eBay

tech*knowledge · ‎09-24-2023

Sales down 73% vs last 30 days (and prior 30 days not impressive either). I did not think this was even possible. Impressions are UP, I have already increased promoted ad rate % with no results.

Have asked ebay about this twice now, no real help to be had. They did say many sellers are experiencing poor sales.. but 73% is absurd.

I have a near perfect account and anchor store + 17 years on ebay. There is no reason to target my account but it feels that way given how poor things have become.

Is anyone else experiencing this magnitude of decline?? (I sell computers, I am aware of the poor market for PC's, this is beyond that and beyond earlier this year). I've tried more aggressive pricing, new listings, more advertising, nothing changes. It feels targeted. I also have had perhaps 2 interested customers message me in several weeks, that is VERY odd as well.

I thought last year was the worst possible scenario with the macro economy and geopolitics. I understand the economy is very poor now, but this is vs 30 days, however 90 days are also down, up to midsummer sales were outpacing last year moderately well, so this is entirely weird.

Sure it will get better into the holidays, but in the meantime this is very bad, this is the WORST month I have EVER had in 17 years of selling. That makes no sense.

dandbsurplus11 · ‎11-08-2023

We are having the same issue. I came here to see if anyone else was as well. I figured it wasn’t just us. Maybe people worried about the potential for war, idk. It’s definitely economy related. The decline is insane. Record breaking. Hopefully it picks back up soon!

mr_lincoln · ‎11-08-2023

@inhawaii wrote:
Not everyone's sales are down.
Some sellers sales are up.
Why not figure out what those sellers are doing and follow suit?

@inhawaii It's not that easy and with so many Sellers in many different categories reporting the same thing it points to the venue and not the individual Sellers. I've tracked my own drop in sales over the last 18 months, not a short term huge dip but a slow agonizing decline all timed just after the full launch of PLA and the new Views counting ... eBay changed their algorithms to give preference to those using PLA which indirectly negatively affected most (if not all) categories even for those NOT with heavy PLA utilization. The decline is measurable in my case and with others I have spoken to and shared with here. Sad but true.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

bryo_3145 · ‎11-08-2023

"There is also going to be a massive decline of sellers here soon."

inhawaii · ‎11-08-2023

Just saying...

Seller A experiencing poor sales.

Seller B experiencing good sales.

They usually are not selling he same items.

To me that says it might have something to do with what you are selling.

Sea Of Love - The Honeydrippers

toomuchstuffagain35 · ‎11-08-2023

@inhawaii wrote:
Just saying...
Seller A experiencing poor sales.
Seller B experiencing good sales.
They usually are not selling he same items.
To me that says it might have something to do with what you are selling.

If we ALL sold the same things, how boring would that be?

"If a product doesn't sell, raise the price" - Reese Palley
"If it sold FAST, it was priced too low" - also Reese Palley

asset_liquidators · ‎11-08-2023

No doubt the economy has been having an impact the last 6-8 months. I am one that is used to the ebb and flow of sales over the various months and never worry much about it. There is however a larger problem with regards to ebay. I have never seen it this bad and it IS ebay. My other site I use is doing the same it has always done but ebay is way way way down. Marketplace has been WAY outselling ebay and it isn't even close.

I am finding myself putting more and more on Marketplace (even stuff that I thought would never sell locally) and it is moving. For the first time in almost 26 years I am finding it not even worth listing on ebay.

dirk12955 · ‎11-08-2023

Tagging on:

The "It's what you are selling" reasoning does not fly for me.

We see sellers (Successful sellers) that have been offering a category, Or more than one category of

items for years on end.

2018 sales up 20% over 2017 2019 sales up over 2018 another 20% Skip 2020 and 2021

2022 sales up up 19% over 2019

Steady growth. Expanded number of listings at a steady rate. No dings or other issues

with INR or NAD to lower the ratings from TRS on 3 accounts.

June 2023 a good month hitting all the marks for sales and revenue and goals.

July down 29% from June

August up 4% from July

September down 34% from August

October down 4% from September

3 selling accounts offering a variety of items for almost 25 years and all TRS

Down 53% in the last 120 days from July to October

But, That's just me.

mr_lincoln · ‎11-08-2023

@dirk12955 NO, it's not just you ... you hit some key points like many other Sellers have recently on the drop in sales topic ... if one knows their products, knows their business, knows their sales cycles then they know when a drop in sales is a regular event or the result of other factors ... like the venue.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

dwise3671 · ‎11-08-2023

@dirk12955 wrote:
Tagging on:

The "It's what you are selling" reasoning does not fly for me.

We see sellers (Successful sellers) that have been offering a category, Or more than one category of
items for years on end.

2018 sales up 20% over 2017 2019 sales up over 2018 another 20% Skip 2020 and 2021

2022 sales up up 19% over 2019

Steady growth. Expanded number of listings at a steady rate. No dings or other issues
with INR or NAD to lower the ratings from TRS on 3 accounts.

June 2023 a good month hitting all the marks for sales and revenue and goals.

July down 29% from June
August up 4% from July
September down 34% from August
October down 4% from September

3 selling accounts offering a variety of items for almost 25 years and all TRS

Down 53% in the last 120 days from July to October

But, That's just me.

Even in the worst economy millionaires are made. If you’re just doing the same old thing, and expecting that to always be good enough - That’s a failing business model.

inhawaii · ‎11-08-2023

@dirk12955 wrote:
Tagging on:

The "It's what you are selling" reasoning does not fly for me.

So you think the seller selling vintage belt buckles should be doing just as well as the seller selling PlayStation5's?

Sea Of Love - The Honeydrippers

dirk12955 · ‎11-08-2023

What I think, Is that a seller on ebay, whether he's selling PS5s or Beanie Babies or vintage belt buckles Has steady sales for 2017-2018-2019-2022 with 20% increases year to year, and has built up

a business to where he's making 400-450 sales every month suddenly

has a 50-70% drop in revenue and the 400-450 sales per month drops to 100-125, And

this happens in a matter of 90-120 days after 6 1/2 years of growth.....

That it ain't normal.

siamjane8 · ‎11-09-2023

Massive drops in sales are not normal in any business- they are a result of something....in our case- ebay is that something. When they update and make changes- it causes problems with the platform and sales suffer.

Ebay controls the search and what is seen. When ebay decides to show irrelevant results that are promoted instead of what they searched for....less sales take place

bryo_3145 · ‎11-09-2023

Amazon is also taking a lot of ebay customers. According to Forbes article released this morning.

darkagelures11 · ‎11-10-2023

I have just done that and they (Ebay) told me that such thing as ''refreshing ebay store'' doesn't exist. Can you please elaborate little more how you achieved it? Thank you!