09-24-2023 11:09 AM
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.
12-26-2023 01:18 AM
Another thing I notice when I stop listing new items or my listing count goes down significantly is I start getting really weak lowball offers on items. Like all the bottom feeders come out and smell death is imminent. It's weird the things I'm shocked sell and for how much when sales are steadily rolling in like a betamax tape I sold for $125 even though research showed it had the potential for such value. Sometimes it's still amazing what items will go for. But then when you're low on product it's like no one values your items at all and the low offers start coming.
12-26-2023 04:06 AM
I'm not in the slightest bit surprised. I'm typical eBay user, that occasionally sells and occasionally sells. I live in Switzerland and tend to buy (and sell) to the US.
Why I don't buy much anymore via eBay: The US sellers seem either to be tied in to the global shipping system or find the system so complicated, they don't sell to Europe anymore. The things I buy tend to be small (N scale), but the global shipping makes the items so expensive, it's just not worthwhile. In the past, you could order things like decals, the seller would put them in an envelope, combined shipping 2 bucks, job done. Now, 25+ USD just for shipping a piece of paper? And 71 USD for shipping a plastic 1/9 scale model ? Seriously?
Why I don't sell much via eBay anymore. I recently listed some items that sold to the US. eBay charged sales tax on the total value of the sale including shipping! Then charged fees on the total including shipping and the sales tax, then charged Swiss VAT (sales tax) on the fees, although through any other channel, it would be an export not subject to VAT at all. The shipping is an absolute cost, which I have to pay, so charging fees on this just reduces my margin, and charging more for shipping just raises my fees. Plus, when I post the item, I then pay VAT on the postage (not to Ebay). Three 6 USD poker chips sold, 8 USD postage paid, means I earnt 10.32 for the entire sale. In the past, that would have been about 15 USD for the same transaction. And now they even charge an extra 0.30 transaction fee on top of everything else. Any clues why I'm not selling as much anymore???
If I'm typical of the people that trade on eBay, then there is your answer why sales are so massively down.
Fee details
Fee subtotal | -$2.28 | |
Quantity 3 | ||
Total fees for item | -$6.84 |
Final Value FeePer order fixed amount | -$0.30 | |
Total fees | -$7.14 | |
VAT(7.7%) | -$0.54 | |
Total Fees (includes VAT) | -$7.68 |
12-26-2023 06:37 AM
Well said. My worst holiday sales ever!
01-04-2024 08:41 AM
Im down 80% and so are my competitors.
01-04-2024 09:20 AM
If you arent paying for the 300.00 or higher subscription you get the call center in india now
01-14-2024 03:14 AM
eBay is an e-commerce walking dead corpse. eBay is lucky they haven’t been bought it. Once investors figure out all the scams they use to prop up revenue, or once a good financial analyst looks at their operations, it will become very easy to see they are dying and squeezing every dying cent from Sellers. My sales are downs 90%. I used to sell 15k to 30k a month. I am lucky to sell $3-$4k a month now. I moved my business to Amazon and I am only selling inventory I can’t sell on Amazon or my Amazon returns on eBay. EBAY IS A MASSIVE ACCOUNTING SCANDAL WAITING TO BE UNCOVERED. Mark these words as true.
01-14-2024 03:23 AM
So true, eBay is dead and smells like a rotting corpse. I use to do 20 - 30k a month in sales on eBay, now I’m lucky to get -2 to 4k on a great month. Needless to say, I moved most all
my business to my Amazon store. I am back to normal selling on Amazon generating my 15k to 30k in monthly sales with 1/3 of the inventory I had on eBay. I want eBay to disappear or get bought it. At this point it’s pointless that eBay even exists
01-16-2024 06:24 AM
I agree that eBay now is only the 4th or 5th in line amongst the competing e-commerce platforms and they make it worse by the day with anti-seller policies, high fees etc.. Even the few ads they have are aimed at the wrong audience they will never get (let's be honest, do you know anyone who goes to eBay to buy high-end brand apparel?)
Yes, you should be on multiple platforms, don't put all your eggs in one basket, or go to local markets ( these days we have a lot more success on swap meets. No returns, no requests, no tons of messages daily, mostly cash payments etc..)
Ebay will always have its place, but from now it should be treated as a "side hustle" and not as your main income source.
01-22-2024 03:31 PM
Looks like my eBay account will be closed as I do not choose to give eBay my bank account details. eBay now has competition. The bank account requirement seems to me an example of how eBay management is disrespecting it's own user community.
01-25-2024 06:32 AM
I think it has something to do with "Promoted Listings Advanced". Some ridiculous pay by click garbage that I will never participate in... I really do not look at my actually sales. I look at what I put in my pocket after eBay fees and Shipping costs. Since I own all of my inventory, that is all that matters to me. I am way down obviously. I think my sales were steady at around $6,000 for 90-day total. Now I am at $3,621.21 90-day total. My spending on eBay is down to nothing basically. I have a ton of stuff I will not even list. Piles of stuff. It is not even worth my time to list it. I do take about 15 minutes in the morning before I shove-off to work, and I pack some orders every other day, but anything more work be a total loss because I can deliver for UE and DD and earn a lot more money. I am also starting to tutor math & Accounting for $30+ an hour as well. I would suggest the same for other sellers as well. Find something to make up the difference.
01-30-2024 07:13 AM
Market inflation.
It is causing a ripple effect on everything.
Customers are trying to find the best bargains way down.
Customers are not willing to purchase items via Ebay unless it is almost FREE.
Ebay does not care on replying.
They are based in India. The CEO is from India.
Do you think they are concerned? Absolutely NOT!
I am also a 100% seller rating.
My last item sold was in November 2023
Keep the faith.
01-30-2024 08:37 AM
Hi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.