Huge Drop in Sales and Traffic

[houseofblair]

I have seen a drastic reduction in sales and traffic to my items listed here on eBay.  Is anyone else experiencing this?  I am constantly creating new listings, relisting and cleaning up of listings that haven't seen sales in over 1 year and a half.  I have close to 10,000 listings.  I have a mixture of items up for sale.  I recently sold our Studebaker on ebay only to have the buyer cancel the transaction.  My hopes were high and then dashed quickly.  The Studebaker is now relisted again.  I took a couple of days off to travel to see my grandchild in another state and since then, things have been absolutely dead.  Is anyone else experiencing this type of drop in sales and traffic?  

[detroit_diecast_llc]

I was told be an ebay customer service rep the reason for little to no sales are due to ebay's updates. Happens every time they launch changes in updates.  

[patriot_bearing_supply]

That's the way things are. Sales are not "steady". If you have a slow time, you will have a busy time. You will find that your sales month to month will be about the same, unless you have a really big single sale. eBay does not have enough server volume (or enough buyers) to list everyone all at once..... So you get a turn up, I get a turn up, everyone gets a turn up..... I know how much I will sell in a month.... so how much I sell today or this week does not really matter all that much.

[peregrinelane]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one going through this. I chalked it up to the economy. I only have around 300 items in my store, yet my sales were steady until recently. I try to tweak my listings to help it along by perhaps lowering prices slightly, taking better pictures, rewording my listing, etc. Thank goodness I've at least had enough sales to pay my monthly eBay fee.

[peregrinelane]

I read either in eBay or Craigslist that people who make you jump through hoops in order to purchase your high value item  are running scams.  The request to purchase an Amazon gift card to purchase my item was sent to me by a buyer on more than one occasion.  Thank goodness I didn't fall for it.  The procedure to make a purchase on eBay is very simple and there should be no reason for anyone to ask you to do anything different unless they've got an ulterior motive.  I no longer bother with buyers who have trouble making a purchase and need me to make special allowances for them.

[joesoucie22012]

Mr. Lincoln! I thought you took your name from the Lincoln cars, not those other cars! 

[chancilee]

I'm up in Canada and lots of us feel the same.  I just thought about this today but i wonder if all our listings show the price with the shipping below it but shipping includes tracking and insurance.   If you are selling a high priced item yes insurance is a must and tracking.  But no one wants to pay tracking and insurance on an item under 10.00.  its foolish.  I have listed a bunch of patterns that others are selling yet mine don't.  I wonder why.  People are paying more for others yet mine are in vg condition and don't sell.  Altho I notice most sales are listed by Americans.    We have a flat rate shipping up here so if i was mailing something to Washington or to Texas, same cost with a certain weight.  Time to quit I feel sometimes.  I have been at it for 15 years and the last 2 really haven't been worth it.

[houseofblair]

Well, it looks like the traffic glitch has been fixed.  It has confirmed what I already could tell on my own and that is a reduction in all levels (traffic, views, etc.) and for me that is over 50% on traffic.  I don't know about anyone else but I just wanted to say that at least my traffic report has been updated.  I do realize that sales are up and down as that is the nature of doing business.  I have revised, relisted, new listings, etc.  I'm patient.  I just wonder if the rest of you have noticed the drop and apparently everyone has.  I work hard through the year so that around the holiday time, I will be rewarded for all my efforts.  I have a mix of FREE shipping and other listings where I charge shipping.  I'm mostly lower end selling as that is what is available to me to sell.  I'm definitely NOT going to list the Studebaker again for sale on eBay.  That last experience with the scammer buyer really left me overly frustrated and it should have never come to that.  So for now, I will keep changing up things in my store and listing new stuff.  

[davewearsredsox]

Over the last 4 days I have seen the same and has been far below my par that it is scary. Like yourself I also sell affordable items and have near 10,000 items. I was so concerned with the traffic that I called ebay CS to see what was going on. Sales over the last week were half or less than half of my average.

It did not help calling and while everyday cannot be a great one, 4 consecutive is something that grabs your attention. Typically March is my second busiest month and this month I am down 37% over last year

I believe the constant change around here has not helped and most changes are done to best the profits of Ebay and not the seller. I also believe this type of corporate ignorance has negatively impacted the site and it has not returned to prior greatness and more change does not seem to be the answer but regardless change is what we can expect.

My faith in Ebay has all but diminished and so much so that I cancelled my Annual subscription and have opted for the monthly subscription at $50.00 more per month. The new changes (all listing Good Til Sold) will negatively impact all of the one of a kind type dealers / sellers. 

So basically I believe I am reaching the end of this ride. I am monitoring the site closely but due to past and future concerns, I have positioned myself for an exit as an Achor store.

[houseofblair]

You mentioned that ebay does not have enough server volume.  If that is the case, then why are they not investing the profits into better infrastructure so that all may have a fair opportunity at creating sales.  Just curious.

[blueflamingo202]

I noticed that if logging in to ebay through Internet Explorer --it is having a problem connecting. I can log in through other browsers okay. This has just started over past few days. I wonder if potential buyers using the Internet Explorer browser are having the problem and just buying elsewhere?

[roxanne3640]

Well I just bought something from you. My husband is going to absolutely love the pick. You have some very unique items. Good Luck with your sales on here.

[tcscollectibles1]

In my 19 yrs or so on here...right after Jan...it drops...even worse in the Summer...fall and winter the best for sales

[houseofblair]

I called customer service and asked that my listings be refreshed and it has helped.  I would recommend this to other sellers to do to try and generate traffic and sales to your items.  

[andreykuryanov]

In March 2019, my sales fell by 75.5% compared with February 2019.
In March 2019 there was only one sale to a European country (to Hungary), but, this sale was with cancellation, the buyer made a wrong purchase.
In April 2019 (from April 1 to April 6, 2019) - there is not a single sale!
The absolute decline in sales compared with February 2019 (from 1 to 6 February 2019)

My sales on Ebay is the only way to provide my family!
I live in Ukraine. Inside Ukraine, I do not have a single sale!
Now there is no sale on Ebay!
"Thank you," Ebay!

[swsupplier]

I have 18,000 items and have been experiencing a huge drop in sales. 25% loss in sales compared to last year where I had less items.

I used to average 15-120 items a day, I am down to wild swings between 0 and 15 a day.