eBay

zamo-zuan · ‎08-15-2019

To follow all the weirdness that has been going on in search recently, I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed a strange pattern in sales the last week - week and a half?

It seems they're being allowed to trickle but only at specific times, and now that I've noticed it several occasions, I thought I would mention it on here and see if these results match anyone else.

Since eBay doesn't show the exact time an order was received, I checked our software logs. Here's the pattern from today:

7:39
8:25
8:39
9:49
10:14
10:19
10:49
11:19
11:21
11:27
11:28
11:31
11:32
11:33
12:39
12:40

It seems that orders have only been coming through in "spurts", and oddly at similar intervals. Aside from a few exceptions, most are within a 20 minute span each hour, and the exceptions could be explained by customers taking additional time on payment.

This is unusual, and in addition, sales have been extremely low. By this time of day we typically have 2-3x amount sales by this time of day outside of a weekend.

One final thing to mention, we had two calls today that customers had to find our items on Google because they weren't showing up on eBay... which is part of the basis for this theory.

I worry that this is the signs of new algorithms, or possibly tech issues, at work, so I wonder if other sellers are noticing similar patterns?

kataggr-44 · ‎08-15-2019

Some are saying ebay's system is broken. You're saying it is so sophisticated it can pull all this off. Could there just be too many listings here--many overpriced and not fit for purchase--that many buyers are giving up--and others like me have to wade through the muck trying to find what we are looking for. Also are these customers buying a product that needs to be replaced at certain intervals. An example is Chewy.com, I buy the same pet food almost to the hour on the same day each month as that is when I run out and need to reorder.

wickedwolfauto · ‎08-15-2019

My "spurts" have been happening for over a year. Dead quiet, then 2-3 orders within minutes of each other. Many times they come from the same state. Ebay is BROKEN!!

zamo-zuan · ‎08-15-2019

@kataggr-44 wrote:
Some are saying ebay's system is broken. You're saying it is so sophisticated it can pull all this off. Could there just be too many listings here--many overpriced and not fit for purchase--that many buyers are giving up--and others like me have to wade through the muck trying to find what we are looking for. Also are these customers buying a product that needs to be replaced at certain intervals. An example is Chewy.com, I buy the same pet food almost to the hour on the same day each month as that is when I run out and need to reorder.

Well eBay's system does have design issues (that I've covered) and I've been reporting on the issues with the GTC algorithms for over a year now (far before GTC was forced on everyone).

I've also worked with eBay a lot over the last 2 years, and have a lot of experience seeing both A) how broken many of their systems are (I've discovered many tech issues and even reported some of them to Senior Management in person), and B) how despite what some people say, there's been a number of instances that have left signs/evidence of manipulation. Actually, my first major post on this forum was extensively covering many of these things.

With that said, we're a pretty big seller on eBay, #1 in our category, and due to a decently large sales bulk we can definitely see sudden drastic changes in traffic and patterns. Sustained changes in buying habits don't happen overnight

But my sample set is limited to our own stores performance. That's why I'm here: I'm wondering what results other sellers are having, and seeing if there's a correlation.

It could very well be something in eBay's system being broken. It could also very well fit the description of a limiting pattern/control algorithm. Control algorithms don't need to be intricate or sophisticated.

I don't want to assume, so I'm hoping to collect more data and see if I could figure out what's going on, because lord knows contacting eBay usually does not get anywhere with resolving the situation unless you have some verifiable evidence (and even then it's hard to get things fixed).

