What can change it. I personally do not have a ton of items on lately, but I am sure there are multiple factors for those having issues. I agree though views seem to be down for a lot of people and I think a lot of people are now using other services such as amazon and just using store direct cards etc. for purchases. Its not just a keyword issue at this point. I am listing just a few basic items below, but hey add to the list if you like of course.
1. RETAILERS TAKING BACK
Inside and outside sales of products are now feeding to and from other retailers. How many times can I find the same product cheaper elsewhere, Walmart, amazon etc. How often do I get an item that comes straight in amazon packaging from eBay. OK, so now I search other sites as well.
2. GLOBAL ECONOMY
No matter what anyone says the economy globally is down and a lot of people are out of work. In the town I live in a third of the people are unemployed and population is decreasing.
3. SEASONAL CHANGES
This point in the season before the holidays is tough as people are saving what little they have for Black Friday/Christmas.
4. OVERSEAS CHINA PRODUCT SATURATION
I have noticed the eBay market is totally saturated with listings from China and overseas which they used to sell through actual US sellers, but not they are shipping everything directly from overseas. Example would be I used to be able to get something from lets say Dhgate or someone else in bulk cheap and resell at a markup, but now those products are being sold directly and people just wait the month or more for the shipping.
5. LOW/HIGH LISTINGS BLOCKING UP PAGES
The listings especially the ones from overseas as listing multiple items, electronics etc and other things HIGH and LOW in one listing ID. This makes all those listings show up at the top and totally confuse searching as a buyer. It makes me scroll though tons of pages just to get to what I want.
6. MARKETS AND CONSUMER INTEREST
Certain markets have dropped off totally. I have noticed certain markets are almost completely devastated and not selling anymore. No need for examples, but many things our not only out of season they are just not of interest anymore.
7. ACCOUNT BREACHES
Account breaches and people selling bogus products is not helping with new customers either.
8. POOR MARKETING / LOW PUSH
eBay as a whole is not really giving itself the push it should. They seem to be lying low and I a not sure what the corporate agenda is. The company itself could grow by 50% or more with the right brain power.
9. EBAY PARTNERS
The whole partner network change has decimated the partners. I have a partner account, but never used it. I read so many complaints about them now only giving you credit if they purchased within 24 hours which is nuts since not everyone shops like that. Me as a buyer I use by it now and rarely use ending soonest. If you someone went to you website and looked at something they want and got wrapped up in a multiple day auction you lose. I do however watch products for weeks or more sometimes depending on multiple factors to include my need, product price, research mode and etc. This totally discouraged me from directing traffic to eBay.
10. MARKET SPECIFIC PUSHES NOT HERE
eBay really needs to add some creativity to its already nill marketing.....For any eBay execs reading this give me a call, I will help, lol. Wow, not difficult here execs, have a little java, a modafinil and open up that brain capacity you once had. Well maybe you never had it, but still you can do it waterboy, it is called MARKETING.
11. OVERALL CUSTOMER "DO I NEED IT?" PERCEPTION
More and more people are moving towards a minimalist view and again with the economy even those with 100K + salaries are holding back a little. The company I left was laying off several thousand people a year. Where as we had millions of customers we now were losing 15 to 20k customers a quarter. Ok, point being even I was changing my shopping processes back 5 years ago. Thats why I use online shopping more than ever to save.
12. BROKEN DAMAGED PRODUCTS NOT MARKED PROPERLY
Ugh, I cannot take this. I am so tired of seeing "READ LISTING" as people are not clearly marking broken not working products. Totally clogs up my listings. This really needs to be policed. Ok, I want a cheap iphone, but have to sort through literally a thousand broken not listed properly items.
eBay - Just send me my first check and I will relocate to Cali, boy I miss riding out there in Palm Springs. California has the best riding weather of anywhere.
