Really sad what is happening on Ebay

[mrconran]

I started my new store here just few short years ago.

First year I did about $15000.00 in sales. The second year I was closing in on $100000.00

Third year at one point my sales were running over 400% over year two. I finished just a little shy of $200000.00

I am pretty proud of that as I am a high school drop out. I was driving a school bus to make a living.

This year I started out Jan - March 32-34% sales increase over last year. I was headed for $450000.00 in sales.

Then May rolled around. I don't have to tell you what has happened since then. 

Discouraged to say the least.

Mr Bill

[mrconran]

I do make much of my living from my sales here on ebay.  In the world of new current production items most seller's have to work on very slim margins. My main competitors are not on ebay, they are on the web. Most seller's work on turns to provide profits. If a seller can turn over enough inventory quickly enough it it much more profitable than trying to achieve profits from far fewer sales. 

In my case I can always acquire more inventory and the faster I can sell it the more profitable my business becomes.  

[ifyouloveit]

My stores started to crash at the end of March and it just gets worse each month. Very sad for all this is/has happened too, I have no faith in the Holiday Season now either.

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

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@auctionpet wrote:
If you did $200k in sales last year and were headed to half a mill this year, you should have plenty of income to get you though the year, even with a downturn.

There's many sellers who've been here for decades and are struggling to do a mere $1000 in sales monthly. Your difficulty in not reaching half a million in sales isn't going to gain much sympathy.

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WOW.....of course they will get the same sympathy as others get from most and just because that is how much they did in sales doesn't mean that was how much they ended up with after paying everything and deducting cost etc.
And why would it not be disppointing to have a decline in sales no matter who it is??

To OP....many have diversified on multiple venues to help negate a sudden drop in sales on one. Maybe look into that.

[v7bbn_0]

It is like a breath of fresh air to see a seller who keeps their own inventory, and uses their own pictures and I'm going to guess here that you also pack each order individually (even if you have help) when it comes time to ship.

If this is you, whether you sell millions of dollars or $10 a year, you're my kind of seller.

I don't care if your figures are higher or lower than mine so long that doesn't make one of us better than the other. All I care about is I strongly believe it is sellers like this who make ebay what it is.

Everyone else is just a wannabe or someone else's employee.

[mrconran]

Yes I do keep my own inventory and pack & ship every package myself. I don't think that makes me any better or worse thank most sellers here though.

How I got here was after my wife died I had some insurance money. I invested it in the store I have now. 

[mrconran]

I wish I could offer lower priced shipping. I do have shipping down to the lowest cost on almost every item I sell.

I am trying free shipping on a few items again, but that has done nothing at all. Fact is my sales are much worse with free shipping. I am trying promoted listing a little as well. So far that has not been well received either.

[laurabeardsley]

The real question for most sellers is why the massive drop in sales since around last May. No question in my mind that something has changed and I am not believing it is just retail because it would not have been as sudden as it was. What I do not understand is since ebay must be aware of this, why is it still going in the same direction. If the sellers are losing sales isn't ebay losing as well? Can't they analize what changes they have made that have led to this downturn? Wish we had some answers.

[paulhua3]

Most sellers?  Or just the few that are complaining here?  I have no way of knowing how many sellers are experiencing huge drops in sales, but I can say that has not happened to me.   My listings are not hidden.  My buyers are not scammers and thieves.  My buyers haven't left eBay in disgust.  As of this morning I have 42 new orders since Saturday morning. 

[grasshopperx]

I dont believe you at all.

[laurabeardsley]

Yes, I do not know how you could be selling all those items when it shows you have No listings

[goldrushfinds]

And, as always, whenever I see someone talk about their great sales, when you pull up their store, it shows zero listings (I know, I know, you have other stores).

[mrconran]

In my case I don't have a real lot of time left here in this world. I was hoping to avoid the effort, time and money I would need to spend developing my own site. It is no small task to relist over 4000 items on another site and my health isn't great. I was hoping to finish out my time left here. 

[mrconran]

I am working on it. However it takes a lot of time.

[cs497kcpope]

So very sorry to hear that!! :(:(:(

[mrconran]

Thanks, it is what it is. I have had a wonderful life and I plan on working as long as I can. I hope to be able to continue for a few more years.  I love selling, keeps life fresh! Almost everyone of my buyer's are great. Ebay when it works well is a great place to sell. Once you figure it out it works perfect. Well it used to, before all this catalog and AI mess. Selling is much more difficult now. Gotta keep pushing or move on.