Well, it's somewhat of a mess right now, and terribly confusing (or kinda' confusing) for most of us over one thing or another at this time. There have been a TON of changes and new requirements to align our listings per new guidelines, and for sellers who run many hundreds/thousands of listings at a time, it's a challenge. Add to that the time spent on redoing listings to adapt them to new requirements while trying to keep new listings being added each day, and it leaves little time to keep abreast of everything, or.. maybe somebody actually needs a few hours of sleep. (Likely if you jump in right now, you won't be far behind anyone else in all of this. lol )
My own personal thought about it all is that eBay is sort of letting 2017 come to an end as it will, and are actually really focused on getting all of this up and running smoothly 
for 2018. I'm thinking that 2018 is the year eBay is expecting all of this to result in an upsurge of sales. But for the many who feel they were sacrificed in 2017, it is hard to face it all each day.
There's a song in your title:) My only suggestion, since you have a sales past you can draw on.... is to consider your past experience, go back and work your numbers and make decisions from there. Pull 20 items or so and look up sales in the completeds, check for market oversaturation. It's not everywhere you can pull 200-300 for a vtg deck of playing cards so, your options to find a better selling venue may be limited.
Things have changed, there are consistant high rip off categories. Looks like what you've sold in the past isn't one of them. Can't believe that this venue has stuck by the buyer doesn't need to provide photos as proof of damage (so wrong). I'm not buying any new inventory, but will slowly come back next week after some time not selling to test the waters for just lower value items, using the 50 free per month - no store.... to see how it goes.
You can do a "test market" and partially re-enter here... hope it works out for you. Just remember... don't list anything that will really bend your week if you get ripped off
@gooddealtom wrote:I don't think this will "help anyone, except perhaps emotionally. Ebay should have a category in the community for emotional support. I'm sure all these comments get reviewed by someone at ebay, but doubt very very much that any of that monitoring ever helps sellers.
I haven't sold on ebay for 3 years and I was reviewing changes that had occurred since I last sold. I sold in the cold months only and every year there'd be changes that I had to know in order to make my wording in listings congruent with ebay policy. I had earned 400+ feedbacks and no negatives, since starting in 2004. I made a few thousand each winter. Everyone can use a few thousand extra dollars! Well, OH MY GOD, what happened? I spent a good portion of last week reading up on the changes and the questions and reactions to those changes; on ebay forums and other outside web sites. I can honestly say, not good for sellers like me. That may or may not be good for ebay, depending on what the execs are intending. But be sure- people at the top have thought this through; what is happening is not an accident!
I owned ebay stock in 2005ish and it did very well. Stock splits galore! Ebay purchased PayPal and the combined stock soared! I used to buy 1000 shares of ebay just minutes before earnings were announced, and sell them all for a $1000 profit literally seconds after earnings were announced (the price would just shoot up!). Well, those days are over. PayPal was sold by ebay, though they still have a tight arrangement. In those days, most computer users had a desk top and purchased or sold with their desk top.
Then, slowly began creeping in listings with a fuzzy photo and a 10 word description, "sent from my iphone" it would say. Today, the changes you are seeing are all designed (in part) for maximum easy use on a hand held computer. I remember an attorney I had that communicated text on his cell phone, and I could not communicate with him in detail about anything. His cognitive ability was limited to two 10 word sentences. That is where ebay wants to be. New items by mostly recognized retailers, or at least new recognized items, all with simple 20 word descriptions and other buttons to click on if you need more info. But buyers don't worry, you won't be held accountable for checking details, just send it back if you don't want it, at someone else's expense too.
Unique antiques, collectibles or even used items, do not fit this model. They can't be accepted for return at sellers expense without a significant enough cost for most of us, not to mention risk. Insurance no longer fits into the equation, as buyers don't need to comply with provided insurance in order to get their money back, and often times even expect to keep the item after refund! Sellers can't make insurance claims on their own What's the motivation for a buyer to assist? What has happened?
So, what is my specific issue that's either going to keep me here or not? I am not going to accept buyers being able to (using ebay) take $ out of my account to reimburse themselves for items they ordered and do not want, unless, I made a mistake. If I can't insure an item and require the buyer to go thru a process to demonstrate what they received was damaged in transit, I'm not going to stay. I have to see, if I opt out of the ebay return system on a particular item, can I at least force the buyer to ship the item back before returning payment? And then, will a returned damaged item, if originally insured, be insurance claim-able by me? I'll check with the PO about that on Monday.
So, that was all very therapeutic. And so is this- I look on my stock web site and look up current earnings and reviews of eBay. One of the more respected reviewers CFRA, says (in part) "We are optimistic about mobile opportunities.[non-desk-top sales]. However, we see growth as significantly lacking following the PayPal spin-off, and we think it will have to spend considerably (via internal investment and/or M&A) to become a growth company again. We also note recent market share losses around the world. [i.e. people are giving up on ebay]. Make any sense? Perhaps ebay can make it competing with Amazon. But perhaps not. Amazon does not do well with used stuff, and that really WAS ebay's bread and butter in the beginning. Now there are 10 or so board members sitting around a table, none of whom have ever sold anything on-line themselves. They have ideas that have absolutely nothing to do with selling on ebay. Their thinking is on how they can change numbers in categories to look good on an earnings report (and other categories they have made up). There is apparently no thinking on how to keep customers, who are, by the way, the sellers. Ebay makes no money from buyers. You can do the semantic, chicken and egg game- there isn't one without the other. But the money ebay makes, is mostly from sellers. NO WAY AROUND THAT. STARTS WITH SELLERS. Buyers will come when there are sellers selling good stuff at a good price. Buyers will "sniff them out". That is the only formula that matters.
Let's see,..and now "http issues" and "SNAD" ...this is not a part time deal any more.
And I suspect many will buzz in and indicate "I should go now", even though I haven't said anything too bad.
Good day all.
Very well said...
I say..."RUN LIKE THE WIND" my friend.
Save what little sanity you may have left... mine is just about gone from selling here.
