Throttling

[movieman630]

I know this speculation has been around since the beginning but where there's smoke there's fire.  I've noticed disturbing trends in sales that points to accounts being throttled to only allow me to make around a certain amount on a weekly basis.  Why my sales could be so great for days and then drop down to almost nothing when I reach a certain dollar amount is suspicious to say the least.  Then when a day rolls off the 7 day sales number and drops it down it will go back up again slowly. 

This is not cool and I know I'm not wrong.  It's been going on for years.  I don't know why ebay won't allow me to have organic growth but it's not right.  I'm trying to grow my business and post more but if I'm going to be held back by some kind of computer algorithm what's the point of trying to grow?

I need ebay to stop stepping on my coat tails and let me go.  I can grow and make more for both of us but if my "silent partner" is going to work against me it's a losing battle. 

I know I'm not the only one who's experienced these weird sales patterns so please feel free to share yours.  I'm not looking for answers, I know not to expect that by now but I do hope that ebay will read this and lift the weight off me so I can start growing again. 

[chapeau-noir]

@jda15121  It does make a difference - 'recency' is one metric used in almost all search engines (fresh listing), as well as activity.  It's better to be active on the site with daily or very frequent listings than list everything at once and then just let them all sink to the bottom.  It's common to just about every marketplace site because they want to always keep 'new' items before the public.

[winterpalace25]

I think promoted listings has taken fairness and logic out of the search. Not everybody can be featured unless you are in a very small category or niche.

[jda15121]

Baloney

[hawkwind5454]

And the seller doing things in a certain manner used to fortify that theory....Such as, instead of hitting the relist tab, to do it under the *sell similar*. .. reiterated listing technique, instead.  That no longer works, so I would imagine that jumping through other hoops that might  have fortified the out front, and see me tactics, may also be waning in their efficacy. 

[movieman630]

One theory is that they use it as a tool to spread sales around.  The other is that it's directly tied to the amount of listings you post, ie: the more you post the more they allow you to sell ($ wise).

[slippinjimmy]

Can you help me understand how eBay "throttled" my retail stores from 1975 to 2000 (especially the 1975 - 1995 period).

The sales pattern you describe is EXACTLY what I experienced throughout my B&M days, I guess eBay was in stealth mode until they announced their existence in 1995. Pretty amazing trick given Pierre Omidyar was only 7 years old in 1975.

[movieman630]

Not true.  You can tell organic sales patterns.  They look way different and random.

[movieman630]

I can only speculate based on the patterns that I've seen over my many years of selling.  Something changed around 2015.  It's too odd.  It makes no sense why you can have a glut of sales days making over $500 per day and then after you hit close to a certain amount say 2k or so for the week, all of the sudden sales drop to $40. or nothing.  It's not organic in nature, especially when it happens week after week.

[buyologist-3]

Throttling has been around for a very long time and I was there when it started and it flamed just like the "New" tax law thing now.  No one was happy but we adjusted and we go on.  It's old news, guys, like it or not....believe in it or not.  

It's very real and here to stay.  No one is going to be a millionaire by design.  Maybe that's why there's never been a Elon Musk type of success here.  Could've happened...but no.  Millions and millions of sellers, but not a single Justin Bieber to be found. 

[dogchow747]

@movieman630 

First, you have some really neat items.

EBay has always been the place to sell rare and unique parts.

I think that is part of your issue, you have rare things...

OE 1962 1963 Pontiac Tempest Left Tie Rod End ~ GM Part # 5676304

You know stuff like this does not fly off the shelf.

I was also surprised of how many modern after market alternatives there were.

I do not think eBay has any reason to stifle your sales. I think maybe you are just in a place where you may have to choose dropping your prices some to compete with modern alternatives, or selling some new stock (In a world which you are very knowledgeable) to help keep your store active?

I am old school in many ways, I rather look at old tie rod ends than gaming GPU"s. but the world is changing.

Best of luck!

[yuzuha]

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@bonjourami wrote:

Why in the world would Ebay reduce your sales? More money in your pocket means more money for them. Ebay has always been cyclical.

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Heck, retail in general has always been cyclical - at my B&M job we can have a $12k day followed immediately by a $5k day. Obviously there is no force stopping customers from walking in our door.

[tofutofutofu]

I'd love to hear your opinion OP, .. so here's the thing. I've noticed on numerous occasions External site views for instance spike to like 400% and then the next week or two are terrible. I'm wondering if there's some kind of sabotage going on where our items are scanned and then used against us. It's like no matter how hard I try my views have consistently fallen. I also have a really hard time not blaming eBay just like you have here, it's too coincidental and seemingly only in their control that this is happening aside from a massive amount of reseller competition. Of course this is just speculation but I feel for you. Have you noticed similar 'Page Views' being external and then and drop in views overall? 

[katzrul15]

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@jda15121 wrote:

What does listing new items daily have to do with anything. Most of us get 250 free listings a month. Makes no difference if we list them all at once or spread them out. 

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It does make a difference - list several items every day or modify or tweak several every day.  The more daily/consistent activity, the more sales.  Has been like that the entire time I have been on this site.

[chapeau-noir]

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@jda15121 wrote:

Baloney

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[dubiousgain]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

@jda15121  It does make a difference - 'recency' is one metric used in almost all search engines (fresh listing), as well as activity.  It's better to be active on the site with daily or very frequent listings than list everything at once and then just let them all sink to the bottom.  It's common to just about every marketplace site because they want to always keep 'new' items before the public.

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I agree.....To, a degree. I always felt that a stirred pot was always best... keep things surging to the surface. But I sometimes think that there's a large degree of randomness to it...And that when push comes to shove, much of it simply depends on the luck of the draw-