So what's the real story?

[mr_lincoln]

I just re-read the "Summer Trends" June 27th post by the SVP + General Manager, American Market (link below).  However, what I would really like news and details on is how eBay will turn around the continued decline in sales that many, many members are reporting here on The Community, and a lot of them seem to be newer posters ... with Pay per Click PLS Advanced kicking off last year, the November 2021 Category reshuffling, the more recent Views counter change and other changes made to the venue's programming in the last 6-8 months I have lost confidence in the Search algorithms being able to function properly.

Earlier this year on the Traffic report Impressions took an abrupt nose dive ... 80.5% in a very, very short period of time.  Historically I run at least one PLS Standard Campaign per quarter and they normally do well but not so in 2022 ... this year the two I ran under performed which is baffling considering one of the ways the venue makes additional income is through promotion fees ... and in checking Traffic the last few days Impressions are once again dropping.

For myself and the categories I sell in I am not buying in to the economy excuse for declining sales ... if that were true then I and others would be making a killing on acquiring low priced inventory to resell ... in fact, the opposite seems to be happening - meaning competition to acquire inventory is stiffer then in the recent past.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Summer-Trends/ba-p/33032652

Something is seriously amiss within the organization and someone or some group knows what is is ... just wish they would let the rest of us know too ...

Regards,

Mr. L

[donsdetour]

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@the_fancy_fox wrote:

At least you got one. I got zero.

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I understand at first it would take to long and lock to white screen< then finaly got it to do a search on eBay and found one.

Yep this is a major part of the problem on eBay: can find item can not purchase it.

Makes one wounder just how much more money eBay could make a day: just fixing eBay....

[femmefan1946]

Already here. Laverne Cox Barbie. Sold well.

And before that, hundreds of children transposed Barbie's head onto GI Joe's body, or sometimes Ken's.

[mr_lincoln]

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@the_fancy_fox wrote:

Can someone try this search to see if it’s just my connection?

B6y-1124-b Ford Genuine Wheel Bearing Spindle Hub Lock Tab Washer

I get nothing on eBay but when I search with Google there they are…

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@the_fancy_fox   Glad to give that a go ... I get 4 items returned on eBay with the part number at the beginning, right after "ford" and then at the end ... same 4 items (pic below) ... none of which apply if I am correct.  Next I dropped "wheel bearing" portion thinking that is a rather broad list of items and just used "b6y-1124-b ford genuine spindle hub lock tab washer" AND BINGO (2nd pic).  I know search tends to zero in on certain words and numbers but once you take out certain items in the title things can be found ... BUT its a lot of work.

[donsdetour]

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@the_fancy_fox wrote:

At least you got one. I got zero.

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did a search for b6y-1124-b and got  4 actual items with that number being correct items. One other that the number is in the description that would be correct.

I usually when searching eBay use the bare minimum to search. Usually works.

[gemarakop_trading]

Reading all these posts and seeing my own results i wander if its just smarter to short ebay and ditch selling on it.

[donsdetour]

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@gemarakop_trading wrote:

Reading all these posts and seeing my own results i wander if its just smarter to short ebay and ditch selling on it.

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I wish I knew what to say to you but I do not.

[the_fancy_fox]

Interesting us to the mishmash of results were all getting. Normally I start with the part number, if that doesn’t return results all then add some more details to it. This isn’t working. At least not correctly.

[the_fancy_fox]

This point I don’t either, I have tried this every which way from Sunday I have looked up at least 100 parts today. Most of them have search problems. Some of the suggestions that Lincoln has posted help, but none of them are consistent. Frustrating to say the least.

do you think calling a mod would be worth our time?

I guess the best thing at this point is to make sure Google shows the listing to pull in those buyers, anybody got any ideas on how to promote that on Google?

[ten_o_nine]

Yet, they tell you it's all in your head or no one wants your junk.

[monster-deals]

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@lakefor94 wrote:

I have no idea what eBay is doing to decrease sales.

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Making it the most unsafe to sell on because it is the easiest place to steal and 100% get away with it.

Making it IMPOSSIBLE to use the ebay search engine to find what you want. Search results are horrendously skewed to what ebay wants you to see.

I'll search for comps...nothing. I take my search to google or worthpoint (because I know how useless Cassini is)....20-30 ebay results. If I am using specific keywords because I know what I am looking for and get nothing knowing that I might get nothing, imagine some noob coming here and getting the same ZERO hits for what they want...they aren't going to try again. They are going to go to one of a dozen other venues to buy stuff.

[yuzuha]

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@ten_o_nine wrote:

Yet, they tell you it's all in your head or no one wants your junk.

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Whether people like to admit it or not, there's a certain amount of truth to that, though. If your stuff isn't getting ANY views or watchers, there probably isn't that much interest in those particular things. I have some items that hardly get any views at all, but then last night I listed a whole bunch of new stuff and woke up to eleven new watchers and one sale. Clearly those particular things have a considerable amount of interest compared to some of the other stuff I have listed that barely gets any attention.

[mr_lincoln]

The Impressions nose dive continues ... took a screen shot everyday this week ... no leveling off, no increases - just a slow downward spiral ... right around 6% per day ...

                                          

[flyingmvp]

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@the_fancy_fox wrote:

I guess the best thing at this point is to make sure Google shows the listing to pull in those buyers, anybody got any ideas on how to promote that on Google?

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I would recommend listing your car related items on FB marketplace and sharing  it with specific car groups, 

There are so many discussion/buying-selling groups for you to check.

I sold in the past quite few items ( on bmw selling groups, Vw etc') and it was great, no scams, no PL's, Snads and other greedy theft games.

You can target the most relevant audience directly.

Good Luck.

[ulfesharpe]

MP + PL + Fees = 0 views + 0 sales

i.e. ebay has become a C2C platform with no cash flow thanks to Managed Payments and astronomic pricing due to constantly rising fees and sellers helplessly having to give in to blackmail with Promoted Listings. If no one has instant cash there's no impulse buy. Buyers are Sellers are not separate entities, it's the same people!

IMO, most of the stuff here was purchased on impulse because money was right there on Paypal but now that's all gone.