eBay

gamersbaystore · ‎03-28-2019

While many are angered over the latest changes regarding GTC, and many others are speculating as to why their sales are dead, I suspect there's other issues than GTC that are just as bad, if not far worse. Those issues are related to bad algorithms that ebay put into place with the intent to undercut its sellers and force them to drop their prices, or risk having no sales.

What I'm referring to is ebay's habit of advertising identical products from other sellers right inside your own listings. While I've seen ebay do this in patches since as far back as 2015, as of right now, no matter what listing a buyer clicks of mine, ebay then starts promoting the exact same identical product from other sellers. The end result is a never ending price war.

Just in the last 2 weeks I've seen the prices of the games I sell fall off a cliff as other sellers try to compete for sales of the same items.

ebay has turned its platform into a dollar store.

At this point I'm not looking for alternatives, I already found one, and I'm in the process of transitioning to an alternate platform now.

But myself, like many others, are also stuck with the dilemma that we're locked into a year long contract with ebay for our stores. Even if I leave, ebay is still going to want their $60 a month. Whether to stay or leave entirely is something I'm still debating. But either way, I'm definitely focusing on an alternative platform to operate my core business; albeit, one that's far cheaper with far less costs of doing business, and one that doesn't advertise the same identical products I sell from competitors.

Your thoughts on this?

sd-brightis · ‎04-08-2019

Know another platform than amazon? tks

jeweltyme · ‎05-29-2019

Okay, now they are putting animated ads on with listings along with the huge ads at the top and other sellers items. Push has came to shove and they are shoving hard against the smaller sellers. My listings show people are looking, but no one is buying. Have tried tweaking things but it is not any better. The reps at Ebay suggest that this is a slow time of year. Yeah there have been bad times over 20 years but none have lasted this long. It is for certain they are not going to listen because they have their big dealers who generate lots of money for them by selling cheap items and sending really bad items that don't even come close to what they advertise.. Not feeling any optimism toward things getting better here, so need to find more platforms and different items to sell. Good luck everyone. Keep smiling.

moparman4402012 · ‎06-10-2019

Ebay let the government in and that was a big mistake. Now they take taxes from you. Motorcycle parts are dead I can imagine so is everything else. Thanks big government you manage to get your greedy hands in it now it is dying just like everything else you touch.

moparman4402012 · ‎06-10-2019

Ebay let the government in and that was a big mistake. The democrats want those taxes so they can give to illegal immigrants. Motorcycle parts are dead I can imagine so is everything else. Thanks big government you manage to get your greedy hands in it now and ebay is dying just like everything else you touch. That and the 10% ebay takes from you to sell a car! You wonder why people call it Feebay now?

sam-antiques6151 · ‎07-26-2019

My sales are down 65 percent no sales in past 10 days...pricing are forced done...by eBay...been on eBay for over 10 years...and never seen it this bad...looking for a new place to sale.

slyders_finds · ‎08-05-2019

Thanks Mr. Passive Aggressive.

@akejama wrote:
Bah, is why I'll never have a store...is why I only do auctions..... the Chinese or their reps win every time there is a price comparison.... This entire platform is built for Buyers and NOT SELLERS in any way shape or form.. I have NO IDEA why anyone would want a store to ADVERTISE THEIR COMPETITION'S PRODUCTS. lol It is a fool's errand to spend your money to defeat yourself. I buy on eBay from people that normally give me great service... if my lawn mower belts don't fit just right they find a size that will and list them for me....may not save me money but saves me tons of time running from store to store to find what I need. IF a merchant goes out of his way to help me I return time and again to buy from them... I just go to my purchase history and find the guy again and send them a note to load me up another *whatever* and I buy it. I also buy from people that answer my problems for me... I need hydraulics for my log splitter and so I as the guy that helped me before and he helps me again. I see the other ads but I ignore them. BUT having said that, it's not right that my merchant has to compete on a site HE PAID for to do business with me. Nuff said, I agree with those that think the Buyer's get enough of a break on eBay without Sellers paying for someone else's ads in their own stores. Sounds like Chinese influence and NOT helping a Buyer.. pfft if buyers REALLY shop they wouldn't buy a lot of things on eBay... sometimes the local brick and mortar store is way cheaper.

lasantino · ‎08-06-2019

@zamo-zuan were the ebay category managers you talked to able to give you any helpful information??

