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Massive decline in sales -73%

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.

 

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Massive decline in sales -73%

I promoted 300 items by eBay's suggested rate...some are extraordinary high...ha ha.

But I only promoted the highest priced ones...I did this on Monday(Sept.18th) .....I sold 4 so far this week(Sunday Sept.24th)...and I think one was promoted way before Monday.

Here's what happened to me...Most of my sales were International this week....I usually get one or two International Buyers a week..and UK seems to be a big buyer. I feel like I lost domestic buyers and they get free shipping. And I charge International Shipping.

I think I screwed up the secret algorithms for selling my items doing this....especially domestic buyers.

Message 2 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

@tech*knowledge 

There are thousands of posts on this forum with slow/no sales.  Run a search.  I got 

70,000 results. 

 

Reasons?  

 

Back to school

Essentials are a priority

High gas prices

High Grocery costs

Higher Rent/mortgage

High insurance costs

etc, etc, etc...

 

All we can do is to keep trying, keep listing and hopefully the holidays that are around the corner will provide us with a little financial relief.  Keep the faith.

 

Happy Selling!

 

 

Message 3 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

hopefully the holidays that are around the corner will provide us with a little financial relief.

 

Sounds good but with the things you mentioned do you think it will really get any better in the near future due to:

Essentials are a priority

High gas prices

High Grocery costs

Higher Rent/mortgage

High insurance costs

etc, etc, etc...

 

P.S: Im trying REALLY HARD to keep politics out of this 🙂

Message 4 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

Although impressions are up, are views up similarly?

 

Are your listings in the top 20% of impressions?

 

What about your non-search impressions?

 

Is your conversion rate up or down?

 

The data in Performance >Traffic beyond impressions helps to determine if you drop is demand driven, listing driven or something else.

 

I find impressions to be the metric of least use to me. All it tells me is Ebay is functioning and some search terms are relevant.

 

The percent in top 20% tells me whether it is likely that anyone will stick around long enough to visit my listing.

 

And changes in the conversion percentage tells me whether my product stacks up against the competition when some buyer has looked at the listing.

 

A lot of my sales which are very different from yours, come from non-search impressions, my store and external search engines.

 

Message 5 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

@lawnmowerpartsstore2 

Just trying to stay positive.  Here's hoping.  

 

Have a great day!  😊

Message 6 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

@tech*knowledge 

Something else to consider.  Many of your items are using the "Best Offer" feature.  Check your selling preferences here: 

https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements


Buyer Payment Requirements


*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they place a bid.

*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer.

 

You are requiring buyers forced into the new program to put up a payment source that will be immediately charged PRIOR to making an offer if should you accept.  This sounds good on the surface, but it severely limits the payment options for said buyer (cannot use spendable funds, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal credit, PayPal Pay in 4, many gift cards, coupons, etc), even if they go along with the program.  In general, there will be no possibility to combine listings for one shipping cost, nor send an invoice to the buyer for same.  Many are just 'backing out' instead of providing a DEFAULT payment source that could possibly be used for their next attempt at offers or bidding without notice.

If you are not plagued with non-payers, removing the requirement may be beneficial to you.  Otherwise, you are free to limit your buyer pool as you see fit. 


Message 7 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

I hardly ever use Best Offer, only a few % of listings.

Message 8 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

You are so correct. I have been in that situation as a buyer and just moved on to another seller !!!

Message 9 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

The point of mentioning impressions is that visibility of the product has not changed.

 

Item views are the same as well.

 

This is a 30 day drop of 73% sales, it is not something simple as mentioned. The macro economy did not change so much in 30 days to cause a 73% decline, nor do any of the factors mentioned cause such a decline. September is always slow, but compared to last September (which was bad), this is FAR WORSE.

 

This would be like a Best Buy location seeing a month to month 73% decline in sales, it simply would never happen. I am looking to see where the other sellers are with -73% sales from last month to this month (in my general category, or any really).  There is no logical explanation for the decline besides account targeting or a backend issue with ebay. There are organic explanations up to a certain % drop, but not 73%. I can verify this by comparing to other selling platforms..

 

If other sellers in my category are not seeing decline similar then it is clear Ebay is playing favorites. I doubt these sellers in the last 30 days drastically changed their pricing/catalogue to suddenly crush just me out of business. Oddly enough my account is quite highly rated and maintained, so if I'm being sent to the bottom of the barrel, that is a very very bad sign.

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Massive decline in sales -73%

Based on the simple nature of retail at the holidays of course it will be better than it is now, you can rely on some degree of success around that period. Assuming Ebay isn't restricting your sales behind the scenes. 

 

Nothing really can add up to a 73% decline in sales for any business, from August to September naturally slows a bit, September is naturally slow, but this is beyond fathomable. 

 

I know the politics, trust me, I know what is going on, but I am simply comparing to 30 days ago, the economy worsens as time passes but not sudden drops to match this fall in sales. You all are basically suggesting some magical perfect storm, I am more keen to say the the algorithm seems involved here.

 

Which is why I was looking for input from other sellers of similar stuff or somewhat expensive stuff.

Message 11 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

Mine down almost 40%. One of the worst months on record. Its like my store has been turned off. I feel your pain.

Message 12 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

Since you have less than a thousand listings and you have an anchor that sort of makes me feel like you must have had significantly more listings at some point. How is your inventory compared to what it was like a year ago?

 

People are rapidly running out of money and recent changes like student loans does not help at all. It might not ALL be the economy but a HUGE chunk of it is ...we are in the middle of an economic reset.

Message 13 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

I agree with OP - that kind of drop is more than the "economic problems", whether people are going back to school or who the Raiders are playing. The only way I've had big drops is when I've just stopped listing new listings, and they've never been 70+%.

 

Having said that, I have no insight save to try some experimentation. I once delisted everything, waited a week and then started relisting in batches with fresh listings (i.e., I re-jigged my previous listings) - my sales bounced up again. Sometimes I do that when I can't find inventory.


When you dine with leopards, it is wise to check the menu lest you find yourself as the main course.

#freedomtoread
#readbannedbooks
Message 14 of 192
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Massive decline in sales -73%

No, they are high value listings, so actually hitting the several million listing cap in raw USD, this is the most I have ever had (I sell one type of product)

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