@mongoose26 wrote:
@miyasamaco wrote:
@kathieskorner wrote:
Oh boy, another conspiracy theory thread. Ebay is hiding my listings, ebay is controlling my sales nembers, ebay is forcing out small sellers, etc. etc. etc.
It is always about what ebay is doing - never what the seller is selling, increased ecommerce competition in general, the season of the year, etc etc etc.
Where else are expectations of success based on the good ole days so high?? Where else do sellers expect the same results from smiliar inventory month after monthy - year after year?? Thank heavens most ebay sellers aren't trying to run a brick and mortar store with a lot of overhead the same way they run an ebay "business".
Do I believe that ebay's search is currently an unlevel playing field - yes. Exactly how and to what extent - I don't know. But at the same time I know that ebay fixed price items are not getting the same exposure in google as they once did - especially if a seller lists the same item on multiple venues that submits google feeds.
We were all just waiting for the cheerleader to come along...
I've alwas wondered what they get, is it monetary, better placement, or just the pure pleasure of ridiculing others.
Maybe they just wonder what business strategies some other sellers here utilize that result in such poor sell-through-rates that there is such dismay from some.
I know of sellers who continue to put up listings for old tired inventory that just isn't very popular anymore, for example. They don't get nearly the sales on their stuff that they had experienced a few years ago when their choice of 'stuff' was hot... and now, it's not. But they're still trying to push it, and angry at eBay because they aren't getting the sales anymore. And yet, they aren't branching out. They remain determined to put up their same old stuff. It's their business decision.
I know sellers who have lingered and lingered and lingered here, making just enough profit to keep feeling they were close to 'breaking through' into turning this into a Real Business, but when you find out how much they are paying to procure their inventory, you know they're going to be lucky to ever turn the kind of profit they'll need to feel successful. And yet, they aren't willing to spend the hours and hours and days it takes to hunt down new sources of product that can be purchased low enough to flip here to do well.
There are sellers who want to sell more, but their stores aren't stocked with very many items. If their store was an actual brick & mortar shop and I walked in the front door and saw their inventory spread out on the shelves, I'd think they must be going out of business. Many have fewer than 100 items for sale. Many others don't have a whole lot more. They just aren't positioned for much success.
Others have very little variety. They're like a specialty store, which is all well-and-good.. but it sure cuts down on the customers who will be interested in what you have to sell.
Some sellers are... expensive. When you compare their items with the same offerings of other sellers, they are always among the most expensive, so when you look at the solds of those items, there are sales happening, but it's the other sellers who don't price quite so high that are getting the sales.
So, a bazillion reasons, and more. Some just don't do well here. Some put food on their tables and take the kids to Disneyland each summer.
Even the complaints of eBay *hiding* listings so they can't be seen is questionable. I've tried over and over to NOT see somebody's listings, but they nearly always come up in search. The worst thing is when the seller is listing things that have a LOT of competition, and there are several pages of similar listings... few buyers are going to browse down through everything to find the one at the bottom of page 3... or page 7! I guess you could say the listings are hidden, but it's among the many, many other similar items that a search brings up. Somebody gets to be first and on the front page, but that means others have to endure being buried further back.
Which brings up another matter, and one that I think causes a lot of the problems some have here. There are now so MANY MANY MANY sellers on eBay, and so many millions of items. We didn't used to have to be competing for buyer eyes with so many, nor did we have to be competing with the zillions of other online e-commerce sites, large and small, that sparkle and glitter out there and all compete for the buyer dollars these days. It just isn't eBay anymore. There's a LOT of competition out there off this site as well as among the sellers here, so you really have to be on top of the game to land the sales here and bring in the buyer dollars for yourself!
Always sorry to hear there are some folks who just have such a hard time here, but you need to understand that not everyone has it that hard being a seller on eBay. So they aren't into the hatin' as much.