The pattern has still continued since my post, btw. 1:30, 1:36. It could be a coincidence, but each hour that passes that is continually fitting this pattern makes it less and less likely.

kataggr-44 · ‎08-15-2019

All I can add is there is a seller right now listing product that must be in high demand with collectors because he can barely keep up. He lists and within minutes it is sold...It shows if you have a good product at a fair price...buyers apparently will have no trouble finding you and are hitting the bin button immediately...not waiting. No spurts here.

movieman630 · ‎08-15-2019

I've noticed patterns for sure. Usually it's days when nothing comes through all day then I'll get a couple between 10 and midnight. But nothing after midnight. it's been very unsusual. I was getting sales all day and scattered at random steadily up until about two weeks ago. Now it's coming through in spurts. Very suspicious!!

zamo-zuan · ‎08-15-2019

@kataggr-44 wrote:
All I can add is there is a seller right now listing product that must be in high demand with collectors because he can barely keep up. He lists and within minutes it is sold...It shows if you have a good product at a fair price...buyers apparently will have no trouble finding you and are hitting the bin button immediately...not waiting. No spurts here.

I would appreciate some transparency of these claims. As sellers, we can post our new items and see that within a few minutes you can't even search for your own items and sometimes it takes a couple hours before they are indexed in search properly. Same as if you end a listing, it still appears in search for awhile, despite no longer being available.

We've tested this many times as well. We've put the cheapest listing of products for sale at our net price minus fees, and or clearance items, and they didn't sell that fast. It's extremely hit or miss.

I will *always* recommend on the forum here, to not go by what *anyone* says (including me!). We can take the claims in to consideration, but if you want the truth? Test it for yourself! 🙂

With that said, if we're #1 in the category, obviously buyers want our offerings. If we're having an open, honest discussion, could I ask you a question? If I were to show you records that show that every single top seller in our category has dropped more than 30% in a year, alongside data that shows the top seller market share has dropped from 40% to 27% (and further to 25%), would that convince you at all?

Because I do have those records. I have seen with my own eyes drastic changes overnight that were caused by eBay tech issues. I've seen with my own eyes that every single one of our competitors has dropped no matter how desirable our items are. The time that the top sellers dropped by more than 33% in one year, was during a time that the market was UP, yet top sellers were DOWN. I've discussed these issues with Senior Management in person and they even admit to seeing the issues before. Likewise, there's documented evidence from a blue on the forum here that we were being mistreated by supervisors at eBay in the past, even to a point where he is no longer allowed to speak to me. And they did not refute any of the claims I made. Rather what they said correlated.

The truth is, it's not as simple as "offer a fair product at a fair price". There's been many high profile sellers that have agreed with those sentiments.

I'm curious as to what it would take to actually convince others on here of the truth. Because I'm honestly trying to fight for every one of us sellers in the community to make sure that we even have a future on eBay. I want eBay to succeed. I want us sellers to be able to succeed. And there's serious issues... it's hard to get these issues actually addressed if others in the community don't believe they exist. I want to help, but it's very hard if people are against me.

zamo-zuan · ‎08-15-2019

@movieman630 wrote:
I've noticed patterns for sure. Usually it's days when nothing comes through all day then I'll get a couple between 10 and midnight. But nothing after midnight. it's been very unsusual. I was getting sales all day and scattered at random steadily up until about two weeks ago. Now it's coming through in spurts. Very suspicious!!

I've noticed the sales patterns where on a slow day we would suddenly get a lot of sales late at night, and alternatively on a fast day they would slow down at night.

But it's unusual that I'm noticing the pattern based so constantly throughout the day.

This week has also been *extremely* slow in sales (possibly the slowest week we've had since 2012-2013 outside of holidays). I'm not sure how this might correlate.

pburn · ‎08-15-2019

@kataggr-44 wrote:
All I can add is there is a seller right now listing product that must be in high demand with collectors because he can barely keep up. He lists and within minutes it is sold...It shows if you have a good product at a fair price...buyers apparently will have no trouble finding you and are hitting the bin button immediately...not waiting. No spurts here.

I agree with you.

