I Know Everyone Is Sick Of This Question

[arlottstreetstation]

Is it just me or is anyone else experiencing a massive drop in sales?

Things died for a while after the increase in FVFs but picked up - But, ever since the lastest "Disaster Release" I've noticed a steady decine to the point where I'm now going days without a Sale. This time of year is normally the other wayaround for me with the lead up to Xmas.

Granted, a lot of my normal return Customers are now contacting me direct because they're sick of paying the high prices I'm forced to charge on Ebay to cover Fees, but there are VERY FEW new Customers coming along.

When they do, I am constantly surprised (and amused) to hear cmments like "I don't trust Ebay anymore", "Ebay is too User Unfriendly" etc. .....

THE BUYERS are telling me that they don't believe in Free Post & in fact even become suspicious when they see something that seems too cheap with Free Post as it usually signals JUNK!!!! They're sick of being ripped off by the Chinese Junk Peddlers & their misleading Listings saying the item is in Australia, only to find it's coming from O/S & will take weeks to get here.

I've taken a wait & see attitude up until now, but alas I'm beginning to wonder if it's all worth it. Some boffin who wouldn't have a clue about my Business constantly telling me what's best for it - what Buyers want when clearly it is not - creating a poisonous atmosphere of distrust by BOTH Buyers & Sellers & so on & so on....

So in the immortal words of "Big Brother" - It's time to go....EBAY!!!!

Sales might be slower on other Sites, or even my own Website, but then, nothing is happening here anymore....

[dotm2004]

It's not just you hamy 😞

I'm a long time seller, and my sales have also dropped over the past few months (probably about 25%)     I find that I sell a lot of my stock, but usually to the first bidder.   I have a few 'regulars' who bulk buy (good quality, second hand kids clothes) and they keep me going.

I'm hoping the latest 150 free insertion listings will give me a boost ..... I LIVE IN HOPE.:)

It's hard to understand when you keep up the same standards .... I have very good feedback .... I 'talk' to several other small time sellers like myself, and they are experiencing the same.

Maybe the BUYERS  are experiencing hard times .... although, you'd think in these times, eBay is a cheaper option?

Maybe things will improve soon   ..... let's hope 🙂

[coalitionbrands]

I'm in the same boat, sales have been really healthy over the last week or two. Sold 15 items overnight which is unheard of for a weekday. We sell ski and snowboard wear and people are starting to buy for the Northern Hemisphere winter. We also stock street and summer gear so are getting the best of both worlds at the moment. 

[bettyboopsadaisy]

No, its is definitely not just you !!

I actually find myself cheering out loud, whenever I get a bid these days, they are so rare !!!

[chameleon54]

         I think it depends a little bit on what people sell, although I would have thought the OP,s train items may have been more resiliant than some fields. Clothes have always had a huge amount of competition and items can get lost in the vast numbers of listings. With the general economy being flat, many large stores are having constant sales with major write downs in prices. If people can buy a T shirt or pants from a B & M Target store for $5-$10, they are not going to buy one online and pay the high postage costs and ebay fees that sellers have to build into prices. I realise that as you get into more expensive clothes this is not such a big thing but the principle still holds.

        There is no doubt that ebay is facing much more competition for the online spending dollar than a year or two ago. The fact that ebay management has shot itself in the foot so many times recently with the hacking incident, stupid policy decisions such as FVF on postage, the defect system and changes to return policy has compounded problems for sellers and buyers using the ebay platform. This is all contributing to the general decline of ebay and are some of the reasons that ebay is slipping behind the performance of its online peers such as Amazon. This is being reflected in a sagging share price which indicates that many people much smarter and wealthier than me think the company is on the nose.

[yeoldecoinco]

I will probably get shot for saying this, but here goes anyway.

The last few months have been quiet on eBay, no doubt about that.

I have kept my sales up by running a lot of 10% off sales, whilst that has not helped the profit margin, at least it has kept the sales up.

My last 10% off sale ended on Monday, so I thought, the rest of the week will be dead, if they were not going to buy it at 10% off, why would they buy it at the full price?

