sales have almost stopped completely....why?

[guitarsunderthestarsllc]

I am at a loss.....my sales have completely dropped off a cliff. I am a TOP RATED PLUS seller and recently I often have to search pages and pages deep to even find my listings and sometimes I cannot find them at all. Also items that are selling like hotcakes right now are not even getting views. I have 5 auctions running right now for Nike Huarache 4 LE Lacrosse cleats that when I look at sold listings appear to be selling steadily...yet several of my listings have less than 10 views after being up for several days now. I am not the cheapest or the highest priced on my items...im in the middle. But If you look at my listings like my Nike Huarache Lacrosse shoes listings I beleive my listings are of a pretty high quality and my feedback backs up that quality...so why are my listings getting such low view counts? I thought being "TOP RATED PLUS" meant your listings go to the TOP. Any suggestions. I cant event cover my ebay fees at this sales rate. If this keeps up I will be forced to close my store. I did far more sales BEFORE becoming TOP RATED PLUS than I do now....far more.

Signed......confused, scared and more confused.

My Nike Huarache listing to use as an examle:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nike-Huarache-4-LE-LAX-Leather-Lacrosse-Cleats-Choose-Color-Size-624978-199-...

[leftcoasttrading]

There are many threads regarding this issue.  Sales are in the toilet....  When we thought it couldnt get any worse, then no sales for several days at all.  We used to sell hundreds of items a week.  Now, we may sell 10 IF we are lucky.  With powerseller status, 100% feedback it is ALL COMPLETELY GARBAGE!  We've noted before on other threads, if you do a search on just about anything, there are tons of pages of CHEAP chinese knock offs with companies that have 97% feedback!   eBay demanded sellers have certain standards and they turn around and become the biggest hypocrites.   Like I've said before.... we've been seeing this trend the last 5 years on a downslide. 

We only truly wish the best of luck to those who can negotiate the sharks in the water.  

[honestabe411]

I've had 2 buyers remind me this week that they were disabled when asking for 'the lowest price I'll take'. Why is it that everyone who's disabled feels the need to say so? It's like vegans telling everyone they're vegan.

Literally, tonight a buyer asked for a discount. And in the end he didn't want to agree to a price that was $1.44 more on a $16.50 item. She then proceeded to tell me her budget couldn't fit the extra $1.45 because she was disabled... Just don't get it.

[honestabe411]

Sales do drop and raise. I notice keeping all items on sale using markdown manager keeps sales consistent. Once the sale ends, the amount of listings sold are drastically reduced.

[prettynice444]

Well, it kind of is. People come to ebay for BARGAINS.

I don't think you understand what I'm saying. Do you buy Chinese? I don't I listed what I like to buy above - China doesn't have that stuff, and that's NOT what is driving down prices of what I look for. (although electronics and jewelry, yeah).

To make it simple: the product isn't here anymore. Sellers left. Buyers left. The products that are here are marked a little higher, because the sellers are desperate. So no buyers buy.

Maybe an economist could explain it better, but when I have 20 saved searches, and NONE of what I want is available, there aren't enough sellers left!!!

[shoptalkid]

back to strange sales patterns here.  Nothing all day long yesterday then 3 back-to-back sales from different buyers,  so I guess they turned my lights on during those 10 MINUTES,  because then it was dead again for hours.  

[johnrj1226 · Accepted solution]

Let see what happens in January - every year:

1.  Credit  card bills start coming due from the Christmas buy period.

2.  Income tax time those that need to pay  - probably ain't going to buy much.

3. Businesses seem to  lay off permanent staff in Dec or Jan if they had a not so good year.  e.g. People in the oil/gas related  industries are getting laid off  - crude oil /gas prices are way down - a major drilling/explorations company based out of Houston, Schlumberger, laid off 10K in 2015 and will be  evaluating  qtr. by/qtr what  additiona lcuts will be made for teh next 12-24 mos.  Not a pretty sight for sure.

4.  All those temporary seasonal workers that are added in teh last quarter of  the year are let go - warehousing, retailers, USPS, UPS, Fed-Ex ,etc.

Like the other poster stated, sales activity is never  level from month to month - monthly sales activity is more like a "yo-yo" graph. I sold capital equipment  for 41 years.

[rsresell]

Same here already looking for job as selling on ebay is costing us money slowest ever.ebay needs to edvertise more and change there ethics as sellers are buyers to and we know the game.and we also know its all set up to bring the top rated down simply so we dont receive the discount on fees.

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@abus865 wrote:

That's how is goes, in a venue that doesn't realize sellers were buyers, when they eject huge numbers of sellers along the way.

In the past 2 years, I transitioned from spending 1k month to a whooping zero.  Why?  There is nothing good any longer that I would consider buying .. and all the same, why spend money in a venue that I can't earn a positive value in?  ie can't sell, why bother?

I look elsewhere ... EBay seems to be filled largely with Chinese garbage.  EBay likes the mess though!

