topic Re: Sales have hit a Wall in Selling

Sales have hit a Wall

ezy-mobiles — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:58:47 GMT

I have been a regular seller on e-bay since 2000 (yep 13 years) and I have never seen sales so critically low. The lack of sales combined with the increase in e-bay fees / paypal fees etc looks like after all these years time to finish up with with ebay and back to selling at the local weekend markets.

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

waddingtonfirstaid — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:20:00 GMT

Yes, you are 100% correct. Something seriously wrong with eBay since May 1. Many many people have commented on this. No response from eBay which is typical. They are masters of manufacturing positive spin when introducing changes so when serious issues actually happen, there's little trust remaining to believe anything will be done to help us. Prices are very high now and hardly any auctions. Many bad policy changes and huge hike in fees.

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

Anonymous — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:51:32 GMT

Hi. As i have said on other posts my sales are down. At one point by about 95% now perhaps 75%-80% There are various reasons but it all comes down to Ebay pushing us out to make way for larger profits from international sellers. Im sure now however I will get lots of advice by other users who mean well but are not quite on the ball as usual. Things like, "offer auctions," "Offer Free Post" etc etc etc. However after 14 years on Ebay I am pretty sure I know my business a little better than someone who reads my post and decides they have a "miracle cure!" Been there and done that! (there are some options but If I mention those my post will be removed by the moderation squad) I no longer use auctions as my items are low profit and I find now days a $0.99 cent listing often sells for $0.99 (IE: I pay for someone to take my stock). My profit margin is already below subsistance level so free post is out of the question.It is NOT because we are in Recession. It is NOT because I dont know what Im doing. Ebay has changed and those who are luckily making enough profit per item may survive. (If you are one of these, good luck to you.) Those of us with minimal profits will NOT! As for those who have listened to the Ebay hype over the years like the stories (or paid advertisements as the case may be) on A CURRENT AFFAIR, where they have told us to open an Ebay business and make our living there. I think these people have every right to complain. Not that anyone will be listening.....

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

steen1equestrianriding2 — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:45:19 GMT

Totally agree........sales have been the worst ever since 1st May. I think it is all to do with their system changes and they have had several of late, hence the lousy sales.

It happens EVERY time, without fail ,when eBay make system alterations. It seems to take about 2 weeks for their changes to roll out site wide but sales never fully go back to where they were after each change.

This time last year and the year before averaged $1200 per week turnover. This week is $300. I don't know how long eBay think sellers will put up with this carp?

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

Anonymous — Tue, 14 May 2013 05:31:45 GMT

As someone pointed out to me. I dont think the sales have gone...They have just been transferred to other sellers overseas.

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

tonalidesigns — Tue, 14 May 2013 05:51:56 GMT

Our sales have dropped since 1 May - however April was a very "nice" month!.

Am not slashing my wrists just yet (although its played havoc with our cash flow!!!). This happens every time eBay makes changes and - as the previous poster points out - they have made a lot lately. They can take a while to work through. I don't recall eBay making too many changes last May ...

May is also traditionally a slow month in retail (which actually makes it a good time for eBay to make changes!!!)

I just looked back at our data from the first two weeks of May last year - our actual number of eBay transactions for the last two weeks is actually about 20% up on the same two weeks last year (although April 2013 was 40% up on April 2012 so that is still a bit of slowdown!). I haven't checked the $ values. I also know we had a few exceptional direct sales (ie non eBay) sales in May 2012 - that hasn't happened this year (at least not yet).

Yes I'm concerned but I am reserving judgement - although I do think some real cracks are appearing on eBay at the moment.

Oh yes - I'm also working on our website, redesigning our auction listings and working on some new product ideas while its "quiet".

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

4ewesonly — Tue, 14 May 2013 07:31:57 GMT

hi , have to agree that sales are gone, I usually sell 2nd hand everything including Australian pottery, but all Ive been getting is lookers. Ive only sold 2 things this month. 😞

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

oztradingcards — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:07:10 GMT

I long ago that if you wanted to run a hobby business then EBAY was not the forum to do it, so I looked around found a do it yourself website package, costs me a couple of hundred dollars a year to run. My sales are reasonable even though I don't advertise it. At some point I will want it to be more of a business rather than a hobby which will require upgrading my site but it will still be more cost effective than EBAY. The 40 free listings a month suit me as I rarely list more than that, but no doubt as some point that will be removed as well

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

cicero6911 — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:26:19 GMT

I agree. Sales have but dried up. I believe there are different issues at play. This time of year is not great for retail. Another one is general economic uncertainty and people's budgets being stretched. But for my little business, I think the biggest problem is ebay driving sales off shore and to the new "official stores". With these big guys to compete with, buyers cant find my item, even when mine are cheaper - much cheaper.

