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.

bubbapeaandme8178 · ‎05-07-2019

I to have stopped selling this month, I had 198 items listed this week and have 3 that will sell (auctions), this is as poor as it gets, I can't bank "WATCHERS" it just won't work. bubba

tunicaslot · ‎05-07-2019

@auctionpet wrote:
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.

And yet some are saying that they list once a month and have for a long time and forget about them for the rest of the month - so is it a fallacy that listing every day or few days gives you a boost? No one has answered that question.

I've listed everyday for years - as that was always what was said on the forums - but was this just someone's opinion that through time became a standard answer or has someone at Ebay actually said - we get a boost? Because it's a lot of work and frankly - it's not working lately.

2....1....0....sold! · ‎05-07-2019

@luckythewinner

"As for buying stock, NASDAQ has 25 analyst recommendations: 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"

The talk from the top is all about "enhancing shareholder value"...aka...asset stripping ebay so that the few at the top walk away with billions while everyone else gets nothing.

eBay is in the early states of being "Romney'd"...Mitt's extreme wealth came from asset stripping companies like eBay..."shareholders" are going to make bank...everyone is else going to "surprised" at the demise of eBay.

mr_lincoln · ‎05-07-2019

@lugro_30 While my tenure pales in comparison to yours (which I really respect by the way) I got into Selling on eBay by happenstance and it turned in to a viable cash stream in a short period of time. I have been able to work around many of the changes in that time period and one big step was actually opening a store. When the GTC mandate came out I did a quick check on sales from Jan thru March and the breakdown by format was 54% Auctions and 46% Fixed Price. The latter is now GTC and I am going to compare 1st Quarter with 2nd Quarter to give GTC 3 months. The breakdown % will either remain constant, increase or decrease. eBay's M.O. seems to be they make a change then trouble shoot it on the fly and I suspect they are looking at their numbers and just as importantly how Sellers decide to work with GTC. Some are ending and Relisting before the 30 days are up to try and get a bump in visibility ... I am not doing that, on one hand I like the reduced maintenance of not having to Relist as often and just replace GTCs that sell making sure I don't go over my monthly pre-paid allotment of Fixed Priced insertions but on the other hand, if they don't sell then the listings are pointless. IMO eBay is probably tweaking the search engines ... otherwise the site will tank if the vast majority of listings are GTC but a huge % are not selling.

Anyway, April's numbers were 62% Auction and 38% GTC ... one week in to May and GTCs are pitching a shutout but the month is young as is the 2nd Quarter.

If you are looking at a Store what I did was once my "average" sale got above the monthly Store fee I opened one so that basically one sale per month pays for the store ... eBay gives QUARTERLY Coupons for their Branded Supplies from the Basic Store level and up and if those are used that helps defray the cost of the store. Presently, the way the math is working out for "average" plus the quarterly coupon is 1 1/2 sales per quarter pays for the store for that quarter ...

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

dhbookds · ‎05-07-2019

Frankly, I doubt alot of the "advice" we give on how to sell/list means anything on a general basis......except one.........if it isn't listed, it can't sell. That's the bottom line.

We advise......

Don't put an item of clothing on the floor for photos, yet I see those selling

Don't use cluttered background, yet some sell

Don't use long TOS, colored fonts, all caps.......yet people sell with those

Have the lowest price......yet I've sold things that weren't the lowest priced

Don't use little or no description.....yet some sell

In other words, while all/any of those things may lose some buyers, some just don't care about any of that.........just as those that list once a month sell things.......while others swear by listing everyday.

Important thing, to me is getting comfortable with what I do........because with that I can/will list without the added pressure of "what I should do".......and that makes it easier to list more.

lugro_30 · ‎05-07-2019

Thank you for all the advice! To answer one of the questions, I upped my photo and listing presentation game. Lol Bought a photo tent, lights. My listings now have that crisp and clean look. Which has helped me elsewhere, not here. My listings gets 3 views nowadays, it’s never gonna sell. My vintage items take a while but never even close to this bad. I know the summer slowdown is here early but I’m selling elsewhere.

lastade* · ‎05-07-2019

@dhbookds wrote:
Frankly, I doubt alot of the "advice" we give on how to sell/list means anything on a general basis......except one.........if it isn't listed, it can't sell. That's the bottom line.

We advise......
Don't put an item of clothing on the floor for photos, yet I see those selling
Don't use cluttered background, yet some sell
Don't use long TOS, colored fonts, all caps.......yet people sell with those
Have the lowest price......yet I've sold things that weren't the lowest priced
Don't use little or no description.....yet some sell

In other words, while all/any of those things may lose some buyers, some just don't care about any of that.........just as those that list once a month sell things.......while others swear by listing everyday.

Important thing, to me is getting comfortable with what I do........because with that I can/will list without the added pressure of "what I should do".......and that makes it easier to list more.

I am a dinosaur from a generation before technology. I remember waiting for 5 to 6 weeks for something ordered from the Sears or JC Penny mail order Catalog. Fast forward to the buyers of today. It is a different culture than from when Ebay first began this platform for sellers. These young buyers are growing up in a time where their needs can be met by clicking on a tiny screen. If they want something they click, click and it comes to their door within a few days. They do not care how it is presented, where it is coming from, what kind of seller you are, etc. If you have the product the buyer wants at the price they are willing to pay they will buy it. They don´t care where it comes from as long as their need for obtaining the item is met. I agree with you that we need to get the items listed but also I would not depend on one venue to offer all your items on. The internet is becoming saturated with places to sell. Just pick 4 or 5 venues that you are comfortable selling on. Concentrate on promoting your items on social media and blogs. It does not happen overnight. You have to really work at at.

popeye3165 · ‎05-08-2019

@tunicaslot wrote:
@auctionpet wrote:
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.
so is it a fallacy that listing every day or few days gives you a boost? No one has answered that question.

I use the list 3-5 listings every few days tactic ALL the time and YES IT DOES help make your shop look fresh not stagnant...do some SEO research it will confirm that.

Good luck to ALL the small sellers out there!

bradandamber · ‎05-08-2019

Amen!

bradandamber · ‎05-08-2019

Closed my store. Not worth my time anymore!

bradandamber · ‎05-08-2019

You must be a broker. eBay is going down for the count when more people get wise to their scams. I will remain a buyer on eBay because motivated sellers will give a much lower price than other sites.

tunicaslot · ‎05-08-2019

@bradandamber wrote:
You must be a broker. eBay is going down for the count when more people get wise to their scams. I will remain a buyer on eBay because motivated sellers will give a much lower price than other sites.

OMG - so sorry to hear you closed shop - when good high feedback sellers start leaving due to new inexperienced buyers not reading or following the rules and eBay's policies to make more $$ for them - it's a sad day.

Many talk the talk but don't walk the walk - good luck to you if you start selling elsewhere.