eBay

newjerseypicker08836 · ‎08-24-2017

I went from running 400-500 listings to now this month about 30. The computer algorithms that the eBay "TEAM" (Cough, Cough) cant even generate a single sale now that I have decreased my listing totals. I brought 3 carloads of ebay inventory to the church down the street. They were really happy to have it.

Is anyone else having this huge type of sales drop? Along with that customers are asking me information about the item that I already took time to type into the description which tells me that the click description button is now quietly being implimend.

thatsallfolks · ‎09-22-2017

@nhfd4976 wrote:
I was having a decent month for myself but now it looks like Ebay has shut me off. Last two days No sales. I was ave. 2 sales a day which is what I hope for since I am a small time part time seller. my sales up to that point was 800.00. Now nothing.

If you think they're limiting your account, open a second account and list some of your stuff there.

I wouldn't classify someone with $25k in 1,100 listings as a "small part-time seller", but whatever.

pf9000 · ‎09-22-2017

Ever since shipping costs have gone up, sales have gone down. Adding 13% on top of shipping is really painful. Since it’s only been 30 days, and sales are cyclical, maybe it will get better on its own? Let’s hope so. Some of the changes made to Ebay, have made it more difficult to find certain items. I especially hate that 25 items per page issue, and those weird pages, as well as those extra pictures on top, which adds confusion and frustration to the search. It might be driving buyers away. If they would just put things back the way they were, it might put sales back the way they were.

wifetrained · ‎09-22-2017

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
I think there has been a problem with Ebay embracing its' identity; the world does not need another Amazon. Many can't find what they want there, or it is more expensive, or they simply don't like their format.

Ebay could be so much bigger if they embraced who they are and marketed themselves as such. Their current ads are for more modern, current stuff.

But I think if they emphasized that you can get anything here, past, present, and future (think pre-releases), they might do better.

Just some thoughts.

I concur, but only to a point. I would say that the problem isn't Ebay failing to embrace what it is, it's that it can't stand what it is when compared to Amazon. Unlike Amazon, which is a retail operation, Ebay is just a glorified classified ad company. Nothing is ever going to change that fact.

It's constant meddling has driven many excellent sellers away which has the added effect of driving buyers away. After all sellers are buyers to. But Ebay acts as though sellers are defacto employee's instead of who they are...customers who are paying for the only real service Ebay has, a listing venue. And a venue that all too often is marginal and glitchy beyond belief.

drinkwine1204 · ‎09-22-2017

I am down 68.4% from last year. It is hard to judge that against my current listings since I had a premium store with around 900 items listed last year in August, September, October. I dropped to a basic store in April 2017. With 900 items verses 250 items currently, of course, it is more likely I had the items/sizes buyers were looking fror.

I agree with listing even a few items daily to keep things fresh, but I am topped out with 253 listings right now. Cannot afford to pay for additional listings.

Hope we all see a seasonal increase soon !

geotouloupos · ‎09-22-2017

Welcome to the club...

odditiesandantiquities1 · ‎09-22-2017

@drinkwine1204 wrote:
I am down 68.4% from last year. It is hard to judge that against my current listings since I had a premium store with around 900 items listed last year in August, September, October. I dropped to a basic store in April 2017. With 900 items verses 250 items currently, of course, it is more likely I had the items/sizes buyers were looking fror.
I agree with listing even a few items daily to keep things fresh, but I am topped out with 253 listings right now. Cannot afford to pay for additional listings.
Hope we all see a seasonal increase soon !

I'm down a third this month, and one of my items listed yesterday hasn't even been viewed by a bot.

drinkwine1204 · ‎09-22-2017

LOL--I ran an auction for 5 days last week and ended with 0 views. The bots must be on strike !!

odditiesandantiquities1 · ‎09-22-2017

Hahahaha

dreambo · ‎09-22-2017

I sell DVD's, BD's and 4k UHD discs and assessories. If I did not go online and REPORT all the sellers who are selling DIGITAL COPIES, at $2.00 I could not sell any of my items. That's one reason...

