eBay

rapidresol · ‎11-01-2019

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!

perfumenmore · ‎11-20-2019

Are you sure it's not someone you knew? How is it possible that someone could do this. If it were me I would be looking at people close to me.

perfumenmore · ‎11-20-2019

I think there are multiple factors at play here. Holidays are coming up and people have to prioritize how they spend their money now. Also, I think there might be a major shift taking place in the mindset of many people. Maybe the days of flagrant consumerism is coming to a close. Americans are great spenders but terrible savers. Many don't even have money set aside for retirement. I grew up in the 60s and throughout the decades people didn't spend money then like they do today. Maybe people are realizing that materialism is not everything, and having some financial security over material goods is a safer bet in the long run.

jonesrj8691 · ‎11-21-2019

Sales way down. Not even any traffic with over 5000 items listed all obo. Onto new vs ventures in the new year to get my store off of eBay and running productively somewhere else. Sure another platform could use the $15 000+ In fees yearly we are currently giving to eBay with no gratitude given. One visit to the post office this time a year, if your really observant, will show you the turning tides. Shelves full from the other platform. eBay is no longer promoting sales they are looking in ever which was to prevent them. From policy to now charging international buyers tax on purchases (which they’ll have to pay twice with customs). Even items that are not taxable across border are being taxed by eBay. eBay is dieting out. I’d suggest going elsewhere like our registered Canadian business Is.

eze-right1 · ‎11-21-2019

*opened

eze-right1 · ‎11-21-2019

Well, they won't let me make a new comment. Oh, well...ANYWAY, I suggest everybody leave eBay because they're focusing more on the overseas markets more than the US markets. I did a few searches and I could be wrong but it sure seems that way. The corporate nerds are now satisfied with their position and paycheck, so it looks like, intentionally or unintentionally, they're letting the site die, so I'd find another place to sell your stuff.
AND IF THERE'S ANY EBAY ASSOCIATES WHO ARE READING THIS AND THINKING, WELL...WE NEED TO THROTTLE HIS ACCOUNT...
...don't. Because I already pulled my items. You'll waste your time, like y'all're doing competing with Amazon.
One more thing, all y'all folks who like to 'watch' items instead of buying them...
...THIS. AIN'T. PINTEREST.

mam98031 · ‎11-21-2019

@jonesrj8691 wrote:
Sales way down. Not even any traffic with over 5000 items listed all obo. Onto new vs ventures in the new year to get my store off of eBay and running productively somewhere else. Sure another platform could use the $15 000+ In fees yearly we are currently giving to eBay with no gratitude given. One visit to the post office this time a year, if your really observant, will show you the turning tides. Shelves full from the other platform. eBay is no longer promoting sales they are looking in ever which was to prevent them. From policy to now charging international buyers tax on purchases (which they’ll have to pay twice with customs). Even items that are not taxable across border are being taxed by eBay. eBay is dieting out. I’d suggest going elsewhere like our registered Canadian business Is.

Well "not even any traffic" is an over statement since you are getting sales. So some are actually seeing your listings and some are purchasing. It may not be the level that you or I would like with the amount of listings you have listed, that I can completely understand. But you are doing better than many. And over $15,000 in fees per year also shows that sales are coming your way.

Again, I completely respect that sales may not be at the level in which you'd like or expect to see especially this time of year as I feel the same way. While sales are OK for me, they aren't what I'd expect to see this time of year at all.

I hope things will improve for you very soon.

BTW, what level of store do you have? Just a little helpful note for you to consider. I did notice you have some things listing that you could put into a variation listing so that you don't have as many individual listings and as a result of that listing fees [if you are over your free allotment, depending on the level of store you have].

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

javdajewelry · ‎11-21-2019

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I hope you get the solution soon.

Thank You

Javda

freshhhfinds · ‎11-22-2019

What other platforms are you selling on? And are they working better?

uncseniorsportsfan · ‎11-22-2019

The GMV bar graph you provided almost mirrors my sales since 2007, except for the 2015 decline. However, it does not show 2019 and that is when the big decline in my sales has occurred.

mam98031 · ‎11-22-2019

@uncseniorsportsfan wrote:
The GMV bar graph you provided almost mirrors my sales since 2007, except for the 2015 decline. However, it does not show 2019 and that is when the big decline in my sales has occurred.

@uncseniorsportsfan

I provided two different graphs. You are correct, one does not go into 2019, but the other does. It goes up to Q3 of 2019 and since we are in the middle of Q4, those stats aren't yet available.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

irinahat · ‎11-22-2019

My best selling day in November - $505 in sales

Second best selling day in November - $411 in sales

Third best selling day in November - $391 in sales

My fourth best selling day in November - $342 in sales

My fifth best selling day in November - $311 in sales

What prompted these amazing numbers? I came across a random garage sale that was selling 150 or so air conditioning HVAC furnace control circuit boards. I think I spent about $40 total on the whole box and haven't even sold all of them yet and still have quite a few listed. All of my highest paying days were on days where a bunch of those sold like hotcakes. Some sold mere minutes after I listed them. There were days when I'd sell 20 of them in a day.

