drop in sales and views

[jsna-76]

I dont understand what is happening,  I am down 42%  on sales, page views etc. etc.  I can barely make ends meet these last few weeks.  I dont' know what do do.

I know the economy isn't great but there has to be a reason for the sudden drop.  

Anyone else seeing it?  Is it ebay?  why arent my items getting seen?????

Thanks for your input

[sakic92710]

"Almost everything you have is the sort of thing that probably only has three or four people out there who are going to want it."

That comment alone just shows me I will not pay attention to further opinions by you.  Ludicrous.  

[ckimodog]

@sakic92710 

Happy for you...never say never.  Keep up the good work!!  😉

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@retro_entertainment_collectibles wrote:

Basically speaking in some respects its a fault in the Feedback system in a way.  95.7% makes things appear as 1 in every 20 orders has had a problem yet the OP has fulfilled 600 some odd orders yet 1/3rd left rating thereabouts.  If we were to assume those 600 orders w/o issues that rating is would be higher.  Clearly I would guess (oh my that sounds bad!)  it exists as it does keep seller on their game better.

Now eBay's search engine does take into account many factors when ranking products in search rewarding good performance over poor performance.  How that all mooshes together algorithmically is an unknown to the site users.

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The FB system was never intended to be used by anyone to measure seller performance.

It was designed to create at no cost to Ebay a form of policing on the site.

On true mass market retail sites like Amazon, it is totally meaningless. Under 1% of transactions get FB, usually those which went poorly.

When the DSRs were created it was a recognition by Ebay that FB was not doing anything for the safety of the site. And the DSRs were hated by many sellers, and did not help buyers.

When I go to a big box store, other than myself, I see few buyers who thank the checkout clerk.

Leaving FB is mostly an activity for old Ebay sellers who are steeped in the culture, or unhappy buyers.

I get FB on roughly 50% of my orders, and the percentage has been dropping forever.

Over all the years, I have never had a bad transaction as a buyer where the seller did not have 100% FB. I only read FB when I am looking at a poster on this forum's listings. And what I often see based on seller responses to FB is indications that the seller is not customer service oriented.

Since the buyer who left unhappy FB is unlikely to read the FB responses, this only serves to accentuate the negative to buyers who still expect FB to rate the seller.

I know Amazon wanted to eliminate FB entirely, substituting a quantitative rating, and only backed off to avoid a seller generated PR stink, claiming the buyers would suffer from lack of FB.

I'd bet Ebay would drop it too, if there would be no PR crisis.

When a seller starts a thread and feels the need to point out their 100% FB before telling us how Ebay has done them wrong, I immediately question whether that seller has any real feel for how large and impossible to manage Ebay and other online marketplaces are.

[ckimodog]

@tools*

Sounds like Hawaii! My home here in KC is worth just under $200,000, in Hawaii it would be worth $2 million.  My dear friend who is a top real-estate agent back home quoted me.  Crazy! 

[yuzuha]

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@sakic92710 wrote:

"Almost everything you have is the sort of thing that probably only has three or four people out there who are going to want it."

That comment alone just shows me I will not pay attention to further opinions by you.  Ludicrous.  

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How is it ludicrous? I've listed many items over the years that probably only had three or four people who wanted them and so they sat around for years until that right buyer came along. It's just a fact for some items. That's why they're called "long tail" items-- because they have very little demand and require just the right buyer to decide that they want them. There's nothing wrong with selling them, but you can't expect quick or steady sales with long tail items. That's exactly why I've moved away from selling that sort of thing for the most part-- because you can end up with things that just sit around and gather dust for literal years.

[chapeau-noir]

Leaving FB is mostly an activity for old Ebay sellers who are steeped in the culture, or unhappy buyers.

That seems a bit broad brush - I'm on mobile sites with younger demographics and feedback for sellers is quite common. I have quite a bit of it on Posh, for example. eBay is no different for feedback.

[dbfolks166mt]

      Some sellers have an overinflated expectation of views. Views mean nothing only sales and you have sold 260 items in the last 90 days and currently only have 119 active listings. A lot of sellers would consider that to be pretty good, not sure what your expectations are or what your historical sales look like. 

     As others noted based on some of your feedback along with your counter responses if I was a buyer I might be a bit worried about your quality control. 

[atlasesattic]

We now have only 2 weekends for Christmas buyers, so it doesn't look good, most buyers will stop buying for Christmas gifts around the 15th

[maxxilano]

Not even the 2008 crisis caused this huge drop in sales, so the economy is a weak excuse, people still need stuff and online everything is cheaper than any brick-and-mortar store. I think the real issue here is the growing competition.  People these days have so many options, so many platforms to choose from, and some of them do a really good job of attracting customers, offering new buying experiences etc..

[lakefor94]

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@lakefor94 wrote:

@sakic92710 

I pulled up an incognito browser. Searched for 2 of your listings.

If I have my heart set on "Heineken Poker Chips" and I do a search, your listing is 3rd. 

If I search for "Panco Ski Boots", your listing is 5th out of 47.

What more do you need? You are right there in the hunt. 

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Check this out @sakic92710 , eBay is working it's butt off for you. They are now sending emails, probably world wide trying to sell your stuff. Let's give credit where credit is due.

[lawnmowerpartsstore2]

Just so you know. Thats automated and needs no human interaction or any more money to make that happen. I wouldn't call it hard work

[lakefor94]

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@lawnmowerpartsstore2 wrote:

Just so you know. Thats automated and needs no human interaction or any more money to make that happen. I wouldn't call it hard work

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Shhhhhhh, I was laying it on thick, just for @sakic92710 

[reallynicestamps]

@tools* The value of our house has doubled since we moved here in 2014.

The problem is that low income workers can't find appropriate housing.

There are condo  blocks going up downtown but the builders have signs offering $40 an hour for Apprentice carpenters.

And BCTransit has cut bus services back to 15 minutes from 10 minutes because they can't hire drivers even at union wages.

@retro-entertainment-collectibes
its a fault in the Feedback system in a way. 95.7% makes things appear as 1 in every 20 orders has had a problem yet the OP has fulfilled 600 some odd orders yet 1/3rd left rating thereabouts.

I agree.

On the bright side, eBay doesn't use FB to assess seller accounts.

On the down side, some buyer do, and few actually understand it.

• FB is voluntary
• Only about 30-40% of transactions have feedback, and usually from the seller.
• Ratios count.

What eBay should do is make number of transactions + number of Disputes (won or lost) public.  And stop giving Defects to sellers who win disputes.

[reallynicestamps]

@retro_entertainment_collectibles
its a fault in the Feedback system in a way. 95.7% makes things appear as 1 in every 20 orders has had a problem yet the OP has fulfilled 600 some odd orders yet 1/3rd left rating thereabouts.

I agree.

On the bright side, eBay doesn't use FB to assess seller accounts.

On the down side, some buyer do, and few actually understand it.

• FB is voluntary
• Only about 30-40% of transactions have feedback, and usually from the seller.
• Ratios count.

What eBay should do is make number of transactions + number of Disputes (won or lost) public.  And stop giving Defects to sellers who win disputes.

[kensgiftshop]

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@allthings-collectible wrote:

The economy is robust right now, especially retail.

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Depends on where you're at.

Went to Walmart Monday and that place was almost dead.