topic Re: SALES AND VIEWS! in Selling

SALES AND VIEWS!

thelouiefly — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 23:25:13 GMT

WHAT AN EARTH IS GOING ON?

Have I missed something? Anyone else having the same issue?

My listings are getting very few views, most none - used to get 10 to 20 plus.

Sales are down dramatically - basically none!

Is this because of the sponsored **bleep** eBay are trying to get you to do?

I refuse to, they already take more than enough money.

Is it time to move on to another platform? Recommendations?

I'm not a business, just a part timer making some money(none as of late)!

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

daydreams_12 — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 00:09:08 GMT

I am not trying to be a smarty here but think about it. You are in a specialized field and only have 12 listings at present.

Christmas is less than 2 weeks away and people have to think about kids, food and general household expenses.

People really only have so much money to spend on their whims.

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

thelouiefly — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 00:21:55 GMT

Oh yeah nah, all good. I see how it comes across with the current state of my listings.

I usually have a heap more and many different items/categories. I've been putting up with it for the last 4ish months and got that sick of it I deleted all listings and have only re-listed a few things to see if any change.

I do get where you're coming from though being time of year and I guess cost of living going up quite dramatically and wages not matching that inflation. I guess I'll have to just be patient and hope work give me more hours to earn a living. Yay the Australian economy!

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

jellybirddesigns — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 00:41:46 GMT

Everyone is doing it tough, not just Australians.

Plenty countries are also struggling with the cost of living, higher mortgage interest rates, etc. I'm reading a lot how many people in Britain can't afford to put on the heat on the coldest nights of winter.

We are fortunate here as there are many jobs going and there are more people in employment than ever.

If you really want more hours, look at joining the Australian Army Reserves. They're always looking for people, and certain job categories are priority employment. Daily pay is tax free and you even get paid during basic training (35 days - approx $4000).

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

pubstuff — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 06:17:55 GMT

you arent alone. my sales are way down, my views are way down, the expected xmas rush where for many years i sold certain items in plentiful amounts have not happened. i even discounted them to previously unheard of prices. 20% less than last year, nearly 40% less than what people bought in large numbers 5 years ago and yet, nothing. i know times are tougher than last year, but im basing my remarks on 20 years with ebay as of january. there are things i sell and have sold regularly for decades at xmas time, now nothing. as a side note, when i advertise those same items elsewhere, i get far better prices than i get via ebay, but requires more input to realize those sales. i have thought long and hard whether its worth persevering with ebay, the answer for me was let it go thru to xmas and re-evaluate. the answer now is pretty clear sadly.

will i continue past january, especially now i got a msg from ebay today that ebay wants to hold 10% of my payments as a reserve fund? probably not. there are other online options that produce results and get views and sales which i dont have to pay 12-15% of my sale or as of january, have them hold reserve funds on a rolling 60 day cycle.

i think ebay is struggling as a sales platform these days, i speak to many other sellers who say exactly as you. things are poor in ebay world currently and once they start chasing more sellers away, then what?

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

the12thplanet — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 06:32:00 GMT

It seems pretty slow, the odd sale, but only 650 views for 450 items that are promoted haha

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

*sons_and_daughters* — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 10:39:00 GMT

@pubstuff wrote:
you arent alone. my sales are way down, my views are way down, the expected xmas rush where for many years i sold certain items in plentiful amounts have not happened. i even discounted them to previously unheard of prices. 20% less than last year, nearly 40% less than what people bought in large numbers 5 years ago and yet, nothing. i know times are tougher than last year, but im basing my remarks on 20 years with ebay as of january. there are things i sell and have sold regularly for decades at xmas time, now nothing. as a side note, when i advertise those same items elsewhere, i get far better prices than i get via ebay, but requires more input to realize those sales. i have thought long and hard whether its worth persevering with ebay, the answer for me was let it go thru to xmas and re-evaluate. the answer now is pretty clear sadly.

will i continue past january, especially now i got a msg from ebay today that ebay wants to hold 10% of my payments as a reserve fund? probably not. there are other online options that produce results and get views and sales which i dont have to pay 12-15% of my sale or as of january, have them hold reserve funds on a rolling 60 day cycle.

i think ebay is struggling as a sales platform these days, i speak to many other sellers who say exactly as you. things are poor in ebay world currently and once they start chasing more sellers away, then what?

If sales are so good elsewhere, why are you still here? I'm just glad my husband had days off this week to help me with postage, because sales have gone through the roof. Probably the best December ever. If I was on my own, I'd be struggling due to my work hours.

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

francapossum127 — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 10:22:42 GMT

I thought it was just me not getting viewings let alone sale. What is going on?

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

davewil1964 — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 10:31:47 GMT

Why are you repeating a complaint from 4 days ago?

Do you think complaining on the boards that eBay don't read will suddenly get more views?

