eBay

vintageista · ‎11-07-2018

I don't like to buy into conspiracy memes but something is REALLY wrong at eBay or they have just decided they don't want me any longer! I run 3 sites on eBay, my main site, the one I spend the most time on and depend on, is the site with this name, I've been here 20 years & other than a few slow periods, it has made rather dependable sales, I am now down 29.6% since last month.

I have a smaller collectibles site & I fully realize those are not hot items, but have been making occasional sales there, that site is down 42.1% same period . The 3rd site I am helping a terminally-ill friend with, just so he can run out his inventory, it is small, doesn't require much maintenance, mostly all I have to do is mail packages, but has made steady sales for years, it is down 26.8%,

These sites are very different types of products, so really can't be blamed on specific merchandise. This has all happened since OCT 15 to now! Nothing seems to help! I am to the point of panic! I had to borrow money from my son to pay my rent this month if I can no longer depend on eBay, I will be out on the street by year's end! This has always been the best selling season, but not this year! The economy is good, stores are packed! But something is just not right!

I've heard all the stories of eBay wanting to get rid of small sellers and I never put much stock in that, but now I am wondering, is it maybe true??

I really wish I knew some way to jazz sales, but nothing seems to be working any longer!

vintagecraze50 · ‎11-08-2018

Every year around this time sales seem a bit slow. People are not ready to start their Christmas shopping yet. Many wait forthe black Friday specials and then everything gets going around that time.

vintagecraze50 · ‎11-08-2018

Castle, how does this re setting your store work exactly?

tunicaslot · ‎11-08-2018

I'm addressing many things here:

To those that make an assumption that advice is being given by non sellers - many of us use positing IDs - this is mine. I've been on Ebay for 20 yrs and have 2 other accounts so just because it appears we don't have sales does not mean we are not sellers and long time successful ones who know the ropes. Posting IDs protect our selling accts from unscrupulous people who don't always like what we say.

Many of us are on these boards regularly and know who most people are. There are a number of people that pop in once a month to complain about this or that. We give advice which they don't take and then they are back the next month with the same complaint. We are here to help people build their businesses and be successful - but they have to want to do some work. It's not 20 yrs ago where you just threw something up at auction and it sold 7 days later.

Resetting an acct is another falacy that CS tells. Each and every seller can "reset" their account by individually revising a listing or doing a bulk edit of your listings - changing nothing - and then submitting them - it's suppose to freshen them up. CS just bulk edits your listings which adjusts where they are in the que and says they are resetting your acct.

To the mac book screen seller - I believe this is a relatively new acct. All new sellers get a boost as far as placement and visibility - usually it's for 2-3 months depending on what you sell and how oversaturated the category you sell in is. You've obviously now fallen back into the regular que that the rest of us have. There are many suggestions on multiple threads as well as "resetting" your listings that may help - but Ebay can't make people buy your items - so make sure you are still competitive. A low price one month does not mean someone else didn't open up shop and is undercutting you this month. Also sometimes things are slow for certain categories due to the season ect. Nothing is a guarentee in the sales world.

And last - I sell clothing - but alot of my items have sat because they are not in trend anymore - what was hot last spring isn't hot now. I can leave these items sitting and they'll eventually sell - but after the holidays - I'll either sell them in lots or donate them and have already begun buying what are the latest trends which are selling and for good money as they are vintage - but you have to keep up with what is trending.

coolections · ‎11-08-2018

@tunicaslot wrote:
To those that make an assumption that advice is being given by non sellers.

Like another poster just wrote above yours: when you cannot think of any other reason for no sales you have to come up with some kind of a solution.

mrconran · ‎11-08-2018

What would help is ebay just let us know something, anything. We are being kept in the dark. Sellers know something has changed but we don't know what ebay wants. We could make changes to lift sales if we do not know what ebay wants.

luckyladydi · ‎11-08-2018

Tunics,

No worries, most long time board readers know that some sellers, as yourself, use posting IDs, and that is fine. However, it is also a known fact that there are responders on the board who are not sellers. I don’t believe any reference was made to posting IDs.

keziak · ‎11-08-2018

I am struggling too. My accountant wants a Nov report if I am on track to make more than 2017 but that is a laugh. I am also in a problematic category, books. Books are not selling anymore here, too much competition here and from Amazon. Or people don't read books anymore. Or my prices are too high. All sorts of reasons.

Also a successful friend of mine says to diversify and try selling non-book stuff. Not ebay's fault that I feel like the old dog who can't learn new tricks. Or, I am not willing to put in the work. None of this contributes to success and being in used books I do not get much if any of a sales bump for the holidays (Jan/Feb are better). Also my inventory is overflowing but list-more/sell-more doesn't seem to work much anymore.

luckythewinner · ‎11-08-2018

@keziak wrote:
but list-more/sell-more doesn't seem to work much anymore

Have you tried list-better, sell-better? In other words, have you tried scaling back your run-of-the mill books and tried focusing on book collectors rather than book readers? i.e. signed editions, first editions, books that haven't been reprinted, etc.?

rschissler · ‎11-08-2018

@mrconran wrote:
What would help is ebay just let us know something, anything. We are being kept in the dark. Sellers know something has changed but we don't know what ebay wants. We could make changes to lift sales if we do not know what ebay wants.

