It doesnt pay to rush these things.

[chameleon54]

I just went to pack an item I had sold. It was a service manual for a vintage truck and I thought it was a bit strange as I didnt actually know I had it. After a bit of searching I found the book tucked away in a dark corner of the storage cupboards. Further investigation showed it was one of the very first items I listed on ebay, way back in 2010.

It has just sat there going round and round for eight years waiting for the right buyer to come along. Now its that items turn to shine, dusted off and ready to provide information to a restorer somewhere. Theres some-one for everything, but sometimes you just have to be a bit patient on ebay............

[countessalmirena]

... and imagine if you'd become discouraged and listed it for 99 cents! (Or mulched it.)

[wide-world-of-stamps]

Exactly - our thought is "everything eventually sells".

It sometimes just takes a bit longer for the buyer to actually find an item and realise that they actually do want it. 🙂

Sorry - too many "actuallys".

[tangledstitches]

I left all my best items in unsold recently and gave the slowest items a go. I sold quite a few things that have been listed for about the same time as your manual.

I don't know how ebay make things invisible but it really does seem as though they hide a lot of stuff and only show it when you haven't got all your listings up! I sold too many 'slow' items for it to be coincidence!

I also find some of my best items are slow to sell but when I put them on facebook they sell straight away, exactly as they should do on ebay.

[6508.froggy]

Ebay seem to not agree. Sometime ago there was mention that Ebay would remove listinigs that had been going around awhile. 

I think from memory it was two years. I am not sure if that is still on their agenda.

I agree with your thoughts I have things that sit for sometime and I always avoid reducing the item as someday someone will come along and purchase the item.  It always seems to happen

[rocket2retro]

I have a saying that "the person who will buy this item doesn't know they want it yet!":

[justkidzbiz]

FB do that. You can only repost an item 5 times.

[chameleon54]

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@6508.froggy wrote:

Ebay seem to not agree. Sometime ago there was mention that Ebay would remove listinigs that had been going around awhile. 

I think from memory it was two years. I am not sure if that is still on their agenda.

I agree with your thoughts I have things that sit for sometime and I always avoid reducing the item as someday someone will come along and purchase the item.  It always seems to happen

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In fairness you couldn't really blame ebay if they ended listings that have been unsold for two years. I,m sure they don't want a site full of inactive listings.

I started my ebay business years ago when you just listed stuff, and it sat there with equal visibility in searches to other similar items until it sold. My whole business model is based on selling unusual items that not many other sellers have. ( and only a few buyers want ). I don't chase to the bottom on price and just sit back and wait until the right buyer comes along.

It worked very well for awhile, but the model has become outdated as ebay policy has evolved over the years. Ebay lower those idle listings in search ranks, and I suspect buyers only see them when my sales drop below a certain level and ebay decree its time I made a few sales.

Their sandpit, their rules I guess. My response has been to open a new store twelve months ago, selling more popular, but still unusual items. This store is much more active and vibrant than the older stores, and is more suited to ebay's current policies. The old stores still just chug along making consistent sales each week so it is still worth running them at least until I use up all of the stock I have in storage. ( and that could take several years )