Increasingly Impossible!!

[meme6253]

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!!

[chapeau-noir]

---

@redlinear wrote:

---

@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".   

---

Honestly, I only do what needs to be done because I think eBay's suggestions have mostly to do with new commodities that one can buy anywhere.  I'm not in that market.

[coolections]

---

@farmalljr wrote:

One with common sense would think giving buyers more choices. 

---

I tend to disagree with that. In oversaturated categories I hate it when they give me 32 pages of the same thing. I have to go in and narrow it down using all the filters. Usually, I just end up giving up because of all the choices. It tends to be overwhelming for buyers.

[coolections]

If you want, you can, but just make sure you use a space between the squiggly part and the actual word a buyer would type. I recommend not using it though. Buyers do not care about squiggly lines.  😀

[gail5176]

I agree, something going on here, sales way down, no views even with promoting listings, I don’t think it’s all about the economy, when I see other large sellers, selling large inventory daily, at starting prices of .99 cents. I think large volume sellers are getting all the exposure, and small sellers very little.

[gail5176]

I agree

[meme6253]

I Appreciate Your Suggestions!

[meme6253]

Thank You!!

[collectorszone549]

I have no idea how anyone expects to sell anything when their prices are higher than other people selling the exact same thing in the exact same condition.  I took one of your listings and searched for it.  I found 22 cheaper listings than yours.  All of them Brand New as yours was listed at.  So why is anyone supposed to buy yours?   My listings don't sell if there are others with the same item at a lower price.    Prices have to be adjusted.   If you don't want to sell things at the price they are selling for on ebay then your items won't sell.  If you can't or won't lower your prices then you need to find different things to sell.  I had no idea people come on here complaining about sales when they have inflated prices that would affect their sales.    There are lots of things I could put up for sale on here but the going price is so low I would never sell it for what I need to.  I either bundle items together to sell or don't list them at all.  This is how retail works.  Low wins or lowest in best condition wins.   I am confused.  The reason it is impossible for you to run a

business on here is because you are pricing wrong or selling the wrong things.   If you say you would rather donate it then sell it low then that's what you should do.  Because you are not going to sell things where there are 10-20 cheaper listings than yours.  I don't get it.   When I buy on here I find the best priced item in the best condition sold by the most reliable seller.   That will never be you if I have 20 other listings to go through before I even get to yours.    

[baantiques]

"When I finally stopped listing 50 items a day....Sales slowed down as well.  Even though, at the time, I had more listings running on eBay than I ever had in the past."

And that right there is the throttling that people talk about.  My experience on every other venue I have sold on is when I double my listings I double my views and sales. 

The explanation for having the same views and sales with 1500 listings that you do with 300 is the obvious one - views are being limited.   

[miyasamaco]

I'm removing my listings because it sucks so bad. No reason to put energy into something with no return. Such a long way from where I used to be: a store with hundreds of items that sold well during the Great Recession. 

[ari_e.lla]

I know, sadly this is true ☹️ 

But will Ebay do anything? 

No. They won't. 

Best thing we got is to use another app or just deal with it. I completely agree.

[meme6253]

There are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Many sellers selling items at garage sale, Bargain Basement Prices, just to Try & make a sale, & Condition is Everything with collectibles, & There are SOOOOOOOOOO Many sellers here selling collectibles that don't have a Clue!!! as to what they even have or how to determine condition!!!!, & You want me to compete with That??????, I don't Give my Inventory away, It has a Value a Worth!!!!, & with SOOOOOOOOO many increases in selling here, I would Actually still like to make a Profit!!!, & I Know how Retail works I have been in it for Many Years!, But Thanks For Your Denial That Conditions Here Are No Terrible!!

[yuzuha]

---

@meme6253 wrote:

There are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Many sellers selling items at garage sale, Bargain Basement Prices, just to Try & make a sale, & Condition is Everything with collectibles, & There are SOOOOOOOOOO Many sellers here selling collectibles that don't have a Clue!!! as to what they even have or how to determine condition!!!!, & You want me to compete with That??????, I don't Give my Inventory away, It has a Value a Worth!!!!,

---

There's a big part of your problem, honestly. If the market price for a given thing has dropped and you're still trying to sell it for the old higher price, it isn't going to sell.  It doesn't matter what you THINK something should be worth if that isn't what it actually sells for anymore.

I have some items that I used to be able to sell for $50, but as more and more of them made their way onto the secondary market and interest in that particular thing dropped, so did the price, and now they only go for about $30. If I tried to sell them for $50 now, no one would buy them because everyone else has them listed for $30.

[meme6253]

I understand the market, But your missing the point!!, There are an extremely large amount of sellers not even going by market or no where even close!!!, They are desperately seeking a sale, They are liquidating their Inventory , Because they are trying to get out of here, They want to leave because of the way things are, & I am not going to compete with That!!!, Not At All!!!, & Then there are the ones that do not have a clue as to what they have, or how to grade it or price it, They just got it somewhere & want to sell it, but did NO research of any kind, & Actually it is ALL OF THE ABOVE that is DRIVING DOWN the market!

[yuzuha]

---

@meme6253 wrote:

I understand the market, But your missing the point!!, There are an extremely large amount of sellers not even going by market or no where even close!!!, They are desperately seeking a sale, They are liquidating their Inventory , Because they are trying to get out of here, They want to leave because of the way things are, & I am not going to compete with That!!!

---

That's exactly the point. The market is what something is actually SELLING for. Something having a market value of $80 is meaningless if it's only currently selling for $20 right now. If it's only selling for $20, then the current market value is $20, not $80. It doesn't matter what their reasoning behind lowering their price is.

If you want to stand firm on your own pricing then you have to accept that yours is going to sit around for quite a while until the price goes back up, if it ever does.