topic Re: So....so....quiet..... in Selling

So....so....quiet.....

betterdealsdepot1 — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 07:02:16 GMT

Wow, I can't beleive how quiet it is on Ebay at the moment. Hardly a peep in sales the last few days and it seems to have decreased somewhat over the past couple of months. Hoping this isn't going to be an ongoing trend for ebay.....

Re: So....so....quiet.....

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 07:09:08 GMT

Tis a bit depressing I must say

Re: So....so....quiet.....

davidc4430 — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 07:43:04 GMT

can't be helped

its winter

the buyerbears are hibernating

Re: So....so....quiet.....

betterdealsdepot1 — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 07:45:30 GMT

Yeah....I suppose that's right. Still, much more down on sales than this time last year........

Hopefully some of those tax returns will start coming in

Re: So....so....quiet.....

dylan11235813 — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 07:46:17 GMT

Ebay up to their usual nonsense. I have days with a couple of sales and then the next heaps. In the last week I have sent out more orders to the NT than in like 3 years. My guess is it is ebays ranking system stuffing up from time to time with all the "upgrades" but I suspect it is quite more devious. A low rating in delivery time seems to trigger a shift in state. And then theres the "how to improve your listings" emails, which basically shuts hsit down for a couple of days.

Re: So....so....quiet.....

dylan11235813 — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 08:00:20 GMT

Just thought I would add that I have received the emails and ratings before and sales seem to pick up, but IMO it is some sort of delay that is built into the system (to try to hide it). Ebay made me like this. Overall it seems to average out....

Re: So....so....quiet.....

betterdealsdepot1 — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 08:12:45 GMT

It does seem that way sometimes. Same here with the whole "posting to places I've never posted to before" in the last few weeks.

I'd say hopefully they fix it up or even smooth things out to show some improvements.......but not feeling that much hope so far.

Re: So....so....quiet.....

dylan11235813 — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 10:02:09 GMT

The fact that ebay are throttling accounts is quite documented, and they seem to accomplish it by providing different content to different areas. Just for the sake of argument I have logged into ebay (and the forums) using several different proxy servers and each time I get different results using ebays search engine.

As a seller I am more concerned with the no defect situation, as in, just a 3 star rating or something. That seems to affect sales more than anything else. The "oh so quietness" was caused by someone leaving a low rating and ebay manually changing the entire system. In my opinion they operate borderline illegally (and not just for market fixing). Talk about the hand that feeds you...As in me.

Re: So....so....quiet.....

dylan11235813 — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 10:16:25 GMT

They do have the best match thing

Re: So....so....quiet.....

misterforgetfulsbooks — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 11:09:55 GMT

@dylan11235813 wrote:
The fact that ebay are throttling accounts is quite documented, and they seem to accomplish it by providing different content to different areas. Just for the sake of argument I have logged into ebay (and the forums) using several different proxy servers and each time I get different results using ebays search engine.

As a seller I am more concerned with the no defect situation, as in, just a 3 star rating or something. That seems to affect sales more than anything else. The "oh so quietness" was caused by someone leaving a low rating and ebay manually changing the entire system. In my opinion they operate borderline illegally (and not just for market fixing). Talk about the hand that feeds you...As in me.

I believe you.

The way the throttle can be pushed up or down depending on a good or bad experience really is the pits.

Re: So....so....quiet.....

dotm2004 — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 11:20:47 GMT

I must say this is the quietest I have ever know it since I started selling over 10 years ago ..... Maybe things will spring back to normal on 1 September 🙂 🙂 Or am I being the eternal optimist ?

Re: So....so....quiet.....

dylan11235813 — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 11:56:54 GMT

they increasd it for me lask year and then dropped it back> I really don't get how they are allowed to do that

Re: So....so....quiet.....

outback_blends — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 00:14:29 GMT

Yup dead as. I think I might change the location of my items to CHINA ... might get me some sympathy from the search engine. 🙂

Re: So....so....quiet.....

rocket2retro — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 00:18:17 GMT

Yes same here. Hardly any sales this weekend & a very quiet month as well.

Re: So....so....quiet.....

redders_60 — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 03:26:18 GMT

Lights Out... Ebay says I'm not here! Throttled & strangled!

I've sold only 2 cheap items for the month of August so far. One to USA. (& I only offer 2 different small items for OS postage)

My daughter sells rare books & exclusive figures / collectables & clothing of the Pop Culture genre & has sold nothing for the entire month!

