Sellers blame eBay when their sales are down.

[fab_finds4u]

Why do they blame eBay for that? 

The economy is down. People tend to cut back on buying when there's nothing left after paying for necessities. 

Maybe people are waking up 

[ebooksdiva]

Because didn't you hear? eBay throttles your sales!! Lol 😂🤣🤪

Yes...it was sarcasm. 
Regarding chit from China...I like Temu. 

[chapeau-noir]

"The economy" is always bad on the eBay forums, whether it is bad or not everywhere else.

[stuff4divas]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

Why do they blame eBay for that? 

The economy is down. People tend to cut back on buying when there's nothing left after paying for necessities. 

Maybe people are waking up and don't  want cheap chit from China.

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IDK, but i like the ones who complain and whine and don't do anything to improve their situation, so like u said, just blame eBay instead.

how about the ones who say they are sick of eBay and are still here, even years later 😂

[mordecai8614]

Instead of adapting in a slow down by ramping up listings, adjusting prices, exploring new markets, some people would rather just complain & blame eBay. The lazy response I suppose

[toujoursladybug]

The economy is down yes, and that plays a role. It's also summer, people are out rather than inside browsing websites to shop, that's another.
However, there are some things going on that is fully eBay's doing contributing big time in sales tanking for a lot of people. One of these issues is their search engine, that's been a major problem for months.

For instance, recently a PS2 cord was damaged in my home and I needed to find a replacement. I found one that was suitable, but I wasn't the one that was going to purchase it, so I told them how to find it on their eBay account with the same wording in the title with lowest to highest being the filtered option. It didn't come up for them like it did for me. It made me wonder, if something like this has issues with search results when searching on two different accounts, then what about my items I'm selling??
The exact same item, the same title and settings, but different results. There are other things too, but eBay's search engine is a big issue affecting sales, which is why people blame eBay. They have things they need to fix.

[slippinjimmy]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

Why do they blame eBay for that? 

The economy is down. People tend to cut back on buying when there's nothing left after paying for necessities. 

Maybe people are waking up and don't  want cheap chit from China.

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I tend to believe it's because the complainers are more familiar with being employed where it's common to blame everything on management.

As far as the cheap chit from China, those buyers have woken up and have moved to other much better sources like Temu.

[ckimodog]

@stuff4divas 

Wrote:  

How about the ones who say they are sick of eBay and are still here, even years later ?

Exactly!!! This is eBay.  eBay is about business, not peoples personal space to complain, yet continue to sell.  Tell it to the Marines...🙄

Happy Selling!  😻

[baydealz]

Cheap chit from China is ebay's new market.  The little guy they should be supporting to make it a recession-proof business has been alienated.  They had an opportunity to highlight the bargains available and ability to 'find a needle in a haystack,' but in reality they only want high volume chit from China, in their marketplace.  They were Temu before Temu, as they tried to be Amazon.  Now they are neither and **bleep** off the one group they could have succeeded with.

And I agree blaming them for reduced sales is silly, except that the fact is that they made their bed for this where they could have been a win-win in any (especially price sensitive) market, but they moved the cheese and wanted to out-Amazon Amazon, it can't be done.   

Business rookies...

[chariot_badges]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

Why do they blame eBay for that? 

---

I will attempt to answer your question. I think there are many reasons.
I am not a sociologist or a behavioralist (I am an economist) ... but I believe the biggest reason is because some people have never been taught self-responsibility.  (Or self-reliance).  

What they have been taught instead is how to shift responsibility to others.  

We count on our political leaders to lead us into prosperity and safety.
They have not.

But in the US the political leaders are leaders because we put them in that spot.
We elected them.   Yes, ALL OF US ELECTED THEM.   It doesn't matter if you actually voted for him or not ... he is there at the will of "the people", and that  is us.  All of us.  

Yes, it's my fault too.  I deserve whatever is going to happen ... and, it IS going to happen.

Another reason is simple ignorance.  Not paying attention in high school for that Econ 101 class. 

The unwillingness to learn basic economics.  They'll complain about bad times, and ask why ... and when I try to tell them they cover their ears and exclaim that they don't want to listen to politics.  They hate the subject to the point of ignoring important information that all businesspeople need to survive. You'll see them complain that "politics doesn't belong on these forums'', then they'll wonder why they're going hungry, can't make their car payments ... 

Institutional Ignorance - gladly supported by pubic schools and forum mods everywhere.

This mess is our own fault.   We did it.   I did it.

I don't know if we can undo it now.  

Buckle up, we're about to go off road.

[mam98031]

Because it is always easier to blame a no face company than it is a person [themselves] or the world at large.

I always encourage sellers experiencing this to take the time to review all their listings for some enhancements that may help.  But many just don't accept that it could be the fault of their listings or the items they sell.

For me, the summer is always slow for me, with the exception of the Pandemic years.  For me, August is normally my worst month of the year [and I've been here a long time]  to pick back up around mid September.  This has been true of most of my 25 years on this site.  I realize for others it can be different.

I think what is adding fuel to this issue many of us are experiencing is the divided Nation and that we are in an election year for POTUS.  There are a lot of people that are extremely uneasy, for a variety of reasons, for this particular election.

The Economy is NOT down.  People keep saying that, but it is no more true than what people say about the inflation rate.

https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/adv/insights/market-insights/investment-outlook/us-ec...

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/

So the Economy of the USA and the inflation rate are fine.  Not to mention the lowest unemployment rate in so many years.

Now the problem for most of us is actually the leftover issues that started with the Pandemic.  The price of groceries and the price of gas.  Both hit our pocketbooks hard.  While the Grocery stores and the Oil companies continue to earn large profits and the expense of the consumers.  Both industries could reduce pricing, they just are extremely fond of those extra profits.

With these issues that are very expensive to consumers, it makes it very hard for many of us to see the USA's economy as being strong or the inflation rate down because our money keeps disappearing on things we must have.

Then there are the CRAZY and outrageous housing costs.  OMG renting can be a nightmare for many.  The cost being charged by landlords has skyrocketed in recent years in many parts of the USA.

All of this makes it pretty darn difficult for the average person to make ends meet.

[pls-consignments]

I feel it's a combination of all those reasons.

Although I'm selling the same number of items, I'm definitely seeing a trend for lower average sales due to markdowns in order to survive. I'm sure others in my category are experiencing the same. I'm going to assume that eBay was and is fully aware of market trends. Perhaps that is why Promoted Listings and Offsite Ads have been implemented, knowing that when sales are low, most sellers will increase their PL, thus protecting eBay from negative impact of competing market share.

In my opinion, this is a shortsighted, unsustainable policy that not only creates a "race to the bottom" in sales and item values, but will also cause an exodus of many sellers who no longer have enough net profits to share with eBay. 

[evry1nositswindy]

My sales have been just fine.  I also know that most people are outside or on vacation during the summer months.  I don't list as much during the summer because I'm busy doing other things.  I think the economy is fine.  Just like at the antique mall, I have some days where I have no  sales, and some days where I have several sales.

[sakic92710]

What do you call it when not every individual buyer can see every individual listing in their search?  If you & someone else search for the exact same item, it is possible you both will find different results.  If that isn't eBay interfering with seller's chances of making better sales, I don't know what is.  A friend & I live 45 mins. apart.  We searched for a particular Michael Jordan insert.  Both of us did not find the same results in current & sold categories.  Not 2 listings were alike.  If I was looking to buy it, there were several sellers with listings that were not shown to me.  

[hartungcards]

"What do you call it when not every individual buyer can see every individual listing in their search?"

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