My best year was 1999. Item specifics didn't exist yet.

[john_wade]

Some item specifics are very important and custom specifics can be important but many categories and sub categories is also very important. In 1999, there was a site map of categories and sub categories so that a buyer could see everything in one glance and very quickly click the links. Important for browsers. At antiques shows, people looking for one very specific item are less than 5%. Removing categories is like hiding things under the table. They can't buy it if they don't see it. That's sales 101 for 3rd graders. 

[katzrul15]

2006-2009 were amazing years for us on here.  From 2011 on, it has changed, but not perhaps revenue-wise, how we might have wished.  

I do not typically search by category.  Hoping this gets resolved sooner vs later.  

[coolections]

Hardly anyone just sits around browsing categories on Ebay. When a buyer is looking for something they type the name of the item in the title and Ebay shows them all available.

[pennpicker]

"When a buyer is looking for something they type the name of the item in the title and Ebay shows them all available."

You assume every seller knows what they are selling.

[coolections]

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@pennpicker wrote:

"When a buyer is looking for something they type the name of the item in the title and Ebay shows them all available."

You assume every seller knows what they are selling.

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LOL. Why would someone sell something they do not know what it is ? No wonder why so many sellers fail here.

[mr_lincoln]

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@john_wade wrote:

Some item specifics are very important and custom specifics can be important but many categories and sub categories is also very important. In 1999, there was a site map of categories and sub categories so that a buyer could see everything in one glance and very quickly click the links. Important for browsers. At antiques shows, people looking for one very specific item are less than 5%. Removing categories is like hiding things under the table. They can't buy it if they don't see it. That's sales 101 for 3rd graders. 

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That @john_wade is a reoccurring theme ... I started a thread titled "If they find it they can't buy it ... wow".

While that is stating the obvious it also happens to be true right now ...

I relisted some auctions and two already have bids ... well, they happen to be from repeat customers who I suspect are following my account ...

[postingid7659]

In 2007 I did over $10,000 with just a $600 initial investment.  Most of that was folded back into more items out of the same collection.  

2020 was also pretty good for me, I was near the same territory on a 90 day average up through early this year.  Then eBay started changing things and it's been pretty well downhill since then.  Stuff still sells but it has to be exceptionally good stuff. 

[carolynnq]

I don't know current stats, but 15 or so years ago only 5% of buyers searched by category. I would think it would be somewhat higher now, but not a tremendous amount.

I rarely search by categories because a lot of items could potentially be listed in more than one category.

What I miss is being able to do wild card searches.

[dalesharon]

Wrong. I and many others in the gemstone and lapidary equipment categories shop by browsing and we have bought thousands of items for over 20 years on eBay by just browsing categories. We seldom search because eBay searches are hopeless for specific lapidary items. And as for sellers not knowing what they are selling, dozens of items show up each week from people discovering things or relative’s attics and garages they know nothing about and they turn up rare and valuable items. Sometimes the bidding goes wild with these rare items and everybody but the buyer makes money, and it is fun. Other times you score a great item as a Buy It Now item that woulder ow up in a search. Searches and filters are a pain to use, not much fun, and it is incredible how many items are missed using eBay’s canned search tools. If the searches worked we might use them sometimes, but so many things are left off searches. Just ask a seller who knows his items are listed in the proper category , but eBay’s tools can’t find the items because of a poor word choice.  And like someone said here, if you can’t see it or find it, you can’t buy it. When browsing is no longer allowed we’re gone from here. eBay search tools, especially for Best Match, have been worthless since the day they were invented and it is only getting worse with the new category lumping.

[denisevanpattendolls]

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@carolynnq wrote:

I don't know current stats, but 15 or so years ago only 5% of buyers searched by category. I would think it would be somewhat higher now, but not a tremendous amount.

I rarely search by categories because a lot of items could potentially be listed in more than one category.

What I miss is being able to do wild card searches.

---

is that 5% of buyers or searches?  Honestly, about 95% of my searches are keyword searches each day on eBay, but that is for pricing items, so gathering information as a seller. When I’m buying? This collector likes to sit down at the end of the day and search the category I’m collecting; once for new listings and once for ending soonest.  

