eBay

vintagequeennyc · ‎04-25-2019

Man, oh man. I’m really starting to worry about the future of selling on eBay as a small to mid-level seller. This site is beginning to feel like a graveyard.

My sales have been in a very steep and fast decline since January 2019. My 60 day sales total is thousands of dollars below what it was 3-4 months ago and dropping by the day.

I have kept increasing my number of listings but sales are almost non-existent. I’ve been selling new and used clothing here for 13 years and this is currently my full-time job. Yes, I know clothing is saturated but it always has been. That’s never held back my sales. 2 years ago I was making twice as much money with half the number of listings. I’m currently partly disabled recovering from an accident and unable to work an outside job. So for me, this massive slump of sales is becoming incredibly frightening.

Not to mention my impressions dashboard metrics are all up substantially since the GTC change a month ago but my sell-through rate is down 50%!!! I KNOW it’s not my inventory or prices. I’ve been at this game a long time and keep a careful watch on those things and know I am offering amazing deals on desirable items.

It’s starting to get VERY scary for me here. I used to know that if I listed good stuff at great prices, I could make money fast and reliably. Now the only reliable thing is the lack of sales.

Is ebay truly dying?? Have buyers abandoned this site en masse? Is it the algorithm and blackouts? Are we seeing the beginning stages of an economic recession? I sit here and look through my listings and think, “How the HECK hasn’t that sold?? Or that? Or this?!”

I’m truly at a loss as to what is going on. I’ve NEVER seen such a fast and drastic sales slowdown in all my years selling here. It really feels like an apocalypse.

tunicaslot · ‎04-29-2019

@yuzuha wrote:
@tunicaslot wrote:
Ebay has trained buyers to expect more for less. A couple of months ago month I wanted to get rid of shelf sitters. I marked a vintage tee - new with tags $10 with free shipping. I got an offer of $5 when it cost $4.36 to ship. I decided to donate everything instead.
That's far from an eBay thing, though. I see it at my B&M job all the time-- there are plenty of people who won't buy anything that isn't on sale or that they can't use a coupon for. It's not due to people lacking money, it's people being savvy shoppers. They know that if they just wait long enough, whatever they want will go on sale or there will be a coupon for it.

I'm the exact buyer you are talking about! I've said for years that I don't buy commonplace things on this venue because I can use Ebates, a coupon code and get the item for cheaper elsewhere. That said - I would never lowball a seller like buyers do here. Maybe it's because I'm a seller and know the price of shipping, supplies, fees ect.. Many buyers here remind me of why I quit having garage sales and just donate items - the garage sale mentality has crossed over onto Ebay but these buyers don't take into consideration all the costs and fees associated with the item. If it was listed at a quarter you get an offer for a dime. I can't stand cheap people who take advantage of others. Don't confuse that with a seller only wanting a dollar for an item and the buyer turning around and making a good amt of money reselling it as the seller got their asking price.

I'm not surprised to see many of the false returns people talk about being on low cost items because the buyer knows in the end that it's cheaper for the seller just to refund rather than pay return postage - and Ebay knows it too. Mercari for me is a similar site where buyers don't want to pay much but I don't fear returns as they only have 3 days to inspect the item and these buyers there realize they are getting great deals. It's US sellers only - so the marketplace isn't flooded with fakes and overseas junk.

dltaylor42240 · ‎04-29-2019

I am finding that I buy less and less from ebay. search is a joke, they can't seem to decide what I want to search for and then they presume to limit the search to items they think I want (I don't) Also I will pay with paypal or not at all. I comment and it does no good. Most of the sellers I bought from are gone, I refuse to by China products and will not use the sellers who say US and then ship from China

partsman330 · ‎04-29-2019

Selling on other Platforms really shows you just how insane Ebay's policies are. I used to use Ebay as a pricing guide, now I use completed listings only as a way to gauge interest bc I know I can fetch much higher prices on a different platform.

The policies are insanity. To have to try and scramble to figure them out or to have to compromise profit to do so is insanity.

I have said this many times before, but I sell on here only bc the products my employer wishes to liquidate still sell best on here. That definetly does not go for the other products I sell elsewhere. The other platforms I sell on are great, hassle free, and more profitable than Ebay and are superior in virtually every possible way. Unless this is the ONLY option for your product I don't understand why you would deal with the nonsense.

tracdea1 · ‎04-29-2019

oversaturation of the category is your biggest threat

castlemagicmemories · ‎04-29-2019

@tracdea1 wrote:
oversaturation of the category is your biggest threat

Not only that but returns can be higher for that category as well. Not the easiest category to sell, what with the competition and the inherent returns.