Meanwhile? I have hundreds of obscure, hard to sell, "rare", OOAK, and stale vintage and collectible items sitting in my store - some that have been in my store for 3-5 years. Yeah, I have stuff in my store that's been in there for five years. I've adjusted keywords, I've run sales, I increased promotional percentages as high as 20% on certain hard to sell items. Nothing.

I've been doing this since 2002 and can honestly say that I've had months where I'd list 300 items that were in very over-saturated categories here on Ebay, where I'd be competing with thousands of other sellers to list similar things, and I'd barely make anything. Then, I'd have months where I'd run into a garage sale or something of that sort where I'd source hundreds of more desirable and easier to sell items, and there were months where I'd sell stuff that I got for super cheap at a yard sale in bulk and would somehow make $5-6K in sheer profit on Ebay, and, the stuff would sell very fast.

As I said, meanwhile, there's some junk in my store that's been sitting there for five years. Ran sales, adjusted keywords, re-photographed, raised promotional fees - nothing.

At a certain point, one has to ask themselves if sales are slow simply because their items aren't desirable. I should know, I have 5 year old items in my store that clearly are undesirable because even after 5 years of being on the site, and after countless sales and promotional events, no one seems to want them. Then, I'll list certain fresh and desirable items, and some will sell within minutes.

yuzuha · ‎11-22-2019

Exactly. I've listed a bunch of so-so stuff this month... no serious demand for it, it's gotten a decent amount of views but I don't expect it to sell anytime soon. It will sell eventually, but it needs the right buyer and that could take some time.

And then I listed two limited-edition Pokemon plush. One was an event exclusive that could only be purchased at the event venue, and the other was a US exclusive that was not available in any other countries. The event-exclusive one sold within 8 hours and the US exclusive sold within 48 hours to a buyer in Japan. I have a few more of those to list and I expect they will sell quickly as well... why? Because they have high demand and limited supply. I should've gone with my gut and bought an entire garbage bag full of them, but I didn't want to be greedy.

I have a couple of event souvenirs from the Sailor Moon Super Live and I'm curious to see how much attention those will get given that it only had two performance venues in the US and both of them sold out completely. Again, high demand, extremely limited supply.

swappart · ‎11-22-2019

@irinahat wrote:
My best selling day in November - $505 in sales
Second best selling day in November - $411 in sales
Third best selling day in November - $391 in sales
My fourth best selling day in November - $342 in sales
My fifth best selling day in November - $311 in sales

What prompted these amazing numbers? I came across a random garage sale that was selling 150 or so air conditioning HVAC furnace control circuit boards. I think I spent about $40 total on the whole box and haven't even sold all of them yet and still have quite a few listed. All of my highest paying days were on days where a bunch of those sold like hotcakes. Some sold mere minutes after I listed them. There were days when I'd sell 20 of them in a day.

Meanwhile? I have hundreds of obscure, hard to sell, "rare", OOAK, and stale vintage and collectible items sitting in my store - some that have been in my store for 3-5 years. Yeah, I have stuff in my store that's been in there for five years. I've adjusted keywords, I've run sales, I increased promotional percentages as high as 20% on certain hard to sell items. Nothing.

I've been doing this since 2002 and can honestly say that I've had months where I'd list 300 items that were in very over-saturated categories here on Ebay, where I'd be competing with thousands of other sellers to list similar things, and I'd barely make anything. Then, I'd have months where I'd run into a garage sale or something of that sort where I'd source hundreds of more desirable and easier to sell items, and there were months where I'd sell stuff that I got for super cheap at a yard sale in bulk and would somehow make $5-6K in sheer profit on Ebay, and, the stuff would sell very fast.

As I said, meanwhile, there's some junk in my store that's been sitting there for five years. Ran sales, adjusted keywords, re-photographed, raised promotional fees - nothing.

At a certain point, one has to ask themselves if sales are slow simply because their items aren't desirable. I should know, I have 5 year old items in my store that clearly are undesirable because even after 5 years of being on the site, and after countless sales and promotional events, no one seems to want them. Then, I'll list certain fresh and desirable items, and some will sell within minutes.

I've noticed lately that putting things on sale has very little, or even no effect on sales. I used to sell TV parts, and there was a time when I'd put everything 15% off and get a few dozen sales in a week. I tried several sales in the past few months at 25% off and got 2 sales. My final attempt was 30% off as a pre-disposal sale and that got 0 sales. I don't think sales get the same exposure now that eBay has come up with promoted listings.