eBay

laurabeardsley · ‎02-12-2019

Why are sales so slow and nobody is giving feedback? It just seems to keep getting worse. No feedback for almost 2 weeks now and sales are almost non existent. What is the problem?

castlemagicmemories · ‎02-12-2019

It could be people are recovering from holiday spending and high heating bills, or waiting for their tax refunds.

As for feedback, many report receiving 20%~30% feedback if they leave for every buyer. Buyers just aren't as focused on leaving feedback; many just want their widget.

But I hope both pick up for you soon, OP!

cashvaluerecovery2011 · ‎02-12-2019

Laura its 1 part ebay and 1 part the era we are living in. Sales are slow because of competition pulling sales toward other venues and ebay policies that has driven sales elsewhere, or at least away from many of us. Search doesnt work like it use to etc etc. I just had another magnificent low ball offer on some coin sets. Im the least expensive on all of ebay and if someone pushes buy it now it will be the cheapest sold in the last 2 months...........yet my offer was for 50% less than asking. I checked to see if any others like mine had sold since I posted and in fact 4 of them have for 10% to 12% more than mine is listed for. I double checked my listing. Pictures good, description and listing better than others sold. Feedback and reputation, im good there to. So I searched for my product. Typed in 4 main words of my title using Buy it Now style and Least expensive + shipping. My item was the 72nd one for sale and even though mine is the cheapest............and the filter is to show the cheapest first...........I was still 72nd in search.

That is the problem.

mypostingid15 · ‎02-12-2019

Delete

mypostingid15 · ‎02-12-2019

@laurabeardsley wrote:
Why are sales so slow and nobody is giving feedback? It just seems to keep getting worse. No feedback for almost 2 weeks now and sales are almost non existent. What is the problem?

The problem is you're not paying another 30-50% to promote your items, do that and see what happens.

cashvaluerecovery2011 · ‎02-12-2019

Brutal.......but not untrue.

yuzuha · ‎02-12-2019

I only see 32 items listed on this account? It's going to be hard to get steady sales with such a low number of listings unless you're listing stuff that has high demand.

Also, your items, while very nice, are mostly the sort of thing that require the right buyer to come along, which could take one week, one year, or any amount of time in between. I moved away from selling exclusively collectibles/used items for that very reason: the sales were just too inconsistent.

Keep in mind that buyers these days skew younger-- I work B&M retail (a chain department store) and the vast majority of our customers are under 50. It's important to consider the sorts of things that they like and buy.

juststuffisell · ‎02-12-2019

The feedback thing from buyers is normal. You get a rash of people that leave feedback and then a rash of people that don't. My feeling about it is really, No feedback is mucho better than bad feedback...lol

Sales come and go. I've not run any auctions, that normally brings traffic to fixed price. I am working on them, but don't have enough done for the category. Good to run fixed price and auctions mixed in as you will normally get some cross sells from auction buyers on some fixed price items.

As noted - the search feature on eBay is not what it used to be. It has really impacted sellers. Hopefully sometime in the next year or two eBay decides to make it more functional.

I have personally stopped listing things to be the cheapest for that reason. It wasn't helping enough with views & sales. I have added best offer and will simply consider offers. It's worked out OK so far.

As noted, see what is selling. Test other merchandise. Don't be locked into one category. Test different items. Use your best title possible - you have a pocket watch that would probably pick up a number of bids. Problem is, you don't have a picture of the inside of the case and cover. It is hinged so it will pop open at the lip. The mechanical will probably have a lot more information on the to include number of jewels, sr# and who made it. The case back will have the maker name, and if gold or gold filled, will usually say - These are important details and the difference between a dollar watch and a 700 dollar pocket watch. Think keywords. Clear pictures, solid description. Now that I said all of that - do know, I stink at a lot of that...but I love pocket watches...lol

Cheers

tahoe-sports · ‎02-13-2019

Nothing's wrong. That's just how eBay works.

The platform is based on maximum discount, not quality or service, so you get buyers that are looking for the lowest price possible, usually about 50% of what you list for.

Your options are to

1) Try and win the race to the bottom and get some psychological satisfaction from a sale;

2) Stand your ground and wait for the right buyer to come around, a lurker to blink, or eBay to have a sale or an ebucks offer;

3) Become a believer in the voodoo of promoted listings.

I'm a solid 2, but I don't borrow money to finance my business and my bills are covered by my day job,

Best of luck.

unique-finds-for-everyone · ‎02-13-2019

I am paying for promotion- no sales easier....!!!

coolections · ‎02-13-2019

I looked at your unsold items, your current listings, and your sold items. This is just my opinion but your unsold jewelry looks like stuff I see all the time in those junk drawer lots found here on Ebay and not very attractive stuff. Your sold items look very clean, not worn and attractive, thus the reason why they sold. Your current listings is the same old blah stuff most are not interested in. So in summary you sold the good stuff and are continuing to try selling the stuff not in demand. Maybe instead of trying to keep listing that older looking stuff, combine some of it into a few "lot" listings ? Not everything you list will always sell and it has everything to do with demand. The lower the demand, the lower your prices need to be.

poanann_0 · ‎02-13-2019

@laurabeardsley wrote:
Why are sales so slow and nobody is giving feedback? It just seems to keep getting worse. No feedback for almost 2 weeks now and sales are almost non existent. What is the problem?

Wow...

Do you per chance have access to the powerseller board?

If so you might check in there as well, just to see what they have to say although I suspect it won't be much difference... Your feedback numbers, what you have for sale, it's what we need more of here.

I will say this...

1. You're allowed 50 free listings, you have 40...

2. I normally do not auction items I am not sure will sell, I reserve auctions strictly for popular items that I know will attract bidders and then... I list them starting bid 99 cents No Reserve Free Shipping (and whatever happens, happens.) I add in the description that I will honor the winning bid regardless (and I do).

To me listing a $40 item for auction starting at $35 bid is senseless, might as well just list it BIN.

3. OOAK for unique items, MQ's for restockables (don't get carried away, it's the OOAK's that drive visitors).

Now I am starting to see some traffic let me tell you.

laurabeardsley · ‎02-14-2019

I always use the 50 but I go through those in a few days so everything after that cost 35 cents so I have to be careful how many to list if things are not selling.Years ago when I got promotions I had up to 300 items for sale at a time. I know things change but Nothing works the way it used to here!