I salute the OP.

partsman330 · ‎04-29-2019

But what categories are not saturated? If you do happen to find some niche its only a matter of time before the market is flooded with cheap knoc- offs or other sellers undercutting prices. Not trying to be rude here but where is the fantasy untapped market?

mis76can · ‎04-29-2019

Friends; as one who is mostly a buyer here on e-Bay, this is all symptomatic of the little seller being crushed by the big businesses.

I feel for you and all I can suggest is that if you are thinking of selling on e-Bay as a full-time business venture; please observe business trends - including the market values and overall demand - for your products.

Hang in there and best of luck.

You are the ones who make buying on e-Bay a pleasure.

twk · ‎04-29-2019

OP - My Hubby and I agree with you. It seems to have almost totally dried up since the beginning of March. We are not huge sellers, but steady sellers under both of our accounts. Perplexed is the word.

Hubby noticed before that it seems at certain times our sales would all come from one area, then at a different time another area of the country. It seemed, to him, that maybe there was some kind of rolling visability but don't know. He thinks eBay is on its way out even though he hopes not.

As far as pricing it seems to be a race to the bottom with every one discounting to sell and since many are giving up, they are just pricing to get rid of it. That hurts the rest of us.

vintagequeennyc · ‎04-29-2019

Most categories are ‘oversaturated’ so this is really a non-starter. Sure, clothing might be saturated for sure. But once you factor in brand, condition, size, style, color, etc etc, the field narrows significantly. Most shoppers for clothing search by brand and size. The biggest problem here is unfair policies and hidden listings. A buyer can’t buy what a buyer can’t see. I’ve done quite a lot of investigative work and know that my listings are hidden on a regular basis throughout the month. Which means my listings are probably only visible at BEST 50% of the time.

On another site I sell on, which is even more saturated, my sales were 90% higher than here last week. The difference there is that when I share my items, they go to the top of search. And I share regularly and I make regular sales. That right there confirms several things for me:

1-Item visibility is key. I have regular, consistent sales on the platform where I control my visibility.

2-My listing visibility here is extremely low.

3-Or, buyers are abandoning this site in favor of other platforms.

Another huge problem for clothing sellers here are the Chinese listings. If you do a general search for ‘dress’ the top results return thousands and thousands of cheaply made unbranded Chinese made dresses for $6.99 with free shipping. It’s no wonder that many savvy clothing shoppers have gone elsewhere because who wants to wade through 10,000 cheap dresses before you find something decent? NO ONE.

havemyfaves · ‎04-29-2019

I completely agree. I also think that there IS a large population of people in the US who love the China knock-off clothing. You can get Lululemon knockoffs on Amazon close in quality with the same exact fabric and fit, for 1/4 of the price. They're getting better at producing knock offs and people are discovering it. (I personally will never buy the knockoffs.)

I want someone to explain to me how China can ship their items to the US fast n' free, when it would cost me $8 to ship a pair of pants across the state?! It doesn't make sense to me.

Every selling platform WILL get saturated with China producers, eventually. Ebay and Amazon are already there, and Etsy as well. It's sad and discouraging.

bimm_corp · ‎04-30-2019

@tools* wrote:
I never see ads on websites.

Ditto. AdBlock Plus works nicely on feEbay.

cyberontix · ‎04-30-2019

@vinylrecon wrote:
Why all the !! and ??

There's always one of these guys on this board. Maybe it's the same old-new-stock car parts seller who was literally harassing frightened/baffled sellers who expressed the slightest doubts about eBay being on the up-and-up. It's never helpful, just a pain. We're here to commiserate, not hear how much we suck from some illiterate knob who has nothing more constructive to do.

As for us, as of today, we have broken our record for days without sales; 6 days out of 12. This is absolutely ridiculous. eBay has absolutely done something seriously wrong, either with the algorithm or not paying Google for exposure.

The fee structure suddenly feels a bit predatory. There is literally no explanation for this nonsense. Knock it off right now, eBay.

tkinnebrew · ‎04-30-2019

Just read the OP main post, just wondering if you think we have any sort of trickle effect from our leadership?

atoz4u · ‎05-03-2019

ME TOO:

I just have to rant about some Stats I learned about my eBay business...

