eBay

maxxilano · ‎07-10-2016

It is official for me : business is agonizing here. After all these years I can't make enough to pay my bills,and it's been a good while.I talked to Ebay several times about what could be the problem,but obviously you never get the answer that solves your problem.

We sold before 80-100 packages a day,now it is only about 30 (we make a very small amount of money on a pack).....or even less.I usually check other,top rated,high-volume sellers,but nobody sells and that is not a coincidence,SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG !

I believe Chinese sellers are killing us,plus the high-volume wholesalers,and I don't believe anymore this trend will be reversed ever again.If we are lucky we still make something,so I can't say I leave Ebay ,but this is not gonna be my main income source anymore.

I'm sorry if I sound too depressive (I am), I would love to hear your opinion!

brad62853 · ‎07-12-2016

autopartspuller wrote:

I have read through all these messages and I have to disagree that your feedback has nothing to do with it.

When I am searching for a product where there are several different sellers selling similar items for similar prices the first thing I do is click on feedback and then negatives. I look through to see what the most common problem is. If there is a consistant problem that people complain about that would cause me to not want your product, I immedately take that seller off my list. This allows me to norrow down the sellers and choose the one I am most likely to be happy with.

I am not the only buyer who purchases in this manner.

I wouldn't disagree with your statement "I am not the only buyer who purchases in this manner." Nor would I disagree with the fact that sellers with consistent complaints in high numbers indicates chronic issues on both that sellers' part and/or the products being offered.

However, and I'm assuming for you to say "I have read through all these messages and I have to disagree that your feedback has nothing to do with it" that you spent time researching the OP as a seller? If not, you then must have missed the detailed research provided in post #16.

The OP is IMO a fairly high volume seller and given those facts in that post, as a seller he's not one of the one's you refer to as having consistently chronic issues with either service or products. On top of that, several of those buyer leaving less than positive FB, clearly didn't pay attention in the purchasing process and I relegated that to "personal accountability". Of course I'm a senior citizen and realize that virtue appears to be outdated in this day and time. Maybe it shouldn't be.

The longer I'm on eBay, the more convinced I am that idiocy in the world is growing at an alarming rate. No where is it more visible than the view from eBay itself.

emerald40 · ‎07-12-2016

Not the quality of the merchandise he is selling? No

So buyers will see all the problems mentioned in feedback and keep on buying. Yes

________________________________________________

Do not even know where to start with your responses, as both a buyer and a seller.

As a seller, if I got more then one negative on a product that said roughly the same thing, I would certainly reevaluate that product, not just keep relisting it.

As a buyer, in 18 years I have never returned even one item. Probably because I avoid sellers such as this.

skatefool · ‎07-12-2016

@emerald40 wrote:
Not the quality of the merchandise he is selling? No

So buyers will see all the problems mentioned in feedback and keep on buying. Yes

________________________________________________

Do not even know where to start with your responses, as both a buyer and a seller.

As a seller, if I got more then one negative on a product that said roughly the same thing, I would certainly reevaluate that product, not just keep relisting it.

As a buyer, in 18 years I have never returned even one item. Probably because I avoid sellers such as this.

That's gotta be an eBay record.

As a seller, how many returns have you accepted in 18 years?

brad62853 · ‎07-12-2016

emerald40 wrote:

As a seller, if I got more then one negative on a product that said roughly the same thing, I would certainly reevaluate that product, not just keep relisting it.

I'm sure Apple has had well more than a few complaints about iPhones over the years too but they're still selling them by the millions.

The longer I'm on eBay, the more convinced I am that idiocy in the world is growing at an alarming rate. No where is it more visible than the view from eBay itself.

chapeau-noir · ‎07-12-2016

I'd look into gradually changing your business model to higher end, quality items and diminishing your exposure to your

much better positioned competition.

I think this is, in the end, a better direction. One can pick all kinds of things apart, but look at some of the categories where the OP sells - the merchandise can be found in mountains at many, many mart stores, Amazon, the Chinese sell it, on and on. There are SO many tights, underwear, ball caps, etc. etc., everywhere. It's supersaturated. I would start using those high-quality photos (though the collages are kind of Chinese-seller-ish) and obviously well functioning operations to gradually move to a higher end sector in that market. It'll take research and some experimentation, but it may help a lot. Everything changes.

This is coming from an little, niche seller, I know, but I also buy and do look on eBay a lot, and I've been in retail quite a bit for many years and do know the name of the game is keep hustling.

Some really good, thoughtful answers here, too! Good luck, OP!

PS: I'm a senior citizen, too, and I don't think we're any more virtuous than anybody else. In fact, sometimes we apall me.