There's just no incentive to list new items. Even though we both got the bulk freebie offer that ended yesterday.

Both of us have excellent F/B & stats. I guess flooding homepage & listings with larger stores, multionals & Asian junk means small Aussie sellers of long standing & good repute aren't an Ebay priority anymore.

My daughter & I use our sales to fund purchases here on Ebay, so the cycle continues in that if we have no sales, then we just don't buy! This is probably true of a lot of sellers who closed their Ebay stores when they became financially unviable. (IE - Hidden)

Some years back the discussion boards were full of speculation with regards to Ebay wanting to become a mega mall type of operation. New items from corporate entities in preference to the vintage or interesting that first gave them a wide profile in the online market. Well that's just what has happened!

Re: So....so....quiet.....

collect247 — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 04:34:57 GMT

If you've sold 1 thing in the last month on ebay then I think you're lucky lol.

I was suspended on ebay for life because of last years very unfair defect system that allowed buyers to run riot

with lies.

Worst of all it also stopped any other family members from selling on ebay also,they have finally forgiven me for

ruining there accounts also.

But I have been trying to sell on another platform for the past 9 months and I haven't sold a thing but have got 100's

of views.

When 50% of your income does/did come from online selling it's really hard to get a grip of,and I sympathise with all

sellers that are feeling the pinch at the moment,all the best to you all and may your sales pick up soon.

Re: So....so....quiet.....

*tippy*toes* — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 05:30:22 GMT

I didn't know all your family got shafted too. That sux a bit.

Like the new name!

Re: So....so....quiet.....

redders_60 — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 05:58:53 GMT

Hi Didaway; Sounds like you have some real probs! If your new listings are on the QS Aus site, I can say I've had 4 sales this month & my daughter had 2 book sales. No promotions, found via site or Goog. Books are hardest to sell. Just ask any bookseller!

Neither of us spend much time listing there, with about 300 apiece. Mine mostly glassware & hers books. We used to make a decent supplementary income there until format changes in April 2013 made the site too difficult to navigate easily. I wish they'd go back to the old format. Then we'd be rolling in clover! I was looking to that site for my retirement income & had a good client base which slowly curtailed. At least it dropped off slowly; Not like the "lights off we don't want you" on Ebay.

Re: So....so....quiet.....

*stuff*books* — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 06:46:12 GMT

I went to a garage sale one day and the guy was an ex newsagent and he bundled a lot of items for me as I was late going to it

and he just wanted rid of the boxes as he was moving house,(so I took out what I wanted and started selling the rest on here).

He had some "interesting" items underneath the DVD's in some of those boxes,(there was also some good stuff such as brand

new pens,pencils,etc)

My main category had less than 200 listings on a regular basis when I first started and listings were steady and similarly priced.

It's now over 500 listings and prices are that low by some sellers that they should just donate them to charity,(as they are losing

money on them).

So I do bulk listings that seem to sell two or three per month and it means I only have to put up 3 listings instead of around 25,(

much easier and less effort needed).

Now when ever the free listing come on sales seem to nosedive,(what was the last lot?,500 free listings?).

Multiply that by 1000 sellers and you have half a million extra listings.

You then have the voucher system where buyers hold back on buying stuff until they receive a discount voucher from eBay,(so

they may wait weeks to buy items).

Add the throttling and I'm glad I don't have to earn money from here to survive.

I'm like a number of sellers and buy stuff on this site with the money I make from selling on it,(no sales means no buying).

Re: So....so....quiet.....

yeoldecoinco — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 07:05:41 GMT

This month so far I have sold 254 items on eBay.

Today has been quiet, no sales at all as at 4.30pm and last Saturday week I did not make one sale all day, which is unusual.

Is this a throttling conspiracy? Not for me, I don't believe, just the normal ebb and flow of business that most shops experience. Yesterday was a good day, today, no one buying.

However, overall, August has not been too bad, although it has tailed off in the last week or so.

This is normal, the last week of August and the first couple of weeks of September are usually the worst time of the year for my eBay selling.

A good time to take a break.

The Royal shows are on in most capital cities, this takes a large amount of discrentionary spending money out of people's pockets.

Also, the weather is better and people get out more after a cold winter and don't sepnd as much time indoors.

I have been doing this nearly 20 years now and can set my watch by it.

Because I know this time of the year is dead for my type of retail, it is not a worry.

Middle of January until end of February and end August until mid September are just dead for my type of eBay store, probably for a lot of others as well.