The shifting change of technology, algorithms, opportunity and traffic flow

[herbaearth]

How the algorithms of eBay work is a very interesting topic. A long time friend of mine who's been selling high volume on eBay non-stop for 20+ years told me the time when listings end, and re-post, is when traffic seems to get a boost. It is certainly something most eBay sellers are not willing to do early, and how not being compatible with a new strategy to adapt to 'product forward' algorithms is effecting traffic and sales. I've been buying and selling on eBay randomly for almost two decades and recently decided to come back as a seller(after being locked down for the past few years) and started cleaning out about 40 items of old attic stuff. I was shocked to learn my friend has walked away from eBay due to all sorts of reasons, but i think everything that is turning great sellers away could be the exact opportunity to corner a new curve on eBay. I understand that liberal fees, low traffic, low sales, a new payment management system, lack of paypal, and all sorts of problems are frustrating the best sellers, but I honestly believe these complaints are all connected to the new algorithms, and old sellers are stuck in their old ways of doing business as usual on this platform.  When i learned the basic of eBay in the early 2000's, it was what everyone know about ending listings on Sundays, posting on Thursdays for 10 day auctions, using SEO and finding the right niche market if you want to keep merchandise going as a business to close a lot of sales for good income. And even though those tactics are still viable, it seems they way sellers have 'perfected the old sale' by sustaining long term listings might be exactly what is complicating the flow of income for the best sellers, and without adapting to apparent systemic change, it is proving to be difficult and that can not be denied. I am not claiming to have the best supply of products or even be an expert of what exactly is happening to the best sellers, although excuses and blame is easy to communicate, I am thinking more and more about the product forward algorithms boosting sellers who are willing to post listings at a relatively high frequency or on consistent bases. It doesn't make sense for so many sellers to be complaining and there not be a reason based on old strategies to not figure out what the curve is around the corner in the future. I do know top sellers post and hold so if that's the old way, and its not working then what's the new way? Is that strategy how sellers list? Is it targeting the highest or lowest fee categories? Is it the algorithm itself? I don't know, it's just a thought and this is what I'm thinking about. What do you think?

[donsdetour]

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@richardwillardcollection wrote:

I am sick and tired of these fantasia post's. They are unproductive total fantasy.  While the law of supply and demand is functioning like it always does, eBay has the ability to turn us off, or on.

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Yep agreed: and you agree to such with the user agreement (right or wrong)........

off or on: at the whims of eBay it is...... oh what fun it can be.........or not.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

I think paragraphs are your friend.  

I don't know what "change" in the algorithm you're referring to.   Cassini has been in use for what, 7 or 8 years now?  Maybe more.   I too have sold for over 2 decades.  Cassini changed everything.  I don't think you're overthinking it.  The "algorithm" is super complex, like most algorithms are.  I think Ebay has said something like 250 different things that are taking into consideration in "the algorithm".  You will never figure it out b/c A-it's propietary, B-probably Ebay doesn't even know everything that goes into it these days since programmers change things & the way Ebay's IT is, I don't think anyone knows what the other hand is doing, plus there's a lot of non-US programming that complicates the issue.  

I think SEO is the #1 key to selling on Ebay, so no, I don't think you're overthinking it, but I also know that all we can do is keep doing the things that seem to work for us, b/c as a lifelong IT person, I also know that I won't figure out "the algorithm".   The algorithm is not 1 thing, it's a whole bunch of different conditions. 

[chapeau-noir]

I read the wall o' text, and to me it boiled down to "eBay has too much sludge and not enough forward thinking sellers", and I agree with that.

ETA:  The lousy IT here isn't helping, though - I agree that the right hand frequently doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing.

[vintagecraze50]

List something everyday if you can that helps. Try revising and ending long tail listings and sell similar, I think that works, but not sure because when you do that the listing looses it’s stability on Google search. Lower the price on stuff that has watchers. Be at the top of the best match with all the perks like free fast shipping accept returns and pay for returns. BE one of the best prices for THAT product. Definitely find a niche where you will not be in competition with 300,000.00 other products.

[laststopgeneralstore]

Nope, not at all. I have never had any issues with eBay that wasn't outlined in their Terms & conditions that we all read and accepted. I would love to hear if you have had any issues & could provide evidence of eBay clearly breaking their terms & conditions. What has happened to you that you think what I said was a joke?

[incrediblefinds199]

there is a algorithm but i doubt it favors buyers listing everyday. maybe i am wrong but my ebay assistant told me that when you mark a item as new in the description when you can pick new or used. if you put new in the title as well it bumps you down.  he also told me that are are key words like very and look will bump you down.  who knows for sure probably a small few.  