When you dine with leopards, it is wise to check the menu lest you find yourself as the main course.

#freedomtoread
#readbannedbooks

emerald40 · ‎07-12-2016

As a seller, how many returns have you accepted in 18 years?

___________________________________________

It only happens around Christmas time when clueless husbands try to buy last minute gifts for their wives.

After a few years of actually losing money, That is why last year I closed down starting Dec. 1st until after Labor Day.

And not sure about this year either.

Other then that I only have had one scammer - A buyer who ran over a platinum band to prove SNAD.

And I have to say I have loved almost everything I have bought from ebay.

But I also got a few clunkers. But when I went back and looked I realized it was my fault. I did not read carefully or ask about dimensions or if there were any flaws. So in those cases I lived with my mistakes and learned to be more careful next time.

nettalker3 · ‎07-12-2016

As a buyer if many sellers sell the same kind of product I too look at seller feedback to narrow down my choices. I prefer to spend a little more on an excellent seller than one that has chronic problems. Never a problem buying here.

autopartspuller · ‎07-12-2016

@brad62853 wrote:

However, and I'm assuming for you to say "I have read through all these messages and I have to disagree that your feedback has nothing to do with it" that you spent time researching the OP as a seller? If not, you then must have missed the detailed research provided in post #16.

The OP is IMO a fairly high volume seller and given those facts in that post, as a seller he's not one of the one's you refer to as having consistently chronic issues with either service or products. On top of that, several of those buyer leaving less than positive FB, clearly didn't pay attention in the purchasing process and I relegated that to "personal accountability". Of course I'm a senior citizen and realize that virtue appears to be outdated in this day and time. Maybe it shouldn't be.

Actually a good percentage of his bad feedback is "poor quality" and he has less than courteous responses to those feedback. The detail research does not include the amount of sellers who sell the same product and what thier negative feedback says and how they respond. It is not the quanity but the quality of those feedback which would scare me away from purchasing from him. I would not say it is his only issue but, it certainly is an issue.

brad62853 · ‎07-13-2016

autopartspuller wrote:

Actually a good percentage of his bad feedback is "poor quality" and he has less than courteous responses to those feedback. The detail research does not include the amount of sellers who sell the same product and what thier negative feedback says and how they respond. It is not the quanity but the quality of those feedback which would scare me away from purchasing from him. I would not say it is his only issue but, it certainly is an issue.

If you consider 0.5% or less of the OP's FB as being of "poor quality" then okay. Personally, I think the majority of seasoned sellers here on eBay would consider that a pretty good track record. And I repeat this from my previous post ...

" It's pretty much an accepted fact that roughly 50% of buyers ever leave FB at all and that unhappy buyers ALWAYS do"

If that's true then of the 749 total FB the OP has for this month, as of this posting anyway, that would be representative of almost 1500 buyer transactions of which only 8 left less than positive FB. That would be around 0.05%. That's ½ of ½%.

As for how the FB of competitors in the same product niches look, here's a sample of some to skim over and take a look ...

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p3984.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.XMENS+WOMENS+CREW+SPOR...

The longer I'm on eBay, the more convinced I am that idiocy in the world is growing at an alarming rate. No where is it more visible than the view from eBay itself.

autopartspuller · ‎07-13-2016

@brad62853 wrote:
@autopartspuller wrote:

Actually a good percentage of his bad feedback is "poor quality" and he has less than courteous responses to those feedback. The detail research does not include the amount of sellers who sell the same product and what thier negative feedback says and how they respond. It is not the quanity but the quality of those feedback which would scare me away from purchasing from him. I would not say it is his only issue but, it certainly is an issue.

If you consider 0.5% or less of the OP's FB as being of "poor quality" then okay. Personally, I think the majority of seasoned sellers here on eBay would consider that a pretty good track record. And I repeat this from my previous post ...

" It's pretty much an accepted fact that roughly 50% of buyers ever leave FB at all and that unhappy buyers ALWAYS do"

If that's true then of the 749 total FB the OP has for this month, as of this posting anyway, that would be representative of almost 1500 buyer transactions of which only 8 left less than positive FB. That would be around 0.05%. That's ½ of ½%.

As for how the FB of competitors in the same product niches look, here's a sample of some to skim over and take a look ...

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p3984.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.XMENS+WOMENS+CREW+SPOR...

You seem to have taken personal offense to my opinion. Veiled insults are not needed. It is after all just my opinion. But just to correct you.. I did say BAD feedback. Not total feedback. My OPINION is that his BAD feedback and responses (as in what they say not the quanity or percentage thereof) look bad upon him, I would not buy from him. I do not believe I am not the only one.

cad777864 · ‎07-13-2016

@maxxilano wrote:
What makes me look like an offshore seller?My prices?They were higher before,we had to lower them to sell something at all.If I go back to my old prices my items won't even show up in the first 3 pages.Do not think I would not love more money to make....

