eBay

debvor · ‎01-04-2020

Since Ebay started "good until cancelled" I have been cancelling all my listings the night before they end and then relisting them the next day. Sales haven't be great but somewhat steady. As all the sellers that sell collectibles and vintage items sales have slowed considerably in the last couple of years. This month I forgot to do that and sales have pretty much come to a halt. From what I hear and read the longer an item is listed the less visibility Ebay gives it. I hope the new CEO can fix things but I am hearing rumblings about Amazon buying Ebay. I don't like government intervention but in this case I would say that needs to be stopped under anti trust laws. Amazon already dictates what happens in online selling as is demonstrated by Ebay wanting to copy Amazon on so many things.

muskingum_relics · ‎01-04-2020

you are so right about that and while they are at it they need to scrap managed payment nonsense as well. Socialism is a form of govt intervention and controlling money and how you get it and when is no less !

orangehound · ‎01-05-2020

@debvor wrote:
From what I hear and read the longer an item is listed the less visibility Ebay gives it.

Visibility isn't so much of an issue for items that have no competition. But, with competition, that effect begins to happen somewhere in the 3 to 6 month range ... after about 12-18 months, it will be hard to find.

sextons-sweet-deals · ‎01-05-2020

GTC is not good

My understanding / experience is that you need to cancel and relist before the 30 days so your item will show up as a new listing. Otherwise it still sits buried in the listings from original listing date.

I'm waiting to see what my sales are from now until March and then compare to last year before GTC started.

eBay and Amazon are not the same! eBay covers every category you can think of with listing requirements and trying to protect the seller and buyer with required details while Amazon seems to sell over production runs / rejected quality merchandise, pallets of returned items, and recalled items due to safety issues.

I do not shop Amazon and do not support companies trying to be a monopoly. We all know Amazon gives kickbacks / payoffs to politicians for their locations in return for tax incentives.

eBay does not charge a membership fee and try to bully shipping services to deliver for nothing. That is why USPS and FedEx has cut ties from Amazon.

Antique and vintage items can be hard to sell. It's just all about timing and who is shopping. I have received e-mails from potential buyers stating "you have listed this item several times and it has not sold, this is my offer" (low ball). I hold my ground if I know my item is rare I usually get the price I want if not more in the long run.

I think the new CEO and crew with come up with some creative ideas that will help the seller and the buyer. I'm not worried about the stock holder. They are invested, so they should be supportive of any measure that increases sales.

mrdutch1001 · ‎01-05-2020

I also do not like that eBay has force mandatory GTC for fixed price format, but If and When I do list in fixed price format I end those listings after 10 days as the shorter time frame works best for the items I list. However, I mostly use auction format now as the shorter duration times work best for my items and using auction format really has not hurt sales as I don't sell that much on eBay anymore anyway. All my items are listed on other sites where they are at fixed price and essentially GTC, so I continue listing on eBay using the shorter listing duration times.

Forget about any rumors of Amazon buying eBay....rumors are what they are and this one is a bunch of nonsense!

crescentstation · ‎01-05-2020

Well, if you read the "Ask Jordan Sweetnam" (new EBay Grand Poobah) column one of the first questions he answered was GTC. He said is that he has no intentions of doing away with GTC, because it makes for better Google searches, blah, blah, blah. So he lost me right there.

prettywoman-2012 · ‎01-05-2020

Well, if you think auctions are doing better - not the case, either! I just looked at one of the largest apparel and accessories seller's page = hundreds upon hundreds of listings literally expiring in front of my eyes, and not a single bid...yet they sell brand name NEW merchandise and all auctions start at a very very low price. I am not sure what is causing the slow selling, whether it is the GTC burying all other listings, or simply, sellers who would normally be buyers also struggling and not having enough money to buy, even at a bargain price. One common denominator that might possibly explain this is: the search engine is not functioning as it should.

I now have over 160 listings, the majority of which are auctions and the majority have been viewed by less than 10 people. Something weird is going on - although I did have a terrific December but it seems traffic is dead now to my vintage jewelry listings. I hope this is just that everyone overspent for the holidays...and things will go back to normal, in a few days.