[axiombody]

1999 different buying environment.  So much more specific competition.  Most companies didn't even have a web site and now they sell directly.  Much more knowledge and competition even here on Ebay.  I can't believe you can compare now with 1999.   1999 was like going to a yard sale and hoping you ever saw something your Grandma had and now there are 37 available.  2021 that is expected and the novelty of that is gone.  Supply and demand like every business now.  From my experience selling in high volume my past year shave shown aug-sept(after 2008) as the lowest volume months.  My guess is most sellers are buyers(slow sales equal slow buys) and it carries over as most people are saving these months(not spending frivolously) before Christmas.  This and increasing competition leading to year over year overall lower sales volume individually, but opposingly more items sold site wide.  All in all, personally selling clothing, this has been the first year I have actually gained any inflation increase on my selling price.  2006 average item sold price vs 2019 about the same(when accounting for new and changing fees and taxes).  Category changes have slight to do with anything. To be true, it's the 37 available has become 1137 over 800 sites and internet venues.  Right now is slow adjust accordingly.

[yoonix1]

Adding enormous item specifics by EBay is a huge downfall for Sellers. I have constantly suggestions for recommended item specifics, and majority of them are NOT relevant to my listing. Selling on EBay is declining.

[coolections]

@mr_lincoln 

I am going to help you out. Your lionel circus locomotive has keywords that prevent buyers from seeing it because you are missing the MOST IMORTANT part of that title    "TRAIN"   Drop the 4-4-0, very few buyers will type that and they will miss your auction.   I suggest before listing do some searches to see what others are doing and follow suit for the best result.

Ebay hid nothing of yours:

Your cast iron skill is #7 of 124

Your locomotive is #1 of 9

[mr_lincoln]

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@coolections wrote:

@mr_lincoln 

I am going to help you out. Your lionel circus locomotive has keywords that prevent buyers from seeing it because you are missing the MOST IMORTANT part of that title    "TRAIN"   Drop the 4-4-0, very few buyers will type that and they will miss your auction.   I suggest before listing do some searches to see what others are doing and follow suit for the best result.

Ebay hid nothing of yours:

Your cast iron skill is #7 of 124

Your locomotive is #1 of 9

---

@coolections   You are right that doing research as to how Search works now is important.  However, eBay should be explaining to Sellers how the new Search algorithm works due to THEIR changes, not Sellers having to figure it out on their own.

Regarding the Lionel The General 4-4-0 locomotive.  It has a bid so I can't change anything BUT my 4-4-0 locomotive is only # 1 if I put the 4-4-0 Wheel configuration in the title.  (Searched "Lionel the General" and "Lionel The General 4-4-0") If I don't it drops to number 2.  eBay has ADDED Wheel configuration to the new IS.  Below is my Lionel Locomotive Template ... eBay has overlaid the new IS section at the top and my old settings are at the bottom ... note:

1. The orange circled IS at the top are the old REQUIRED IS, there were only two, BRAND and MPN.

2. The blue circled IS are the new REQUIRED (per Velvet @ eBay on a different thread).  The new REQUIRED will be GAUGE and TYPE.

3. Note that eBay has NOT pre-filled their new IS section with the ones I already filled out on the old IS format (red circled).  This is just plain down poor programming and forcing me and others to duplicate work already done. 

4. eBay has ADDED the WHEEL CONFIGURATION (green circle) as part of the new IS plus a bunch of stuff guys NEVER ask about like Height, Weight, Width, Franchise, Etc.

[maxine*j]

In 1999, eBay was new, exciting, different.  You could get bidding wars on old telephone books.  There were not a lot of on-line sales venues then, and Amazon was still selling mostly books, though beginning to expand into other areas. 

No one had smartphones, tablets, or any of the other electronic gadgets they now rely on and use for most shopping.

I could go on with the significant changes in technology, culture, economy, and demographics, and their effects on consumer habits, that have occurred over the past two decades.

I just can't see that sales 20 years ago have much to do with sales today.

I will say that while I believe that few people browse by category, I also believe that eBay's search needs to be much better that it is, so people can more easily find the specific items they are looking for.

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