I have questions...

[pennysdream]

I have questions...  

Two totally different ones. I just want to make one post. 

1st...  Many folks have posted about how long to leave listing active before they get stale.  Some leave them for years and some just a few weeks.   I have been grappling with this for a while.  So my question is. How long do you leave something before you end it?  How long is too long for you?

2nd....  What do blocked buyers see on their end?  Do they just not see your listings at all. Like you are invisible.  Or do you get to throw it in their face, like "See what you can't buy."  Do they get a nasty note similar to the NPB note.  Something like, This seller don't like you, go away.  (maybe nicer than that). 

Anyways, Those are my questions.. for now.  I really am interesting in hearing about the first one. 

Thank you for your time. 

Penny

[mike_jayroe]

Some items (bound volumes of Trains magazines / UMI yearbooks for Nascar) I leave up for months. During that time I lower prices, offer discounts on multiple issues bought at 1 time and etc. Then I de-list them, wait a while and relist them at the original listing price. Some times I sell more and sometimes not.

I am now trying to end individual listings and combining them into package deals to see if that works.

As for ? #2,  No idea.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@pennysdream 

@mike_jayroe 

Question #2

 

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

OK things are popping up today, Penny, they are able to see your listings they just can't bid or buy them.

[mtgraves7984]

Good questions, both!

1) I just sold a listing this morning... looked it up and it's been listed since 5/20/21. The right buyer eventually shows up...
2) I can't answer that one, thankfully. But I imagine it's your nicer version of "This seller don't like you, go away."

[sextons-sweet-deals]

I had to clean out my family estate 6 years ago. Took every weekend for the complete summer. There were probably some things I tossed or donated that I probably should have kept, but I was really overwhelmed. I'm still working through stuff and listing. 

Not everything sells on the first listing, second listing, or 6th listing. It just takes the right time and right shopper. Buyers come and go! I have things that I have repeatedly listed the last 3 to 4 years easy. I will adjust price and review & tweak details & photos. Some buyers like auctions and some like buy now. I will sometimes switch back and forth to see what happens. 

I have a basic store. I will end my 'buy now' listings before they auto relist. Reason is if you let the listing auto relist, the listing will still be buried based on the date it originally started. If you end yourself, click on the item(s) in your unsold and select 'sell similar'. This will give a fresh new start date and will at the front of new listings. Be sure to go back to your unsold and delete the listing(s) you just relisted. 

A blocked buyer will still your items, but if they try to bid or buy, they received a pop-up that states something like 'seller is not accepting bids or offers" from you. I know I don't have that statement fully correct. 

You also have an option along with the block buyer setting to also add block communication. 

[kensgiftshop]

I know some of my items might take awhile to find a buyer, so I list and forget them.

After a year or so, I might change the title, description or price, but other then that, I just let them run.

I've had items listed a couple years before they sold.

[luckythewinner]

---

@pennysdream wrote:

How long do you leave something before you end it?  How long is too long for you?

---

I leave them up forever because it costs me nothing.

I've had items take 15 years to sell.

But I do occasionally end them and relist them due to vacations, emergencies, etc.

[house*of*paws]

Hi @pennysdream 

#2.  Buyers you’ve placed on your BBL can still see your listings.  They receive this (or very similar) message when they try to bid or buy from you:

This seller is not receiving bids from you at this time.

From posts I’ve seen about this … buyers don’t necessarily realize they’ve been blocked by that seller.  Many think it’s just a temporary glitch … and are surprised when told what that message means. 

[steve_stuff]

As to question 1 -

We're a real store that sells our stuff on our accounts, and manage a big music collection on consignment on the collector's two accounts.

Our stuff -

We're in a big old building with ton's of store and 'back room' space, so once something is listed, it gets relisted ad infinitum till it either sells on ebay - or in some cases in the store [would have the green 'on ebay' price sticker] - or we notice that something has been eaten or was crapped or vomited on, and only then is it thrown out

The consign ...

Have been running the consignment bit since 2015 with the last new listing created in 2019, so those accounts have listing still going up and down - unchanged - since day one. We sold 17 items in last 90 days, two from the original first batch of 6/18/15 - So they 'only' took 90 months to sell.

question 2

I don't know what they see, but I hope, if their speakers are on, they hear the 'modified for ebay' version of "Kiss Him Goodbye"

Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, YOU CAN'T BUY!

Time to open store so bye

[ms.rodriguez*]

On my main seller page, I rotate them.  I end all of them on the last day.  Sometimes, I will hold one a month and then relist it.  I try to tweak the title a bit. Sometimes I change the main picture a bit or change the category.  Or I will add new photos if the first set of photos weren't that great.  I sell mainly diecast and I know it's a saturated market . Eventually they do sell but it may take a year or so.    You need to realize that some items will not sell.  Looking at sold items can tell you if you need to end an ad and toss or donate the item. 

Also try to avoid buying those items that you already have listed and can't sell.

For those of you that let the item run for years, from time to time check out the item.  I had a Star Wars fast food premium frisbee on ebay. It sold after about 2 years. When I went to pack the item, the frisbee had deteriorated and had broken into fragments.  It was an old item to begin with.  Luckily the buyer was an anget and accepted another toy instead.

[allen1853]

Thank you for the end first THEN sell similar tip. I was selling similar and having to tweak to avoid duplication, then end. Silly me. Thank you also for the additional block communication option. 

[allen1853]

Since eBay has seen fit to give me TEN THOUSAND "Free" listings with my $60 a month store, I just leave everything listed until it sells. Costs me nothing extra for my 2200 +/- listings. I am going to start ending them all then selling similar as suggested to refresh their listing date. Sadly, eBay USED to vanish old listings that did not sell or had no looks. This resulted in my having inventory I thought was listed but was not. There was NO notice when they did this. Real pain and not seller friendly. I THINK this has stopped or does not happen if you promote listings, which I do across the board at the minimum 2%. Good luck. 

[gail5176]

I keep trying to sell my items, but if they continually do not sell, I put them in lots. I like to have all old inventory gone by the end of the year. Things that do not sell period, I usually just never re-list them, and get rid of them another way.

[pennysdream]

That is kind of what I am doing.  Trying to figure out how long to wait.