Worst Month in 10+ years!!

[germancargarage]

Been on eBay since 1998, been selling with multiple accounts and this has been the absoulte WORST April in the past 17 years. Sell usually 20-30 items per day, have had only THREE normal selling day since April 1st!!! So basically no sale in 26 days and calling eBay every single day but nope they say everything is just peachy, sell your products under your cost with free shipping and give the customers the best return policy. Really eBay?? Been chatting with a lot big sellers (100k feedbacks+) and every single one of them told me the same exact thing: sick of fees and more fees, sick of the sales going down month after month, sick of the buyers abusing the system and sellers being left in the cold. Sellers are the ones paying for their CEO and his lifestyle while he is destroying  eBay 1 seller at a the time. Most people who've been here long enough are SICK and TIRED of eBay and their **bleep** policies and rolling black out, it's really time to leave this dump and move on to bigger and better things.

Thanks for reading my rant for the day!

[odditiesandantiquties]

It seems though a lot of people don't like to use their regular selling id's on here. Not sure why. I have two accounts myself, this is just one of them.

[odditiesandantiquties]

Not a bad idea.....I think I may look into an Amazon account as well.

[tunicaslot]

Many have posting IDs because in the past some sellers would harm another poster's acct if they didn't agree with them or if there was bad blood.  I'd like to say that it could never happen again - but I prefer to be safe than sorry.

[auctionpet]

Ebay has over 25 million sellers (this equates to nearly 10% of the US population) approx 170 million buyers (a mere 7 buyers for every seller) and over a BILLION listings (the number of listings versus buyers is staggering and impossible to ever sell 100%)! Then add in all the other sellers on competing sites!

Do the math and you have your answer as to why sales are down. Add to this the minimalist culture we now live and all the older population downsizing who have stopped buying and you can add that to the downward spiral of sales here.

You can't begin to compare sales today with that of years ago just because you've been selling that long, unless the number of sellers competing against you hasn't changed. The number of people who now sell online is staggering and every single one of them is your competition whether you sell the same product or not......the reason being, there is only so much discretionary income to go around!

On top of all that, ebay's search is clearly a mess. I searched items this week and received ZERO results, reloaded and up came hundred's. Removed a search word that should have expanded results and it narrowed them instead!

However, I agree something has seriously affected sales this month. I had a great March, and April has suddenly been dismal! Many of the items I sell, I have the only one listed on ebay. If something does manage to get views, people watch and watch and never buy. Even if you have best offer, nothing comes in. I had a desirable $400+ item listed, had listed it twice, nothing but so called watchers even though my price was lower than the few others listed. Posted it to a competitor site, took 40 watchers there before it finally sold! Good news was that I paid alot less in fees. Bad news is that it shouldn't be so hard and take so long to sell a harder to find item!

May 1, I voluntarily give up my TRS+ status, it doesn't seem to make a heap of difference in sales anyway. Free shipping, 30 day returns and 1 day handling hasn't made a didly of a difference in sale results! It will be a relief to be done jumping hoops when I do sell!

[books...forthememories]

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@z50com wrote:

I'm changing the way I do business on eBay, adapting to new changes.

30 day returns are going back to 14 days

1 day handling time is now 2 days

Free shipping will no longer be available, paid shipping plus 10%

I will however combine shipping to save my customers money.

I'll still be offering American made tools at GREAT prices. . .

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I've been doing all of the above for years now (except for offering American made tools; I sell only books).  

[odditiesandantiquties]

Thank you for clarifying that. I appreciate it.

[cell.buyer]

After 9/11/2001 everyone became a cheapskate because the real economy collapsed into what is called the great recession, we never really came out of that, the government propped up Wall Street with Zero percent interest rates and the market is the only show in town due to this factor, the real economy never recovered, just certain tech companies and their market capitalization and that is all Wall Street wealth too.

So unless you got onto the gravy train of the stock market you have not really made anything, margins are thin due to Amazon putting pressure on every small business, even large sellers have been run out of business like Sears and many other retailers.

[pinkrose442savings2018]

Looking at these post is very disturbing...I'm really a ant on here and I need something to come in to just eat and this is the issue...most all need the income or they wouldn't be on eBay...my take is the eBay platform is changing right before our eye's and pocket books and such silent on eBay's part until recently the rabbit came out of the hat...deal's are made with China and Big Box companies and us little bitty ants will have to go marching out one by one...I seen a recent post infact just read it about someone buying I think it was a movie script for $300.00 he paid for it and had the shipping date was looking forward to his purchase...now I was shocked when I read his post...eBay has us all putting the buyer on a throne...this buyer had his purchase cancelled and he searched it out only to see the seller sold it to someone else right underneath him...angry with this he left a negative feed back...it disappeared...that is what is going to happen to all small seller's they too are going to disappear...so start looking for another venue...

[megadestroyers]

"Looking at these post is very disturbing..."

