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Selling on multiple platforms

I know from reading these boards that the conventional wisdom holds that selling on multiple online platforms is optimal... maybe even a best practice.

 

Somehow the contrarian in me (who almost always does precisely the opposite of what the herd is doing) is not convinced.  

 

My eBay store is akin to my personal website; I have an identifiable and unique URL, and everything in my store is categorized.   I have a few hundred "followers" and a few dozen repeat customers.

 

My traffic stats show that about 10% of my sales originate from "organic views off eBay" ... I get a lot of what I believe are first time eBay buyers, who find my stuff via a Google search.

 

Because eBay promotes my items externally, I don't really see the need to spread myself around to multiple  platforms.  (Nor do I want to share my personal financial information any more than is necessary, but that is a secondary consideration.)

 

My sales conversion rate on eBay hovers between 2% and 2.3% consistently, quarter after quarter.

 

But even if my sales were non-existent, I'd adopt other well-known strategies to boost their visibility here.  

 

I'd enjoy hearing what others think.  Thanks.

eBay seller since 1999. This is a posting ID.
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Re: Selling on multiple platforms

One size never fits all.......people have varying goals, inventory levels,  abilities, comfort levels, time available......... 

Message 2 of 9
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Re: Selling on multiple platforms

My sales conversion rate on eBay hovers between 2% and 2.3% consistently, quarter after quarter.

 

@fbusoni 

Just to be clear are you saying that percentage is based on the items you have for sale, vs what actually sells?  For a simple example, if you have 100 items for sale you typically sell 2?  

 

When I started selling on eBay in  1998,  it was all auctions.  I sold EVERYTHING I listed each week be it 20 items or 100.  Everything sold consistently all the time until about 2008.  I am sure multiple factors subsequently came into play, but it slowly went downhill from there.  In 2009, I branched out to etsy, and tried others as well.  I did NOT list the same products across multiple platforms, and never used more than three at a time. 

While eBay sales continued to decline,  etsy sales continued to increase.  It was a good run there for quite a few years, and I noticed that my items would appear in Google Shopping within the hour and have an organic google citation within a day.  My eBay products had neither.  Just like purchasing "key words" marketplaces also paid for "sponsored" Google spots on their shopping platform.  Key words are funny, because you will see silly stuff like "buy your atomic bombs on eBay, great selection and prices" and some such nonsense until this day. 

Eventually, my  eBay sales were minimal but the icing on the cake was my "Dooney Purse" debacle.  My sister bought me a new one every year.  I hated them, told her not to do this, but every Christmas and sometimes for my birthday I would get another one.  I  found them heavy, stiff, and it would hurt my hands to dig around in them to find my checkbook or a pen to write with.   I did not use them, and after a few years I decided to sell them on eBay.  I could not sell these NWTag purses to save my life. I did not list them all at once, but I tried fixed price, I tried auction,  best offer, and NADA using an ID from 1998 that had over 4000 feedback for SALES.  At the exact same time, the exact same USED bags were selling consistently even though they had rather crappy pictures and lame descriptions with the old "used good condition" mantra.  LOL...  My prices were LESS for never used product.  Two months of this and I was done. 

At the same time, my etsy sales were great!  Unfortunately, my reward for being such a good seller was to be permanently forcibly enrolled in their new "offsite ad" program.  All it took was ONE 365 day period and one penny over 10K$,  and you were in for life at an additional 12% fee if someone entered your store from an outside ad, even if they bought something else.    The next day I had my first sale under my "reward" program.  I sold a rather large bulky product for $86.  My take when all was said and done was $8, which did not even cover the cost of the item in the first place.  

They sent me a congratulations on your first offsite ad sale message.  LOL...all I could think about was I am about to be screwed over big time since 99% of my items are on Google Shopping.  I remember being so angry I was talking to my computer screen:  Congratulate this!  (with my middle finger extended to accentuate my dismay) LOL.  

By the next day, I had removed all my listings from there, and continued with my meticulous research on the best value for a website.  

So If 2% conversion is supposed to be good, I guess I am doing just fine now in these days and times, because mine is way better than that.  My fees are minimal, don't have to pay for advertising (I can submit my own listings to Google Shopping, and they are now doing it for me as well for free). 

I believe that in the past "eBay" was the place to go.  People still insist it is "the only place that has buyers".  That is not true, but you can no longer enter a new marketplace and expect to sell all your products in a week.  One, however, needs to be prepared in advance for sudden changes or shifts. Perhaps an exaggerated example, but  what if eBay was sold tomorrow and the new owner decided all sellers had to pay a yearly fee of $1000 or hit the road?    Being here a long time, never say 'It will never happen to me'.

