Gangbusters sales all week and then STOP! Anyone else having this pattern?

[movieman630]

Things were great all week and for the past two weeks then all of the sudden yesterday things just stopped.  ZERO SALES.  Like someone flipped a switch.  Then before midnight one squeaked through for $15.00.  The same pattern happened 3 weeks ago and one squeaked in right before midnight for $10.00.

I don't know why this happens but I do know there's no way this is organic sales activity.  It's like someone just put my site on invisible vacation mode for a day.  I woke up this morning and still zero sales.  Is anyone else experiencing this same pattern? 

I can't stand this, it's not normal sales activity!  I wish they would just stop playing games with us.  They're literally playing with our lives.  My 2 year old and 5 year old depend on me.  I've been selling for over 10 years with great success until these patterns started.  Now growth is nearly impossible.  Please, whoever is doing this.  Stop.  I'm begging you.

[mikvic]

I've been selling here since 1999 and sales have been good but weird.  I get some really really good days, then BANG its so slow, then in the evening I'll get 3 sales within minutes of each other (different buyers) then back to quiet.   Overall though I'm up from last year but I've had to work for it.  My husband and I will joke that ebay will turn me on.....get those couple sales then off again.   My website seems to go quiet around the time ebay does too, so I'm sometimes thinking it may be just a customer thing.

I do realize my market is overly saturated and I do good compared to others (but I've been at this for 20 yrs!! so I have lots of repeat customers)  

Seeing a pattern?? Sometimes I think I do then it changes...for awhile it was as if Ebay turned me on for a few hours mid day, now most of my sales are coming in from a few hours in the middle of the night.  

[domin-tomas]

Unfortunately! Very stressful.

[bach4231]

Exactly!!

[movieman630]

The pattern definitely shifts over time. But I think that's engineered on purpose to throw us off a regular pattern. Those of us who sell everyday notice it more though. I think mine cycles ever 2-3 weeks.

[mr_lincoln]

@movieman630   What do you sell?  If its any consolation a 2nd account here tanked 6  weeks after the GTC mandate back in late March.  Prior to that I spent 12 months building it up to the low 5 figures annual sales with proven methods ... only to see it drop 50% in 6 weeks then down to 1-2 sales per week for a few months.  From April through July it never recovered on its own and I steadily downsized it and shifted inventory to another ID and other venues.  On August 1st I infused it with a large batch of new inventory and sales shot back up to the previous year's level then died again Sept & Oct ... that's when it got dropped to the Everyday rate plan and 50 freebies ... 1 item sold in October and zero in November.  Here's the key point ... I did NOTHING different in the entire time then I had done the previous year in growing the account.  Items shifted from that account to my other eBay account sold but would not on that account.  There is no explanation for it other then, as you say, eBay flipped a switch and the account was toast.

GTC sales have not significantly increased as eBay said they "thought" they would.  Most of my sales dollar volume still comes from auction listings.  GTCs just tend to sit there and not turn over nearly as quickly ... no urgency, eBay really messed things up with that decision that's for sure.

[springs_2013]

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@movieman630 wrote:

Things were great all week and for the past two weeks then all of the sudden yesterday things just stopped.  ZERO SALES.  Like someone flipped a switch.  Then before midnight one squeaked through for $15.00.  The same pattern happened 3 weeks ago and one squeaked in right before midnight for $10.00.

I don't know why this happens but I do know there's no way this is organic sales activity.  It's like someone just put my site on invisible vacation mode for a day.  I woke up this morning and still zero sales.  Is anyone else experiencing this same pattern? 

I can't stand this, it's not normal sales activity!  I wish they would just stop playing games with us.  They're literally playing with our lives.  My 2 year old and 5 year old depend on me.  I've been selling for over 10 years with great success until these patterns started.  Now growth is nearly impossible.  Please, whoever is doing this.  Stop.  I'm begging you.

