on 17-09-2017 02:41 PM
HI All
I am a long-term ebay member and have started selling on ebay again about 2 years ago and now have 1900+ active listing and I normally sell around 10 items per day and even more on the weekend... but for the past 48 hours there have been no sales... making me think ebay may have issues or something else going on...
Anyone super super slow with their sales.. or is it just me
Thx
Solved! Go to Solution.
on 07-03-2018 11:06 PM
@annieoakley2000wrote:Has anyone considered the thousands upon thousands of extra listings that are now on E-Bay as a result of E-Bay giving sellers hundreds of extra listings every other week or so !!
Of course we all think it is great to get a large amount of extra free listings, but at the end of the day the result is an absolute oversupply and once there is too much choice, buyers will only pick the eyes out of this endless sea of listings (most likely the cheapest with free postage), leaving most sellers with no sales ......
Needless to say it creates an unsustainable situation that if only the cheapest listings/auctions will be ending up sold, no seller is going to benefit from that as most likely their items will be sold at a loss and the rest of the sellers don't sell anything at all, so there is no win-win for anyone, not even for E-Bay as 10 - 15% FVF on very little is still very little, no matter which way you look at it........
You might say the buyer is the big winner here, but if you buy something really cheap, you often get what you pay for and just imagine the problems that is going to bring ........
I think E-Bay will have to rethink all their crazy ideas at one point or another and find a balance between buyers and sellers that will work for once !!
I'd almost bet that the extra free listings don't mean there are thousands upon thousands of extra listings. A lot of very casual sellers aren't going to find a heap of extra things to list when the freebies are on. I know I usually let most of them go these days, as do my friends.
I'd also bet that a lot of the extra freebies get used on items that have been relisted for years and have very little chance of selling anyway, so they won't affect other sellers getting sales.
As for people buying the cheapest, if there are two items exactly the same for sale a lot of buyers will buy the first one they see and will never do a search to see if a cheaper one is available. I've seen this many, many times, both with my own items and with those of others. A friend of mine has sold quite a few items for twice the price that it's been available for from other sellers. A lot of people will hit the BIN button and pay at least 30% more than they would if they'd bid on the item. They just want to get it over and done with and get on with other things. They'd be the same with shopping around for a better price - they don't want to spend time on it so buy the first one they see.
on 08-03-2018 09:14 AM
The throttling thing: is that true only for Ebay Stores? Or sellers in general?
And yes, not many sales here either. I'm just selling a few things around the house to help pay bills. Things were going okay Christmas/New Year's, now selling about one item per week.
on 08-03-2018 10:36 AM
You only have 36 items listed....if you are only selling one item a week then you must be losing money hand over fist.
To support a store it is usually recommended that you should have 100+ listings and a good sell through rate.
Try getting rid of the store and just use the 40 free listings a month. That way you may end up making a bit of money to pay your bills.
on 09-03-2018 07:22 AM
Indeed... $25/month is not worth it right now. I must admit I've been a bit lazy lately, and discouraged. The small amount of items, plus the kind of items I'm selling are not doing me any favours! Will be working on a new strategy this weekend.
09-03-2018 09:32 AM - edited 09-03-2018 09:37 AM
@kitschkovenwrote:The throttling thing: is that true only for Ebay Stores? Or sellers in general?
And yes, not many sales here either. I'm just selling a few things around the house to help pay bills. Things were going okay Christmas/New Year's, now selling about one item per week.
Ebay havnt admitted to throttling sellers, but there seems to be some fairly credible information to suggest some form of throttling exists on some, but not all accounts. This includes a well known and regarded statement from some-one who claimed to be an ex ebay employee ( could be a hoax ) along with computer anylitics compiled by various computer experts who have studied the phenomina.
Another telling indicator is reports from sellers who claim to consistently sell the same amount on a rolling average month in month out. My accounts have shown this phenomina at various stages with my main selling account having regular sales figures variations of within 0.5 % on an ongoing basis.This is on $ four figure sums so too much of a coincidence.
I believe the throttling thing is quite complex with a number of layers and I have written extensive posts in the past on how I believe it works. But its too long to repeat again unless requested.
Around 8 months ago I downgraded one store from featured to basic. This account had been tied to my main store in the throttling thing. I was concerned downgrading it may see sales reduced when in fact the opposite occured. Sales increased dramatically and where much more natural in pattern. The action of downgrading the store seems to have released the hand brake on sales. The now " basic ' store is still achieving much higher and variable sales than when it was a featured store. That account is definately no longer affected by the throttling phenomina.
Having said that, the throttling thing seems to have either been axed, broken or changed dramatically since the start of January, with one store recording a jump in sales of nearly 90% and sales appearing much more natural in pattern. Maybe ebay have changed the parameters for throttled accounts to much higher sales figures and my accounts no longer "qualify" for throttling or maybe ebay have axed the system altogether to try to generate increased sales. Other sellers who appeared to have throttled accounts have reported similar dramatic jumps in sales. Maybe throttling is just a figment of our imaginations......
I am confident my accounts have been affected by the phenomina for the last few years, but the jury is still out as to wether they are still affected.
09-03-2018 04:55 PM - edited 09-03-2018 04:56 PM
i had the most successful sales ever during last month month..i was shocked...the lights were on big time....and now a new month and dead quiet..oh well at least it was fun whilie it lasted...was like the good old days...
on 09-03-2018 05:19 PM
How odd that your store's sales increased after downgrading it. Thanks for your reply Chameleon. I always see your posts and I greatly admire your ability to do well on here. That would be my dream!
It's becoming apparent to me that putting up basic second hand books is such small bikkies that it's a waste of my time and money. I have a few collectables up my sleeve that I'm going to start listing.
on 09-03-2018 06:49 PM
@kitschkovenwrote:How odd that your store's sales increased after downgrading it. Thanks for your reply Chameleon. I always see your posts and I greatly admire your ability to do well on here. That would be my dream!
It's becoming apparent to me that putting up basic second hand books is such small bikkies that it's a waste of my time and money. I have a few collectables up my sleeve that I'm going to start listing.
I do reasonably well out of doing that.
09-03-2018 06:58 PM - edited 09-03-2018 06:59 PM
Last half of last month was one of my best for a loooong time. Last week was a brilliant week with heaps of sales...this week I could point a cannon at all my customers and fire it and not hit anyone. Guess I hit the magic number and can now sit back and enjoy an uninterupted beer.
on 09-03-2018 08:17 PM
Must be the books I sell then LOL!