What am I doing wrong?

[shipdog]

So, it would seem that I am invisible on Ebay.  I have sold successfully in the past but recently my posted items for sale hardly get any notice.  I research and do my due diligence in listing and feel

I offer fair opening bids or buy it now prices.  I just don't seem to be getting the traffic.  So, what am I doing wrong?

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi, sorry to hear your sales are down. I took a look at your listings and you seem to be doing everything right-- good pictures, fair prices, measurements, return policy, etc. I also sell collectibles, and the market for these items is shrinking. The younger generations are largely not collectors, while the older generations are down-sizing their collections, adding to the competition. Just flat out--what sold well on ebay in the past has changed. 

Ebay has not divulged much about how the infamous Cassini works (their supposed artificially intelligent search engine), but they have given some directions on how to improve placement in Best Match. Ebay is said to give preference to sellers who follow these Best Practices: Free Shipping, Free Returns, 30-Day or better Returns, One Day or Same Day Handling, Expedited Shipping, and is said to boost search order for sellers with high sell-thru rates. (So the better you do, the better you do overall, making it critical to list items that have the most sales potential.)

For some, these suggestions are beyond what can be done, as everybody's business plans are different. But it's up to us to change with the times and negotiate the ebay maze as best we can. I wish you better success during this holiday season. Good luck.

[luckythewinner]

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@shipdog wrote:

I research and do my due diligence in listing and feel I offer fair opening bids or buy it now prices.

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I see just 7 listings on this account.

The first item of yours I looked at was the Dakin plush garfield at $32 total cost to me. "Dakin plush garfield" returns 1450 listings, and 1200 of them are cheaper than yours.

Your Pyrex tree of life platter is $36 total cost to me - but I can get another one for less that $15 total cost. I also noticed your listing is more expensive than every sold listing in the last 90 days.

While you may think your prices are "fair", they do not seem to be in line with the eBay marketplace.

[sockmonkeydave]

@shipdog

I sell aircraft parts, so my items have a set market value.

With just a phone call, I can find the current prices.

Collectabes not so much, and as said up thread, many of us seniors are down sizing.

and kids don't collect like their parents did.

[coolections]

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@shipdog wrote:

So, it would seem that I am invisible on Ebay.  I have sold successfully in the past but recently my posted items for sale hardly get any notice.  I research and do my due diligence in listing and feel

I offer fair opening bids or buy it now prices.  I just don't seem to be getting the traffic.  So, what am I doing wrong?

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OK, did a check on one one of your items. Don't feel like checking them all. Only TWO sold of the Churchill Casserole Dish. BOTH at a lower cost then your asking price. Recent active listings checking with (DISH 12) & (BOWL 4), suggest added the word dish to your title as there are more views searching that word. Out of the 16 total yours is the 2nd most expensive total with shipping. I think your due diligence can be done just a tad better. Good Luck !! 

[duggmills]

I think (yes Hillary, this is an opinion) I think it's falling  market demand for categories that are seeing fewer sales in general, like collectables.

As a society we have become less interested in creating or adding to collections of knic-knack items that may have no particular connection to personal experience.

Years ago when my wife and I traveled,  somehow we began collecting little Elephant carvings, ceramics, sculptures, etc. And  I used to travel a lot on business.  The collection grew because every little Elephant we bought represented a place we or I had been.  That collection slowly went away we found  fewer and fewer of these collectibles that we considered unique and of displayable quality. Though we still have several carvings I brought back from Africa and other countries. 

[kattinsanity]

I've had 61 sales in the last 30 days~~which is good for me.  Many are low buck items.  I like to deal in vintage kitchen stuff mainly and I think the smartest thing I ever did was to part them out.  Most are big and/or heavy so the shipping cost would eat up any value for them.  MOST of my 61 sales have been for parts for food processors, coffee makers and other kitchen appliances.  I just take the parts off and throw the rest in the dumpster.  I can make much more money in selling the parts than I can selling the whole item and I can ship most parts 1st class in a box or envelope.  I don't have to deal with the big bulky packages that cost an arm & leg to ship.

[shipdog]

Thank you!

[kattinsanity]

$6.65 to ship a pot holder 1st class mail?  That's one thing you're doing wrong.

[tunicaslot]

Your shipping prices are killing you. Someone just sold a similar Hershey Kisses candy mold - I know you have 2 - but they sold it for $12 with free shipping - whereas you want $19.95 and $12.95 shipping for 2

[div_style]

Happily the previous message 11 has been removed.

To reply:   Always useful to check completed listings to see what similar items have sold for, including shipping.   And if there are hundreds of completed listings for an item and only 1 or 2 sales, I might choose to list something else.

Also collectibles in general are not fast movers, so one really needs to have a lot of listings to achieve frequent sales.  In my collectibles store I have around 2500 listings, generating 400+ sales a month.  At that rate 7 listings = 1 sale per month.

[yuzuha]

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@div_style wrote:

Also collectibles in general are not fast movers, so one really needs to have a lot of listings to achieve frequent sales.  In my collectibles store I have around 2500 listings, generating 400+ sales a month.  At that rate 7 listings = 1 sale per month.

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Yep.  I started branching out into things other than collectibles specifically because they tend to be such slow movers.  Sure, they sell, but they can sit around for months or years before that happens because they're dependent on the right buyer coming along.