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.

[coolections]

I checked a few of your items and most are always on the first page, so it is not because they are not seen.  Also, some of your records can be bought from other sellers for more than half of your asking price. Same with your classics illustrated, sold listing indicate around $10 each and you want $20-30. Maybe your choice in closing is a good idea. The only other option is do more research and adjust your prices to match everyone else.

[chapeau-noir]

I'm a small seller and don't feel pushed out.  I *do* feel like there's a lot of competition for what I sell, and know that when I had a bigger footprint I also had a lot more sales.  As for the changes in promotions - 1% wouldn't work that well for me in my crowded category, but I agree that the changes in the calculation of that particular program are annoying.

Also, just because eBay isn't recording bot views under your 'views', doesn't mean they're not happening.

For your very limited number of items in crowded categories, I think you're actually doing well.

[onefootflipper]

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.

[ourancestorsattic]

My comic book prices are based on their current value for their condition. Most of My Record Listings can be listened to in the listing & if that is not enough to get them sold I give up. I don't care what other Giant Sellers are pricing at I know what I need to make a very small profit. My post was not about my prices it was about how ebay has Ruined the Small Seller.

[d.amber]

Just thought I'd mention that stock prices have nothing to do with how well eBay is doing.  Stocks are down all over and you should check out Amazon's stock prices.  Small sellers are not being turned away.  Your previous posts had lots of good feedback for you.  Good deals will sell if there is a demand.  Know your market and price competitively and your items will sell if there is a demand for them.

[chapeau-noir]

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@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.

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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.

[m60driver]

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@ourancestorsattic wrote:

  ebay's stock closing price was $ 80.59 on October 22, 2021. June 13, 2022 it is $42.58 & That Says It All.

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It has nothing to do with Ebay's stock prices as just about every stock is down significantly at this moment.  But Iannone has come out and said that Ebay's future is with higher end and higher priced items like sneakers, watches, etc.  Small sellers are not on his rader now nor for the future of Ebay. 

And if people can not handle a 1% increase in costs then their margins are far too low for a normal retail environment.  I spent decades absorbing such cost increases without being able to increase my prices accordingly.

[ourancestorsattic]

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

[divwido]

You know, the woe is me gets old fast.  You could adapt like the rest of us or you can just give up and die.  If the point of this is not to make money, then you are doing it for the wrong reasons anyway.

eBay is a business, just like I am a business.  I sell to make money, so if they want more money,  then  I adapt to make more money so I don't lose out.  It's not a hard concept.

You can save money right now by stopping the promoted listings.  So simple, so easy and so fast.

[ourancestorsattic]

Maybe you should actually read my post from the beginning.

[chapeau-noir]

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@ourancestorsattic wrote:

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

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I personally would not expect more - your clothing is all off-season, so it's going to be slower.  Vinyl can be a tough sell because of a very selective market (even though vinyl is popular and your listings have sampling, which is terrific), pottery and the like has stiff competition, etc. etc.  Heck, I'm looking at my listings all the time and notice things I need to improve, or stuff that used to sell but doesn't now.  I get that it's discouraging and am not disagreeing, but I sell on a bunch of platforms and it's slow all over, anyway, and it's a lot more competitive. 

[divwido]

I did.  The first line was complaining about 1% more for promoted listings.  Then I read the rest.

So don't promote.  Do you even know if that extra money is benefiting you?

[coolections]

Just a word of advice. Book value does not and never has been the same as actual Ebay prices in which buyers are willing to pay. When you compete with thousands of others on the same platform you have to use that platform as your guide. Research sold listings. It is your friend.

[mrdutch1001]

It would seem your recent displeasure with eBay as shown by a couple of your other threads, indicates that eBay may not be the selling site for you...

However, if you think other large selling sites don't change the way they do things, you might be in for a mighty big surprise..

The only sites that rarely change anything are those small, lesser known sites that have so little traffic, not many buyers..,but one never knows, maybe that will be better for you. as there would be less hassle, less frustration,less worry about the site changing anything, definitely less fees;  just simply less of everything...