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[rsresell]

Im done goodbye ebay good luck as us sellers and buyers will go elsewhere and let the chinese market take over not only has ebay killed the sells for us they are now ran buy communist.shame on you ebay your the worst.pure trash made in china cheap plastic junk.see you in the unemployment line .good luck getting Americans to put up with Your sad and poor business ethics who needs you we have walmartLOL another going gone company.wake up get someone who can run the show as your sinking fast poor customer service poor traffic poor policies and poor managment equells failure .You bite ebay.

[eternalelements]

Ebay died the day they transitioned from fair market auctions where every seller got a fair shake in search results no matter how big or small, to selling themselves out to China and big box retailers. Most US buyers don't want the Chinese trash, fakes, and if we want to buy from Target or Best Buy, why would we buy their junk on ebay, we just go to Target.com or BestBuy.com. After all the US sellers leave it'll be nothing but sellers from China and sellers from big box retail stores left. That's what they want, that's what they'll get.

[thenobletuckylife]

Mornin,

I think it very simple.

Ebay follows the dollars and American's unfortunately have chosen to chase cheap prices with those dollars more than ever now.

The two are like a hand and a well worn glove.

Mr C

[savanna.dance]

@guitarsunderthestarsllc text on photos is a policy violation. It's possible the bots have latched on to that. As long as the photos with text aren't in compliance the listings will tank. I would call eBay and discuss this issue with them, re: text on photos and if you are in violation with your current pictures.

[lookng2015]

Back when eBay started it may have been the place to go for deals and bargains. But this is today and sellers aren't here just so you can get a bargain. They're here to sell their stuff at a fair price.

[onesweetfind]

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@prettynice444 wrote:
Well, it kind of is. People come to ebay for BARGAINS.

I don't think you understand what I'm saying. Do you buy Chinese? I don't I listed what I like to buy above - China doesn't have that stuff, and that's NOT what is driving down prices of what I look for. (although electronics and jewelry, yeah).

To make it simple: the product isn't here anymore. Sellers left. Buyers left. The products that are here are marked a little higher, because the sellers are desperate. So no buyers buy.

Maybe an economist could explain it better, but when I have 20 saved searches, and NONE of what I want is available, there aren't enough sellers left!!!

---

I'm not certain what listings you've been viewing, but my prices are marked way DOWN, precisely because I'm desperate (I've got bills to pay). When sellers are desperate, they tend to lower, not raise prices, just in the hopes of getting a sale. For instance, I've been selling off stuff from my jewelry stash, new, NOT CHINESE. These are artisan/handmade and upscale pieces. A $249 necklace for $59, $165 necklace for $32.99, a Coldwater Creek necklace that was originally $179 and I'm asking $18.99. How much lower should I be expected to go?

It's the same with my yarn. I spent probably 10 hours working on a lot of reclaimed 100% cashmere yarn from England and am only asking $24.99. Not counting what I spent buying the yarn, my labor works out to $2.49 an hour, and out of that ebay and PayPal will take their cut.

I think my prices are pretty darn reasonable, and I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one who is marking things down.

[savanna.dance]

As for search results, using these keywords: Nike Huarache cleats new lacrosse, your listing came up as #39 and your calculated shipping to me is $16.65. I'm in SAV, GA. Are these shoes unusually heavy?

[amazingarts]

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@guitarsunderthestarsllc wrote:

I am at a loss.....my sales have completely dropped off a cliff. I am a TOP RATED PLUS seller and recently I often have to search pages and pages deep to even find my listings and sometimes I cannot find them at all. Also items that are selling like hotcakes right now are not even getting views. I have 5 auctions running right now for Nike Huarache 4 LE Lacrosse cleats that when I look at sold listings appear to be selling steadily...yet several of my listings have less than 10 views after being up for several days now. I am not the cheapest or the highest priced on my items...im in the middle. But If you look at my listings like my Nike Huarache Lacrosse shoes listings I beleive my listings are of a pretty high quality and my feedback backs up that quality...so why are my listings getting such low view counts? I thought being "TOP RATED PLUS" meant your listings go to the TOP. Any suggestions. I cant event cover my ebay fees at this sales rate. If this keeps up I will be forced to close my store. I did far more sales BEFORE becoming TOP RATED PLUS than I do now....far more.

Signed......confused, scared and more confused.

My Nike Huarache listing to use as an examle:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nike-Huarache-4-LE-LAX-Leather-Lacrosse-Cleats-Choose-Color-Size-624978-199-...

---

I am experiencing a crash as well. started about 2 weeks ago.

Views are WAY down.    Ebay did something......but the bigger news is that the economy is terrible.   Now matter what our "leader" says......walmart shut down 154 stores in US.  Catipillar lost 87 million in 4th quarter.

Most jobs are part time due to the "leaders" heathcare plan.   Most of those that have health insurance are now paying double for it.

America has sold out to china along with ebay.

Ebay is symptomatic of the Nation.   Its a mess all around.