[chapeau-noir]

Junk words in descriptions are called 'stop words' and may slow search but I doubt it has that much of an impact.  Perhaps your assistant read that one blog that said a search had found that putting 'new' in the title causes fewer returns than leaving it out - it seemed to be repeated on a bunch of blogs when I was studying SEO more.  I fiddled with that and it didn't seem to make much difference, but there are better keywords words for that title real estate and that may have been what made the difference.

Any site rewards consistent activity on the part of sellers that use it.   I only know how often I need to list, and that's pretty variable because so much depends on what I have to list, and the season, but I'm mostly in clothing and that's kind of a swamp.

[herbaearth]

I like perfect paragraphs, excellent sentence structures, and proper grammar too, but simply not knowing how to read words with comprehension is not an excuse for others to pretend they're illiterate. 

One trend not too long ago was studying the systematic ranking effects of the Cassini algorithm, of course being held close to the heart of eBay makes it quiet complicated to understand exactly how to gain an advantage with ranking, but my friend who sold on eBay for over 20+ years also worked for eBay with almost 4 years of experience to Cassini, and tried to explain it to me after complaining about selling issues.

It was explained to me the dwell time of customers on sellers items, and the click through rate plus purchases, made up most of the ranking, whether that is true or not is based on seller results. As with most algorithms, I agree eBay's algorithm can absolutely hold so many factors that finding one or two techniques for the benefit of getting an edge would be difficult to identify, although there are basic inputs for every algorithm which the humans who create them have direct initiatives from interests to put forward.

What the interests and initiatives of eBays current algorithm are, is what makes me think the most.

Great comment!

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@herbaearth  It sounds like you understand the complexity of "the algorithm", most people do not.  Absolutely, all the variables are weighted differently & may even be weighted differently based on variables of the selling account.   

I used to work for the 3rd largest software company in the world & every week to Fortune 100 clients & helped them troubleshoot their legacy systems using our software.  I did that for a decade.  From that experience (& my prior programming experience), I can tell you that it is not at all uncommon for big corporations to not really have any idea how their software works.  Between poor coding, programmer & business unit attrition, contractors & nowadays, outsourcing to overseas programmers, it's not uncommon that there's a behemoth of a jumbled mess that runs the most vital & critical aspects of the business & everyone is scared to touch it b/c no one really understands how it works anymore & one mistake can impact a company's core business in a very negative way.   Now Ebay's systems have not been around quite that long, but they've been around long enough to be impacted by many of the issues above & it would not surprise me in the least if very few, if any, programmers at Ebay understand the architecture of  "the algorithm", themselves.   So, I take it all with a grain of salt,  as even most of the programmers who worked on it & are still there, probably only know their own little piece of it. 

[yuzuha]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

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@herbaearth wrote: ... told me the time when listings end, and re-post, is when traffic seems to get a boost. ...

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Maybe you're overthinking it. Maybe it's not a fancy algorithm, but just because many potential buyers sort their search results by "Newest first."

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And buyers HATE when sellers keep ending and relisting things to shove them back up to the top of the search. I saw your item already and didn't want to buy it, I don't need it shoved in my face again when I run a saved search for "Newest first." I'm looking for items that are genuinely newly listed for the first time, not something that I've already looked at and didn't want. There's a reason I didn't buy it when I saw it the first time.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

I know some buyers hate it.  As a seller, there are MANY new buyers on Ebay every day, so it's new to them.  So, I have no problem doing it & it is very successful for me.  

[herbaearth]

With over 180+ million customers, if one person doesn't want to buy something and keeps seeing the same item they didn't want in the first place, what is the seller really losing by not getting a sale from a customer who has already decided they do not want to buy your item? What is the seller losing beside ranking momentum that might not even be happening in the first place?

I agree buyer sentiment is set in stone for what they're wanting to buy, and sometimes seller logic and reality doesn't meet the established expectation of standards, but with 180+ million customers that is a lot of customers to assume no one will buy a relisted item when less than only 1000 viewers even looked at it.  

[joseh1445]

Simple questions. 

1.  When was the last time that you posted some thing for sale here on ebay?  

2.  Have you been force into the new selling platform?

[herbaearth]

When i sold ebooks and webmaster user tools way back in the day with my first eBay business accounts, posting a new listing every hour on high traffic times was a golden technique for sales, and it use to bring in a ton of customers to my other listings too increasing from more dwell times on my listing pages and bringing in a ton of sales. I can see how relisting tangible products is kind of like that in eBays modern era.

Of course that was during the good ole days when eBay was in a digital era, that benefited digital sellers who consistently posted digital products with multiples, for the millions of customers searching for everything.

Best of luck

[scchai_51]

thank you, very well said.  quit complaining and start doing.