Ignore the regulars, they ALWAYS LOVE to pick apart a seller, say it is them.

YES, there is a serious issue here and your not the only one. Sales have dropped dramatically for a lot of sellers.

Between beta testing, changes and the new china agreement, we sellers are doomed here.

If ebay thinks they can make a living here selling china wares, they better think again. They will die a quick death!

neverfear-iamhere · ‎07-13-2016

@cad777864 wrote:
@maxxilano wrote:
What makes me look like an offshore seller?My prices?They were higher before,we had to lower them to sell something at all.If I go back to my old prices my items won't even show up in the first 3 pages.Do not think I would not love more money to make....
Ignore the regulars, they ALWAYS LOVE to pick apart a seller, say it is them.
YES, there is a serious issue here and your not the only one. Sales have dropped dramatically for a lot of sellers.
Between beta testing, changes and the new china agreement, we sellers are doomed here.
If ebay thinks they can make a living here selling china wares, they better think again. They will die a quick death!

I had a drop (a serioous one) last April 2015 in all my stores. Since then I have had a steady increase in sales in all my stores. In one of my stores I had one of the highest sales months I have had in years in June. Granted none of my stores are high volume.

***Never doubt that there are two sides to every story and both sides believe they are right.****

rooroo36 · ‎07-13-2016

I have been watching one seller in particular, who has about 75 sales via auction every day. Vintage Jewelry category. Top rated, even though the amount of negatives, neutrals and revised is extrememly high (at least it sure looks it at a fast glance) They also have in every listing, pretty rudely stated, STRicT terms about combined shipping and threatens to block ANYone giving him a neutral or negative. This seller not only sells Many more items than me, but gets a seriously higher price on comparable items. Although I am a perfectionist when it comes to feedback, it seems there are a lot of buyers out there who ignore or don't even look at feedback ratings. Seriously, this seller has money being practically thrown at them, and I have never seen so much bad feedback for a TRS in the US. I confess, it bugs me. 😞

cad777864 · ‎07-13-2016

@rooroo36 wrote:
I have been watching one seller in particular, who has about 75 sales via auction every day. Vintage Jewelry category. Top rated, even though the amount of negatives, neutrals and revised is extrememly high (at least it sure looks it at a fast glance) They also have in every listing, pretty rudely stated, STRicT terms about combined shipping and threatens to block ANYone giving him a neutral or negative. This seller not only sells Many more items than me, but gets a seriously higher price on comparable items. Although I am a perfectionist when it comes to feedback, it seems there are a lot of buyers out there who ignore or don't even look at feedback ratings. Seriously, this seller has money being practically thrown at them, and I have never seen so much bad feedback for a TRS in the US. I confess, it bugs me. 😞

Well, i have a bit of a theroy about some of those kind of sellers. Number one, those who are not affected and those who are not chosen for there beta tests, i have been charting when i am in these tests for 3 years now, each and everytime i find out i am in a test, big sales decline. It also takes a bit to get back to normal. So, why do some come here claiming there selling fantastic? When a obvious test is going on, and i am in it, i do notice these particular sellers are not in the beta tests, they are spared. Also, ebays Cassini can guide a buyer right to a seller of there choice.

Who are these sellers? Well, there is a huge amount of ebay employee's who sell here. There is also plenty of friends, and friends of friends, I have noticed plenty of overpriced shill bidding sellers out in Cali right near the ebay offices. It doesn't take a genius. Cassini has some interesting attributes. For one, it is the great manipulator, in many many ways. Designed to be the most unfair biased system you have ever seen. I know a seller right by those offices, they sell items i have sold for $50, for $250, way overblown prices, and the buyers will NEVER get that price unless that seller resells it for them. I have seen shilling for years by them, it is incredible, And where are these people located, California. The seller happens to be a B grade former rock star. Seriously. So, knowing that it is obvious he gets some special treatment here, why not others?

I totally believe there is some preferential treatment going on here. Among MANY other bad things.

sunnyseadolls · ‎12-05-2016

Your lucky you're still selling something, in the last 3 months I've sold 2 reborn dolls, this month it's $0. And I'm on social security, thank god I have a husband that is still working, he's going to be 80 next year. Last year I sold 65. Big ticket items just aren't selling. I guess I'll have to donate them to St. Jude childrens hospital, as least some needy children will have a Merry Christmas!!