The Secret to increasing sales is...

[krazzykats]

REDUCE YOUR PRICES!

I was reminded the other day, to turn merchandise into cash asap with lower pricing. 

eBay was once the place you went to for great prices.  So what happened to all the great deals?  And could we get that eBay back?

Retail stores are beating online pricing.  

Meanwhile:

Shipping costs went up.

Sales taxes were added.

Other sales fees went up well.

Supplies, labor, etc., all went up.

[the_fancy_fox]

I prefer to sell items in speciality categories.  Any time there a bunch of the same items listed, I don’t bother unless mine is exceptional.

ebay used to be the place for cheap items. Well you can still get them by buying from Chinese sellers or people just wanting to clear stuff out. 

Not everyone is looking for regular retail stuff. Even then, convenience wins out for many people. I rather shop at home than have to drive 15 miles to the store. 

Reducing your pricing may work and may not. Depends on way too many factors to say that’s the key to success. With ebay taking a bigger and bigger bite of the pie, sell something heavy and they take a higher percentage of your sale due to shipping costs. Sell something expensive to a high sales tax state and another bite of your pie goes away….

my .02

[blotto-half]

Ive reduced prices...sent offers & coupons...promoted several items...always leave feedback & as of today 8-15  ONE (1) sale...fortunately its a hobby & feeble attempt at getting rid of "stuff" but i wont give it away for near to free

[luckythewinner]

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@krazzykats wrote:

eBay was once the place you went to for great prices.  So what happened to all the great deals?  And could we get that eBay back?

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It will probably never come back, because IMHO that eBay only existed while during a perfect storm where new sellers were coming online for the first time who either (a) had bargain inventory lying around; or (b) had a source where they could buy it low and still resell at a bargain price.

But these days, anyone who has been selling for any amount of time has already sold off the bargain inventory they had lying around.

And if they had a source where they could get items at a bargain, it has long since been discovered by other eBay sellers who have either plundered that source or driven its prices back up closer to the going rate.

[krazzykats]

Not new items as much since I can go to a big box store and either get a better one or get one for less money. 

I'm talking about "deals". 

There are still some items on eBay for less than retail, and most of those sellers have many sales and are not posting about the lack of sales here.

eBay Stagnation/Deflation maybe? 

[reallynicestamps]

Part of the problem is that many (most?) sellers are at best mom'n'pop operations.

And just as the five and dimes of thousands of small towns fell to WalMart' s ability to buy in quantity at much lower costs, eBay sellers of new goods are competing with chain stores with much deeper pockets and much better wholesale prices.

Not only can the chain buy cheaper, they can also advertise more widely.

Which is why finding a niche and selling the odd, the vintage, the unique could be a better business plan for small time sellers.

[tsme35]

Yep, I find older, no longer made fishing gear. Most sellers of new stuff are competing with the "river" who can have it delivered the next day compare to 1-5 days by USPS.

[fairdeal*lb]

I would aim 'REDUCE YOUR PRICES!' at eBay, for starters.. Sellers are so weighted down right now, we can't go but so low.  

[dbfolks166mt]

Yep, I find older, no longer made fishing gear. Most sellers of new stuff are competing with the "river" who can have it delivered the next day compare to 1-5 days by USPS.

     Next day, heck I have ordered stuff off the river at 10 AM and had it by 5 PM the same day. Of course I am in a large metro area and there are two river warehouses within 10 miles of me. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     You just answered your own question with your statements. A lot of things have changed in the past 2-5 years that have leveled the playing field between eBay sellers and most of the retail chains and a lot of the pandemic constraints have been lifted and buyers are returning to the B&M stores as well. 

     The addition of the sales tax as a result of Wayfair vs South Dakota, the constant increase in shipping costs, fees and the lowering of the 1099 reporting threshold (for those that were not paying taxes on their eBay income) are just a few of the things that have pushed the costs up along with what others already mentioned. 

     Lowering your prices may or may not actually make a difference depending on how low you can drop them and still be competitive in the big market place. That is unless you lower them to the point where you are taking a loss which is not what most sellers on eBay are here for. 

[gamersbaystore]

There still are some great deals, but those deals are dwindling with the rising costs of selling online. Shipping, fees, taxes, etc, are costs we are stuck with. The buyers are going to be taxed regardless of your prices, and shipping rates are thru the roof. ebay keeps raising their fees as well.

If you aren't making a profit, then you aren't in business. The cost of shopping online is getting so expensive its now cheaper to buy many items at your local B&M store.

USPS rates went up again recently, and I had no choice but to raise my shipping rates as well. A year ago I was paying $2.95 to ship a movie, now its $3.49, and a year from now it will likely be over $4. I stopped selling game consoles because it literally costs more to ship them than what I can sell them for.

I have a 17% off sale going right now, along with buy 2 get 1 free promos, yet hardly any sales at all. The higher shipping costs and taxes just scares buyers away. I can only eat so much of those costs before I end up in the negative.

[2013grotz]

You definitely made the point yourself.  Personally, my costs have gone up enough that I really can't "lower my prices".  Just finding so many items that I'd have to pay to give away in order to move them, just given the average prices on many of them shown on the site and in Terapeak.  Of course, so many of those prices wouldn't even recoup the shipping, much less 1099-K filing costs and ebay FVFs.  To wit, already in the process of removing another batch of ebay fails.   Given my sales failure rate here is around 85%, I'm definitely of the view that no one can thrive selling on ebay.  Like was said, I can't "reduce my prices", and I can't let this cost me money continually, as it seems to do everyone else.  I'm honestly surprised anyone manages to make any money on here in any way.

Like I keep saying, once my stuff I need gone is gone, I'm gone.  But at this rate, I may just have to dispose of it all and call it a day instead.

[coolections]

It has always been that way and no secret at all. It is not about how much your shipping cost, the sales tax, supplies and other fees. It is about your asking price compared to other sellers selling the same thing. If you cannot lower the price and still ask close to other prices then you paid too much for your item.

[inhawaii]

Lower the price and the item is more likely to sell?

No kidding?

[vintagecraze50]

Yep, costs of good are up, shipping is up, sales tax is up, IRS taxes are up, ebay fees are up, and if prices go too down then really you are just liquidating and doing a going out of business sale. Nope, not a good business plan.