Anyone Else Noticed Drop Off In Sales Since New Top Rated Seller Program?

[arlottstreetstation]

Has anyone else noticed a drop in sales since the new program took effect? Only about 1/4 to 1/3 of my listings qualify for the new Premium Seller because I can't offer Free Post due the cost. I've noticed a pretty BIG drop in sales which I put down to my items now being virtually invisable. If this keeps up it won't be worth it anymore.

[daniellebradydesigns]

hamsy3 wrote:

"Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Work Today" - as they say in the Comedies......

My sales haven't quite returned to normal, however they are starting to come through again, and search results, are now fair as it were. Some things are coming up on the first page again.

Perhaps, all the emails people were sending to eBay, lit a fire as they say.

To be honest, I don't mind if eBay have glitches, as long as they acknowledge these issues. Replying to emails and flat out ignoring our concerns, or denying them however, I don't appreciate.

I'm glad your sales are back on track hamsy3. I hope everyone's sales pick up so we can all carry on as usual.

I do think having another outlet besides eBay is some great advice, that many have suggested.

Good luck to everyone!

[betterdealsdepot1]

Just like most sellers on this topic, I've also noticed a big drop in sales.  

Raising my prices to accomadate free postage just seems ludicrous and takes away any edge you have when it comes to combining postage and saving money for your customers.  In fact, our customers will be paying more as the cost is added

to each item.

How doe's this add up to better customer value?

[clarry100]

We have not been so lucky Hamsy. Prior to Sept 17th we were mailing out approx 20 packages per day and now we are struggling to make 10. Today 6 only.
Our search ranking is still far below what it was before. People are not seeing our stores so hence sales are way down. So I hope what you are seeing will flow back to us pretty soon.
I am also planning to write to the ACCC about eBay giving preference to O/S sellers. This allows profits to flow outside Oz and whilst it may not be illegal it is surely unethical. The default should be to Oz sellers.

[digital*ghost]

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@hamsy3 wrote:

I'm now wondering about an E-mail I rec'd this morning about their latest Brainstorm......The introduction of Postage Regions.......Is this the NEXT STEP in their grab for higher Fees???? i.e. abolish the Aust. Post Calculator & just leave the Regions ??? I don't believe a Flat Rate for Regions will be cheaper all round for Buyers.....

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Sorry, I can't comment on the sales / ranking issue, but I believe this will solve a lot of problems for sellers using couriers (rather than Australia Post, which is what calculated postage is based on).

If you are using a courier for your items, but the cost varies according to state or region (i.e. distance), then the only option for a seller is to state "Freight", and provide a postage table in the listing. Sometimes "freight" gets confused with "free" because there is no postage cost displayed, and it also means a seller needs to issue an invoice after adding on postage costs before a buyer can pay (thus slowing down the purchase process - there was also an issue with eBay allowing payments to be made before freight costs were added, and then some buyers refusing to pay the extra once refunded and issued with a full invoice. I'm not sure if that is still an issue, it's just been a while since I've seen it mentioned on the forum).

The regional rates table, where a seller can set up a variety of P&H charges (up to 15, I think), will mean that they can give accurate quotes, clearly displayed, and even set up combined discounts that are automatically applied (if feasible), so that is a function I think will really help a lot of sellers.

[clarry100]

Not too sure if this is good news just yet...

But yesterday we noticed that some of our listings have come up a couple of hundred off the bottom of the rankings. And a few more sales. But not back to normal yet.

We are hoping they are fixing this big problem.

I read with interest in a similar thread that the seller went into head office in Sydney and was told that eBay Aust were working with USA on this problem. Sounds like an admission of a system-wide problem here.

[*crikey*mate*]

Just when I think that sales are slowing, all of a sudden something happens and things go off like a frog in a sock! It seems to happen right after I make a new listing - maybe I've joined the dots incorrectly, but i sold nothing for a week and then 20 odd items in one day following putting up a couple of new listings. (Not everything that sold was a new listing, just one thing - but I had 9 customers).

*shrugs*

anyway that's my theory and I'm gonna run with it for a while and try and list a little more frequently.

[*crikey*mate*]

Oh, and I've never checked where I sit with Best Match etc, so no idea if that has anything to do with anything.

[daniellebradydesigns]

My sales have now returned to normal, and then some, since I notice that the search function seems to be operating properly now. I'm having trouble keeping up in fact. I haven't added any new listings for a couple of weeks. It's great to hear that some people's sales have picked up!

[krisn01]

I really  cannot figure out what happened iwith my sales on Ebay I used to sell things easy and fast.

Now my sales are so slow  I cannot  sell hardly anything, For me selling is hobby 🙂

I sell higher end trendy new stuff with tags and sell it for half price or less, all my stuff is not treated with any toxic frebreze sprays or stored in carcinogenic dryer sheets, I'm an organic chemical free fragrance free seller.

So I keep asking Is the problem with sales? economy? Is is unemployment?Have the customer had too many bad experiences with from bad sellers, and have buyers remorse ? I Are people burned out on Ebay? 

I notice that many sellers will have there stuff up for months, and not a bid. I recall the days when so many

 items per page would have several bids .  So, I kmow for a fact it is not my items. I thinking of going to ETSY 

Any insights from any of the other sellers would help.

[clarry100]

Due to a significant slump in EBay sales in the first half of this year we are now trading on other venues and should have done it earlier. Etsy is showing some early promising signs. But what you can sell there is limited. It is more for handmade crafty kind of stuff.
We have also launched our own independent website and that is also showing some very good signs in the first two months of trading. So I think taking some of your eggs out of the one basket is a good idea we should have explored a while before now.
Also just be aware this is a very old thread so some of the earlier posts may not be applicable or relevant now.