Ebay cs reps I know are aware of the sudden surge in calls from sellers who have seen sales plummet seemingly overnight. I know over the years,, there have always been threads regarding, what happened to sales.

However, I truly believe this is different. For the first time since i started selling. My sales did not cover my monthly cost of running the business.. i'm not just talking about ebay fees. I'm talking warehouse fees, taxes etc..

I have had 2 sales in the last week!... Never , ever, since I started selling have I had such low sales. My views and traffic reports are also way way down..

so i'm just wondering if you were able to glean any useful info from the category managers...

nilis13 · ‎08-06-2019

Sales are way way down....watchers are up but no buyers...

flo_mingo · ‎08-06-2019

@lasantino wrote:
@zamo-zuan were the ebay category managers you talked to able to give you any helpful information??

Ebay cs reps I know are aware of the sudden surge in calls from sellers who have seen sales plummet seemingly overnight. I know over the years,, there have always been threads regarding, what happened to sales.
However, I truly believe this is different. For the first time since i started selling. My sales did not cover my monthly cost of running the business.. i'm not just talking about ebay fees. I'm talking warehouse fees, taxes etc..

I have had 2 sales in the last week!... Never , ever, since I started selling have I had such low sales. My views and traffic reports are also way way down..

so i'm just wondering if you were able to glean any useful info from the category managers...

I have been here since 2003. I see on the board that some say these are common complaints from a few sellers always complaining of sales down. Griff says the same thing on teh eBay for business podcasts. I am here to say I never had time to be on the community board, Just enough to pack and ship my daily sales. Since May I am lucky to have a sale a week. This is not normal summer slump, something is very wrong.

zamo-zuan · ‎08-06-2019

@lasantino wrote:
@zamo-zuan were the ebay category managers you talked to able to give you any helpful information??

Ebay cs reps I know are aware of the sudden surge in calls from sellers who have seen sales plummet seemingly overnight. I know over the years,, there have always been threads regarding, what happened to sales.
However, I truly believe this is different. For the first time since i started selling. My sales did not cover my monthly cost of running the business.. i'm not just talking about ebay fees. I'm talking warehouse fees, taxes etc..

I have had 2 sales in the last week!... Never , ever, since I started selling have I had such low sales. My views and traffic reports are also way way down..

so i'm just wondering if you were able to glean any useful info from the category managers...

Sadly, no.

He looked at our stores readout and said everything seems excellent, and thought that the sudden drop may have been a vero penalty.

After contacting the vero team, they said that we did NOT have any action against us. It's only escalated to a vero "violation" if an item was taken down, and we have had 0 takedowns. Any contact from vero was updated in the "fair warning" time frame, which does not result in any violations or penalties.

After contacting Sr manager again, this was the response:

"I wish I had a better answer for you. Other than keeping up with your best practices such as being competitive with your products, I’m not sure what other advice I can provide."

Sadly, they aren't any more informed than we are. Nobody can explain what goes on these days.

Based on our situation, we had to come to terms with it probably being another random/sudden drop that left us at the lowest point in years (and still at the top of the category despite drops, other competitors dropped too).

The only other possibility raised based on the Sr Management, would be that maybe we improperly got a vero penalty despite never actually having a take down/violation, which wouldn't be the biggest surprise considering the tech issues we've seen over the last year.

lovegrows · ‎09-08-2019

I've started posting more on Facebook Marketplace and am surprised with results. No fees, no shipping and no being screwed over by eBay.

gamersbaystore · ‎09-08-2019

I think Facebook's market place is only good for larger or more expensive items, but people here in St Louis seem to rave about how easy it is to sell from there. I just don't think it would work for the types of items I sell. I can't see driving across town to deliver a $15 game. If you were selling furniture or something then it would make more sense.

There's also a lot of violence being associated with facebook's market place right now, especially here in St Louis. People are getting robbed and murdered because of it, not good.

There are ways to accept payments through the market place as well, but you have to get Facebook's approval first, and it doesnt seem like they're willing to extend this feature to many merchants. If they would make it easier to accept payments, I'd be all for it myself.

beachbumswimwear · ‎09-23-2019

My listings are gathering dust here at ebumble, plus get gouged on fees, fvf, shipping fees paypal fees....returns with restock fee....other platforms here I come