Sales

[trenzshirts]

Been on Ebay for 20 years. Sales are the worst they have ever been. What is going on?

[m60driver]

I am a very small yet long time seller in the same boat.  I suspect that when they instituted the GTC policy that they also changed some algorithms that have affected searches to the benefit of some and to the detriment of others.  I can think of no other reason why so many sellers have experienced such a precipitous decline in sales over the past month.

[racestuff4sale]

If this thread gains any attention it'll get the eBay happy trolls that will fluff how great their business is and tell you that you need to diversify, lower your prices, offer free shipping, etc.  It's never eBay doing something stupid, or hijacking your business and habits. A few years ago I was a PITA to the mailman, as I'd have a stack of envelopes and boxes nearly every day. Now I go for days without a sale and rarely do I get a request to combine multiple items. I've bowed to virtually every demand and change they've made and it continually worsens.  Ebay is basically a 'pay to play' site these days (and even that has no guarantees). It's always excuses and the fault of the seller, but never eBay themselves. They just can't leave anything alone. It seems they want everyone to sell just cellphones.

[spittser]

eBay's pea brained CEO and the rest of the know nothing decision makers lack the comprehension to understand that many, no most, of the buyers search by ending soonest and the ones that don't, search by newly listed. So instead of 3 to 10 boosts in search on each end (depending on duration), the seller gets only ONE! So what could possibly go wrong? Surely everyone will just search by best match and everything will come out in the wash. WRONG! No rational buyer would ever use best match. It's a ridiculous concept that means nothing to someone searching for the item they want to buy. They already know what they want, why does eBay think the have to tell them what they want? I don't understand why they can't comprehend this but they continue to tout Best Match as the mainstay of their search algorithm. I don't think it's going to get any better until everyone in the positions to make decisions are canned. Part of me thinks they are trying to tank the company for some financial gain. But who knows, that's just the conspiracy theory side of me talking, because nothing else makes sense.

[wheredidiputthatremote]

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@trenzshirts wrote:

Been on Ebay for 20 years. Sales are the worst they have ever been. What is going on?

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Since April 1st I have seen a 60-70% decline in sales.  

I have to go back to July of 2017 to find a comparatively bad month - that was when they forced everyone to make their listings mobile friendly and I had to batch edit 1500+ items to comply.

I have always used GTC so I had thought it wouldn't affect me.  Now, I am thinking that since they forced all the sellers that did not use GTC to use it - it threw a wrench in the logarithm.  This explanation is the only thing that makes sense to me.

[racestuff4sale]

Yeah, 'best match' is a joke. Personally, I immediately change it to 'lowest price w/shipping', then scroll down to where I feel comfortable with the seller. And I haven't bid on an auction in years. At one time I would buy bulk lots and kept an eye on 'newly listed' items to grab but even that has gone on the wayside with sales being hampered. Its been at least three years since I quit buying on eBay for stock purposes. So, they not only get less from my lack of sales, but also the lack of purchasing from others.

[rdj831]

I'm telling you this to inform you, not be condescending. There are several sites now dedicated to all types of fashion that are getting MAJOR attention by running commercials on cable.

Haven't seen an eBay ad since Christmas... Just saying.

[bomar_97]

I thought it was just me seeing a decline.

Maybe ebay is trying to push that thing where you pay more to get your item out in the open more?  The "offer" at the bottom of the listing page..

[gamersbaystore]

WOW you have over 57,000 listings! I'm not selling anything either 😞 Usually when its slow like this I have a 10% or 15% off sale to get things moving again. But even sales haven't appeared to help at all. Its like someone at ebay turned off the lights.

My traffic is up 40% over the previous month, and my sales are cut down to practically nothing. What are these buyers doing? Why aren't they buying? ebay did something wrong, that's for sure.

[jayhawk_antiques]

Think I can sell auto parts on Poshmark?

[etvideo1ataol]

I have cut back from the Golden Years where 80% or more regularly sold.

But then, listing was 5 Cents each, so I would list a lot.

Now, it takes 100 listings to sell 10 items and that could cost me between $30 and $40.  just in listing fees.  So it would take 3 or 4 sales just to get the listing fees back and thing there are the FVFs and of course what PayPal takes.

Just used a 100 Free Listing Special.  So far, had 5 sales to those buyers that check out "Newly Listed".  Now it will just be watchers and views until I get the "Ending Soon" buyers.  Usually another 5.

Then, since I have to cancel them before they roll over, I will know just how much FOREVER GTC will hurt my sales.

[lizual]

I'm sad to see others experiencing this but honestly a little glad that I'm not alone. March was actually a pretty decent month for me and I've had a few decent days this month, but overall I'm seeing a decline. My traffic numbers are up about the highest they've ever been, I have lots of watchers (not that that necessarily means anything), I run sales with best offer on, BOGO promotions, free returns, promoted listings, list new items 7 days a week, yada, yada, yada. I can't think of anything else I can do to make ebay happy. I'm not sure if the GTC changes are playing into this or what...but it is frustrating.

[coolections]

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@racestuff4sale wrote:

If this thread gains any attention it'll get people telling you that you need to diversify, lower your prices, offer free shipping, etc.  

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@racestuff4sale 

Well it happens to be those are the things that DOES improve sales. The OP is doing GREAT and is selling an average of 5 to 8 hats and shirts a day even though those are both in super saturated categories.

[unclepauliscoins]

I feel the same way. I have several stores for different items. They all have very few sales since March. I go days without a sale. I have added new items , lowered prices. Made sure pictures where good. Sundays are our best sale days we had 1 sale in all of them. Yikes 

[weschurch]

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@unclepauliscoins wrote:

I feel the same way. I have several stores for different items. They all have very few sales since March. I go days without a sale. I have added new items , lowered prices. Made sure pictures where good. Sundays are our best sale days we had 1 sale in all of them. Yikes 

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I don't care how many excuses people make, it all comes down to the fact that the amount of people buying on Ebay is dwindling down rapidly. This place has been in a steady tailspin for years but it seems its in a full-fledged nosedive right now.