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 

[yuzuha]

What I see over and over and over again is sellers not having a remotely realistic idea of just how much demand there is for what they're selling, and then when it doesn't sell right away, it's clearly all eBay's fault instead of the fact that there just aren't that many people out there who are going to be interested in that particular thing.

[pcobra93]

And if you really want to know the truth....try and find out who "owns" the Federal Reserve.....it's not We The People.....to get even close to the truth you will need to visit an older library with publications from the 1910-1920's on the subject. Don't trust anything online as it has all been "cleansed"....dig deep....the "truth" is out there.

[cardxcraft]

Your "trust me bro"  economics don't work on intelligent, independent folks.  You must've forgot, we fact check everything.

Trump average inflation rate was 1.7%, through the middle of a pandemic and economic standstill.  Joe Biden average inflation 5.7%, with a high of 9.1%.  December 2023 U-6 unemployment rate was 7%.  Your argument just got dipped.  With all due respect, you don't want this noise.  

[dbfolks166mt]

And if you really want to know the truth....try and find out who "owns" the Federal Reserve.....it's not We The People.....to get even close to the truth you will need to visit an older library with publications from the 1910-1920's on the subject. Don't trust anything online as it has all been "cleansed"....dig deep....the "truth" is out there.

     O I am fully aware of who appoints the members of the Federal Reserve board, who confirms them and how long the term runs for. I am also aware who appoints and confirms the chair and vice chair of the board and how long those terms run for. While the staggered terms were intended to maintain partisanship nothing in government tends to work that way these days. It's all about the party regardless of what is best for the people that put them in office. 

[selsa84]

Love steam trains. It is a shame that the infatuation or obsession of trains has died off. Every week I watch the train show on the farming channel and wish I could go ride all them trains. Ever road the Durango Silverton narrow gauge? 

[urban_picker]

Because on days I do not get "server failure" I will sell 80-100 items and on the days I get the server failures I only sell 35-60. It comes with experience also, know how your business works on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. 

[ci1000]

After reading through this it seems that no one really knows who or what to blame....

Economy

Seasonal

Inflation

Laziness

Bad Products

Outdated Inventory

There's a bunch more that cover the spectrum of problems sellers have selling online.... some or all may be contributing factors.  What is really disturbing is the insulting attitude of some of the responses.

The interesting thing is that the majority of these responses do not hold eBay responsible in any way.  I understand that eBay is not responsible for the dire straits of the economy but they are responsible for poor search algorithms, bad customer service, increased fees, ongoing site crashes and software changes that have a negative cascade effect on both buyers and sellers.

[selsa84]

Here here, yes indeed. 

[cardxcraft]

Sorry, respectfully, you're wrong.  Obama spent the most money of any US President.  The crazy thing is no one has accounted for inflation with Obama spending.  He caused the national debt to go out of control.  

When he left office, Obama caused a surplus debt of 9.5 trillion.  If we factor in inflation on an ongoing basis throughout his 2 terms, it's probably in the 11 to 12 trillion dollar range of surplus spending.

One factor of increasing inflation is excess currency production and massive amount of government spending, like Obama did.  Need I remind you of the infamous and wasteful "Obamacare".   In 2012, under Obama, the United States Bureau of Engraving & Printing printed the most currency in the history of our great United States of America, 386 billion in banknotes.  In 2013, under Obama, the 2nd most banknotes ever printed, 321 billion worth.  In 2021, under Biden, the 3rd most banknotes ever printed, 320 billion.

Mr. Trump had to deal with the ramifications.  

Don't forget, the most lucrative time in ecommerce happened under Trump's "watch".

With the amount of government spending, out of control inflation topping the vaunted 4% range several times under Biden and topping out at 9.1%, CPI growing by 20%, real wages losing ground to inflation, and current U-6 unemployment rate  7.5%, I'd say many of us are doing pretty well selling on Ebay, given the circumstances.

[pcobra93]

Also, you need to factor the "unfunded liabilities" that soared under Obama. Obamacare was a major contributor but also the ever increasing expansion of government employees.

[chapeau-noir]

This thread has turned into the same old entrenched views and rehashing of the same old subjects.

[chevymontecarlo88]

---

The interesting thing is that the majority of these responses do not hold eBay responsible in any way.  I understand that eBay is not responsible for the dire straits of the economy but they are responsible for poor search algorithms, bad customer service, increased fees, ongoing site crashes and software changes that have a negative cascade effect on both buyers and sellers.

---

Kind of hard to blame the platform although i do think there are many things that could be better. To blame Ebay is like getting a DWI and blaming the car for your poor decisions. Sellers need to be responsible and either adapt or quit. Ebay still is one of the best online platforms out there. Warts and all.

[ci1000]

@chevymontecarlo88  Really enlightening analogy and follow up....

[chevymontecarlo88]

---

@ci1000 wrote:

@chevymontecarlo88  Really enlightening analogy and follow up....

---

Well thank you. 😁

[lilyswan2]

a lot of comments i've seen complain ebay doesn't advertise. i have seen many amazon ads recently but none from ebay even during the christmas season. the ebay bucks program was discontinued and a lot of people were encouraged to spend because of it. some feel ebay throttles sales at various times. also sellers feel ebay is more a hostile partner and not fair to them.