Where are the customers? WHY aren't we getting any sales lately?

[debk255]

Been on ebay for 18 yrs.  top rated seller with 100% approval ratings. Over the course of that time, I've grown and added many new product lines & put thousands of dollars in new items online here this year alone. 

This year it seems is the year that ebay has died, for in spite of discounts, and sales, I am now lucky if I get 100 dollars in sales in a week!  (used to be 3-5x that much)  I have 1400+ current active listings on ebay and not a single sale in 2 days now?  WTH is going on here?   I do price searches for similar items.  Our prices are competitive, nearly always lower than others.  I share several product posts daily on facebook, instagram ect. (free advertising)  Still nothing.   Some say its the new algorithms, but how do we counter or fix that if this is the problem?  (you'd THINK ebay would be more on top of this issue)   I'm not going to be able to hang on here if things don't perk up.   😢 Open to suggestions.  

[toysaver]

"Where are the customers?"

They're window shopping at the grocery store.  

[stainlessenginecovers]

You've sold 162 items with 1400 listings (11% sell in 90 days) of items that nobody HAS to have; the economy (rent/food/gas) has people NOT spending money on frivolous things. 

That's what is happening. 

[heckofagame]

I think it's just the economy in general. The brick-and-mortar store owners that I have spoken to recently also report slow or no sales on many days. 

[dolcetreasures]

It’s bad, not only are the sales non-existing, the sales I am getting are met with returns rates I’ve never experienced before. 

[the-hook-and-the-loop]

It's not the economy. eBay has employed adult children who tinker with things they know nothing about resulting in a broken platform. My sales have improved on other platforms as I continue to list more on them. I never had time before because I was busy packing and shipping eBay orders. If you want the traffic you were used to on eBay, you will have to promote your listings at 15%+. Good Luck!

[coolections]

People are more concerned with buying necessities over feathers right now.

[maxine*j]

I think it is as simple as the fact that times are tough and a great many people are having so much trouble paying for the essentials -- housing, food, utilities, medical care, transportation -- that they have little left for the jewellery, decorator items, and the like that you sell.  

Now, I know that you and the makers of what you sell are using the money earned, in turn, for essentials, so you're hard hit, too.  But until the overall economy brightens up, I don't think you will see a positive change in your sales.  

A glance at this, from the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, gives some insight into how bad the struggle is, although I fully appreciate that you may already have first-hand knowledge:

https://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/research/2023/20230216

- 

[paraquip]

A little bit of research outside the "Ebay bubble" will reveal your answer.

Ebay is continually working on it's algorithm

Maybe you can google something like: ebay, 60 minutes to gain some insight

hK

[caldreamer]

I agree that sales have been horrible and I don't see it recovering.   Between all these floods and tornadoes thousands of homes were destroyed.  People lost everything and are just struggling to survive.

This is the "new normal" and will only get worse.   Mother Nature is very angry.

[farmalljr]

Here is the thing..... When sellers leave, there are not enough of us being replaced by new people. This is FACT, and eBay's reports say the same thing. 

All these rah rah sellers here, that find no fault in what ebay is doing, are going to pay more for us that leave. When the seller base shrinks, that means fees need to go up, for eBay to continually grow it's income. How much are rah rah sellers willing to pay before reality slaps them in the face? 

There is no denying that there are problems at eBay. The GMV is declining EVERY quarter for the last two years. The user base has been declining too. eBay's take, only increases every quarter. This forcing of sellers to pay to play, is going to do unrepairable damage to the platform. Like inflation, over the last two years, this has been snowballing. The bulk of eBay's seller base is SMALL sellers. They aren't going to pay store fees and promotions, when they don't have any money left. They will leave, and learn a lesson to never trust eBay again. You can't recover when you chase off all your paying customers. 

Sears was an old company, "too big" to fail. But they did. eBay has not been keeping up with the times. They run on an ancient platform plagued with problems, being run by a bunch of people who try to invent new ways to squeeze more money out of every sale. Nothing has been invested in this platform to make it better. They are milking a dead cow. There is nothing left to milk. It's been imploding on itself for 2 years now. All these sellers complaining about dead sales, will leave. I bet by 4th quarter this year, eBay will be on the brink. Money is no longer flowing for them. It's about to stop. 

[theteamsetguy]

@debk255 ,

I think like many sellers who are selling here and on other platforms inflation is having a big effect discretionary spending causing lower sales. Most people only so much income and more of it is eaten up by rising prices of necessities  like food and gas. Gas in my area is approaching $4.00 per gallon again.

Many of the people who still have discretionary dollars to spend are spending it on traveling, going out to eat and ect. because they bought a lot of stuff online when everything was shut down.

Both UPS and Packaging Corp. (One of the biggest cardboard box producers) both missed earnings the first quarter of 2023. The CEO of UPS says ecommerce volume was down more than expected. Trucking companies are starting to layoff drivers because there is not enough business. Not too long ago the trucking companies were begging for drivers.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/ups-earnings-amazon-warning-ecommerce-sales-979e9258

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/28/where-the-trucking-and-rail-recession-is-showing-up-in-economic-data...

[miyasamaco]

Try to focus your energy elsewhere. It is sad to conclude the obvious that this place is dead. The original business model was trashed long ago. It's no longer a space for everyone to try their hand at retail. The executives want it to be just another ecommerce site. 

I used to have a store and sold lots of stuff, both BIN and auction. No more. This place is not worth the effort and won't get any better unless it gets new ownership. 

[heckofagame]

That ties into what @toysaver said. They need grocery money.

[heckofagame]

Yup, things continue to go up. I have noticed that many retailers are now getting credit card terminals that make the buyer pay the credit card processing fees. Good thing we are all used to that already, huh?