topic Re: Listing Performance and Sales?? in Selling

Listing Performance and Sales??

turbometrics — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 10:55:12 GMT

I have experienced a 80-90% drop in traffic to listings and a huge drop in sales, no ranking change on my account but listings are appearing 9 to 10 pages after the first one even with free postages and selling at prices where I make a loss, sales have dropped by at least half, any one else experiencing poor listing performance over the last few months ?

Please respond to the survey leave any helpful tips on improving listing performance if you have any clues.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

davewil1964 — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 11:54:32 GMT

I've increased my listings marginally and sales have proceeded apace.

Even though I sell in a category where a dropshipper usually has at least 10 identical items filling the 10 cheapest spots.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

flashback_deals — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 12:08:52 GMT

I actually don't take much notice, I think if someone wants it, it might sell eventually

I am reopening a store after I take advantage of the 30 free listings tommorow, so will see how it goes 🙂

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

turbometrics — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 13:45:51 GMT

There is a lot of eBay measurement of Seller performance but funny there is no measure of eBay performance, such as daily, and monthly traffic stats, perhaps eBay does not think that sellers have a right to know the performance of the site that they are using and paying for, or perhaps the obvious down trend of traffic that would embarrassed them, as buyers leave eBay to use other auction sites rather then eBay.

Personally as a seller I think that eBay should provide a open unrestricted page of its Australian traffic stats , such as google analytics would provide on any given web site so that Sellers can see how eBay is really performing, while its good to be able to monitor your own listings that has very little relevance if you cant see general statistics of eBay, a drop in daily/monthly visitors could explain listing traffic changes.

I hope that makes sense.

Come on eBay measure your own Performance be accountable for your performance as much as you make sellers accountable to the buyers, after all your selling a service to the sellers, but eBay is a hypocrite to there own standards, As Sellers we dont get to leave eBay negative feedback that effects eBay revenues, perhaps if listing fees were based on eBay performance sellers ranking eBay and as eBay performance drops for your bad feedback we get cheaper listing or final value fees, encouraging eBay to up its game a bit.

Some thing to think about, seriously Sellers need a union or club to boycott eBay for its unfair policies.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

davewil1964 — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 14:07:03 GMT

Nobody's forcing you to sell here.

I cannot see how site statistics would help at all. If they don't come, they don't buy, but if they come and don't buy or if they buy but not from me it's all the same in the end.

I wouldn't have a clue about statistics for my shop. I've never looked, as I consider them irrelevant. Sales are my sole benchmark.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

bsal6160 — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 23:48:47 GMT

One option for eBay maybe to have a seller charged 50% of a non selling price for an item advertised or 5% of the final sale price. That would sort out the sellers just trying to make HUGE profits on cheap items.

I, for one, as a buyer, if looking to buy something here, look through every page for the cheapest item so its irrelevant what page your item shows up on the buyer will see it. Also, a niche market like the one you are trying to sell into only has a certain amount of buyers who after buying the item really have no need to look for another one.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

davewil1964 — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:02:50 GMT

It's easier if you just sort by "Price + Postage - Lowest First", bsal. Saves a lot of pages.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

bsal6160 — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:15:49 GMT

I sort by Finishing Soonest. I could sort by the way you suggest however, if by the second last page i see the one i want its too late. SOLD.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

digital*ghost — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 10:05:41 GMT

I have experienced a 80-90% drop in traffic to listings and a huge drop in sales, no ranking change on my account but listings are appearing 9 to 10 pages after the first one even with free postages and selling at prices where I make a loss, sales have dropped by at least half, any one else experiencing poor listing performance over the last few months ?

Please respond to the survey leave any helpful tips on improving listing performance if you have any clues.

I think you'll find this is something that either is happening, or has happened, to a lot of sellers over the last year or so, with quite a number of factors that can affect listing performance (including - seemingly - the sheer whim of the eBay 'gods' :O). Best Match, which determines where your listing places in search results, is based primarily on sales, but there are a lot of unknown factors as to how one listing can outrank another when it has fewer sales, and the seller's feedback is worse than others. Auctions and discount sales can sometimes help, though I have always found that when things are quiet, they stay that way even with very attractive auction/sale prices.

More recently, some results for eBay listings returned in google searches has fallen in rank back a few pages, so that may be affecting sales if you were getting a lot of hits via google. Sometimes it lasts for a while, sometimes things go back to 'normal' (as normal as sales can be) relatively quickly.

