Ruining The Small Seller

[ourancestorsattic]

With The Latest Robbery Committed By ebay as soon as I read that message telling me that I would have to pay more than 1% for Promoted Listings I ended the promotions on the 63 items I have currently listed. I guess it's time to completely close my account. Their recent changes make it Impossible for a Small Seller like I am to get anything sold or even seen. They never should have changed the way they count views becasue the bots did help get our listings to at least show up in Some Google Searches & possibly sold. I joined July 18, 2003 & started selling soon after that. If I close my account I have to find another site to sell on I just don't know where that will be. I am so tired of ebay's constant changes that always hurt the Small Seller. They just don't care at all about the Small Sellers that were the backbone that made ebay. I know they don't care about me but they will lose an Excellent Seller who owns every item I ever sold, shipped items within my stated time frame or faster, always packed items to get there safely, when buying from other Sellers always paid immediately & Using My 55 Years As A Photographer Always Created Excellent Photographs Of My Items.  ebay's stock closing price was $ 80.59 on October 22, 2021. June 13, 2022 it is $42.58 & That Says It All.

[stuff4divas]

@ourancestorsattic 

I read that too re the jump from 1% to 2% and altho it seems like a miniscule amount, it did bother me.

My thought was "Here we go again, another eating away at our profits."

It still bothers me when they took away the 20% and went to 10% for TRS. It also bothers me that they charge 25c more for listing in a 2nd category if u have 'just' a Basic store. I could go on and on, but I know you know.

I'm considering not using the standard promotion too. All my 600+ listings have a 1% promotion and I've been using it since its inception.

Most likely, I will end them b4 the July 11th date, or just let eBay end them for me and see what happens.

Good Luck with what ever you decide, but remember, the grass isn't always greener.

[onefootflipper]

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

---

@onefootflipper wrote:

I ended mine on 17,000 listings. I am not mad, I don't feel pushed out. I just don't feel it is worth my money anymore. I like offer to watcher better and I would rather more confidently send an offer to watcher and not worry that watcher also clicked a multi-percent promoted listing.

I think promoted listing is best for people with either incredible margins or incredible quantities of the same item. I don't think it is that great for one-off listings.

---

Or a very small seller in a very crowded category to keep our head above water.  Having said that, 1% won't do it because I'm so small - the PLs for me is an additional hustle, so to speak, so I have to make it count (I don't have everything promoted, just most things).

Still selling, though, even though it's much slower than when I had lots of items.

---

Clothes are definitely a different market than the sort of things I sell. There is so much potential margin there due to closeouts, overstock, thrifting and garage sale finds that I imagine the competition is incredible. I try to avoid clothing, I feel like I would need to specialize in it exclusively to actually get good at it.

There was a comment above about someone knowing what their items were worth. Ebay solds set collectible prices, period. If something consistently sells for under $10, the most expensive of the 9 sold last 3 months was $10 and I could buy 25 of them under $10 on ebay right now then $20 is wrong.  Sure you can hedge your bet and have it up and ready if the market ever gets there (I have a few items priced like that), but the market isn't there now.

[bonjourami]

Im sorry, but your prices are just not competitive in already over saturated markets.Maybe you are paying too much for your inventory?

[onefootflipper]

---

@ourancestorsattic wrote:

2 Sales In May None So far In June. That is not doing well.

---

Other sellers seem to have everything you have for sale at much, much lower prices. 

I actually think your record listings are incredible. However I don't know if incredible listings lead to incredible sales when someone else always has one half price.

[chapeau-noir]

People who price without taking the market into consideration definitely do get into trouble as nowhere is going to get less competitive. 

[coolections]

---

@onefootflipper wrote:

---

I don't know if incredible listings lead to incredible sales when someone else always has one half price.

---

It almost makes you wish there was a warning that when you go to submit, Ebay could tell you that.

[yuzuha]

You don't "have" to use Promoted Listings. I don't. I never have. I still get sales.

[powell-memorabilia]

You’ve complained about sales before, and the consistent advice is that you need to lower your prices to something in the ballpark of competitive.  No, you don’t have to be the cheapest seller, but doubling of competitor prices isn’t rational, not if you want sales.

[onefootflipper]

Really Attic, your listings look great and you seem to be really passionate about what you sell. Are you also a good talker? If so then you might be exactly the sort of person who could succeed with a Youtube channel about your ebay store. Once you gained a following your viewers would buy your items even at higher than normal prices and you would probably make more on Youtube than you do on ebay.

[stuff4divas]

---

@coolections wrote:

---

@onefootflipper wrote:

---

I don't know if incredible listings lead to incredible sales when someone else always has one half price.

---

It almost makes you wish there was a warning that when you go to submit, Ebay could tell you that.

---

I know when we list, ebay lets us know what the average trending price is for that particular item being listed.

[buybaycoins]

....

[fashunu4eeuh]

”I don't care what other Giant Sellers are pricing at I know what I need to make a very small profit.”

You are missing the point of discussions regarding your prices. You may need that price to turn a profit, but that doesn't mean it is priced competitively. If your items cannot be price-adjusted to meet realistic market values, you are doing it wrong. But apparently it is more romantic to blame eBay. 

[apexcollecting]

Stay open but every time you get a sale include a card or flyer with your contact information telling them your prices are cheaper by purchasing directly from you. Basically use eBay to showcase your stuff and attract buyers with the goal of dealing with them again directly.

If you really want to stick it to them (and at this point they deserve it), this is how you do it.

[s.scharmu0]

Not everyone does this to make money!

[ourancestorsattic]

I Don't Need Advice From Someone Who Has Never Sold Anything On ebay.