Tuesday, to my amazement, was an absolute boomer of a day, sold more than 30 items.

The rest of the week has been excellent as well.

Listed a large collection of 180 items a couple of days back.

As I listed the items, I looked at what other similar items were selling for and listed mine at a slightly lower price with free postage.

I list everything as Buy It Now, gave up on auctions a long time ago.

This place is fiercy competitive. You have to offer a good range and good prices, otherwise the material will sit there forever, just costing fees.

Whilst I sympathise with many people who are having the problem of low sales, one has to be proactive and keep an interesting range of material listed at decent prices. Otherwise, you have no chance.

My category is coins and I looked at what other people were listing their items for.

In many cases, I looked at the ridiculous prices others had similar items listed for and thought, that person has no hope of selling the item at that price, not at least, until I sell mine, which is priced at less than theirs...

Yes, it is partly the economy, yes it is partly eBay, but it also down to each of us to work hard and smart if we want success.

With eBay's crazy defect system, even that might not be enough anymore..

[chameleon54]

           yeoldecoinco, The suggestions to keep listings fresh by continually adding new items of interest, discounting older stock through sales etc. is all good advice. I would agree that pricing your items slightly lower than other sellers will help to generate sales, but the constant "race to the bottom" on prices can adversly affect profit margins.

            I run my stores on a different pricing policy. I charge as much as I reasonably think I can get for my items. I may turn nine potential buyers away, but eventually some-one will part with the cash and buy the item. This means my items sit for longer, but my profit margins are much higher than competitors. I still sell as much as I can reasonably handle, so dont really want to increase sales ( read workload ) by discounting and slashing my profit margins. ( more work for less dollars ). My field is specialised and I can offer expert technical advice that casual sellers may not be able to assist with. I also have a very large range of listings in specialist fields and only sell good quality products. ( no cheap damaged rubbish. ). I try to describe my items accurately and mail very quickly. By providing this type of service I have managed to maintain strong market share, with prices at the higher end in a highly competative sector.

[i-love-my-sheep]

I rely a lot on the lower feedback buyers because they don't tend to shop around like a more experienced buyer would do. They see something they want and buy it. Many people don't know about the 'see similar items' link in their watch list. I'd say over 50% of my buyers have less than 40 feedback.

I tend to have runs on things. I won't have much interest for ages, then bang, bang, bang. This is not my main source of income though, so there is no pressure to increase sales. I'll just be glad when i've got rid of all this stuff, then I can stop regular selling!

[jjs20142014]

The reason for this is Ebay is favouring some sellers over others over time and few accounts i experience this too, and Ebay will make u relist and relist at cost prices and then only show your stuff more often when they feel they have made enuff from relisting fees. they dont care about you, only the share holder and there favoured sellers. u could have exactly the same product and much cheaper, and the favoured seller has 20 watches and repeated buyers and the much cheaper one has no watches and sales, im sure another reason is buyers are getting sick of ebay and all the scammers out there so less traffic, sellers are also leaving ebay in there hundreds i am delisting and leaving two accounts today. if there favoured sellers also leave bad untruthful feedback they dont care, but if u leave truthful honest feedback on one of there favourites it gets taken off at the drop of a coin. its all become too manipulated here, ebay is on its way down, it used to be great here but not anymore NO MORE BUYERS COME U MIGHT GET 5 VIEWS IN 3 DAY LISTING AND TWO VIEWS OR 3 MIGHT BE YOUR OWN VIEWINGS. THEY START EVERY LISTING WITHING SECONDS WITH 2 VIEWS WHICH IS A LIE AND SELLERS ARE GETTING SICK OF BEING RIPPED OFF AND UNFAIRLY TREATED

[jjs20142014]

I THINK U WORK FOR EBAY TO MAKE THEM LOOK GOOD I DONT BELIEVE ANY OF THAT

[jjs20142014]

ITS A SETUP EBAY RUNS TO SEEM LIKE NON BUYERS EVER PAY, ITS SO THERE FAVOURED SELLERS GET MORE EXPOSURE HAPPENS SO MUCH LATELY MUCH MORE THEN EVER USED TO