Why are you and the OP obsessed with views? I neither know nor care how many views my items get. My metric for success is sales.

More views without sales would tend to indicate the viewers aren't serious, or are price comparing and finding you lacking.

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

francapossum127 — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 10:35:11 GMT

what do you mean 4 days ago? Im just asking a simple question

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

davewil1964 — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 10:51:49 GMT

Tacked onto a thread from 4 days ago, complaining about the same thing.

I assume you have actually read the thread. Haha.

Why do you think board members have any definitive explanations, other than the generic Christmas, cost of living guesses?

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

springyzone — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 22:39:15 GMT

@thelouiefly wrote:
WHAT AN EARTH IS GOING ON?
Have I missed something? Anyone else having the same issue?
My listings are getting very few views, most none - used to get 10 to 20 plus.
Sales are down dramatically - basically none!
Is this because of the sponsored **bleep** eBay are trying to get you to do?
I refuse to, they already take more than enough money.
Is it time to move on to another platform? Recommendations?
I'm not a business, just a part timer making some money(none as of late)!

To you & francapossum, 12th planet and pubstuff:

You are all reporting pretty much the same problem.

I haven't sold on ebay for many years so I checked with a friend who still does. He isn't an occasional seller, it is part of his business but he also sells on other platforms and runs 2 warehouses.

He said to me that ebay is the worst performing part of his business.

Sales on ebay are down that much, it's now the worst platform in my opinion. As I am semi retiring next year, it's perfect timing. Fees are too expensive for a lot of sellers now on ebay, most are going to facebook.

My take on it is that to some extent, it will depend on what you are selling, but it will also depend on what type of seller you are.

I get the impression ebay isn't encouraging or catering for the 'occasional seller' crowd. You can still sell, for sure, but ebay really wants semi professional sellers with a fast turnover. You've just got to look at the badges they hand out on ads 'One of our most trusted sellers" etc. It is often because the seller has sold thousands of items but if you look closely, you'll see that seller has mainly cheap Chinese junky items and quite a mix of negative feedback, while some smaller, occasional sellers with only a few hundred feedback, but all positive, won't get a badge like that.

Dave is right in that we can't tell you exactly why your views or sales are down. Could be the time of year, economy, type of items you are selling.

Could be when people search ebay, your items aren't showing on the first page or second.

Could be that people now look to different sites to buy the sort of thing you sell.

Times have changed and most shops now run their own sales sites.

My experience with the younger generation is they will tend to turn to Amazon well before ebay.

Small, occasional sellers of second hand items (and some new) are now on Marketplace. It has even knocked out a lot of the facebook buy/swap/sell sites.

Only you can decide if it is worth selling on ebay with the items you have. I would suggest that if sales tick over, even slowly, and you're generating even a smaller profit, then it is worth it. If you're putting in a lot of effort and cost, more than you're getting back, then it is time to switch.

Maybe make the decision in about February though as people are focused on Christmas gifts and food right now & they are busy.

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

francapossum127 — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 22:46:00 GMT

Thank you so much for claifying the situation.

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

springyzone — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 22:49:35 GMT

@francapossum127 wrote:
Thank you so much for claifying the situation.

😁Not sure if I have clarified it, they are just some of my thoughts.

I do wonder if maybe your items just aren't showing up high in people's searches but I don't really know.

All I can clarify is you are not alone, it seems to be happening to quite a few other sellers too, while others are booming.

No answers.

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

francapossum127 — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 23:04:15 GMT

Thank you. As you said its not just me who is experiencing such low sales etc. I kept thinking that I had done something that e bay does not approve of or any such reason. You have put my mind at rest in regards to knowing that Im not alone . It's just so frustrating doing all this work and abbiding by ebays rules without having anything to show for it. Im not a business person. Ebay is more of a hobby for me and it was encouraging to earn a few extra dollars. Thank you once again and merry xmas

Re: SALES AND VIEWS!

oddsandendsoz — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 03:48:28 GMT

I think you are being a little harsh here Dave. People cannot seem to win on these boards at times; they get told "why are you making ANOTHER thread, when there are tons of similar threads', 'do you know how to use the search function', 'why are you dragging up an old thread' and on and on. Now it is criticism of jumping on a similar thread from only 4 days ago.

The reality is that listing views, watchers, messages are all metric's that show that at least your listings are visible and that you are not 'hidden' in the dark recesses of eBay. Yes, sales are the 'Gold standard' but all the above also help sellers to know if there is a problem or not. Many times we have seen over the years on these boards issues identified with a sellers store because others on here have checked their listings when they have raised concerns.

I would say though, that the economy, school holidays coming up, too close to Xmas now for parcels to likely arrive in time, are all factors, as well as the items a seller is offering at this time of year. I sell a good percentage of items by sending offers to those buyers who have watched or viewed my items so they are very important.