Agreed!!  The new car ebay smell has long disappeared.  ebay has chosen over the past decade or so to continually interject its schnozz into the biz of doing biz instead of remaining Switzerland.  And who doesn't like Switzerland?

Just a thought; no matter how bad a buyer or seller may be, resolving a difference with either is infinitely more palatable than getting ebay involved with their slanted views.  We have seen what can happen.

[auctionpet]

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@cell.buyer wrote:

After 9/11/2001 everyone became a cheapskate because the real economy collapsed into what is called the great recession, we never really came out of that, the government propped up Wall Street with Zero percent interest rates and the market is the only show in town due to this factor, the real economy never recovered, just certain tech companies and their market capitalization and that is all Wall Street wealth too.

So unless you got onto the gravy train of the stock market you have not really made anything, margins are thin due to Amazon putting pressure on every small business, even large sellers have been run out of business like Sears and many other retailers.

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This is all true. If many of the big boys can't make it, how can the littles one's possibly survive. I know Sears is old school and has been having a tough time for the past decade at least. Malls are empty these days, many in Florida by me have actually closed! However, some of the retailers that are closing carry product geared toward the younger set. Which, again bears out the fact that their not spending, except on their phones that are glued to their hands!

Retirees all downsizing at once and selling off their possessions has created a huge market glut and a race to bottom pricewise!

[pinkrose442savings2018]

Worst Month in 10+years is the thread...freedom right now at this moment is still allowed to post views of why the worst month...one seller freely post chalk it up to bad luck...bad luck for you who are struggling...good luck if you sell tools?  Personally I don't believe in bad luck so that view isn't for me...but I rather look at stats...that new car...oh how nice it smells...

[etxcltr]

Ok, wow to yet again more sellers saying ebay is noting but crickets!!!

I would try this. Works for me some what.

I 100% do not do what ebay wants!

I do not take returns. Says in auction.

All items as is. Please ask questions before you bid on item.

For me i have done this now for a few years.

I think it helps with sales. Other say whatever..

But get this. I sell items. Customers get it and leave + feedback.

Instead of i got it and dont want it game i use to play.

So i get no discounts. But dont have to play the SCAM GAME known as Returns.

Also i gave up on Ebay being a place to make $$. I use it to get rid of all my inventory from when ebay was good. This is the sad fact of 2017 ebay.

Its over! DEAD and GONE!

Good luck to you all. But ebay is the Titanic and the band is playing and sellers and buyers are jumping off the ship!!

[savedfrommyspokes]

My unit sales were up almost 20% over last April, while $s were flat over LY April.   Under my selling account, I have been selling since 2002, FT for the past 6 years.  Each year I have been able to grow my units sold by 5-10%, my $s have jumped around, but overall I increase each year.   But what pays the bills is the money left over, the profit....still seeing a steady increase there year after year. 

Everytime I experience a "dip" in sales, it just gives me another opportunity to adjust some part of my ebay business in order to improve my results.   Since no one else, including ebay, are responsible for my results I focus on the things I can control, not the things I can't.  

I do not enjoy, appreciate, or endorse many of the constrictive policies ebay forces upon sellers, but I do take advantage of any of their policies/offerings that benefit me. 

If your sales are down, focus on yourself, not ebay.

[gramophone-georg]

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@savedfrommyspokes wrote:

My unit sales were up almost 20% over last April, while $s were flat over LY April.   Under my selling account, I have been selling since 2002, FT for the past 6 years.  Each year I have been able to grow my units sold by 5-10%, my $s have jumped around, but overall I increase each year.   But what pays the bills is the money left over, the profit....still seeing a steady increase there year after year. 

Everytime I experience a "dip" in sales, it just gives me another opportunity to adjust some part of my ebay business in order to improve my results.   Since no one else, including ebay, are responsible for my results I focus on the things I can control, not the things I can't.  

I do not enjoy, appreciate, or endorse many of the constrictive policies ebay forces upon sellers, but I do take advantage of any of their policies/offerings that benefit me. 

If your sales are down, focus on yourself, not ebay.

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As a buyer only since 2010, I disagree.

I just attempted to find a simple male outside plug for an RV here on eBay. After flailing with keyword combinations for almost a half hour, getting zero results or completely irrelevant results (who ever thought that "male wall plug" would get me pages of men's clothing from China with zero keywords in the title?) I went to Amazon, typed in "RV electric male box" (my first attempt here on eBay) and BAM exactly what I'm looking for at a great price shows up in the first few returned items... about 30 seconds. I had one- click buying turned on. Click, I'm done... faster than I can even get through the first page of completely irrelevant results here on eBay, LET ALONE the click to buy, click to get to PayPal, sign into PayPal, click for funding source, click to confirm payment, click, click, click, click, click, click...

I mean... it's years past time that eBay should have awakened and smelled the coffee here. Instead, all that ALL of us will get is another dose of that fine eBay AI- Arrogant Incompetence.