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I have been experiencing this for awhile and other sellers are noticing this too.  That's why I had diversified to other venues and are making lots more sales than I do here.  Every month, I had a couple of sales back to back, then it's off for the rest of the month.  It's really disappointing, but there's just nothing we can do.  There's too many sellers and items available for sale here and not enough buyers.  eBay has to rotate the listings to be shown.  I know there's readers here who do not agree.  I have read those replies already.  This is solely my opinion and there's no need for rude replies to my opinions as I had read on other threads to posters who voiced the same opinion as me 😜

XOXO to all eBayers.  Have an amazing holiday season! 🙂

[dhbookds]

Think about it logically.....ebay has millions of items for sale.......they move up and down a ladder otherwise the item in first place and last place would always be in the same place......  they aren't hidden, but at times aren't on the first page that tends to produce the most sales......  How many buyers and how they buy (cheapest item, most "attractive listing" etc) at any given time determines which of the same item gets sold.

Beyond that, if you sell one of a kind, buyers looking for THAT item will never buy from you  after you sell the one you have.......  The sales aren't "repeatable" .

Retail isn't steady, doesn't have a "pattern" over a long term........ask any Brick and Mortar seller.......

[kathieskorner]

Consider yourself lucky to have sporadic gangbuster sales.   Even when I combine sales from all of  my accounts - I can come up with only one three day period in 2019 with 10 sales,  and that was Nov 30-Dec 2.    Sadly I haven't had a sale since.    

[rschissler]

So, you went one whole day, Dec. 5, without a sale, and that's proof of eBay flipping a switch on you?  Seriously?  Like no one can ever have a slow day?

[monstertoybox]

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@rschissler wrote:

So, you went one whole day, Dec. 5, without a sale, and that's proof of eBay flipping a switch on you?  Seriously?  Like no one can ever have a slow day?

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This type of comment is in every one of these seller problem threads. I don't think sellers would put themselves in a position to be scrutinized if they've only had "one whole day without a sale". It's more like a series of patterns we see and we have all posted on many times. It is happening, even if some aren't experiencing it, a lot of others are. So please don't make it seem like we are making an unreasonable assumptions.

[rschissler]

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@monstertoybox wrote:

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@rschissler wrote:

So, you went one whole day, Dec. 5, without a sale, and that's proof of eBay flipping a switch on you?  Seriously?  Like no one can ever have a slow day?

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This type of comment is in every one of these seller problem threads. I don't think sellers would put themselves in a position to be scrutinized if they've only had "one whole day without a sale". It's more like a series of patterns we see and we have all posted on many times. It is happening, even if some aren't experiencing it, a lot of others are. So please don't make it seem like we are making an unreasonable assumptions.

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You mean like making an "unreasonable assumption" that eBay is flipping a switch to keep you from making a sale?

[monstertoybox]

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@rschissler wrote:

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@monstertoybox wrote:

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@rschissler wrote:

So, you went one whole day, Dec. 5, without a sale, and that's proof of eBay flipping a switch on you?  Seriously?  Like no one can ever have a slow day?

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This type of comment is in every one of these seller problem threads. I don't think sellers would put themselves in a position to be scrutinized if they've only had "one whole day without a sale". It's more like a series of patterns we see and we have all posted on many times. It is happening, even if some aren't experiencing it, a lot of others are. So please don't make it seem like we are making an unreasonable assumptions.

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You mean like making an "unreasonable assumption" that eBay is flipping a switch to keep you from making a sale?

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It's not a "switch" it's algorithms, which they are in control of. But I know, that still sounds unreasonable to some. We don't all have to agree on why it's happening. I just know my store was pretty much closed yesterday and today is awfully quite. Last year at this time (and previous years), I didn't have any down days, until a few days before Christmas.  

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

But can’t you imagine eBay employees sitting in front of a huge wall of switches, cackling merrily as they turn sellers in and off?

My website sales do this too.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

As dhbook said upthread, eBay has to rotate all the items through, yes using algorithms. Although all sellers would like to be top of the search all the time, that’s just not fair.

while your sales are in an ON state, there are other sellers sitting somewhere wondering why eBay turned their switch OFF.

This isn’t lake woebegone. All sellers cannot be at the top of search all the time.