eBay

meme6253 · ‎04-04-2023

It has become increasingly Impossible to try to operate a business properly on this platform, To properly support a business, you need a certain amount of sales to put back into the business,such as inventory, supplies, & multiple other expenses, & that is not happening here, not anymore, I feel I am being strong armed into increasing PL's & offering free shipping & free returns, & If I do not succumb my sales will forever be suppressed, Not what I signed up for when i started!!

coolections · ‎04-06-2023

@stevemartin60 wrote:
My items sold great for six weeks at the beginning of the year, then totally fell off the cliff in mid-Februrary. Nothing has changed.

eBay changed.

We didn't.

@stevemartin60 That there is your problem. You have to make changes. Lower those crazy asking prices you have right now. Relist (use sell similar), on many of those items that are stale, no one wants. and have been sitting for years. You sold the good stuff. Good for you, but that stale stuff overprized may sit for 10 more years. Most of those paintings can easily be found at thrift stores and garage sales. I pass up at least 5-10 a week.

redlinear · ‎04-06-2023

@farmalljr wrote:
That might be believable, had I not seen other wise.

For example, there are listings that some sellers fill out NO item specifics. They sell. Compare that to other listings, where the seller fills out all item specifics, and a similar title, price, etc, and it doesn't sell.

Item specifics should be a deciding factor first. These specifics are what are supposed to trigger a best match for a search. It's not always the case.

Records and postcards are two categories where I have REALLY noticed this comparison. I'm sure there are others.

If a sellers isn't willing to "work" and do a listing how eBay wants, why is that listing getting traffic? Remember your comment about "working"? More work means more sales. Does it?

I sure hoped More work would equal More sales when I was editing everything I had already done and adding item specifics like eBay TOLD me to. And now, EVERY DAY, I see that I need to re-update "recommended item specifics" again. And again....and again.
And it's like you said. When I run a search, and snoop around? MOST of items I pulled up on that 1st page of results are not only lacking item specifics..They are flat out in the wrong Category.
Sellers are not being rewarded for doing what eBay told them to do. (and that was A LOT of work and A LOT of time on listings that should have already been "DONE".
When I do more work now, I'm just adding....I'm trying to bury the competition. And that's increasingly harder because it takes SO MUCH longer to create a listing than it used to.
BUT, I'm 32.6% certain when a search is run, The Results are derived via some sort of random lottery method. (weighted of couse, in order to be fairly unfair).
I think the only way to get ahead now is with numbers of listings in your category/market.

meme6253 · ‎04-06-2023

That Is The Title I Wrote, Hot Wheels Custom Classics Bone Shaker, Their Are Not Many & My 2 Are Not Even There!

redlinear · ‎04-06-2023

What's the item number(s)?

sakic92710 · ‎04-06-2023

My % increased big time - just for 1 day. lol 3 listings / 1 sale & almost 2 sales but 1 was a lowball offer.

farmalljr · ‎04-06-2023

Been there, done that myself.

In most cases, it takes a huge amount of inventory listed and time, to dominate a category. The question becomes, do you have the time, money, and space to even do it? I'm not personally convinced that is really the key to it. I think it's a combination of things. Like giving away the farm to eBay and doing all the things (like free shipping, 60 day returns, etc.) that eBay "encourages" you to do. Those things MAY work for some things, if your stars align JUUUST right.

earthdreamer · ‎04-06-2023

I'm very sorry to hear this.

While I currently do not face any financial challenges on a personal level, my B&M store is in dire straits due to local situations out of my control.

This is why I have returned to selling on ebay in the past few months, but it has slowed right down here as well.

So now I am down to listing items at a loss just to have some money flowing back in, and doing the same in my physical store.

No point in sitting on inventory if there is no money to pay the rent.

sakic92710 · ‎04-06-2023

I wish you the best! I want to do the same. Sell, sell, sell just to get the cash. I have some success here & there but it is not even close to steady. Sold quite a few full boxes to make space. 6 weeks ago, I sold almost $1100 in 6 days. I might have sold 1/2 of that since then. Now it is a real emergency! I look at what I have up for sale & just scratch my head as to why the stuff doesn't sell. Yet, I know people at the flea market who sell useless Funko Pops & make $1000 a week! The money is out there! Any time you want, drop me a message. Would like to know how you are doing. Cheers! 🙂

anjofak · ‎04-07-2023

Our sales were up over 600 before noon, then we checked in on ebay....

coolections · ‎04-07-2023

@meme6253 You are in such an oversaturated category it is hard to research for you. The very first one though, I found your problem. You have a squiggly line in front of the word "bone". No one would ever use a squiggly line when search and Ebay thinks that is part of your word. Go back and remove all the fancy lines and such in your titles and also make them with less words. Too much stuff for a buyer to find. If someone wants a custom classic bone shaker that is ALL they will ever type.

meme6253 · ‎04-07-2023

I Find Tons Of My Listings With The Squiggly

coolections · ‎04-07-2023

Do what you want but I am very experienced at searching and you are say no one can find your stuff. Good luck !!!! And once again, too many words have an extreme effect on search also. You are using too many.

redlinear · ‎04-07-2023

@farmalljr wrote:
Been there, done that myself.

In most cases, it takes a huge amount of inventory listed and time, to dominate a category. The question becomes, do you have the time, money, and space to even do it? I'm not personally convinced that is really the key to it. I think it's a combination of things. Like giving away the farm to eBay and doing all the things (like free shipping, 60 day returns, etc.) that eBay "encourages" you to do. Those things MAY work for some things, if your stars align JUUUST right.

I don't know....I've done as requested as each new eBay "you should do this" rolled out. Free Shipping, Free automatic Returns, Add Item Specifics, New Categories, Change Categories, Update Item Specifics (constantly). LOTS of work revisiting and revising listings that should already be done.
The above has never given me a noticeable BOOST. Which is upsetting due to all the search results that pull up sellers that didn't do any of that.
I've also done most all of the youtube "you should do this"...Sometimes I think that helps. But again, it's working on listings yet again, that are already listed.
The redundant constant tinkering time and labor with already listed items, just to get seen, is killin' me.

I guess like the OP says "Increasingly Impossible".

redlinear · ‎04-07-2023

Darnit! Now I want to use squiggly lines 😂

farmalljr · ‎04-07-2023

Another seller said last year, that basically, eBay was going to be picking winners and losers. I think that has been happening but they've kicked it in high gear.

Buyers should be picking the winners and losers, not the platform. At some point, that will blow up in their faces. Like it is now, I guess. Buyers and sellers are leaving. The base is shrinking. The GMV is shrinking. Those aren't good things. One with common sense would think giving buyers more choices is better than restricting them, especially when it affects their buying negatively.