Very Slow Sales November 2019

[rapidresol]

We have been selling on Ebay for 15+ years now, but since March sales have struggled.  Ebay seemed to make changes to the search engine meaning items we had sold hundreds of units of were no longer selling.  They became almost invisible. 

Today we only had 8 sales on EBay.  A few years ago we were averaging 50 a day.  

I would be interested to hear how other sellers are doing at the moment?  I am extremely worried about the way things seem to be going!

[dropyourjeansincorp]

I am involved with 5 EBAY stores some 25000 listing and sales are DEAD . The more EBAY messes with changes the worst it gets for there sellers . Sinking fast !

[myoasisjewels]

ebay has serious problems with their site, and instead of trying to blame google for the decline in sales / traffic, they need to acknowledge this and take a hard look at themselves....

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2019/11/1573930267.html

[mam98031]

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@myoasisjewels wrote:

ebay has serious problems with their site, and instead of trying to blame google for the decline in sales / traffic, they need to acknowledge this and take a hard look at themselves....

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2019/11/1573930267.html

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I'm not sure that Ebay was solely blaming Google, but it is likely a factor to be sure.  Ebay is well aware that there are some serious technical problems on the site.  You can see a lot about it on the tech board.  Ebay even started their own thread for members to report issues.

[eze-right1]

"Adapt or die"??? Strange, when you do that, eBay eventually changes something, then you have to go back to square one. Adapting doesn't work on eBay, it seems. Besides, you only have a 0 feedback score. Are you new or have you opended a new account?

[mr.z7]

SMH.....if this is the case.....Ebay sellers should have their fees reimbursed......website glitches, now blaming google for searches.....These companies get too big and want corporate dominance...and both the sellers and buyers end up paying the price. Ebay better fix their problems before black Friday / cyber Monday comes in the next couple of weeks.....if they don't, this will be the last year I depend on eBay's platform to sell.....and I will demand a refund for my fees!!! (and all sellers should!!!!)  Sick of this!!!

[collectablesbooksandvinyl]

We sell vinyl, antiques, photos and postcards which usually do very well. We've had some great weeks but since last month, I went 'back to work' and got a part-time job to keep the business from going under. As far as our November slump goes, we are guessing it might be the lull before Black Friday and hoping that it will suddenly go mad and we will be wishing it was quiet again! Having to work somewhere else to keep your own business going sounds perverse but I think we're all facing that right now. I did read an article recently about eBay not coming up on Google Shopping results? I'm not a techie so I am not entirely sure what that means. I think largely, we (all of us) are not showing up outside of eBay anymore on search results....

[collectablesbooksandvinyl]

That's very true and although they mean to be helpful, it's not really is it? 🙂

[collectablesbooksandvinyl]

Oh god, that's so sad to read. If we all go, eventually eBay will have to do something, after all, it's us who prop eBay up, not the buyer.

I just happen to be listening to that song that goes 'I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved...'

Sounds like a Seller anthem to be honest....

arrgghhhhh!!!!!

[auto_parts_hub]

 I Think You are really doing well, This year end of October  and November our sales is down to 20%.

Thanks

k

[ameliasaccents]

Haven't had a sale in 8 days. I have a very small inventory, but usually sell at least a few items every week - they surely help - anything helps! Last month I went 10 days without a sale. Very discouraging. Getting close to giving up. Wondering if that's what they want...........to run off the little sellers.

[goracoin]

They're playing around with people.  They will adjust things to increase sales for a while, then try to get a seller to upgrade his store. If you don't bite on this bait, then your sales drop down again.  This happens every few months. They manipulate what a searcher will see when someone tries to click on your "store" or "other items" so only a very limited number of your store categories show up.  Small business is not something that multinational corporations care to encourage. They only pretend to.  It's how much they can suck out of them that counts.

[mam98031]

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@goracoin wrote:

They're playing around with people.  They will adjust things to increase sales for a while, then try to get a seller to upgrade his store. If you don't bite on this bait, then your sales drop down again.  This happens every few months. They manipulate what a searcher will see when someone tries to click on your "store" or "other items" so only a very limited number of your store categories show up.  Small business is not something that multinational corporations care to encourage. They only pretend to.  It's how much they can suck out of them that counts.

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You have choices.  You don't have to accept a promo that Ebay sends out.  We each have to decide for ourselves if it will benefit us to accept.  You are correct, Ebay does send out a promo for upgrading your store for a discount for a certain period of time.  But you do not have to accept it.  That is a choice for each of us to make.  Because you may decide it is a good idea for you and later you discover you made a mistake, that doesn't in turn mean that Ebay did something wrong.  It simply means you made a mistake.

As for Ebay's search returns.  They most certainly can be problematic and Ebay has lots of room for improvement with their search engine.  Absolutely no doubt of that.

[bargainbigly]

So far this year eBay executives have blamed the following on their rapidly declining GMV sales:

- Google

- Internet sales tax (Amazon has collected this for a very long time, as has Walmart)

- US pulling out of the Universal Postal Union (Chinese can no longer ship direct as of July 1 2020)

The real reasons eBay's GMV sales are rapidly declining:

- Basic economics; increased fees are passed on directly to buyers. Higher prices mean lower sales. Promoted listings, service metrics, et. al. have lead to much higher prices for buyers. Buyers have voted with their feet and are buying elsewhere. 

- Lack of understanding of modern e-commerce: It's not 2003 eBay. Sellers have countless marketplaces where they can sell, and sellers put their efforts into marketplaces that deliver traffic and have reasonable fees. Many sellers like us are listed on over a dozen marketplaces. When eBay increases fees, we increase prices. We still get the sale, they just buy it from us on Walmart, Amazon, Google Shopping instead of eBay. So instead of getting a reasonable commission, they lose the sale and get nothing. 

- Sellers are also buyers. Chinese sellers do not buy. eBay went all in on  China and it's collapsing as a result of tariffs and an end to subsidized shipping. 

- Lack of communication; There's a new CEO, but you wouldn't know. He hasn't bothered to make so much as a single public statement to buyers or sellers.

eBay was a great place, and still is in some respects, but their problems are 100% self inflicted. Management needs to stop blaming Google, sales tax, the boogyman and own up to the fact that the company has been badly managed for many years. 

Good news is it's not the end and it can all be turned around, whether they wake up and actually do something? Who knows...

[mam98031]

The US is not pulling out of the Postal Union.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/business/universal-postal-union-withdraw.html

[mam98031]

The GMV is not rapidly declining as some would like us to believe.  Could it be better, absolutely and I agree it should be.  But misrepresenting what it is doing isn't the answer either.