I have created a number of saved searches for items I'm interested in. I know the value of the items, what shipping should cost, etc. When I get an email about a new listing, I'll buy it right away if the cost of the item + shipping is right (along with a couple other criteria).

movieman630 · ‎08-15-2019

Something isn't right. I know the stock market had a bad week but that usually doesn't effect sales like this. I know there has to be some kind of technical glitch that's only making a slow economic period worse. It's like a perfect storm. I've listed hundreds of new items in the last couple weeks and when normally this would have inspired new sales it's been very slow. I also sell antique historical firearms parts in the sporting goods category and when I was selling those items like hotcakes for the last 5 years all of the sudden the "hot" items have been stagnant. This is very unusual.

kataggr-44 · ‎08-15-2019

I'm not sure what you mean by transparency...but I know enough about these boards that you can't name or shame other ebayers here. All I can say is I have no skin in this game, so why would I lie? I also can say that it is those matchbox cars.

zamo-zuan · ‎08-15-2019

@kataggr-44 wrote:
I'm not sure what you mean by transparency...but I know enough about these boards that you can't name or shame other ebayers here. All I can say is I have no skin in this game, so why would I lie? I also can say that it is those matchbox cars.

To my knowledge, as long as you're not talking badly about them I don't think it's against rules? Anyone else could please correct me if I'm wrong!

I'm not saying you're lying (you were not even the one doing the selling). If they are selling items in minutes, I'm wondering how they are pulling it off. Because as mentioned, our items aren't even indexed in minutes. Also as mentioned, we've tested it ourselves (and any other sellers here can do the same). The results of the tests actually confirmed that something was wrong, as the cheapest listing was still not even generating traffic.

-----------

With that said, I'm still wondering what it would take to convince you that there was a problem as well? What type of evidence would it take to actually get community members to not just believe the issues exist, but furthermore support eBay fixing the pre-existing issues?

That's my ideal outcome here. That the existing issues get recognized, and as a community we work together to support eBay fixing these issues, and hopefully seeing some growth rather than drops.

It's quite a lot of work, and discouraging, to be trying to help fellow eBay members... and be treated like the things we have experienced are not true, or like I'm a villain on here. The reason I first came here was because I had people relying on me, and it was my duty to try to find a solution to problems that eBay even admit to, or else they would lose their job. The reason I'm still here is the same task (to try to prevent any more of our employees losing jobs) as well as trying to help other sellers, most of whom have showed so much appreciation.

I'm trying to help every seller on this forum, and I've dedicated so many hundreds of hours to this task. Whether you agree with my viewpoint or not. It would be really helpful if I could know why the biggest obstacles are the very sellers I'm trying to help...? Why is it that other sellers are the ones against improving the situation for sellers? <shrug>

shellmrtn · ‎08-15-2019

Be thankful you are getting orders. I haven't had an order in almost a week and that hasn't happened in the 15 years I've been on eBay.

zamo-zuan · ‎08-15-2019

@shellmrtn wrote:
Be thankful you are getting orders. I haven't had an order in almost a week and that hasn't happened in the 15 years I've been on eBay.

Oh don't get me wrong, I am thankful! I know there's many worse off than we are!

Sudden changes are still hard to deal with, though, and obviously not natural economic or consumer changes.

We have to try to pay the bills to keep the doors open, and not lose any more employees... and I'm hoping to find a solution before ourselves (and all the others experiencing similar issues) are not able to do so anymore!

dhbookds · ‎08-15-2019

I want to help, but it's very hard if people are against me.

I don't think people are against you so much as they just haven't had the same detailed experiences, and it's very hard for me as a one off thrifter to relate to a very large Motors seller. That doesn't negate your experience, but neither does yours negate ours.

I'm not sure what you want to do......convince Ebay to change, that it isn't fair the top sellers in Motors aren't as top as they were? I'm not trying to dig at you.....I mean that in all seriousness. IF, and I certainly don't know that they are, Ebay is selling the same or more now than before the changes you talk about happened, then if top sellers are down......the pie is being more spread out to the non top sellers....... either thru the choice of buyers or deliberate search changes or as an unintended consequence of those changes, if they were made. In my opinion, the only reason ebay would revert back is IF the overall sales are down in Motors.

As far as convincing people of anything, I would think the easiest to convince would be your fellow top sellers in Motors who are suffering the same as you...... Certainly, a group of those top sellers should have enough clout to get at least a hearing from ebay on the specific things you want changed, improved, or corrected.

just my thoughts