Best of luck to us all.

PW

winebreath · ‎01-06-2020

NOT MY HOBBY. I am 20-year seller- 100% FB, Top rated plus.... I jump ALL hoops. "a New Orleans girl" store DEAD IN THE WATER. - tax online sales, algorithms, mismanaged payments (I use paypal), gtc, promoted listings & MONEY-GRUBBING CEOs; "refreshing" my vintage store pages does nothing. eBay agents say, "all looks good" with 150+ listings. Agents have no clues why I have no offers, no questions & harshly inadequate sales. I'd never have remained 20 years like this! SOMETHING is operating against my business.

flo_mingo · ‎01-06-2020

NOT MY HOBBY. I am 20-year seller- 100% FB, Top rated plus.... I jump ALL hoops. "a New Orleans girl" store DEAD IN THE WATER. - tax online sales, algorithms, mismanaged payments (I use paypal), gtc, promoted listings & MONEY-GRUBBING CEOs; "refreshing" my vintage store pages does nothing. eBay agents say, "all looks good" with 150+ listings. Agents have no clues why I have no offers, no questions & harshly inadequate sales. I'd never have remained 20 years like this! SOMETHING is operating against my business.

I agree item cannot be found on eBay. I have trouble searching as a buyer I can only imagine how hard it is for our customers to even locate our items. I was searching a friend's items last night. she has 9 listings for Lord of the Rings figures from Burger King. In search using the words "Lord of the Rings figures Burger King" all words which are in all 9 listing titles . Only one page shows up and only 5 listings are visible. the other 4 do not show up even if you add teh character name.to the search. the other 4 listings are lost in search. They do not show up even when the exact title is put in. The is not second page of similar items that might macht . Just the one page of limited items. Lord of the rings, only one page to select from??? really??? The search if screwed up and that is why sales are so low for one-off collectable sellers. Nothing can be found it is teh proverbial needle in a haystack when trying to locate items on eBay. Even if you had the patience to search multiple pages to locate a treasure it doesn't matter eBay only give one page of items and the shunts you off to a wholesaler.

bill.purvis2012 · ‎01-06-2020

Winebreath. Your items are beautiful. But, I'm wondering if the prices are a little too steep for today's EBAY buyer? I'm sure the buyers demographic has changed in the last 20 years. So many online sites for competition. I think it leaves EBAY buyers as those looking for bargains, lower-cost merchandise. Bill

jb5710 · ‎01-06-2020

I sell small art work and mostly ACEO's and sales really slowed down toward the end of Oct. and still have not picked up. When I look at last years sales they were so much better from Oct. on than this past years and Jan. doesn't look all that great yet. I too have been ending my listings at the end of 30 days instead of having them continue on, I switched from a basic store which would have renewed Jan. 1st and now have a starter store at a monthly subscription that way if I need to cancel I won't have to worry. I don't know what is going on but there is something definitely amiss here.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎01-06-2020

you are so right about that and while they are at it they need to scrap managed payment nonsense as well. Socialism is a form of govt intervention and controlling money and how you get it and when is no less !

What does a privately owned company have to do with socialism? Capitalism is almost the direct opposite of socialism. eBay is the epitome of capitalism.

Ebay has the right to set their own rules within the law. People have the right to use the service or not.

luckythewinner · ‎01-06-2020

@debvor wrote:
As all the sellers that sell collectibles and vintage items sales have slowed considerably in the last couple of years.

I sell collectibles and vintage items and my sales have not slowed at all.

lovett-1000 · ‎01-06-2020

I just have to agree. The good until cancel. Is costing me sales. I list item low ball price. In a 30 day listing I get ? 5 to 8 watchers. My item would sell close to end of duration almost always. Now with the good until cancel. Buyers know item will just roll over. So do not buy. When the listing ends buyer did not know if i would relist. So would buy seeing had 3 to 5 more interested in item. But now they just build up the watch count. The item ill sell anyway in the long run. But with the good until cancel who knows when. Harder to almost give things away with the good until cancel. With the 30 day I was giving the deal faster. I hope you and all the best. I think we are stuck with the good until cancel. It is a sad thing.