eBay

ombra · ‎08-22-2018

Hi all,

We have been sellers on Ebay for well over 15 years. We have a small business out of our home. We sold over $75,000 last year on Ebay and were on track to sell over $100,000 this year. Our average monthly sales are right around $6500 - $10,000 a month. That was until last month. (July 2018) Total sales - $2900. This month we are at $3100. I don't see us selling close to our average.

I was wanting to know if Ebay changed some things, are long time sellers seeing the same trend or is it just the summer slump?

Thanks

Paula

williamscw · ‎08-22-2018

Same here except on a smaller scale.. the last 2 months I was wondering if it was just us.. thanks for posting..

metalline202 · ‎08-22-2018

My sales have been down almost 40% compared to last year.

To my surprise, today eBay now offers to charge me an extra % to boost visibility.

josepmcelro_3 · ‎08-22-2018

A lot of sellers are. I too am down it started end of June and continues currently. People will say it is not EBay but there have been a ton of technical issues view counters showing ---, pictures missing from listings, sold items magically relishing in their own, sales or promotional banners are now placed at bottom of listing after item descriptions. The newest glitches are having to repeatedly sign in as password is not being remembered and the final a collection letter sent out in error that our accounts were unpaid even though most have automatic PayPal payments and money was paid apology letter was sent yesterday. Check the technical board

nessas_nook · ‎08-22-2018

So glad to here that I'm not the only person having to constantly enter my password as keep me signed in doesn't seem to be working. I've even had to sign in again when just changing pages once I've already signed in.

My spiral down turn happened June last year, at present I'm not selling here. I was thinking about listing a few items for the holidays, but by the looks of things I may not list anything again the way things are going.

Anonymous · ‎08-23-2018

I saw that too. I guess IF you don't pay MORE fees, your items won't get much visibility. People have been saying that eBay manipulates how things are seen for a long time. I had my doubts until yesterday!!! Thanks for bringing that up.

wooddoc · ‎08-23-2018

Hi Paula,

I have been buying, and mostly selling on Ebay since 1998. These last few years, as a retirement hobby, I have been selling collectible coins. A typical recent years sales were in the range of 60 to 80 thousand dollars a year, with a high of 200 thousand several years ago. I have 100% feedback, and try really hard to please. As I said, this is mostly a hobby, and not a source of income.

I have had an identical experience as yours, even though I have listed more items and at lower prices. Some of my merchandise is silver bullion related, and that is likely part of the problem since silver is at a low point. However, it is not all of the problem. It is my belief that due to my unwillingness to agree to Ebay's terms regarding 30 day returns, free shipping, and other issues, that Ebay has "BURIED" my listings at the bottom of the pile.

It is NOT a level playing field out there!

Jerry

ttph2012 · ‎08-23-2018

Totally agree. Since june sales have went down by almost half. Now i noticed my paypal is holding alot of our funds for 21 days. says to make sure you enter a track number which we have done for every sale. Then to say your below standard for a few sales yet ebay makes alot of money when your listing 1000 plus items. Looking into other site options to sell on.

luckeyeagle77 · ‎08-23-2018

Yes my sales have droped way down and after selling on e-bay for ten years feel like now it is getting time to leave.they have made so many changes for the worse, and seem not to care about sellers. and I also feel like my store is not my store.we pay them to list and pay when an item sales but they just do our stores as they please. they have also made e-bay a free place to shop for all your needs.they take buyers at their word over sellers just buy file a claim item not as described keep the item get your money back. then sellers are out money and item, buyer out nothing. and I get sick of calling e-bay about a problem and being told WELL IF THEIR WERE NO BUYERS THEIR WOULD BE NO SELLERS. and I ask them well if their were no sellers what would buyers buy and who would pay e-bay sure not buyers. and I also feel like when ebay just takes it upon their self to go into a sellers pay pal account and takes their money and refunds a buyer that is stealing and they should not be allowed to touch our accounts. or accept returns on our behalf just because they want to please a buyer. so this is why I say our stores we pay them for belong to ebay not us. As things get worse with e-bay if they don't do some major changes for the better e-bay will be a thing of the past.

luxe.labels · ‎08-23-2018

Yes, my sales are down 30-50% since May this year. I have called eBay who only suggest I promote my listings. I tried accepting returns which I normally don't *officially* do as I sell consigned clothing, shoes and accessories. That made no difference, so changed settings back. I have great merchandise, great prices and 100% feedback so just can't figure it out.

I won't be able to hold out much longer. If sales don't improve this fall, I will have to close my store and go back to the corporate world.

richardwillardcollection · ‎08-23-2018

maybe it's a good idea to give in and promote a few listings in your inventory to get people to your page.....? I know we all hate it on top of the store fee and the 10% selling fee but there is inflation and ebay is trying to get more from us but we must consider the alternative of blacked out sales, so, I don't think it would hurt much to promote a few of our higher priced items in a effort to drive some extra customers to our web site. Further the impending doom of the proposed internet sales tax collection hovers above us and is a terrible mess also so some people are holding their breath on that one, it might be affecting some sales, maybe not.

orangehound · ‎08-23-2018

@richardwillardcollection wrote:
maybe it's a good idea to give in and promote a few listings in your inventory to get people to your page.....?

I believe promoted listings can be a good option if the only problem is competition. I've used it on high-competition items when my items are buried among dozens of similar items, and have found it to be helpful with sales. But consider a few things ....

If your item is showing up high in search (first 5-10 listings) without promoted listings, then you are wasting money by promoting it. The only thing promoted listings will do is get your item on the front page, and not necessarily on the top.
If your item is now part of a product listing, then buyers are going to see a product page with the cheapest priced item. Promoted listings are less likely to help with a product page.
If your item is getting a lot of impressions, but very low or no click-throughs (you can see this on the Traffic Page) ... then your item's problem is not visibility in search, it is much more likely the item's price, the item's main photograph, the desirability of the item, or something in the title. If your item has low/no click-throughs then eBay will eventually move it off the first page and then over time to the end of all listings. To fix this, first determine and repair the undesirable issue with your item (price, photo, title, etc) and then relist the item to reset its "reputation".
If your item is getting a good click-through rate, but no sales (again, you can see this on the Traffic Page) ... then promoted listings will be of little help. The average e-commerce conversion rate (sales rate) is 1.35%. This means that for every 1000 clicks on your items, you would get 13-14 sales to be "average". If it is lower than this, then something is initially attractive to buyers, but there is something in the item's details that is a turn-off ... such as bad pictures, high shipping costs, the condition of the item, your feedback, your return policy, a description that includes lots of "legal" language, something that is not mobile-friendly, etc.

richardwillardcollection · ‎08-23-2018

well thanks and it could just be...and I do accept this probable cause that is just no one wants my items at this price at this time, and that is fine and I can wait, because I will try not to lower my price below the items market worth, I really can't because I buy the items wholesale and saw them into pieces and I must at least break even or make up the cost of them with other items. Fees are a factor and there is a certain point coming that I just won't be able to do business on ebay, I hope sales pick up.

plumbingspecials · ‎08-23-2018

In our Seller Updates that we get at least quarterly, ebay will tell us of upcoming changes. What changed the most since the second quarter? The site's search engine.

plumbingspecials · ‎08-23-2018

@ wooddoc
"It is my belief that due to my unwillingness to agree to Ebay's terms regarding 30 day returns, free shipping, and other issues, that Ebay has "BURIED" my listings at the bottom of the pile. "

The way that buyers are able to search has completely changed, and if you are not offering these terms (that eBay suggests), your listings will not be seen because people are searching via those terms. eBay is not purposely "hiding" your listings. You are, by not offering those terms.