Re: statistics in general, I use a few as a gauge - eg if someting I've listed is getting a lot of views but not even one watcher, I presume the title is ok, but there's something about the listing that's not particularly attractive (price, photos, description and so on). A revamp and/or price change can do wonders (and I don't always reduce when changing price). If something has only gotten a scant number of views in a couple of weeks, I'll give the title an overhaul.

Re: search results - I use ending soonest by default, then if nothing I want at a good price is ending anytime soon, switch to price + postage lowest first, usually filtering out auctions as well.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

davewil1964 — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:52:38 GMT

I sort by Finishing Soonest. I could sort by the way you suggest however, if by the second last page i see the one i want its too late. SOLD.

If you're looking for the cheapest, you won't have to go past the first page. That's where they all will be.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

the-kazbar — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:04:59 GMT

OP I don't know anything about your type of products but I will say that your postage looks a little high to me.

Are sellers of similar items using free post or lower post costs? Are the others sellers doing things different to you and making higher sales?

Take some time to examine what others are doing and see what is bringing in sales and what is not.

ebay is a very dynamic marketplace and what worked 12 months, or even 2 months ago, may not work today. You need to stay alert to any changes in customer expectations and be willing to change to suit.

Good luck 🙂

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

foxette-in-sox — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:26:54 GMT

JMO but as a buyer I'd be put off by your TOS & your hostile responses to negs & neuts.

Putting statements like this

Feedback - Positive feedback Only

we will not be held liable for losses or damages in shipping

etc etc

in your listings isn't exactly going to encourage people to buy from you.Nor is rants that go on for what looks like 90% of the listing.

Have you EVER considered having NO TOS or something VERY simple like

Please feel free to contact if any questions

Happy to combine postage

You need to make your listings look POSITIVE not like a convoluted legal document.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

mcraig5944 — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 09:29:00 GMT

G'day

I've sold heaps of books over several years on Ebay and after a bit of a break I have come back to a 25% sale record that was prviously around 70% and 66% drop in prices on what I think are very collectable non fiction books as they were before.I won't be listing again after my current list runs its course.
Craig

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

phorum_junkie* — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 10:55:15 GMT

I would not buy from you for several reasons:

Responses to feedback.

Ridiculously long T&Cs.

Appear to push bank deposit over Paypal.

Have no idea how Paypal works if you think an ebay buyer's registered address has anything to do with delivery.

I could go on but why bother, you obviously think what you are doing works or you would have changed it.

If I have an item that isn't selling I will often increase the price, sell too low and buyers think you are selling rubbish!

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

loquivintageandmore — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 11:37:36 GMT

I have been experiencing much the same with a dramatic reduction in my sales, and this was noticeable within a quarter of "Corporates" listing on eBay.

Now it needs to be noted that the product lines the "Corporates" are listing for sale on eBay are items not stock in any of their retail outlets. The items are obviously imported from overseas and warehoused for direct sale through eBay. The downturn to this is the detrimental effect this is having on the small business, as they cannot complete.

Tanya

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

davewil1964 — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 02:04:53 GMT

i would hope that after 4 YEARS, turbometrics has solved their problem.

Also, unless you're selling the same stuff as the 'corporates', what they list should not have a direct impact on your sales.

QS is, these days, at best a warehousing site. It was far better when it was Oztion.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

lmckec2009 — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 03:46:43 GMT

Same problem here,the hardest last 12 days or so i sale, usually at least i per day.i wish I knew the answer.

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

stylesilver — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 09:29:28 GMT

Hi Turbometrics, Do you mean you've had a sudden of 80- 90% drop in the last 13-14 days... or gradually over time. Because some people, myself inc. has had this massive drop about 2 weeks ago. Timing seemed to be around the time of roll-out of the new seller hub? This is being posted on a few threads now here on these boards

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

padi*0409 — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 09:56:28 GMT

@stylesilver wrote:
Hi Turbometrics, Do you mean you've had a sudden of 80- 90% drop in the last 13-14 days... or gradually over time. Because some people, myself inc. has had this massive drop about 2 weeks ago. Timing seemed to be around the time of roll-out of the new seller hub? This is being posted on a few threads now here on these boards

turbometrics hasn't been on the boards for 4 YEARS since they started this thread...........................

Re: Listing Performance and Sales??

davewil1964 — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 10:28:00 GMT

The answer is twofold.

1. Let sleeping threads lie. As the information given FOUR YEARS ago is probably not relevant today.

2. Look at your business over a minimum of 3 months. 12 would be better.