eBay

hartungcards · ‎01-11-2023

It has come to my attention that if you do not have a store account, you no longer have a search bar on your Items for Sale page. You're more than welcome to buy your Search Bar back for the price of a store subscription. Otherwise, kiss your sales goodbye when potential buyers give up scrolling through all of your listings trying to find something specific. Yes, you now have to BUY a Search Bar for your listings.

This has been confirmed to me by Customer Service, after a prolonged and tortured discussion, so this is NOT a technical issue, so please do not move this post to the technical issues board.

pburn · ‎01-11-2023

I hate this design decision. I used that search bar to search a non-store seller's listings all the time. I personally hate shopping in eBay stores--apologies to store holders, but it's the design I can't stand. That search bar was a great way to find specific listings offered by a seller.

I hate all of the design changes they've made to the marketing platform like the profile pages, the feedback pages, the store pages. All of it.

I buy very little on this platform anymore, since they ruined the search capabilities. This may be the proverbial last straw for me (not that they'll miss my few purchases anyway).

hartungcards · ‎01-11-2023

I agree with almost everything you say, except for calling this a "design decision." The only "design decision" involved in this one is a new design to get you to pay eBay more money - a tactic that seems to be recurring with alarming regularity. I'm betting they'll start charging us for putting stuff on our Watch Lists next. The only question is, what kind of backward stunt will they pull to sneak that one past us? Of course, that will lead to a whole discussion considered a "technical issue," and will be moved to that board that nobody can find.

dbfolks166mt · ‎01-11-2023

I hate this design decision. I used that search bar to search a non-store seller's listings all the time. I personally hate shopping in eBay stores--apologies to store holders, but it's the design I can't stand. That search bar was a great way to find specific listings offered by a seller.

I hate all of the design changes they've made to the marketing platform like the profile pages, the feedback pages, the store pages. All of it.

I buy very little on this platform anymore, since they ruined the search capabilities. This may be the proverbial last straw for me (not that they'll miss my few purchases anyway).

Like you I seldom buy anything on eBay these days. They have lost their edge in the ecommerce marketplace and the rising shipping costs amongst other things has leveled the competition between ecommerce and B&M stores. I am fortunate that I live in a large metropolitan area and most of the major retailers along with dozens of thrift shops are simple to add to my errands list. I can generally obtain the items 10-30% cheaper at a B&M store and don't have to worry about shipping time and/or possible loss/damage.

pburn · ‎01-11-2023

@hartungcards wrote:
I agree with almost everything you say, except for calling this a "design decision." The only "design decision" involved in this one is a new design to get you to pay eBay more money - a tactic that seems to be recurring with alarming regularity.

Oh, yeah--it's definitely an intentional decision to push sellers into paying for a store.

I've also stopped using "saved sellers" and "saved searches," since they goofed around with the design of those pages, too.

pburn · ‎01-11-2023

@dbfolks166mt wrote:
Like you I seldom buy anything on eBay these days. They have lost their edge in the ecommerce marketplace and the rising shipping costs amongst other things has leveled the competition between ecommerce and B&M stores. I am fortunate that I live in a large metropolitan area and most of the major retailers along with dozens of thrift shops are simple to add to my errands list. I can generally obtain the items 10-30% cheaper at a B&M store and don't have to worry about shipping time and/or possible loss/damage.

Shipping costs really have placed eBay sellers at a disadvantage, IMO. An item is only worth what it's worth, and to have to add such high shipping costs into the final price is a killer.

I buy jigsaw puzzles for some retirement facilities and group homes in my neighborhood. My limit per puzzle is around $15, but when shipping is $10 or $12, that doesn't leave a seller much room for profit. I find one now and then, but not often.

That said, I'm an Amazon Prime member. The current annual fee is $139, which averages out to $11.58 per month if you pay annually. That's the shipping cost on one puzzle from eBay. Plus I get not only free shiping (on most items), but also movies, music, Kindle books, discounts at Whole Foods, and countless other perks for that $139.

I do look for specific book titles on eBay, because I find their prices lower than on Amazon for used books.

I'm not much of a B&M shopper. Never really have enjoyed retailing and really got out of the habit during the pandemic. I'd much rather shop online, especially when there are customer product reviews to help with deciding which item to choose.

I see you live in a pretty small town. Are you near a larger metro area?

stephenmorgan · ‎01-11-2023

I do not ever looked thru 100's of listing of a particular seller but I have often used the search function to narrow the search for similar like items or specific items of a seller.

Seems self defeating to take away a feature and make it more difficult for people to search for items they are looking to purchase or sale.

I hope eBay brings it back. It is a necessary useful tool.

blingfling123 · ‎01-11-2023

I was just coming here to ask what the heck happened.

I can think of no logical explanation for this change to be made. Buyers are not going to go hunt and peck to see if a Seller has anything else they want, which means they are going to spend less.

This is not a win eBay either.

az93 · ‎01-12-2023

I have an 8 dollar a month starter store with appx 200 items that does okay. Then i have a very small non-store i have lost interest in as it sells nothing. One small drawback is that i am not eligible for quarterly shipping supply coupon any more because i only have a starter store.

craft-stash · ‎01-12-2023

YOU got what you paid for.

I think I've heard you say that!

theteamsetguy · ‎01-12-2023

@hartungcards ,

I don’t think the change will affect non store sellers that much since most of them have less than 250 items for sale. It doesn’t take very long to scroll thru that many listings.

By making potential buyers scroll thru all of a sellers items they might buy something they might not be looking for. Have you ever thought of why the milk is at the back corner of the grocery store? They hope you buy some other things you might not have otherwise.

dbfolks166mt · ‎01-12-2023

I'm not much of a B&M shopper. Never really have enjoyed retailing and really got out of the habit during the pandemic. I'd much rather shop online, especially when there are customer product reviews to help with deciding which item to choose.

I see you live in a pretty small town. Are you near a larger metro area?

Yes. While the town/city I live in is not that large it is in what is referred to as the Washington (DC) Metropolitan Area (WMA). There are 5 major malls within 15 miles along with hundreds of other discount malls and stores in the region. Potomac Mills has claimed to be the #1 tourist destination in Virginia is 12 miles south of me and has over 225 stores inside the mall with who knows how many others around it.

meme6253 · ‎01-12-2023

WOW!!,You really have to buy a search bar now, I hate to think of what's next??

luxgoods · ‎01-12-2023

Be Patient the spring seller update is right around the corner! I can't Wait LOL

m60driver · ‎01-12-2023

@pburn wrote:
Shipping costs really have placed eBay sellers at a disadvantage, IMO. An item is only worth what it's worth, and to have to add such high shipping costs into the final price is a killer.

You got that right, especially for lower priced items where shipping is a large part of the price. Large retailers like Walmart have their own shipping and small retailers enjoy corporate discounts on shipping from the likes of UPS that begin at 40%. And the small retailer is buying at wholesale, usually a dozen widgets at a time so the shipping cost per widget is quite low indeed. The small independent online retailer no longer can compete. I have a large box of items that I once listed that are now either going to a garage sale or will be donated to my local non-profit thrift shop.