eBay no longer relevant w/100:1 seller to buyer ratio

[cashmere99]

After decades of selling on eBay, my goal is 2 close my account after the holidays. Between insane FV fees & s/h costs, INR fraud, intermittent throttling & blackouts, low-ballers, porch pirates, lack of advertising,  etc., eBay is no longer worth the trouble. I’m selling <5% of my inventory, & I can’t survive selling items for pennies on the dollar 2 the bottom-feeders. Much like aol & yahoo, eBay is a ghost town. 

[bonjourami]

The last stats I read on Ebay were 135 million members, with thirty million sellers worldwide, 1.2 billion listings, and a million dollars in transactions a day.

[cashvaluerecovery2011]

Still way more buyers than sellers. Problem is all the other things you mention. And other places to buy from with out all the ebay **bleep** to deal with. I sell the same stuff in giant quantities elsewhere. Another place i pay no fees etc.

Ebay treats sellers like a used rag and many sellers and buyers are now using ebay as a last resort or a flea market.

[wifetrained]

I don't think Ebay has been all that relevant for several years. There's really little that's unique about it anymore, lot's of competition out there by companies that function in the same way as Ebay, ie; a listing venue or auction site.

[vintagecraze50]

My question about your statement would be then why is Ebay still the number 2 most popular site on the internet. Also, I will comment that without the right people at the helm here making some good decisions and especially becuase there are more and more sites out there, they need to do something about keeping up with the pace. The cuts in advertising and the lower ranks on the search engines for products is not helping here. They need to get on the ball with that.

[bonjourami]

I dont think the op is too interested in facts.

[slippinjimmy]

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@bonjourami wrote:

The last stats I read on Ebay were 135 million members, with thirty million sellers worldwide, 1.2 billion listings, and a million dollars in transactions a day.

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Your a bit off on that number, it's more like 230 Million Dollars per day (from 183 Million "active users").

[gwzcomps]

I mean most sellers are also buyers. I don't blame you for quitting though. The sell through rate is horrible. Mine used to be 40-50% Now it is like 10-20%

[membersinceaug2001]

Those numbers in the millions are hard to fathom.  You would think us little guys would sell out within a week with that many buyers and $$ sold.

[coolections]

Good luck on your new venture. Ebay is not for everyone especially those using it as an only source to make a living.

[mr_lincoln]

@cashmere99   The 100 to 1 Buyer to seller ratio is a bit off ... its more like a 7 to 1 ratio ...

[gwzcomps]

Helped run a car auction once. $500k of cars in 6 hours 😮

[ed8108]

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@bonjourami wrote:

The last stats I read on Ebay were 135 million members, with thirty million sellers worldwide, 1.2 billion listings, and a million dollars in transactions a day.

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The above may be Interesting

but ....

What really matters to a seller is that of receiving fair & adequate compensation for the risk, time & effort expended in selling.

[yuzuha]

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@membersinceaug2001 wrote:

Those numbers in the millions are hard to fathom.  You would think us little guys would sell out within a week with that many buyers and $$ sold.

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Not if you don't have what those buyers are looking for.

[coolections]

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@yuzuha wrote:

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@membersinceaug2001 wrote:

Those numbers in the millions are hard to fathom.  You would think us little guys would sell out within a week with that many buyers and $$ sold.

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Not if you don't have what those buyers are looking for.

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@yuzuha 

Exactly.  It seems this type of mentality has just snowballed over the last 5 years or so. Those sellers not only need to list items buyers are looking for, but they must also compete against all those other sellers selling the same things. There are way too many items listed here compared to the amount of buyers willing to purchase those items.