eBay

ci1000 · ‎05-10-2023

Is anyone else experiencing a drop in sales since eBay implemented the new International shipping program?

It seems like every time eBay makes another change my sales drop. I just finished doing my accounting and at the rate that my sales have been dropping on a month to month basis , from 10% to the latest drop of 60%, I'm afraid my sales will soon be down to zero.

I am not a big company .... since the middle of 2022 to now my sales have gone from about $1,500 per month average down to my current sales of $29.95 for the month of May... so far. April was abysmal at about $450 for the month.

I used to be able to generate enough income to cover most of my basic living expenses. Right now I'm living in fear with a bunch of anxiety and stress thrown in because I may not be able to cover my utilities, food or rent. I'm devastated.

cantonchick · ‎05-10-2023

try to sell items in a lot , the smaller ticket items make one lot , make few lots , my sale drops too , so i take time to clean my home, organizing inventory , did a garage sale too , I am also running a sale , try that too , things will get better , good luck

marnotom! · ‎05-10-2023

Did you make any changes of your own around April 22? I'm in Canada and looking at your present and completed listings. It looks as though after that date your listings no longer specified shipping rates to Canada, and probably other international destinations. You still ship internationally, but buyers now have to message you about shipping methods and rates. That is, if they can find your listings, which is unlikely if they don't have shipping rates associated with them.

pjcdn2005 · ‎05-10-2023

Did you used to sell a lot of items internationally and were you shipping directly or using a program like the GSP? As @marnotom! mentioned, your current listings don't appear to ship outside of the US. If that's been the case, I'm not sure how the EIS would be affecting your sales.

ci1000 · ‎05-10-2023

I haven't offered International shipping for several years and I opted out of the new eBay program as soon as I found out that they had automatically opted me in.

I quit selling internationally about the time COVID hit. Shipping kept going up and there were delays and non-delivery on just about every item I shipped. It was a nightmare! Now, many countries have implemented new rules, regulations, taxes and fees that I don't have the time or money to stay on top of. Germany is charging recycling fees...

I am not opposed to the new program but am skeptical. I do not want to offer international shipping on heavy or fragile listings but from what I've read this will be a time consuming editing transition for me. Even with bulk editing it's daunting.

So this morning I did what eBay advised..... I removed all of the blocked countries (that have been in my listings since I quit selling Internationally) I then bulk edited the 1,500 active listings that I have to "NO International Shipping"

If I sound confused.... I am

ci1000 · ‎05-10-2023

I noticed the change when I OPTED OUT of the new program at the end of last month.

pjcdn2005 · ‎05-10-2023

Now we are both confused. 🙂

If you never sold internationally, opting out of the program shouldn't affect domestic sales, I don't know why it would. Unless you are thinking that ebay is hiding your listings from US buyers because you opted out? I think it is more likely that it is just a slow time of year for many sellers.

I'm confused as to why ebay would tell you to unblock those countries? To me that would mean that you want to be opted back in. When the countries are blocked, international buyers won't see your listings. Right now when I look at your listings on a search page as a Canadian, I see shipping not specified. When I click on a listing I see 'may not ship to Canada'. If you had international shipping blocked it would show 'will not ship to Canada'.

marnotom! · ‎05-10-2023

@ci1000 wrote:

I am not opposed to the new program but am skeptical. I do not want to offer international shipping on heavy or fragile listings but from what I've read this will be a time consuming editing transition for me. Even with bulk editing it's daunting.

So this morning I did what eBay advised..... I removed all of the blocked countries (that have been in my listings since I quit selling Internationally) I then bulk edited the 1,500 active listings that I have to "NO International Shipping"

I think what you did was change your listings so that they have "no international shipping" rates listed. The only countries you don't ship to are on your exclusion list, and that list seems to be the same as what it is for sellers using eBay International Shipping, but your listings still state that you might be willing to ship internationally.

Under "shipping": "May not ship to [country name]. Read item description or contact seller for shipping options. See details"

Could you have made a few international sales before you opted out of eBay International Shipping? Most of your items look well-suited for the program. Some of your buyers may have been based outside of the United States and used forwarding services to get your items where they needed to go. And if you had anything shipped to Glendale Heights, Illinois, it was likely being handled by eIS.

shar_27 · ‎05-10-2023

I knew all along eBay EIS is simply a grandstanding farce.... a hoax to be specific.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-10-2023

@cantonchick wrote:
try to sell items in a lot , the smaller ticket items make one lot , make few lots , my sale drops too , so i take time to clean my home, organizing inventory , did a garage sale too , I am also running a sale , try that too , things will get better , good luck

@cantonchick

Lots are what I sell or used to sell. With all the changes and tinkering to the category structure along with the info permitted for item specifics, eBay has made it very difficult to create new listings and even harder for buyers to find. It's to the point there are so few sub headings for lots everything gets ka-jumbled (eBay speak for EGDC... eBay Generated Dogs Breakfast) together under 1 banner. Making a buyer scroll til their eyes start to bleed to find your particular listing. That is, if they ever do. I've spoken to many other sellers who sell in a similar way and they too have had their sales drop off the cliff.

-Lotz

ci1000 · ‎05-10-2023

Where in this post did I say that I NEVER sold internationally?

In regards to eBay suggestions you might want to check https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/ebay-international-shipping/details

Where in this post did I say that I NEVER want to ship internationally?

In case you need to add a few more brilliant reasons to you repertoire... here are a few suggestion

It's an eBay conspiracy (oops... you already mentioned that)

Inflation

You're selling all the wrong items. (basically the ultimate insult)

You need new products

All the categories you sell in are over-saturated

Drop your prices

Have a sale

If you're not happy here you should quit

Try other venues.

Offer free shipping

List new items every day

Jack up your PL %

Been there.... done that on most of these

dbfolks166mt · ‎05-10-2023

Since it appears you do not sell internationally I doubt that the implementation of the new international shipping program (EIS), which they have not completed yet, had any impact on your sales although that is a program and a market place you may want to explore given over 50% of eBay's transactions are international these days.

My sales have dropped off a bit by volume but increased in the dollar amount and this has been happening for quite some time in the wake of the post pandemic era. It's a tough market place at the moment and if the US defaults on the debt it is going to be a lot tougher for awhile. I believe a lot of potential buyers are being extra cautious at the moment.

ci1000 · ‎05-10-2023

Yeah, I guess that this is just another one of the eBay changes that doesn't impact anything other than International Shipping program.

Just to be clear, at this point in time I no longer ship internationally because I opted out of eBay's new program which is the point when my sales took a dive. So I guess it has nothing to do with opting out.

pjcdn2005 · ‎05-10-2023

Wow. I was trying to help not offend. You said you hadn't sold internationally since Covid so the word never was my mistake. My point was if you were not selling internationally in the 12 months before EIS and you currently do not sell international with or without EIS, how would EIS affect your sales? I could only think of one theory and obviously that offended you. My apologies.

I won't comment any further.