This platform is dead, ebay is a joke now

[jathibo-12]

This platform is dead, ebay is a joke now.  Sells are not supposed to be in the toilet during Dec!  Great 4th quarter you created with advanced promoted listings and then the Oct 12 updates.  Can you screw things up any worse?

[domin-tomas]

If you sold on ebay then you would know that very seldom the buyers leave feedback.  You can go back to work for ebay now break is over.

[maxine*j]

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@domin-tomas wrote:

This is dead, worst sales ever.

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Well, then I reckon OP should have 15 months ago, when he said it was "time to close down shop!!!!}, eh? 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/TIME-TO-LEAVE-IF-THEY-CAN-NOT-GIVE-US-OUR-MONEY-WHAT-ARE-...

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[gloryglorygifts]

Gotta say, I love your response!

[yuzuha]

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@maxine*j wrote:

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This generation also doesn't want knick-knacks, heavy furniture, sets of fancy china or silver flatware, big matched sets of books that will never be read, "collector" plates, bulky photo albums, plastic bins full of holiday decorations, and the like, or most of the other trappings of success accumulated by previous generations. 

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As someone who works B&M retail, I can tell you that no one wants china or expensive flatware anymore. Instead, they want a set of dishes that is nice but also casual enough to be used on a daily basis. We sell tons of that kind of tableware-- it always sells well in my store.

Similar story with furniture: people want practical. Mid-price, not hard to move around if you want to move/move it to a different room, and NOT heavy and dark and clunky. In fact, my parents actually have a Jackson Press they were looking into options for getting rid of at some point, and the local antique furniture place wouldn't even take it because they told them it wouldn't sell. No one wants those these days, and who can blame them? It's huge and heavy and takes up a ton of space.

[gloryglorygifts]

I'm sorry to be the one that brings it up, but I don't think that your feedback is doing much for you. You have three negs and three neutrals that you didn't seem to address or respond to. You have to work with your customer to right wrongs and communicate with them, and respond to your feedback. I do think people look at feedback sometimes. That would scare me away as a potential buyer.

[reallyhardtofind]

Yeah I agree, we sold $30k worth of stuff on other sites and only $5k on ebay in November. 

[yuzuha]

Well, just looking at your listings, I see a couple of things that are probably hurting your sales. Lose those backgrounds, they're very distracting and take away from the item you're photographing. Collectors like to be able to take a good look at the condition of the item they're buying, but with those prints it makes it very difficult to do so. Use either a plain white or a plain black background so people's eyes aren't being drawn away from the item itself. You don't want to have your background competing with the item for attention.

Also, better lighting would help a lot too. Some of the card photos are very dark and some of them have glare that obscure part of the image on the card. I find with things like that that propping them up vertically helps to reduce the glare off shiny surfaces.

[domin-tomas]

I sell everywhere that is possible, Ebay is no longer my go to platform to sell. I will still list my items but don't expect much. If I sell something on ebay I consider it a bonus.

[linus.hux72fe]

I will say my sales are less than previous years.  (I dont compare with last year as in my mind that year is an anomaly due to outside circumstances.) So discounting for that, my sales on Ebay are down around 20%.  

That's no hardship compared to some here who report a much greater loss so I do feel for those people.

I'd like to say I agreed with any of the theories offered but I just dont know.  Food and prices of gas and the like are up but here wages are up a greater percent on average and employers are begging for help and for people to work OT. Maybe that's not true elsewhere?  Weather has been miserable with tornados and the like here in the Midwest but other years the West had fires, the South hurricanes. I've been around a lot of generations and heard how this generation or another wants experiences and not stuff but then I see plenty of young people at auctions and my estate sales and they buy plenty.  Politics doesnt seem to explain much when this country is so divided.  Then there's the argument it's your stuff, nobody wants that.  So I look at their stuff, and either I've recently sold comparables or I've seen it readily sell elsewhere. 

There's always a this but that.

No one answer fits quite right and the rest could be a daily changing percent which might or might not include actions Ebay has taken or not taken.  I just dont think the world of sales is simplistic.  I do agree that Ebay has a rather consistent habit of having a problem implementing changes or updates which I'm certain isnt helpful.  And let's perhaps agree that Ebay often does a poor job of communicating and explaining to sellers.  And Ebay often treats its platform as a singular entity in which changes react similarly across categories which I'm not certain has proven to be true.   But then I also realize I've slacked off listing on Ebay because I've been listing and selling elsewhere so that's another vicious circle.  

One thing I wish is that we could all be supportive and understanding to each other or say nothing rather than be snarky, insulting, dismissive and sarcastic.  It's just not cute or funny to be on the receiving end and we all could be there someday.  Sometimes people just need to vent.   After venting as noted, a good majority just seem to decide to quietly go on selling.  So what's the point of being snarky?  

Best of luck to everyone and Happy Holidays!

[vickyaa]

My sales are dead also. Ever since they screwed around with the Categories and clumped things together forget it.  Try looking for something It's a nightmare. Why mess something up when it was working? Another seller who does great displays plus makes additional items  to go with her doll clothes is completely dead also she works hard as we all do to just make a living and with one swoosh  they messed it all up. 

[vickyaa]

Ouch! I'm dead also like he is and there are many other sellers that are dead. since they messed with the categories  and I work at this  6 days a week.. It's not for lack of trying or hard work 

[frugality_inc]

eBay down significantly. Amazon way up.

eBay doesn't offer much of a competitive advantage over Amazon and Walmart. Until eBay focuses on the customer experience, there will continue to be more pain.

[femmefan1946]

My sales are "November normal" which is a shock because over the 20+ years I've sold on eBay, December has always been my worst month.

Come Boxing Day, my customers are back and January to March are my busy months.

Every seller differs.

How do the past 30 days compare with the same period in 2019 ? In 2018?

2020  was an outlier, with a pandemic surge in online buying that made some of us think were were back in the 90s (but with faster payment and lower fees).

Look at your records not at your emotional state.

[omgitlightsup]

You are not wrong! Whitman wasn't the worst/only problem in leadership. But I think she built the groundwork for the walls of silence and distrust that separate buyers and sellers today. The relentless pursuit of growth isn't all her fault.

But.. eBay is, after all, a corporation; not a marketplace like we think of it. It may be "dead" like a garden that's been paved over to build a shopping mall, but it's certainly thriving... it's just that if you came here with a watering can and some seeds, you're going to have to find a different business strategy, because that isn't what we do here anymore.

[jathibo-12]

you don't sale on ebay, you work for them and troll boards .  DON'T LIE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS AND **** THEM.  How can anyone defend ebay's actions with a straight face