I have had 0 sales from March 28th!

I have NEVER gone that long without a sale since 2004!? Even when I only had 50 items listed at the start.

A customer was trying to see what products I had left in 1 category... and only could find 1 of that item in my store. They contacted me wanting to know when I was going to restock them.

I have 7 items listed since before Christmas, that should show up (1 of each model is available for that product). He could only find 1 model.

I put those items on the campaign at 20% above competitors prices. I redid my titles with keywords... with other seller keywords... THAT ARE HAVING SALES.

I lowered my price 50 cents below the lowest other seller's prices.

I added 60-day FREE returns.

I added an offer option.

I redid my photos.

I added additional information and instructions on how to use the item.

I have been trying to sell off this one category since Christmas.

Still never any views, no sales, no questions, no offers. My competitor is a corporation and selling at least 20 per day!

My store definitely has limited views since October 2018! My sales dropped almost 90%... even with more listings than ever before... + more variety... + cheaper prices... + more photos... + more detailed descriptions... + I have new and used items.

BUT I DO NOT SELL BRANDS

I DO NOT HAVE OVER 100 ITEMS OF ANYONE PRODUCT.

I AM NOT A CORPORATION.

I DO NOT PAY PER CLICK.

I COMPLAIN TO EBAY EVERY WEEK... which probably put me on a bad vibe with employees there. Sorry about that. But this is my lively hood, not a hobby.

BUT... Sales can pick up just before my eBay fees are about time to be paid!!!???

Pages will not load! Searches are absolutely ruined! Can't find anything but China stuff even in U.S. only sellers searches!

Old sellers I use to buy from and loved their service and products are gone... no longer registered and/or have nothing listed and/or only have about 12 items for sale! They get customers to go to their website stores. It is great advertisement for views to your own sight.

SAD! Scary for us disabled seniors with selling online as our only means of some extra income.

Since lowest ever Christmas sales... I have not restocked anything. Can't even cover eBay FEES let alone restock. I have to invest in my own site and spread out to other places that will show my items. I am wasting my time and money trying to get sales on eBay. It is beyond hope for us small sellers. I have tried EVERYTHING to increase my sales... but went from a top store to a middle store... now maybe to a beginners store after 15 years of selling here. That says it all. Top... back to beginner!? Sorry for the rant, but had to vent. And... I am not the only one.

u_cant_take_it_with_u · ‎08-18-2019

@vintagequeennyc wrote:
Man, oh man. I’m really starting to worry about the future of selling on eBay as a small to mid-level seller. This site is beginning to feel like a graveyard.

My sales have been in a very steep and fast decline since January 2019. My 60 day sales total is thousands of dollars below what it was 3-4 months ago and dropping by the day.

I have kept increasing my number of listings but sales are almost non-existent. I’ve been selling new and used clothing here for 13 years and this is currently my full-time job. Yes, I know clothing is saturated but it always has been. That’s never held back my sales. 2 years ago I was making twice as much money with half the number of listings. I’m currently partly disabled recovering from an accident and unable to work an outside job. So for me, this massive slump of sales is becoming incredibly frightening.

Not to mention my impressions dashboard metrics are all up substantially since the GTC change a month ago but my sell-through rate is down 50%!!! I KNOW it’s not my inventory or prices. I’ve been at this game a long time and keep a careful watch on those things and know I am offering amazing deals on desirable items.

It’s starting to get VERY scary for me here. I used to know that if I listed good stuff at great prices, I could make money fast and reliably. Now the only reliable thing is the lack of sales.

Is ebay truly dying?? Have buyers abandoned this site en masse? Is it the algorithm and blackouts? Are we seeing the beginning stages of an economic recession? I sit here and look through my listings and think, “How the HECK hasn’t that sold?? Or that? Or this?!”

I’m truly at a loss as to what is going on. I’ve NEVER seen such a fast and drastic sales slowdown in all my years selling here. It really feels like an apocalypse.

I stopped selling on ebay, at about the same time you posted this...I have never looked back. It's worse now, than four months ago. And now, there is serious talk that we may be teetering on a recession...Like sellers need ANOTHER reason for buyers to be cheap! And GTC...?? I swear, ebay's mind-set is *So...you don't want to take advantage of GTC? Fine...Nobody will EVER see your listings!*