Sales

[mksports03]

Hi, sales and views are way down the last few weeks, was there a new ebay policy put into place that once again put our sales on hold? Getting harder to pay our ebay fees with so few sales.  Any help coming down the pike to help out?

[ten_o_nine]

I think you need to diversify products, selling in one category will depend on demand for that category, Dick's sporting goods shares lost more than 30% last week, while other retailers that sell in many categories are not bleeding as bad.

[caseypl]

The issue is sort of two fold. First, August is probably a slower month. It's hot, less work on cars for example since I sell car parts, final summer travel, etc. When sales go down, most Ebay sellers do the exact opposite of what corporations do and the Ebay sellers drop prices, do promotions, etc just to get some sales. I have seen similar listings for what I sell and question how that is possible, but hey, some people will work for $20 an hour, not me. Let these other sellers exit the scene and things should pick back up. 

[ten_o_nine]

@caseypl 

Some of that is true, but many businesses rely on "cash flow", if there's no cash flow, there's no business, so most will sell at any price when times are hard just to stay in business and not fold. Some of their actions could be to drop prices, run promotions, discounts, bundles, or whatever to stay alive, that's why they do it. survival, I guess.

[rugerskick]

I have noticed this summer for me, that the last week of each month is really slow. I am thinking it must be many peoples budgets and waiting for the next paycheck on the 1st.

[caseypl]

I certainly hope that's the case with car prices. I won't need one for a while as I've got my trusty Accord, but some of these prices for new cars are entering house price territory. 

[12345jamesstamps]

My second day of no sales. But I stopped promoting. 

However, August has been a great month for me so far of the whole year.

I just don't see how I have sales everyday and then suddenly nothing.

I also opt out of eBay International Shipping.

Changes are going on and I have no idea what's going on.

I can only suggest adding new items as much as you can all the time.

For me, I am on holiday thanks to eBay for 2 days so far.

[chapeau-noir]

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@mksports03 wrote:

Hi, sales and views are way down the last few weeks, was there a new ebay policy put into place that once again put our sales on hold? Getting harder to pay our ebay fees with so few sales.  Any help coming down the pike to help out?

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I'm not sure what "help" you're thinking of.  We're the only "help" here - and we have to help ourselves. I'd diversify, also, though in your market of fan apparel and merchandise, I'd expect you to see an upswing after Labor Day.

[urban_picker]

Being having days down 50% from last year. Most is due to all the website issues that have been going on and seems to be getting worse by the week. Checkout issues, offer issues, search issues, draft issues, listing issues...okay I'll stop there. It makes me want to cry sometimes with all the site issues hurting sales.

[ryanrobyn]

I have 4 Ebay accts and sell a variety of different items on them. Very hard to maintain 100 sales a year lately and have already lost TRS on one acct and will shortly face the same thing on another acct. I'm not new to Ebay having successfully sold for over 25 years. It is just getting harder to get sales when buyers can go on Amazon or  to go into a brick & mortar store and get free shipping. It's not the time of the year as many suggest because school supplies and clothes are necessary and it will soon get cold so bids for winter items should already have started. I feel the high price now of shipping has a great influence and if the seller offers free shipping and then ups the price to compensate it is the same thing. Prompting also doesn't seem to work according to community comments. My daughter always promotes and her sales have dried up too.

[mishmoshmart]

Not sure so many people keep blaming the economy and time of year for the low sales.   June is normal a slow month.  My June was slightly slower than prior months but not bad. The day I saw the change to my sales in a drastic measure was July 16. Since that day my sales have drop 50% weekly since that day.  This has nothing to do with what I sell or the economy or anything else except, issues within the eBay platform. If it was an economy issue then it would be a gradual decline in sales. I was on the road to $150K in sales this year and only in my second year with this store.  But since July 16th I know I will not hit that goal at all. 

I’ve tried numerous strategies to try and get sales boosted back up but not a single thing has worked. Listing more items daily(35 was my normal daily listed, 7 days a week) I ship same day since I opened this store, answer questions instantly and accept almost every single offer received.  Been top rated since for almost 2 years.  Have great feedback. Run sales and promote my items  since the store opened.  Now why would I have such horrible sales since July 16th? The day almost everyone has seen as the day eBay died. Would love to hear real reasons as to why this is happening and not the typical answers you get from sellers who really don’t know( economy, diversity, time of year, etc). 

[luckythewinner]

was there a new ebay policy put into place that once again put our sales on hold

No.  There is no new policy that put your sales on hold.

Any help coming down the pike to help out?

No. You will need to scrutinize your own business model and make improvements to it yourself.

[richard1rst]

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@mksports03 wrote:

Hi, sales and views are way down the last few weeks, was there a new ebay policy put into place that once again put our sales on hold? Getting harder to pay our ebay fees with so few sales.  Any help coming down the pike to help out?

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Oh well, another poster thinking that eBay alone is responsible and able to fix the world in turmoil.

To me the best hope for help will come on Nov 5, 2024 - BUT that depends on the actions of several million strangers over whom I have no control doing what I want them to do as opposed to them doing what I do not want them to do.

I do see some hopeful signs - that Nevada Ranger, those 2 guys in the 7-11, those customers in the home depot parking lot, the democratic governor of a deep blue state calling up the National Guard. The pendulum always corrects.

You think this is bad? You should have lived through the Carter years. But the first Tuesday of a certain November fixed that too.