Looks Like A Bumpy Road Ahead

[pls-consignments]

Now that eBay has released their Q1 report, sellers may wonder what's ahead for Q2 or Q3? From what I'm reading and watching, even from Lannone himself, it looks a little concerning. If you're struggling now as a seasoned seller, or if you're new to the platform, the next few months (or maybe longer) will most likely be challenging to say the least.  My advice is to prepare proactively instead of facing disappointment reactively. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVYWEyoeti4

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ebay-shares-fall-weak-revenue-202514910.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/ebay-etsys-q1-earnings-signaling-160255150.html

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@gurlcat  That's what I always do. Most buyers really appreciate it when you do something like this, in part, because it reminds them that you aren't a corporation but you ARE the little guy. 

[baydealz]

It's a tough act, they truly need to  be on both sides, for buyers and sellers.  For a LONG time now, they switched to 100% for buyers, (and allowing true feedback from only one side, buyers) to try to compete with Amazon....spoiler alert, they can't.  What did they think?  Meanwhile they alienated the bread and butter called sellers, now there are fewer buyers because there is less supply, so why bother?  Everyone is concerned (in here as sellers) that sales have tapered off - duh, it's not the economy, it's the **bleep** marketplace.  Sales at BigLots fell off when they displaced bargains with just more Chinese crap you can get anywhere.  Sales fell off at BedBathBeyond when there was just less supply.  'Build it and they will come' doesn't mean, it doesn't matter they'll keep coming.  They stop, fast.  As sellers are now.  I'm spending a rainy day moving my goods elsewhere. 

[gurlcat]

I don't know what platform you can move your goods to where buyers will pay insane shipping costs.  

[farmalljr]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@gurlcat wrote:

I could be wrong but I'd suspect that true hobby and clutter-ridding sellers make up a very small portion of the eBay seller base.  You'd have to be pretty well-off to not literally NEED more money nowadays.  

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I don't believe that is true.  The number may have changed, but the last time I saw it, small and casual sellers make up about 80% of the seller base on Ebay.  We are the largest section of sellers on the site.

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You are not a small casual seller. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

About 80% of ebay sellers are responsible for about 20% of sales, and about 20% of ebay sellers are responsible for 80% of sales. So, yes, collectively smaller sellers far outnumber larger sellers.

[sakic92710]

Not everything has tracking.  1 purchase was within Canada & it was $15 Cdn total.  It would be $13 just for tracking if I used it.  The other sale was only $20 & going to the Netherlands.  Tracking from Canada to overseas is useless.  It only follows the package until it departs from Canada.  The only country in the world that has a system set up to track Canadian mail is the US.

[farmalljr]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

About 80% of ebay sellers are responsible for about 20% of sales, and about 20% of ebay sellers are responsible for 80% of sales. So, yes, collectively smaller sellers far outnumber larger sellers.

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Small sellers and casual sellers are different things.

A casual seller is someone who is getting rid of junk around the house. They are not out sourcing things to sell here. 

Most small sellers (those who buy inventory to resell) are actually hoarders in disguise.  They buy more junk to sell then  they actually sell. So while 80% are getting 20% of the sales, that should tell you two things:

1 Those sellers may be doing things wrong, because they get such a small slice of sales. 

2 eBay does not really like small sellers, especially if they are not letting eBay have enough of their money. 

A large seller who sells 1000 items a day, makes as many fees for eBay as 1000 sellers who sell one item a day. 

[gurlcat]

Ugh that sounds like a nightmare.  So if you don't have tracking how do you prove (or even know) if it got delivered?  Canada sounds like a scammer's paradise.  

[gurlcat]

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@farmalljr wrote:

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Most small sellers (those who buy inventory to resell) are actually hoarders in disguise.  They buy more junk to sell then  they actually sell.

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And how/where did you get this idea?  

[yuzuha]

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@gurlcat wrote:

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@farmalljr wrote:

Most small sellers (those who buy inventory to resell) are actually hoarders in disguise.  They buy more junk to sell then  they actually sell.

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And how/where did you get this idea?  

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Looking at their prices, I would imagine. There are a lot of sellers who are totally delulu about how much the stuff they're selling is actually worth.

[gurlcat]

The person I asked said "most".  You're talking about "a lot." 

[wheredidiputthatremote]

My sales took a turn for the worst I'm September 23. I'm hoping for packing madness again soon.

[sakic92710]

With eBay, it does not matter.  Even when I had tracking, still had to refund a handful of times.

[gurlcat]

So, the thing I advised cannot erase what is already done.  It was talking about the future.  Any items that you do have tracking on, watch as if you're the one waiting to receive it (or your mom or a friend), and if it gets stuck, reach out.  PREVENT an INR before the buyer gets worried enough to file one. 

[isaiah53-57]

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@wheredidiputthatremote wrote:

My sales took a turn for the worst I'm September 23. I'm hoping for packing madness again soon.

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Sorry to hear some sellers are having a rough go of it...

Our local sales have been increasing dramatically since we put our exit strategy into effect here..

No PACKING/SHIPPING MADNESS - No LISTING MADNESS - No RETURNS/THEFT MADNESS - Really no madness whatsoever - Selling costs as a function of Fees/Ads/Space are running WELL below 10% (likely 8%) rather than the near 20% we paid here and we have never paid a dime toward promoted listings.. Hope this gives others hope that just because you may be struggling somewhere, you are not necessarily relegated to it...