Why is it always doing "what eBay wants?"

How about doing what buyers want. It's the buyers that determine sales, not eBay.

v7bbn_0 · ‎11-08-2018

Twenty years ago ebay was pretty much the only name in the game.

When you have one venue, everyone goes to it mostly because of lack of choice.

Today this venue is splitting their sales with hundreds and even thousands (and perhaps more, perhaps tens or even hundreds of thousands) of others, many so small you and I have never heard of them but if they get only one sale a month that is one less sale anybody else is getting.

There are many other venues today, a few very serious ones that take a huge chunk of the market but many more smaller players that also chisel away at the big picture.

Even big and old ebay sellers who grew tired and weary of "the way" closed up shop here but they didn't go out of business... Web sites of B&M's have popped up left and right and they're selling online rather than here, either way the sales wouldn't have come to us but now the traffic is also at someone else's .com

There's more, that's hardly the tip of the iceberg.

There is no conspiracy in that sense.

lewisburggold · ‎11-08-2018

In theory were all on the same playing field except for china of course. We dont think you have been targeted for extinction. Your in a very competitive market. Dont be afraid to get into some different catagorys. Best regards

keziak · ‎11-08-2018

@luckythewinner wrote:
@keziak wrote:
but list-more/sell-more doesn't seem to work much anymore
Have you tried list-better, sell-better? In other words, have you tried scaling back your run-of-the mill books and tried focusing on book collectors rather than book readers? i.e. signed editions, first editions, books that haven't been reprinted, etc.?

I virtually never come across books of that sort (signed, yes, but not big names). That begs the question of finding more inventory sources though.

softersilk · ‎11-08-2018

@keziak wrote:
@luckythewinner wrote:
@keziak wrote:
but list-more/sell-more doesn't seem to work much anymore
Have you tried list-better, sell-better? In other words, have you tried scaling back your run-of-the mill books and tried focusing on book collectors rather than book readers? i.e. signed editions, first editions, books that haven't been reprinted, etc.?
I virtually never come across books of that sort (signed, yes, but not big names). That begs the question of finding more inventory sources though.

... which is why those hard-to-find books sell for great prices. Supply/demand.

Each and every sale starts with a shoppers who has a need and is browsing.

>>> Supply side: when 1,000 other sellers have the same thing, your chance of selling is minimal. Or when the same thing can be found on a whole lot of other sites, the chances of a shopper browsing the only one you're on diminish.

>>> Demand side: when nobody's looking for it, you're not gonna make a sale.

Bottom line is that conspiracy theories are really popular to talk about. Heck, some people also accompany them with spreadsheets and all kinds of charts. People love to talk about space aliens and the earth being flat, too, equally convincingly.

But anybody who is actively trying to SELL stuff needs to:

Understand Supply/Demand.
Look to how mainstream ecommerce sites do things, and not just focus on old school eBay conventional wisdom. The big players have already researched how to do this.
Be willing to dig for hard answers that may not be easy
Throw away old templates and go mobile-optimized
Research the availability of your products and what they're really selling for
Research and digest the concepts of Search Engine Optimization and Keywords
Learn techniques to KEEP a buyer
Study postage issues and how to make yours most appealing

Be willing to throw away what you thought you knew from back in 1999 and mentally start fresh with what's happening in 2018.

Blame eBay if it makes you feel good. Trust me, I am not an eBay cheerleader by any means! I'm in an early stage of a 1.5 year plan to reduce the size of my ecommerce corporation to a fraction so I can work part time again without employees and move the stuff back to my house. When this happens, I will be 100% off eBay. When the Spring Seller Update got announced, I began aggressively moving my stuff off of eBay.

But I'm a cheerleader for the sellers who want to succeed and make a profit and are willing to do the work to make it happen.

Blame eBay, blame the Easter Bunny, blame the CEO... none of that puts money in the bank.

bubbleman2010 · ‎11-08-2018

Heres comes the finishing nails.... https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2018/11/1541640735.html

monster-deals · ‎11-08-2018

@bubbleman2010 wrote:
Heres comes the finishing nails.... https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2018/11/1541640735.html

Multi-user Access and Authentication

eBay will roll out multi-user access and authentication sometime in the first three months of 2019. This allows an eBay seller to give employees partial or full access to their account.

That would be great. I am exceptionally tired of isolating myself between wireless networks, phones and computers. I have 3 different accounts to work on and I have to drive to each one to take care of them.