eBay

gameofbricks · ‎30-09-2016

As the Subjects states.....Anyone else feeling the pinch?

If anything i have increased my listings yet not much is moving.

Did ebay change something i missed?

*tippy*toes* · ‎03-10-2016

@bjlcr wrote:
Yes my sales are way down on both accounts.One account had no sales for a whole month then item sold on the last day of September...I was pnly having 5 sales a month on each account then suddenly it stoppped.Ebay are trying to get rid of their small time sellers,No doubt about that

I dunno, I'm a small time seller and I'm doing OK. I've had a huge weekend and it hasn't finished yet. Some buyers are still bidding on items. I'm going to have a busy week trying to get everything out considering I have my regular job to attend to.

Maybe it comes down to what you sell and how many people are actually wanting what you have. I haven't looked at your listings, but how do your prices compare to others that are selling the same stuff? Being the lowest price is often a mistake people make. I sell a lot more than sellers of the same items with cheaper prices.

transport-posters · ‎07-10-2016

It's happened again. After a whole week of silence, I had 5 sales in one day!

clarry100 · ‎07-10-2016

I'm a bit concerened what has happened as ebay sales are our primary source of income.

We have two ebay basic stores.

One has been ticking along quite notmally for this time of year. Nothing startling... but just OK.

The other one (this ID) has had a single sale since 1st October.

We've been trading since 2012 and this has never happened before.

We have had the odd day here and there without a sale but never almost a whole week without a single sale.

It's on this ID actually. So you can see our feedback is good (100%).

We have no defetcs of any kind, not even the late delivery ones.

And we have not had any recent dealings with ebay about anything.

Nothing has been changed on our listings. We are at a loss to understand why this would happen.

We should be selling about 5/6 per day about this time of year.

Conversely sales on our website have been on the up in this same week. But Etsy has been slow tho.

transport-posters · ‎07-10-2016

I know the feeling. I take this thing seriously, even though it's not my primary job. I treat my customers with total respect and care, and pay the fees I should be paying, yet it feels like my time is being wasted.

Maybe it's because I have listed my items under 30 day listings. It's only the second or third time I've done this lot under 30 days (listed under another account). Sales were slow prior, but not a whole week without a sale like this! It's the only thing which changed.

chameleon54 · ‎07-10-2016

@chameleon54 wrote:
Thanks Digi, no offence taken and no offence taken to others who may be a little sceptical. I,m just trying to work out what is going on and if there is a way to increase sales.

One theory I have is that an increase in sell through rate, may result in monthly averages climbing over time. This is just based on observing competitors sales. I price my items at the dearer end of the market to gain maximum profit from each individual sale. This means my sell through rate is poor, but my profit margins are exellent. Competitors who sell at lower price points or who sell more popular, but less profitable items have sales which fluctuate much more than mine.

Digi - you make the point that ebay has no way of controlling external links and marketing. This is certianly true.

I have mentioned before that one of my stores experienced unusual traffic after I accidently posted on the forums with that store ID by mistake.

I spent many nights trying to work out what was going on and in the course of that process did extensive searches on my listed items. Many of the items I sell are one offs, not available anywhere else. It was amazing to see who had taken an interest in them and where links to them ended up. I had ebay listings that appeared on external sites which colate items for sale from many sources which are of interest to a particular audience. There was also a very large number ( hundreds ) of listings that had found thier way onto specialist club sites ( particularly in Britian, but also European countries ) and enthusiast discussion forums all around the world. ie. someone on a forum would ask if any members had a particular item for sale. Another member would post a link to my ebay listing. It was a real eye opener.

I dont have any real answers, only questions and possible theories.

I have started a concerted effort to list several hundred new items over the next week or so to see if I can actually increase sales. I have spent two days full time listing already with several more planned for this week. There are quite a few juicy items and seasonal items that should be quick sellers. It will be an interesting experiment.

Well I went ahead as planned with my most concerted listing effort for many months. This was a genuine attempt to see if I could lift sales above my monthly rolling average figure. Several days full time listing and a smaller number of other listings every other day.

And the results are in. .........An initial inrease in sales which pushed me 5% over my monthly rolling average sales figure for a couple of days then nothing. AND I MEAN NOTHING...... ( Just as I thought would happen )...... I continued listing including one full day and sales ground to a complete stop for 36 hours until my numbers fell back below my rolling average. After this sales started again. I am still slightly below rolling monthly average now.

Combined with the other experiences I have noted in above threads, I am convinced my accounts are some of those affected by this phenomina and there is no way I am going to be able to lift sales above a pre determined figure.

Looks like I better stick to growing and consolidating my sheep grazing business as I can no longer make a full time living from my ebay stores.

I started a concerted effort to increase the sheep grazing business two years ago amid concerns about the direction ebay appeared to be taking. We have invested heavily in the sheep including selling a water licence and shares to buy in extra breeding stock as well as retaining all ewe lambs for future breeders. Extra money and time has been invested in infrastructure such as fences and watering points.

This is starting to pay off with several extra lease properties aquired, more than doubling of breeding ewe numbers and lamb and wool prices at an all time high. We are also having a magic season with record rainfall and grass everywhere.

The plan is to mate every ewe on the place to meat breed, Xbred rams next season with a view to selling every lamb produced and CASH IN ( yay ) after several years of belt tightening. Its nice to have a plan and even better when it actually works out.