My ebay depression

[stephp4007]

Ive been selling on ebay for 10 years, I am well aware of the ups and downs of selling, the drama with online buyers, the fees, the returns. Ive known how to move with the ebb and flow of all these selling trials... But these past few months have been by far the most painful  ebay months for me ever. First, my sales have been in the toliet. I understand were in a pandemic, but up until October I was doing relatively well considering. After October 1st its like my items ceased to exist. Refreshed listings, ended and sold similar, raised prices-added sales, lowered prices, increased promoted percentages. Ive done all combinations of my tride and true ebay tricks that have worked over the years, still to no avail. THEN I have started to deal with USPS loosing my packages in transit...and not just one or two, Im talking dozens! And it just keeps happening.( Ive just started UPS instead) But with these package mishaps have come angry buyers, unjust refunds,  and negative feedback. Now Im noticing extra ebay fees being taken out of checking account ( I need to dig into this ) 

Anyway, Im on the brink of an ebay meltdown, with no end in sight . 10 years of this being my fulltime work, and now I have to start thinking about reentering the real world workforce.

Sorry for the long vent. Feels good to say this outloud! Guess Im wondering if Im alone in my little ebay black hole!llol

thanks

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@stephp4007. Steph, I can read your pain. If I can back into my Psych days,  when the world is feeling isolation, disconnect, fear of the unknown, very limited freedom they tend to hoard and in this case...money. For those that venture out for Christmas they want to touch and feel merchandise. People also tend to buy things that remind them of happier times like a toy, Grandmas cookie jar, a quilt that reminds them of Mother. Thrift shops and Antique and collectables shops are having a great year so far and I am on track to have the biggest year ever in my 50s-60s store. You have very nice clothing, top brands, photographed well and excellent ship. This entire year is a human storm we just have to weather it out. Don't leave EBay mad, sounds like you've enjoyed it and believe that things will get better because they will! Have a nice Holiday season and just rest!

[dandfmarinesalvage]

I think a LOT of eBay sellers are feeling the same way right now. Sales are atrocious for many sellers but it was to be expected with some foresight. The economy is in trouble and many sellers will struggle until they cease to be selling any longer or until they bare down and figure out how to weather the storm. I completely understand the thought of leaving self employment to re-enter the time clock workforce. I have that thought quite often but I didn’t come this far to let a terrible economy and pandemic bring me down. I’ll fight until I’ve been beaten or until I’ve prevailed and I would encourage you to do the same. It may be helpful to just take a day off and put some real thought into how you go forward. If you’re hemorrhaging money then you may decide to take a temporary job to try and weather the storm. You may decide to work longer hours, source different inventory to sell (we are in a time right now where folks are buying needs and not wants), or you may decide that the stress of online sales isn’t healthy or worth it and decide to take an extended leave from selling to re-enter the workforce. This isn’t something that can be decided in an hour, take a full day to set everything aside and weigh your options. This too shall pass but it certainly isn’t worth excessive stress and financial strain to be an online seller. I have a feeling that by spring there may be a smaller seller base here as people fail to adjust or simply decide it’s time to throw in the towel on this and move on to greener pastures. Best of luck to you regardless which path you decide to take!

[fashunu4eeuh]

Sorry for your slump. It sounds awful.

It may take more time, but keep in mind this is all temporary. There is no place to go but up, and i am betting we will recover from the pandemic, the economy will come back strong, and we will have gained new online shoppers from this experience that will translate into future sales. So hang in there. You are a valuable member of the community.

[itsjustasprain]

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@stephp4007 wrote:

THEN I have started to deal with USPS loosing my packages in transit...and not just one or two, Im talking dozens! And it just keeps happening.

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This part jumped out at me. If you are losing dozens of packages in transit the most likely explanation is that your labels are falling off. Make sure that you tape them securely around all four edges and tape over the address so that the ink cannot run if it gets wet. Also make sure you print a packing slip to go inside if the outside label gets obliterated. Good luck.