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

belindabargainhunter — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:44:27 GMT

I have not been buying what I hadin the past but that is done to shopping around and finding that sellers on ebay charging more.

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

bsal6160 — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:18:41 GMT

Also from shopping around and finding them cheaper from an overseas ebay seller and I am not talking about the cheap junk chinese stuff.

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

2106greencat — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:04:05 GMT

It is a fine line really. I admit there are sellers out there who charge too much, some who use postage to try and make an extra buck and it is not good for other sellers.

However, I am not one of those sort of seller's, on some of my items, once I have paid postage I break almost even, in some situations I lose out.

In the good times I can afford that, the bigger value items (that are still very cheaply priced) can allow me to absorb the odd negative profit item, but not anymore.

As it is no items are really selling well, so the odd small item I an still selling is in effect hurting me very badly.

I am hoping after June 30 things may pick up, but if not, I can see the writing on the wall and will have no choice but to shut up shop like so many BM stores and business have been forced to do.

BTW - this is not a whinge, just a statement of fact. :8}

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

levis-501-downunder — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:28:58 GMT

As I had some spare time on the weekend (normally busy doing parcelling of ebay sales!!) I went through some old ebay sales records to compare "May" sales from previous years.

As I suspect, sales from previous years (going as far back as 2003) are down by as much as 80%.

I appreciated some years the number of items I have listed may of been higher or lower but when the number of sold versus unsold is compared it is very clear that more items are not selling (and dont get my started on ebay fees when compared to my records back in 2003 etc).

I also remember back in 2000 when it was free to list on e-bay (just like another Aussie site is promoting at the moment!!)

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

xr8tracey — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:45:25 GMT

yes i agree iam in same boat all i do is make ebay rich , i will be hanging up my ebay and heading elsewhere , but i think ebay wants this itsm akiing way for retailers the big t ime serious all new reataliers ,

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

xr8tracey — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:46:39 GMT

yes agree that other site ihave too , but its slow as well , back to the streets and markets we go

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

annies_fancy_dress — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:13:31 GMT

SAles are def down.

Last year I was silver easily, with money and number of sales.

This year only cheap items are selling for the most part and not as many in number either.

I think i'll be bronze for some time yet.

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

extra-keen — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:28:28 GMT

It is so very disheartening, I think ebay is only part of the problem. Sales aren't happening anywhere. Just ask any of your local B&Ms.

I had a look at my visit versus buy stats and it is interesting that over the last 2 years the number of visitors to my ebay store has remained relatively static, some up and down days, but on the whole, not much change. However for the number of visits I am getting a lot less sales now. And the other thing is that I have nearly 100 more listing than I had a year ago.

I know I do have much more competition in my categories, not only from overseas but from here in Australia, that isn't helping, but can't blame anyone for that. I just have to market smarter, here on ebay as well as elsewhere.

Having said all that, this weekend was one of the worst in my 4 years of selling - and all the other worst days and weekends have been in the last month and a half.

Oh well, I'm going to do some craft, I don't often get time for that and a new toy has arrived for me to craft with.... LOL

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

polocross58 — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:39:20 GMT

EBay's notorious for making major mistakes

It takes ebay a long time before it admits or tries to rectify its mistakes

Right now, ebay is advertising heavily in Sydney, which speaks volumes. Never seen so many ebay ads on bus shelters, etc. So they're feeling the pinch at the same time their policies are decimating sellers. Which of course results in fewer & fewer buyers

Ebay isn't smart, that's obvious. It seems to imagine it can rid itself of Mum and Dad sellers. Seems ebay intends to fill itself with virtual drop-shippers and virtual stores filled with mass-produced, flat-packed imports

Maybe some ebay head's nephew was promoted and to make his/her mark, they've undertaken to 'revolutionise' ebay

Well, when ebay profits continue diving to critical point, will ebay grasp they've made yet another of their loser-moves ? Seems they're grasping it already, as evidenced by their plague of advertising

In the meantime, long-time ebay sellers have been driven to the wall, finally. Aust Post's greed has played its role in that

We look back to the good old days of ebay and compare it with now. Makes you wonder how something so successful could be left in the hands of idiots who've destroyed ebay relentlessly, inch by inch to the hated spectacle it now is

The 'other' site needs emptying out and rebuilding, imo. There's stuff there which has been sitting for several YEARS. The sellers are still using the same photos! Don't they realise we wonder where on earth that stock has BEEN for the past several years !

