No Sales...What is happening?

[hexenkat11]

I have sold on Ebay for a few years now & this week has been the worst.  Has everybody gone to Mars? 

Not a single sale in 3 days...  I have never seen anything like it.

Anyone else experiencing the same situation?

[bettyboopsadaisy]

I'm also a 'seasoned' seller with a good few years of selling and in the last couple of days I sold my first two items in over two weeks !!

The down-turn in sales, at least for me, is nothing new. In the last 18 months, things have been gradually getting quieter and quieter. I obviously didn't know how lucky I was previously, with about 80% of sales on the first listing. Gone are those days, I'm afraid !

I'm sure I'm partially responsible, since I'm not technologically very savvy and have lost the passion, after all these years, to be bothered with pursuing this new selling strategy or that one. 

If this sounds like a sob story, it isn't really. I've finally decided THERE'S LIFE AFTER EBAY !!!!!

[transport-posters]

Same here.  A number of factors possibly.

Do you sell to many overseas buyers?  Australia Post have just increased their shipping rates by over $2 in some cases.

The Australian Government may be causing consumers worry about what will happen with the looming new budget, tax changes and the upcoming federal election.

eBay are pushing deals, vouchers and discounts with large companies like Myer and Target.

You may be currently experiencing a "lights off" period where eBay doesn't give you much exposure, instead giving other sellers more exposure.  It happens to me, my sales come in waves, then suddenly stop.  Some refer to it as "throttling" (read about it using Google).  Try bulk-editing your prices up by 50 cents, it sometimes helps.

A new competitor may be pushing you down in the search results because they are meeting more requirements to be listed higher in the search results (eg. entering product number, free postage, etc).

[chameleon54]

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@bettyboopsadaisy wrote:

I'm also a 'seasoned' seller with a good few years of selling and in the last couple of days I sold my first two items in over two weeks !!

The down-turn in sales, at least for me, is nothing new. In the last 18 months, things have been gradually getting quieter and quieter. I obviously didn't know how lucky I was previously, with about 80% of sales on the first listing. Gone are those days, I'm afraid !

I'm sure I'm partially responsible, since I'm not technologically very savvy and have lost the passion, after all these years, to be bothered with pursuing this new selling strategy or that one. 

If this sounds like a sob story, it isn't really. I've finally decided THERE'S LIFE AFTER EBAY !!!!!

---

Same here Betty, I was a full time ebay seller 12 months ago, but with the constant platform and policy changes, anti seller sentiment expressed in policies, commissions charged on postage, fee gouging by Australia Post and general decline in sales trends as other venues take market share, ebay is just a part time thing now. I havnt purchased any major stock for 12 months and can probably go on selling for another few years with the stock I have in storage in a shipping container.

Sales are still OK here, but are in a general long term decline. I,ll keep chipping away at ebay because I need the money, but I,m  genuinly feeling battle fatigued.

BUT there is life after ebay.......

I am devoloping a sheep grazing business and are close to the point where I can make a full time living from it. It is mainly based in a beautifull, green, near city, hills area but we do have sheep on an outback property 250 km. away as well. We move the sheep around following the feed and are currently shifting them into vinyards for the winter season. ( they have just started lambing in the vinyards in the last few days      ).

While it is a very busy and hard working occupation, my stress levels are virtually zero when working with the sheep. No ebay policies, No customers, No boss, turn the phone off and even No wife .......   ( dont tell her I said that   ).......

[6508.froggy]

Strange - I have seen these comments lately about the slow sales on Ebay. My experience is I have had the best month so far even surpassing Xmas sales (Nov) already and we are only at the 21st. In fact the last two months have been far better that I could have anticipated. May be my stock is suited to Mothers Day gifts which could be the reason for the increase this month.  I am having trouble keeping up with stock. My stock also does not have to compete with the big stores like Myer / Target etc as it is mostly in the line of collectables. I am sure things will slow - and when it does I will do some research and  try new types of stock. Hope all picks up for others as it is all about swings and roundabouts. Cheers 

[jellybirddesigns]

Agree froggy - it is swings and round abouts.

A few weeks back I made a similar complaint on the boards about how bad my sales were, and then suddenly it picked right up again.

Also, I've had a large increase in overseas buyers. Normally I sell about 5% overseas, but in the last few weeks it has really picked up to about 15% of my sales.

Fortunately I had already built in a little padding on my overseas postage, so the recent increases have not affected me.

[jpdistributors]

Since Christmas my sales are down by 50%, its very quiet.  Not just in my store but other friends of mine who sell completely different range of products with huge turnover are the same and it all started the same time for both of us, very strange, we also get groups of sales from the same area/state at the same time Thinking of ending my time with Ebay if they are going to play around like this.  Sales have not slowed anywhere else.

[clarry100]

We sell our products across two ebay stores and also on our own website and on etsy.

All venues are very quiet right now.

This time of year tho is typically slow but never been as slow as it has been this year.

[inthemoodforlingerie]

I thought it was just my stores too. Sales have been steadly declining the last 18 months although still consistent but the last fortnight it's like someone turned off the tap completely! Having so many big player on eBay is effecting the smaller sellers when we previously had a more fair playing field.

Any sugestions how to compete more effectively?

[lotsamagsnbags]

its also NSW school hols along with anzac day hols so alot of people are away.  hence less sales.