Diversification is a good thing.  eBay was not built in a day, either are those smaller venues.  Do not become too complacent.  Building a business here can be like building on quicksand. 

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Re: Selling on multiple platforms


@ittybitnot wrote:

My sales conversion rate on eBay hovers between 2% and 2.3% consistently, quarter after quarter.

 

@fbusoni 

 

Just to be clear are you saying that percentage is based on the items you have for sale, vs what actually sells?  For a simple example, if you have 100 items for sale you typically sell 2?  

 

*************************

 

NOPE:

 

Sales conversion rate is described thusly:

 

The number of sales transactions divided by the number of listing page views.

 

It has nothing to do with how many items you have listed. The conversion rate is the percentage pf people who, having looked at one specific listing, then go on to buy it.

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand
Message 4 of 9
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Re: Selling on multiple platforms

Sales conversion rate is described thusly:

 

@richard1rst 

Ok, thank you so very much.   Though I did take a few business courses prior to setting out to be an internet seller, I would say much of it was lost on me.  My prior education was in a totally unrelated field.  What I remember most was "If it sparkles it sells" and a clue as to whether to embark on the endeavor in the first place was to "Look around at what others in the field are doing. and if you can do it better, then go for it".  

Fast forward to today, if I still have the product and 50 or 5000 people viewed it, my conversion rate for that item is ZERO.... (or less?)  LOL. 

I do appreciate your response. 

Message 5 of 9
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Re: Selling on multiple platforms

Other venues can be valuable to your total sales IF they draw a different audience than Ebay does.

 

During the 2008 recession my items drew more buyers on Amazon than they did on Ebay or my website. I ran all three alternatives with no overlapping items until it was clear than Amazon required more time and effort and I dropped Ebay and closed my website.

 

Post-pandemic, Amazon was no longer worth the effort and I returned to Ebay. Amazon was too hard to sell collectible items especially those over 100 years old. Their IP protection initiatives conflicted with my offerings, and have grown worse.

 

Many sellers feel they cannot afford to have all of their eggs in one basket. If you have a need for cash and cannot afford any interruption in cash flow, it may be worth the effort to sell on multiple venues including those which people only find by accident.

 

IMO Ebay is the only viable internet marketplace to sell my merchandise, and like many other older more traditional booksellers, antique sellers and collectibles sellers other older ways of selling are grabbing my attention.

 

 

Message 6 of 9
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Re: Selling on multiple platforms

I think it depends if a seller puts in selling as a full time job...therefore multiple platforms.

I sell for fun and sport...so one platform is plenty for me.

I concentrate on eBay trying to out-sell other sellers in my category...with better deals.

My 'Repeat buyers' is about 25+ %...up and down sometimes.

I think the most important part of any business whether here or anywhere is obtaining 'repeat buyers'.

Just like supermarkets...you want customers to keep returning.

And selling in only one category is the best way to sell in my opinion.

Sellers who sell shoes and everything including the kitchen sink will have to work very hard to obtain sales.

And I think have at least 5000+ items for sale makes it easier than selling just 1000 items.

I do have an outside life and rather like to get out every day to enjoy it.

Message 7 of 9
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Re: Selling on multiple platforms

I sold elsewhere before I started here in 2001 (three platforms, starting in the late 90s), so just selling on eBay never occurred to me. However, when I was selling more actively I found that different items sold well on different platforms, and my aim is to sell and make money, period, so it's simply more practical. Listing on various platforms is no problem, but then I'm used to it. If I were still making my living doing this, I would no more confine myself to eBay than I would build a house on shifting sands.

 

A lot of this is market determined.


“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Do not obey in advance." Timothy Snyder "On Tyranny"
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Re: Selling on multiple platforms

If I had a successful EBay shop and planned to keep it going (more listings / new inventory planned) but had no other online platform, I would make a duplicate store on Shopify (your own website for $30 a month)

To make sure all of your hard work/ existing listings could not be subject to a platform crashing and losing all of your time and effort.


That being said (my advice to OP) I personally have a soft spot for Etsy, and started there, but I never think my store is a long time plan.  When their bank had issues a year or 2 ago, I got a little spooked, having painstakingly created 300 listings I did not want to lose.

 

So, I painstakingly recreated all of those listings to EBay, and have both platforms going.  When I list a new item, I list to both,  when I sell an item, I immediately remove it from the other.

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