Sales decrease.

[vintagemet]

Hello

I dont know if i am in the right place but i have a problem that is bothering me for the last two months. My sales have droped insanely, from 40-45 sales in 60 days, down to 6. I havent sold a thing in more then 20 days now. Sales down 92% comparing with the same period last year. What's going on?

Am i missing something? I know that there are slow periods but this is insane, 92% down!!!! Please somebody help me, i am desperate.

[keithharrierenterprises · Accepted solution]

there could be many factors involved. some to think about are as follows:

Have u checked your competition for the same items on the site? checked to see if there was an influx of sellers selling the same stuff? also have your competitors dropped their prices to beat yours?

Have u checked terapeak to see if those items are loosing saying as a whole for the market? if so maybe the consumer is changing with a possible change in market trend to what they want.

Also u have many listings with only 3 words in the title. U r allowed up to 80 characters for the title, so use every character u r allowed to. think of how a buyer would possible search for this item and use all the characters allowed. titles are the main thing that ebay goes on to pull for the search. as of now the way the buyer is searching, the your item may not show in the buyers search only because u dont have the words they are using to search

i hope this helps some. btw you do have some good bike stuff (i love bikes.. my second favorite hobby)

[miyasamaco]

Loo.ks like your number has finally come up. I suggest that you get while the gettings good. What I mean is transition away from here and decrease your exposure or you will lose big time. Ebayhas been rigging its search engine and everything else in order to favor large sellers of shiny new trinkets. 

I used to make around $1K per month here as just a little part-time fun thing. That stopped suddenly when they introduced their new search engine. Other sellers have the same lament.

Unless you are a big box store or a large China-based trading firm, you are not wanted here. I only have listings here when I get a free promotion. It's really too bad that the other selling sites are so lame.

[retrose1]

ebay is a very manipulative company.  Newer sellers are given boosts in search results and so they get great sales.  Then after a period of time, usually 3-6 months, ebay figures that you are hooked and dependant on them and they have gotten everything they are going to be getting from you as far as store, consistant quantities of listings and so you get tossed into the basic rotation for sellers.  For most, that means a 10% sell thru and that is about it.

That is reported here daily.  Newer seller, great sales and then nothing.

So redo your selling plan to factor in only about 10% or find something rare and different to sell and try again with a new id.

[vintagemet]

Thank you for your reply. Your sugestions are correct but still cant explain this kind of sales drop because this is the way i have been listing all the time, nothing has changed, and i used to have good sales. In other hand, what i am selling doesn't have much competition because these are vintage bike parts, some of the quite unique. Its like somebody has me completely baned from selling.

[vintagemet]

 I am afraid that your are 100% right my friend. They have hooked us and dont care any more. I closed my shop [whats the point on paying 17$ per month if you dont sell anything?] This is not fair, i am a top rated seller and they destroy my bussines like this.

It's a shame!

[inflationbeaters2]

Ebay is pushing as many people into stores as possible, so buyers see less and less auctions.  SO ebay buyers now are in the habit of comparing your fixed price on ebay with other members AND on ebay but also with that huge company run by Bezos.  So many ebay sellers try to be lower priced than other ebay competitors but that doesn't matter if buyers find lower prices on Amazon or other sites.  When sellers did low priced auctions that were set under fixed prices, then many buyers would first take a shot at a low priced ebay auction and if they lost they'd buy fixed price on ebay.  But now buyers see so few auctions that most just compare ebay fixed price with other sites and buy the lowest internet price and not just the lowest ebay price.  Stupid move puishing everyone into stores because many or most ebay buyers compare ebay prices with Amazon but not many Amazon buyers compare Amazon with Ebay

[keithharrierenterprises]

@vintagemet are u doing 30 day listings or GTC (good til canceled). if u are doing 30 day quit that now, like right now and do GTC. 