[stephp4007]

Thank you for your thoughtful response

[stephp4007]

Hi 

no i print my labels on sticky paper, and almost 100% of the packages actually arrive at their destination (but it may take 3 weeks... long enough to gain angry buyers) Usps is overwhelmed, or under employed , but this is a new issue Ive never had to deal with before! Thanks for the thoughtful response tho 🙂

[stephp4007]

Thank you for saying that. Im still broke, but already feeling a little bit better

[espresso_warehouse]

Another user here just posted that they were able to increase their historic sales 5x as they moved away from Ebay and jumped on a few other platforms. It sounded like a lot of work and adjustment, but it's an opportunity to gain more control of your own situation.

It's been a really tough year on so many fronts. Don't let yourself get depressed, try to get excited about the future. So many things are going to change going forward. Also, maybe eBay will course correct and end up changing for the best. They have had a few rough patches before. Don't hold your breath though, get active on other platforms!

[stephp4007]

youre awesome thank you

[sin-n-dex]

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@itsjustasprain wrote:

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@stephp4007 wrote:

THEN I have started to deal with USPS loosing my packages in transit...and not just one or two, Im talking dozens! And it just keeps happening.

---

This part jumped out at me. If you are losing dozens of packages in transit the most likely explanation is that your labels are falling off. Make sure that you tape them securely around all four edges and tape over the address so that the ink cannot run if it gets wet. Also make sure you print a packing slip to go inside if the outside label gets obliterated. Good luck.

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This costs money, but you can buy a labelop that you put the eBay label in and it keeps it from getting wet. I pay around $90 CAD for 1000 of them. (Canada Post used to ship them for free, but suddenly they stopped filling orders, so I buy them now). Taping over top of the label will keep it from getting damaged but will make it hard to scan (from my days at the post office, if I can't scan it easily enough I just don't bother).

C.

[us-mamic]

Even if you stick these labels on my nose, I can still feel how rotten Ebay stinks today.

[mam98031]

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@sin-n-dex wrote:

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@itsjustasprain wrote:

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@stephp4007 wrote:

THEN I have started to deal with USPS loosing my packages in transit...and not just one or two, Im talking dozens! And it just keeps happening.

---

This part jumped out at me. If you are losing dozens of packages in transit the most likely explanation is that your labels are falling off. Make sure that you tape them securely around all four edges and tape over the address so that the ink cannot run if it gets wet. Also make sure you print a packing slip to go inside if the outside label gets obliterated. Good luck.

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This costs money, but you can buy a labelop that you put the eBay label in and it keeps it from getting wet. I pay around $90 CAD for 1000 of them. (Canada Post used to ship them for free, but suddenly they stopped filling orders, so I buy them now). Taping over top of the label will keep it from getting damaged but will make it hard to scan (from my days at the post office, if I can't scan it easily enough I just don't bother).

C.

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Not only that, clear tape over a label that has been printing from a Thermal printer will make the printing disappear in just a few days.  So not a good idea for tape over any important part of a label printed on thermal paper.

[mam98031]

I am sorry you are having such a rough time.  Your issues with USPS may go beyond USPS screw ups if you are dealing with dozens of packages going missing.  Would you mind giving us more information on that so that we can put our collective heads together to see if we can come up with any helpful hints and hopefully reduce some of your stress.

How many transactions / sales are you use to handling in a month?  From your sold items, to someone that does NOT know your business history, it looks like you are doing fine.  2/3rds of the way through November and 160+ sales to many is good, but I completely respect for those use to more transactions this can be concerning.  So I'm simply asking how many transactions are you use to in a month?  From your sold items it looks like about 250-300 transactions per month over the last 90 days.

I've noticed my November sales is lower too than it has been in previous months.  Typically holiday shoppers are out in force right now, but it doesn't seem so this year, at least not so far.  And with the problems with USPS deliveries happening in a timely manner, I sure hope they don't wait much longer if they want the items for the holidays.

[yuzuha]

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@sin-n-dex wrote:

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Taping over top of the label will keep it from getting damaged but will make it hard to scan (from my days at the post office, if I can't scan it easily enough I just don't bother).

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It doesn't make it hard to scan at all. I tape completely over every single one of my labels and not once have I had any issue with them not getting scans as a result.