Small Seller Epiphany

[Anonymous]

Hey All,

I've been in the group thinking that eBay is going downhill, ruining the site, and on their way out.

Cruising this forum and reading hundreds of threads, I've had an epiphany.......

eBay is making this site more difficult and unusable for SMALL SELLERS. eBay isn't going anywhere, small sellers are.

eBay started taking views from all sellers in groups at a time months ago, even before the roll out of Promoted Listings Advanced. They are still in the process of taking views and haven't gathered all sellers yet. If you are a small seller and are still getting sales without promoting, you just haven't been gathered yet. It's coming.

Small sellers can't afford PLA, it would eat up all profits for the promise of views, not sales.

The companies and really big sellers here, once gathered, can afford PLA to buy their views back.

Thousands of small sellers, once gathered, have clung to Promoted Listings Standard to buy their views back and are getting sales. PLS is affordable and usable for small sellers.

PLA was the first big shove to get rid of small sellers, and is the first step in a plan to do so.

If eBay's next big move is to make PLS unreachable for small sellers, or to do away with it altogether......well, small sellers are done. No views or sales for them once gathered, and eventually they all will be.

It's looking like eBay is converting to a more cataloged, commercial format.

There will be no more trinkets, collectibles, closet, yard sale, or used items sold here.

The best we small sellers can hope for is that they don't change or remove PLS for the rest of Q4.

Keep in mind, hundreds if not thousands of sellers will be leaving the platform at the end of the year voluntarily over the new reportable income amount dropping so much. Pretty sure that many small sellers have not been reporting their eBay income.

Thoughts ?

[dhbookds]

Yep, that's the reason they give 250 free listings to anyone.......definitely trying to get rid of small sellers.

hundreds if not thousands of sellers will be leaving the platform at the end of the year voluntarily over the new reportable income amount dropping so much. Pretty sure that many small sellers have not been reporting their eBay income.

Thoughts ?

Fine with me if they do........I've reported every year since I've been here..........and so should they, if they've made a profit......  In my view they are tax evaders........

[pjcdn2005]

Since at least 2008 people have been saying that ebay is trying to get rid of small sellers.   Thirteen years later and there are still small sellers here so either ebay is doing a very poor job of getting rid of us or they really aren't trying to get of small sellers. 

I'm not thrilled about some of the changes that they have made but I don't think that they are targeting anyone in particular. If they really only wanted sellers who sold large quantities of items, they wouldn't need to go about it in a roundabout way.

[eleanor*rigby]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Keep in mind, hundreds if not thousands of sellers will be leaving the platform at the end of the year voluntarily over the new reportable income amount dropping so much. Pretty sure that many small sellers have not been reporting their eBay income.

Thoughts ?

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Here's my thought:

When are people going to understand that the new $600 threshold for the issuance of  a 1099-K has nothing whatsoever to do with "reportable income?"

[Anonymous]

Yes indeed.

All income should be reported, whether you get a 1099 or not.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@Anonymous 

My goodness hotwheels, your having this " epiphany " on a Sunday afternoon...( hey isn't that a song?). You don't give sellers very much credit, humans are very adaptable to changes. Do they like it? My guess is no from what I'm reading also. I to think it was bogus of ebay to start making all these changes right now just before the holidays, but it's ebays site. 

    So far I haven't had a problem searching for collectibles, just in the jewelry searches as it's a mess. I like vintage mid century toys, cars, trains and dolls all from the 1950s and 60s, so I start searching like that.

    Heard the train and pyrex categories are a hot mess also and haven't tried searching there.

     Just hang in there, I'm sure it will work out somehow, someway.

[Anonymous]

I think they are doing it gradually, for them and small sellers.

More emphasis lately to get it done.

[katzrul15]

Well, you've gone 360 in 1 day.............

I believe myself and several others replied to your other thread and pointed out that e-Bay is not going anywhere - they are right where they want to be.  This is not new.  Nor is the emphasis to align the site for those that are mega sellers.  Not new.

