to ride the listings out until the last few hours to see if someone makes an offer. This is what angers me the most... The urgency to bid is now occurring at the end of 30 F'ing days! When it used to happen every 3 - 7 days when you selected that type listing; i.e. buy it now / make offer. Urgency is KEY! And it has been destroyed, and with it -- SALES!

[frenchblueshutters]

Well I have over 2300 Items Listed, I am Down 55% from Last Year and 21% from Last Month, I Sold some Lower Priced Items Last week, None of my Best Quality Antiques. I have an Anchor Store which is $300 Month which Gives me 11,000 Free Listings a Month. I was Rotating with 7 Day Listings My Items which sometimes I would Use about 8000 of the Free Listings or More That way..90% of My income For Years has Been on 7 Day Listings. Any older Listings were on GTC and I would Sell 1 or 2 a Month of the Old Listings. Now even New Listings are Just STALE Tons of Watchers no Buyers No Questions from Buyers, NADA. And I see Ebay is Going to LA and Dallas to Recruit New Sellers... REALLY!!! How about Taking care of Your Loyal Sellers who Have Helped Build Ebay to Be Unique. We Unique One of a Kind Sellers NEED our Duration  Choices of 3,5,7,10,30 days or GTC if WE WANT IT. Killing Peoples Livelyhoods For NO VALID REASON Has to be Illegal somewhere. Years ago I Heard Ebay wanted to do away with Small Sellers, I didn't believe it because the Small Independent Sellers Made Ebay. Now I see they were Probably Right. I have No Idea What to do. Ebay Has Been My Sole Livelyhood for Years. I made a Living.