Drop in sales - has anyone else noticed a BIG drop WC 8th October 18?

[bbqhqnet]

Hi Guys

Something appears to have changed this week? It may possibly be related to the recent software changes on the eBay seller platform - but I have had a HUGE drop in sales since Monday 8th October 18?

2 x eBay reps have told me that my account is good - no restrictions, etc? I mostly offer Free Express Shipping and am now moving to Same-day Handling. No-one has been able to offer an explanation?

I have been selling for 15 years this December and NEVER had it this bad? Has anyone else noticed this with their store?

Steve

[stylesilver]

Soggy & soggier here in Qld... Friend of mine is having a Barbie Saturday but I thinkll get washed out ...We have rain predicted for another 8 days I think

[bbqhqnet]

I guess that's good then - are you guys in the regions that have been drought affected?

[bbqhqnet]

Yeah, funnily enough - Friday night was pretty good 3 x reasonable sales and another two this morning? Go figure? Maybe it has been just a weather thing - school holidays finished last week?

[lyndal1838]

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@bbqhqnet wrote:
I guess that's good then - are you guys in the regions that have been drought affected?

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I am in Sydney, near the airport so no, not drought affected as such although the lawns are looking pretty horrible....even the weeds are brown now.

[everard6920]

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@stylesilver wrote:

Soggy & soggier here in Qld... Friend of mine is having a Barbie Saturday but I thinkll get washed out ...We have rain predicted for another 8 days I think

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I'm loving it . . . it's great weather for preparing listings. Sorry about the BBQ, though. We were going to visit some friends in Gympie this weekend but they got smashed the other day with a storm - damage to one of their cars, caravan and home. So far, we've avoided storms in my area, but we've had quite a bit of rain.

But back to OP's post: my sales have been excellent this week. The previous month . . . not so much. It's such a rollercoaster here nowadays.

[bbqhqnet]

>>>>>It's such a rollercoaster here nowadays.

OK, so you've seen that? I must say that until recently - I hadn't? The whole BBQ and Sausage area is fairly seasonal, with the usual "boom times" being from now through to Autumn. After that, the home Salami season kicks in - with all the guns a makin'.

I was quite concerned with the really dead week, last week - but hey, maybe it was just a bubble - sales have begun rolling in again? Mind you - I DID contact eBay and give them a rev up!

Maybe a year or so back I was asked to do a survey on my eBay experience - and at that time I was really being hammered by other sellers seeming to get favouritism over me, even though I'd been going for 13+ years at that time. I let eBay know how I felt (honestly), and what do you know - sales began to fire off again??

[dazzledayz]

This appears to be the new normal for eBay these days and I see it too.

Where sales used to be quite consistant with volume varying, now they are very inconsistant.

Sales charts used to look like a series of waves but now more resemble a mouth full of missing teeth.

Sales volume has been down year on year for the last 4 years.

Other venues do not report the same issues though.

[dazzledayz]

Sales are down; I wonder if this has anything to do with it.

I was just trying to price a book so thought to check it out on eBay and here's what i got:

So ok, says I, let's give my good friend Google a try.

Low and behold I get a link to ebay AU and guess what:

The warning lights are flashing down in quality control.

Somebody threw a spanner, they threw it in the hole.

("Industrial Disease" - Mark Knoppfler - Dire Straights)

To say I was mildly surprised would be no understatement!

[bbqhqnet]

Hmm! Sad - I wonder who's at the controls at eBay HQ - hopefully they read these posts??

[bbqhqnet]

Out of curiosity - what other venues are you thinking of? Gumtree is next to useless these days - I've heard that Amazon can be really particular and then you've got masses of competition there too?