Another reason why sales are down, in my opinion, is that Ebay forces us sellers to RAISE our pricing due to outrageous FV fees, Pay Pal fees, and shipping costs...Even ebay charges a gross fee on our cost..like DOUBLE taxation on a cost....

Buyers are going to faster shipping with HASSLE free returns..ie, AMAZON and others.

"It's a Mere Moment in a Man's Life, between the All Star game and the Old-Timer's game." Vin Scully

baantiques · ‎09-22-2017

Another update.

I've been continuing to add new listings and relist the old ones with mods. My sales are up 80% in the 7 days ending today over the previous 7 days. Compared to the period July 23rd to August 22nd, the period August 23rd to today I'm still down 44%. But 44% is better than 60%! Even better, the last three months ending today compared to the previous three months, I'm only down 13%.

Listings and page views are still down for the last 30 days compared to the previous 30 (22% drop, compared to a 33% drop a couple weeks ago). Sales conversion rate is up .4% since my first post, it's now up to 1.9%, which is still not good, but it's going up. The last three days I'm sitting at 2.4%.

One thing that concerns me is the number of items I'm selling is not really going up. I'm merely selling items with higher prices. Now, that's a good thing, but I have way more lower priced items than higher, so I have to put some effort into acquiring more items I can sell for a higher price.

But my takeaway in all this is don't sit around and moan about poor sales. Take some steps to fix it.

mintra98 · ‎09-22-2017

ebay is pretty greedy regarding that matter. They increase fee, but not increase sales!

My sales are down around 70% compared to the past months, I stop listing new items. Even though I have 700 items right now with steady views, no one seems to buy as if they're afraid of something. It's a dead month for me.

castlemagicmemories · ‎09-22-2017

@wifetrained wrote:
@castlemagicmemories wrote:
I think there has been a problem with Ebay embracing its' identity; the world does not need another Amazon. Many can't find what they want there, or it is more expensive, or they simply don't like their format.

Ebay could be so much bigger if they embraced who they are and marketed themselves as such. Their current ads are for more modern, current stuff.

But I think if they emphasized that you can get anything here, past, present, and future (think pre-releases), they might do better.

Just some thoughts.

I concur, but only to a point. I would say that the problem isn't Ebay failing to embrace what it is, it's that it can't stand what it is when compared to Amazon. Unlike Amazon, which is a retail operation, Ebay is just a glorified classified ad company. Nothing is ever going to change that fact.

It's constant meddling has driven many excellent sellers away which has the added effect of driving buyers away. After all sellers are buyers to. But Ebay acts as though sellers are defacto employee's instead of who they are...customers who are paying for the only real service Ebay has, a listing venue. And a venue that all too often is marginal and glitchy beyond belief.

@wifetrained Yes, I could have expressed that better, sorry. There is a poster whose siggie says, never be a second rate version of someone else, but be a first rate version of yourself (or something like that!). I can understand keeping up with the competition and knowing what it is doing, that is just smart business, but trying to be them in this case is wrong. Ebay used to advertise as you can get IT here. That is an advantage that Amazon doesn't have and I think that has fallen largely by the wayside, sadly.

I read a feedback once that said, Now she will never know what I did! It was for a glass that the guy broke. People buy things from their childhood or something their Mother had. Things for their collections. Yes, you can buy new things, clothes, phones, whatever here, but these are the heart warming stories that will tug at your heart and show how special Ebay can be. Thanks to the sellers, of course!

discountme · ‎09-22-2017

It took me a minute to learn how to navigate it. N I too was not happy about the forced change but, tis what it tis. This is just one of the many things I was talking about though. I agree

baantiques · ‎09-23-2017

One thing I just noticed. It's devious.

They tell you if you're item has no sales after 30 days to end and relist. I've been doing that with my old listings - ending them and then relisting from Inkfrog with lowered prices, usually 50%. I've checked the listing dates, and while most are showing the date I relisted from Inkfrog, some of them are reverting to the old date.

Also, I've been changing some slow or no sellers from GTC to 30 day, and for some reason it didn't take, and they relisted for another 30 days.

I guess I need to pay closer attention.