Is my store ok? My sales have dropped off

[kitty-kat-kollection]

I know it's been quiet since before Christmas, and I also was away for almost 2 weeks during that time, but I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong somewhere.

My store is called kitty-kat-kollection and I sell mostly used excellent quality womens clothes, shoes, handbags, some makeup & skin products, some jewellery and the occasional item like vintage Lego and (genuine) Pandora charms (from one of my own bracelets).

I know the amount of sellers is high in this fashion area, and although I try and buy high end / designer clothes, it's very rare to actually find those pieces at prices cheap enough to guarantee a fairly decent profit and you can never know whether any item will sell or for how much.

I put business cards in every parcel, have custom return address labels and am really helpful and friendly to my buyers. I've been on Ebay since 2002 (but only started properly selling in July 2018) and am a "top seller".

I try to use all the keywords I can in the titles, always include well written descriptions in the listings, always provide measurements for each item, and also try and show my items as best I can by taking photos from various angles. I also go through my listings every few days and change up the photos and review the price.

The photos of clothes are mostly on cat-themed coat hangers on a hook on my white door so against a clean, uncluttered backdrop. The photos of my other products like shoes, bags and cosmetics are on either my white shaggy rug or my faux fur ottoman. I am actively seeking a plain white mannequin bust as they often look so much better (neck down to upper thigh).

I'm just wondering if there's an issue I'm not aware of. Many of my items only have 1-3 views after a week. Am I buying the wrong brands? Am I too cheap? Too expensive? Do my listings blab on for too long?

If anyone is really bored and would care to take a look, I'd really appreciate it

Thank you!

[imastawka]

Just at a quick glance, where are the store categories?

Ladies tops, dresses, jewellery etc

Why do I have to scroll through 9 pages to see if you have anything in my size?

And in your header - UPDATE - I will be away from 26 September to 1 October for my birthday long weekend, but back and posting on 2 October!

Kinda makes your store look abandoned IMO

Some of your listings (older ones maybe?) contain this wording -

I cannot take responsibility for postage delays, undelivered / missing items or items damaged during transit via Australia Post.

Unfortunately, that's not true.  You do have the responsibility to make sure your buyer receives what they bought. 

Clothing is one of the hardest categories to sell.

There is just too much competition.

I'm not a fan of 'over the door' photos, but it's a step up from throwing them on the floor.

The sooner you get a mannequin the better

JMO

[imastawka]

Your sold listings show sales of almost $1,000 since Christmas.

You call that slow?

Others would kill for those sales.

[imastawka]

Your Pandora is not genuine.

https://au.pandora.net/en/charms/pendantlibrary/love-notes-hanging-charm/797835CZ.html

It's not even listed as retired.

https://www.pandora.net/en-lb/products/retired/by/cat/05

I'll stop now........................

[springyzone]

When I clicked on items for sale, and then later on the kitty kat name & shop, I didn't see any message or update. Not saying it is not there, just that I didn't see it at all. But I agree that if there is anything about last oct, I'd be deleting it. 

The store section isn't as organised as it was just clicking in to look at items for sale. You do need categories in there too.

My main problem (and I am willing to admit it is probably just me or it could be just the way ebay operates) is that when looking at your items, once I get into the women's clothing/shoes/accessories category, I have trouble getting back to view 'all categories', as that option disappears from the list. I can use the back button to go back to where it was visible, but that's a pain if i have clicked on a few different things.

It looks to me as if you've got things set up reasonably well. A mannequin might help, as stawka suggested. Presentation/first appearance is everything, or just about, when it comes to ads. Easy to pass over anything that doesn't catch the eye first off.

I would imagine the month after Christmas might be a bit slower, people are away and all shopped out for a while.

[springyzone]

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@imastawka wrote:

Some of your listings (older ones maybe?) contain this wording -

I cannot take responsibility for postage delays, undelivered / missing items or items damaged during transit via Australia Post.

Unfortunately, that's not true.  You do have the responsibility to make sure your buyer receives what they bought. 

JMO

---

Just wanted to add, i also saw this on one ad I looked at (But not on another, so it may be, as stawka said, an older ad).

Can i just say that as a buyer, if I see this in an ad, it puts my back up these days. A seller could put it in ads about 15 years ago, because if a buyer didn't pay for insurance or whatever & something got lost in the post or damaged, too bad, as long as the seller had the postage receipts etc to show the buyer, they usually felt no compunction to reimburse. It was a private matter between seller & buyer to sort out.

All the same, I don't recall we ever put such a clause in our ads even back then, as it doesn't set a good tone in my opinion. Sort of confrontational before it needs to be.

And these days, it is outright false, which is why it puts my back up. It wouldn't necessarily stop me buying from you, but what it would do, if I had a problem, is lead me to go immediately to open an ebay claim, rather than discuss it with you at all. 

Most regular ebay buyers know their basic rights and if something is not delivered or is damaged, i am afraid you do have to take some responsibility.

[imastawka]

I guess I'm still bored, so I'm back.

The cat coat hanger  has got to go.

I know you like it because of your name, but it makes all the clothing look like

it's got a pink collar.

It's very distracting.

[kitty-kat-kollection]

Thank you all so much for this valuable advice!

I've been wondering that about the cat coat hangers too. I agree, I think they are distracting.

When I went away for 5 days in late September I put up that message but then took it down obviously when I got back, so I am baffled as to how on earth it could still be appearing!!! Nobody seemed to be able to see it at the time anyway as I got a heap of sales that long weekend!

Ah yes, the Aus Post taking no responsibility thing. I saw some big sellers had this so I put it in my listings too, but am in the process of removing it as I know I can't actually not take responsibility. And it looks bad to have that in there.

Now....item categories. I put all my items into specific categories when I list them. You have to, don't you? Clothing, womens clothing, tops, etc? Are my items not showing up as being searchable in categories within my shop!? I had no idea! I wouldn't even LOOK at a shop if I had to look at every single thing!

And having to scroll through 9 pages to find a size?? All my listings contain the size, it's always entered in the drop down boxes / info and also mentioned separately in the description.

I list everything using the app...might this be an issue?

I am severely annoyed (at ebay / possibly myself) for the categories and sorting size etc issues!!! I had NO idea!

And I know not everyone will be shopping IN my shop and will just come from a general search and find my item (I hope), but still...

Thank you so much again for this. I really appreciate it!

[imastawka]

There is so much writing in your blurb at the top of the page, the bit about your birthday weekend only shows when you hit 'more'

This is what I see when I click on your store (note the categories on the left hand side) -

The app has been found to be useless in more ways than one.

Others can address the app issue.          I don't use it.

[wide-world-of-stamps]

When you list an item you have to choose an Ebay category.

What others are talking about is your store categories, which you have to set up yourself - can't remember exactly how as it's been a while.