Here is the reason why: google "Gipiemme brake levers" (u sell this item) and congradulations u r #3 on google search and only 1 of 2 for google shopping. However, and a big however, is when u click on your highly ranked google search, it brings up an ended listing. now sure at the very top of the ebay page that the google search takes the buyer too, it has in small letters that the seller has listed one like this. and if someone know they can even click that very small hyper link then they will get to your current listing.

my point is that a GTC listing never falls of google, and if a potential buyer searches google for something u sell, but they immediately see that the listing is ended, then they move on down the google search till they can find one they will buy from. But if u had GTC then that same buyer searching on google will go right to your ready to buy listing.

in addition put the word bike or bicycle somewhere in there. google is smart enough to figure it out but ebay search is not if u dont have the word bike or bicycle

Hope this helps some

[vintagemet]

 Yes this is helpfull. I believe that only about 10 listings from 103 i have are not GTC. I will change those too, and i will put the word bike also. But unless Ebay gives us small sellers a hand, we are doomed, no matter what we change. This company started as a site that helped people to sell stuff they didn't need, or people who didnt have a job to have an alternative, and now that they are big they don't care about people. 

[coolections]

Use more keywods. Add bike to all your titles and anything else a buyer would type when they search. The items you are selling (looking at completed listings) have not much demand. Most don't sell so you are not the only one. Not many use google when searching for used bike stuff on Ebay, they will go directly to Ebay to find your stuff. Google isn't that big of a deal. Don't listen to the naysayers here. Ebay is NOT hiding your items. That is just an excuse for those who cannot sell things because they are in a saturated market, overpriced for the market they are in, or they have restrictions set by Ebay for one problem or another. As far as your items most that have sold, have sold cheaper then you are asking, especially the Shimano Ultegra. Check completed items that you are selling for comparison. If you want to stay in competition and sell, you have to keep up with the other sellers.

[thebluefoxmx]

my Sales have been down as Well, alot of Watchers but sales are down, it comes & goes.

[vintagemet]

 You are almost in the same line of bussines as me. Your sales are down by 90% too?

[keithharrierenterprises]

@coolections u are correct in most of what u said EXCEPT the part about google is not that big a deal. this seller is ranked high on google for their stuff, but since they are not listing GTC  the high google search rank shows an ended listing.

now we all know ebay is not the only place that every buyer searches. but ebay does work hard to get items on google and they do. this seller is for the one item i tested. 

now just understand that many people on earth will not think to go to ebay for a search but most likely will start with a google search. the best of all world if to be found on ebay as well as found on google for those that dont think to search ebay and just do a google search. but those google search have to bring up an active listing where that potential buyer can buy that item immediately , and not bring up an ended listing which basically equal a bounce on a website

[wheredidiputthatremote]

Hang on to your hats. It's been a bumpy ride this past month, during which I've experienced in the past 5 years as a solid sales period - until now. Not sure what the cause is. New administration in Washington perhaps? Like you, my sales have tanked too. Here's to hoping for better times.

[keithharrierenterprises]

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@vintagemet wrote:

 Yes this is helpfull. I believe that only about 10 listings from 103 i have are not GTC. I will change those too, and i will put the word bike also. But unless Ebay gives us small sellers a hand, we are doomed, no matter what we change. This company started as a site that helped people to sell stuff they didn't need, or people who didnt have a job to have an alternative, and now that they are big they don't care about people. 

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i sorry i didnt see this post eallier. but u r right, it is very harde for the smal seller. what we need to combat that is learn the best that the nig ones do and their weaknesses. i could spend an hour telllng their weaknesses and also as i grow what my weakness are (but im not telling mine)\

baiically the bigger u get u cannot spend the time on every item making the listing a smaller seller can. . (again this works best for bultipke qty listings or listings u can restock on). 

plus when u get tpo a certain point your backend cant keep up with the front end and then the programs to fiox that get very expensive. .... my problem right now .. thinik of spending a mercedes payment every month while you driving a 1999 pontiac paid in cash. . im trying to get my head around the great silicon valley guys that would get booted off shark tank in a minuite, billion dollar buyer, undersoverspboss, the profit, etc , to build my buisiness

i have the cash to work a deficit to push a growth but its a tough decison