That other site has a prime opportunity now to replace ebay. Yet it seems in its death throes preparatory to collapsing. Makes me wonder if it wants to succeed or if it's just controlled opposition

Ebay owns Gumtree, apparently. So maybe ebay is pushing sellers to list on Gumtree (which, if so, would probably become as expensive as ebay in time) in order to fill ebay itself with the flat-pack sellers

Sad for sellers and buyers alike. Ebay had THE winning combination a decade ago. The fact they've reduced such a successful concept to its current sad state is the equivalent of someone who regularly won lotto with their winning combination deciding to go on a losing streak by messing with those winning-numbers. It's incomprehensible. Not as if ebay is paying tax and needs to reduce its profits as a tax-dodge, is it ?

So now the entire thing collapses, taking Aust Post with it to a large extent

It's well past time a new ebay-type platform emerged. Maybe when ebay has completely destroyed itself, new 'ebays' will have a chance, who knows

Asia is NOT the be-all. Many of their producers refuse to accept that in the West, we are larger, we have longer legs and shorter bodies, wider chests than Asians as well as larger feet. That's because we're from a different gene-pool and until the Lima Declaration, Australia had the highest quality of life and best and most affordable produce in the world. We also expect accountability on the part of producers and are sick and tired of disposable consumer items. We USED to be able to purchase washing machines to toasters in the expectation they'd at LEAST live as long as their warranties, which USED to be seven years, if memory serves. My old Simpson washing-machines lasted on average 12 years each without missing a beat. Our 'new', Asian-produced washing machine posing as Simpson conked-out within two weeks. I had to fight like a tiger to get it replaced. Now, the lid is already rusted. Same with ovens and just about every other Asian-produced item we have, regardless of brand. It's rubbish. We're paying a premium for garbage and we resent it

The Lima Declaration destroyed this nation and the quality of life of its citizens. If ebay imagines Aussies are going to purchase the majority of their needs on ebay, they can think again. Ikea's going to feel the backlash too, if it doesn't quit loading $100 on its products sold in Australia, compared with the rest of the world - particularly as the quality of those products gets more flimsy by the day

To be suspected is that people like me have had enough across the board and this is being reflected in poor ebay sales. Unfortunately, a lot of great people on ebay are going to be taken down too

The Lima Declaration continues to force unemployment on Aussies for the 38th year in a row. People who do have paying jobs are saving hard rather than spending. We know a crash is imminent, you can feel it in the air. People have realised they have more than enough 'stuff '. They're tightening their belts, downsizing, getting out of town to somewhere more affordable. The younger generations are finding it hard to even get a foot in the door. The baby-bonus is likely to end. Less money in circulation. People just buying essentials and even trying to divest themselves of 'stuff ' on ebay, only to discover it's hard to sell with little return for all the effort

Ebay needs a wake-up call, a hard one. Australia Post, same. The longer they resist reality, the worse it will be for sellers who keep trying to soldier-on

This is the wonderful mess the Fabianists gave us with their Lima Declaration, which at the outset undertook to send minimum of 30% of Aussie jobs overseas, back in March 1975. The number of Aussie jobs which were destroyed has continued to grow far past that original 30%. Now it's almost impossible for Aussie manufacturers, courtesy of the exorbitant costs imposed on them by our traitorous government. Even if they succeed in paying several million just to get started, our traitorous unions will put the boot in to force closure. We are now the second and third generations struggling with inferior Asian-produced garbage in tandem with increasing unemployment. The demise of Oz Ebay will just be further proof of general decline in our once prosperous nation that was the envy of the world

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

Anonymous — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:04:10 GMT

polocross.

Im sure you have a lot of good things to say. perhaps keep it a little briefer though. Its hard reading an essay. I really do not mean to criticise you in any way. Just that Im no dope but thats a lot to o readin and alot of info to take in at one time.

Re: Sales have hit a Wall

joburger63 — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:50:40 GMT

I run a small shop (600 listings) selling African arts. Sales have plummeted since May 1st. I have never experienced such a drop off in email enquiries either.

I have extended returns from 14 to 30 days, offered free postage (domestic) one day turn around and a price reduction up to 20%, all to a deafening wall of silence.

Now try to tell me that something hasn't significantly changed on Ebay since May 1. It's not just the general economic climate, there's something else in playing out here and it smells!

Particularly galling is that I'm now paying significantly more in fees to enjoy the 'advantages' of the Ebay platform.