Unlike your other thread prediction - e-Bay is not about to implode, explode, etc.  Only time will tell if these were smart decisions, poor decisions, as regards the seismic changes on the site this year.  Even e-Bay is smart enough to not honk everyone off at one time.

Today, as 1 seller stomps off this site to go sell somewhere else, dozens more line up to take their place.  Why?  Because it is still "easier" to sell here than many places and only 1 (the Behemoth) has more traffic.

Is it frustrating right now?  Yes, especially if you are affected by the category debacles. 

However, they ousted a huge mega seller this past summer, removed ALL of the adult category stuff(s) and with all that..........stock price is strong, new sellers still signing up, old sellers hanging in for q4, etc.

In other words - the only thing changing around here is what e-Bay "wants" to change. 

There will still be small/small-er sellers, there will still be low-hanging fruit.  "How" you pick it, has already changed, whether you want to believe that or not.  

(just an aside - I thought you were going to enjoy your time away and await the implosion with popcorn and brewskis at the ready???)

[Anonymous]

Yes, a dodger is a dodger.....

They may even keep dodging a higher accountability.

I'm guessing the risk will become too high for many.

[yuzuha]

Small sellers are the LEAST likely to be affected by Promoted Listings since they tend to be the ones selling OOAK/harder-to-find items that don't have much competition in search. The ones who are really going to get hit hard are the big sellers who are all trying to sell the same commodities.

For a seller who is trying to sell, say, an antique mohair teddy bear or a vintage piece of Corning Ware where only 20 others are listed, there's no reason for them to promote their listing since they're all going to be on the first page. But someone selling iPhone cases? There are probably thousands of sellers selling those, and they're all going to be jockeying to be on the first page.

This is one case where the small sellers are actually going to come out ahead of the bigger ones.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

my thoughts:  Nope. ebay isn't trying to get rid of small sellers, and ebay isn't going to replace PLS with PLA. PLS and PLA target different sellers (with some overlap) and both are solid ad revenue streams...

I've been here for 20 plus years, and people have been predicting the elimination of small sellers since the early days. There will be some sellers departing because of the new $600 rule, but that rule is courtesy of Congress, not ebay trying to get rid of small sellers. And I suspect while some who depart will be vocal, the number won't be all that great....and the impact on GMV will likely be small.

I'm unhappy about a number of ebay things, but I don't see a plan to eliminate small sellers.

[a_c_green]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

Well, you've gone 360 in 1 day.............

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That's good, isn't it? If you do a 360, you will continue the way you were going... 😁

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@katzrul15 wrote:

Today, as 1 seller stomps off this site to go sell somewhere else, dozens more line up to take their place.  Why?  Because it is still "easier" to sell here than many places and only 1 (the Behemoth) has more traffic.

 I have always thought the "small sellers" (which would include me) are the ones with constant turnover, including those who only list one or two things and then never do anything more for whatever reason. Dozens may be "leaving" (or simply going inactive) as dozens more come in with their small listings. Their contributions, in other words, are about as negligible as their departures. It's only the massive sellers whose departures might actually have some measurable effect on eBay's bottom line.

[Anonymous]

I have a listing or two back up now, but really wasn't going to come back until after New Year's.

I'll see what this platform is like next year before I list any more in quantity.

I'm pretty much going to watch this board light up over the Holidays and be happy I'm not in it this year.

[Anonymous]

Thus my "epiphany", yes, I did a 180 on my view of what's happening here.

My listing or two are testing the waters, my feeler gauges.

That was a hot cup of cocoa, not brewski's.....I don't drink, did enough of that in my 20's to cover 3 lifetimes.

Since my epiphany, I'll be watching the board to see how many small sellers get jammed up and frustrated with no views or sales and the few sales they do get getting jammed up in the mail system. I predict many will announce their departure. It will be amusing at the least and completely entertaining at the most.

I won't be participating, so it will be interesting to see what I looked like last year when I was.

[Anonymous]

Not without views, that is the key. If you are still getting views without promoting, you haven't been placed in the black hole yet so that you have to promote to get views and sales. This is happening site-wide, you just aren't in it yet.