Sales are way down. Anyone have this happening too?

[ombra]

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 

[mightymouse]

Sales dropped like a rock in June when Ebay had all kind of issues and started pushing the free returns. Down almost 45 %, 3 call thanking them for sales down turns helped solve some of the text issues ( lost pictures on over 400 listings) and all edits made in June to  update returns on listings did not take (thanked them for that also). Thanks to that I found that 85% of sales in my area (pottery and glass) did not offer free shipping anymore, so I removed that from my listing and started charging shipping. July sales went back up some but were still down about 20% (after offering free returns) and added new listing with no free returns and buyer pay's shipping. Sales were split about 50/50 with old and new rules. I asked some of the buyers if the free returns made a difference and 30% told me they did not even notice it in the listing and the others said no it did not.  I feel that this will go away as did their push to make shipping free a few years back.

[ethel.giul]

HOPE JUST SUMMER SLUMP.

[drakkordragon]

I have 5 items listed on Amazon, and all my inventory on eBay. I am selling more on Amazon from only 5 items there, than +100 on eBay, when before I had a sale at least once a day on eBay. Definitely gojng down hill now with their new what ever they installed to earn more money on the back on the seller who are loosing even more than before on the platform.

[pappysmancave]

Me too....They had a glitch last time this happened.

[vintagepl]

I'am chalking up the slow sales to summer slump, especially around holiday weekend coming up. Every year I notice this drop & it usually lasts till mid Sept. Also wondering about this promoted listings thingy. Dont understand it. Only know it's another money maker for Ebay. 

[familyanme]

So happy you posted. I thought i was the only one noticing item relisting on their own. I told ebay this but it seems like no one believs me. It thought i was going crazy.

[greenfrogsolar1]

Yes  Ihave seen my sales slow ,, been with Ebay 15 years and this year has been the slowest I have seen SINCE I open'd my store i have even lowered my prices  but seems not to help  ,,,and am at 99.4 sales rating with free shipping on all products 

[nieceyskitchen]

Just wanted to add that our sales have been down as well.  We had this store for over 6 years and sell mostly in the home and garden category.  For us this has been trending for about 2 years but this past week was awful.  At our peak we shipped about 30 items on Monday from weekend sales.  This past Monday we shipped one.  Wow, that's worse then when we first opened our store.  We saw this downward trend once China really hit this platform.  First it was small kitchen tools they would sell now China is offering larger and bulker items.  Pricing is below what our store can ship the item for.  We're looking to change our product type a bit and see if that helps.  Good luck, it's really a  changing market.

[gramie_48]

My sales are way down and now I have to pay to be seen top of paying.   This is happening on Etsy also where I have a store.   This is really not fair to sellers at all.  Cutting more and more into our profits.  I am reading some articles saying that Vintage Brick and Mortar stores are picking up as the added online fees are just becoming too high for a seller to be profitable.

[politicaltreasuresnowandthen1]

Hello! I am a power seller and have been selling on Ebay for 10 years. I have noticed a slow trend going on and i can't figure it out. My sales are way down and i hope things get better soon.

[drakkordragon]

@politicaltreasuresnowandthen1Power seller as well here, and seller on eBay since 1999. That's the first time that my sales are as horrible as they are now, because of all the eBay changes to advantage sellers that pay more money to have their listings on top, and also those huge cheap number items sellers from China.

[hodgepodge1]

Oh it is like your reading my mind! Thank you everyone for posting's and reply's. Since I am unwilling to go yet another step to receive the "Top Rated Seller Badge" and offer free return's, my sales are down significantly. This hobby of selling on eBay is becoming not so fun these days.

[anneecakes]

I know many saw a slump in sales starting June 2018.  The erratic ride didn't really start for me until this month (August 2018) (I think it was when most listings in my category started being affiliated with product pages all of a sudden--it was Wild West-like to see what photo and description our various listings showed up with, especially on Google :/)  On Saturday August 4, eBay's customer service lines didn't work for HOURS (people would call and then the call would be dropped when it seemed like it was about to be answered). On that day, I only had 2 sales from repeat customers all day (lowest number in 3 years), BUT -- suddenly between 11:30pm and 11:59PM Pacific time that day, I suddenly got several large sales that brought my daily average up to normal.  I kind of assumed that day that my account had been somehow "throttled," but I also speculated that whatever was wrong at eBay that day  had made it hard or  impossible for buyers to load their carts and pay(?).   Today (Wed., August 29) is another strangely quiet day that has me puzzled :/.

[endco1]

Yep I my sales pooped out about the same time everyone else s did. Not sure what to do next but if it stays this way another month I will have to look else where to sell online.

[endco1]

My sales dropped after I turned down eBay's offer to have a store. I was selling good without one and realized that profits would be lower if I took the store offer. Now they are worse than ever because I refused the store I think. Yep losing interest in selling on eBay. Went to a retail show last weekend and after paying my table fees, I made more in two days than I made in two months on eBay.