eBay

lugro_30 · ‎05-06-2019

I started selling here in 1999. eBay wasn’t perfect I had to deal with bounced checks, and manually listing and tracking everything but I made sales I made money. I sold consistently until my college debt was paid. After that I sold here and there throughout the years. Bought lots too. Rolling with the changes almost none good for the seller. A handful of years ago I went from casual seller to serious full time seller. For years I have been on the fence if I would commit and get a store. But I was getting so many promotional listings I was able to avoid it and rotate inventory in between promos. Plus I was selling consistently I felt the inventory rotation was a positive algorithm factor. Despite my massive disappointment of the GTC change I’ve kept some inventory here to see what would happen, just the 50 freebies. Instead of listing 2-3 times a week, my items are listed once a month on the same day for ease of tracking. I haven’t sold a thing since. Is there something I’m missing? What am I overlooking? Thought I’d ask here one last time, may 31 is it for me. I hung in hoping for a spring or summer adjustment to GTC, but I see it’s a done deal.

tunicaslot · ‎05-06-2019

Many of us have slowed down the past month or two. Change in the algorithm, people not getting their refunds back from the IRS they expected, sellers who were buyers also leaving - who knows - it could be a combination of all things.

I have loads of inventory and we are downsizing in anticipation of my husband's retirement. At this point - I'm signing up for SS in July to offset slow sales, will run deep discounts to get rid of inventory and if something doesn't sell in 30 days - to the garage sale it goes or to other venues.

It's sad as I had hoped to always sell on Ebay and if things turn around - I may have a chance - but things aren't looking too rosy!

lugro_30 · ‎05-06-2019

What is SS? I noticed sales have slowed elsewhere but I am selling everywhere else.

this*old*attic · ‎05-06-2019

Social security

dhbookds · ‎05-06-2019

Hard to say much without looking at your items.......and listings........ It is more competitive than in years past and there has to be a market for items at the price you offer........

luckythewinner · ‎05-06-2019

@lugro_30 wrote:
Despite my massive disappointment of the GTC change I’ve kept some inventory here to see what would happen, just the 50 freebies. Instead of listing 2-3 times a week, my items are listed once a month on the same day for ease of tracking. I haven’t sold a thing since. Is there something I’m missing? What am I overlooking? Thought I’d ask here one last time, may 31 is it for me.

If you are only using the 50 free and they are rolling over each month, what is the harm in leaving them up?

I assume that if you had a better alternative available, you would have moved them there already.

sharp_edgeknives · ‎05-06-2019

You're not over looking anything,GTC has killed me and a lot of other tiny/small sellers.

cationdi · ‎05-06-2019

@lugro_30 wrote:
I started selling here in 1999. eBay wasn’t perfect I had to deal with bounced checks, and manually listing and tracking everything but I made sales I made money. I sold consistently until my college debt was paid. After that I sold here and there throughout the years. Bought lots too. Rolling with the changes almost none good for the seller. A handful of years ago I went from casual seller to serious full time seller. For years I have been on the fence if I would commit and get a store. But I was getting so many promotional listings I was able to avoid it and rotate inventory in between promos. Plus I was selling consistently I felt the inventory rotation was a positive algorithm factor. Despite my massive disappointment of the GTC change I’ve kept some inventory here to see what would happen, just the 50 freebies. Instead of listing 2-3 times a week, my items are listed once a month on the same day for ease of tracking. I haven’t sold a thing since. Is there something I’m missing? What am I overlooking? Thought I’d ask here one last time, may 31 is it for me. I hung in hoping for a spring or summer adjustment to GTC, but I see it’s a done deal.

Pretty much in the same boat. I have this last week's listings to expire and then I'm done for awhile. Giving myself a Summer Break and see what happens this Fall. I'm used to making money at the end of the year to pay my car insurance so might come back for that after the break. I have a few big ticket items I've been putting off selling but this new algorithm has pushed me to possibly put them up now. Can't sell inexpensive items on here anymore with China sellers.

sai83her · ‎05-06-2019

GTC hurts. Some folks like to use the "newly listed" research option to see their search. So your items would be way down in the search. Secondly ebay is tanking. It's sinking faster than a rock.

auctionpet · ‎05-06-2019

Listing everything on the same day is not a good idea in regards to achieving sales. You need to spread out your listings to see the best search results. Listing new items daily or every few days gives a boost. But with the GTC, it's harder to manage those active listings you don't want to roll over. I doubt before GTC you were listing everything on just 1 day, you spread them out, which is why sales were better.

tcu_hornedfrogs · ‎05-06-2019

I also started selling in 1999. I went through the same up and downs. About 5 years ago...i started selling full time. I decided to open up an eBay store and did a lot of business for a
While. But the last year to 18 months...my sales have bottomed out. I couldn't figure out what was happening. So I did some research and learned that eBay's market share has gone done dramatically in the last 2-3 years. Buyers are choosing Amazon, Etsy, 5 Miles...the list goes on and on. To counter the drop in revenue, eBay started offering "promoted listings". The more you pay eBay on the back end...the more eyes your listings will attract. The only problem is the "unpromoted listings" are getting neglected altogether. And even the promoted listings which convey lower % to eBay are basically ignored. I've had enough and recently decided to close my eBay account. It'll only get worse my friend. The other platforms are amazing! Lower fees...quicker sales. I did nearly $45,000 in sales in my first 6 months on etsy. Amazon is great too! EBay's greed will be their downfall. Get out now!

popeye3165 · ‎05-07-2019

@lugro_30 wrote:
I haven’t sold a thing since.

Unfortunately you are NOT alone!

Good luck to ALL the small sellers out there!

coolections · ‎05-07-2019

@sai83her wrote:
GTC hurts. Some folks like to use the "newly listed" research option to see their search. So your items would be way down in the search. Secondly ebay is tanking. It's sinking faster than a rock.

@sai83her

Almost every buyer on the planet switches from best match to another search choice. Also Ebay is NOT tanking and is doing very well the last few quarters and is picking up speed. Buy stock now.

luckythewinner · ‎05-07-2019

@coolections wrote:
@sai83her wrote:
GTC hurts. Some folks like to use the "newly listed" research option to see their search. So your items would be way down in the search. Secondly ebay is tanking. It's sinking faster than a rock.
@sai83her
Almost every buyer on the planet switches from best match to another search choice. Also Ebay is NOT tanking and is doing very well the last few quarters and is picking up speed. Buy stock now.

IMHO eBay is not "tanking", nor is it "picking up speed". It is simply treading water, as it has for several years now.

Gross merchandise volume did decrease a bit last quarter, but that decrease was only 1% after factoring out currency exchange rate fluctuations. It had been growing at about 4%. But that decrease in GMV happened before the GTC changes went into effect.

As for buying stock, NASDAQ has 25 analyst recommentations: 52% strong buy; 8% buy; 40% hold; 0% sell. But I would not use a stock recommendations to decide whether it was a good venue for sellers 🙂

weschurch · ‎05-07-2019

@coolections wrote:
@sai83her wrote:
GTC hurts. Some folks like to use the "newly listed" research option to see their search. So your items would be way down in the search. Secondly ebay is tanking. It's sinking faster than a rock.
@sai83her
Almost every buyer on the planet switches from best match to another search choice. Also Ebay is NOT tanking and is doing very well the last few quarters and is picking up speed. Buy stock now.

Are you serious? Ebay the "compant" inncluding stubhub, etc is hardly showing growth. Ebay the "marketplace" is down 6% - I'm not sure you understand the difference