It's Very Quiet

[clubesquire]

Gee! It's quiet isn't it? Or, is it just us? Our page views are way down.

And, money does seem to be a bit short. I wish politicians would stop 'gobbing off.' I'm convinced they have affect on commerce.

Are we entering a known seasonal lull?

Melina.

[padi*0409]

Dammit Tipsy...................you'll keep              

[re_act]

As a hobby seller to professional seller over about 12 years, this is the most quiet/dead it has ever been. Typically we see a quiet period yearly which lasts for a few weeks maximum, but this year it has been the last 2 months and throughout the year it has been on a slow decline.  I really couldn't say what the exact problem is other than ebay themselves, screwing up what used to be a good system, to many rules, confusing functions, changes to listings turns people away, added to that terrible search functions, the website constantly with bugs doesn't make for a great platform. In Australia eBay bought a platform called Gumtree, a great platform prior to eBay. It is now on the decline with more advertising than products for sale. 

I would recommend that rather than looking for ways to tell ebay how they can do it better, it is time to look at other sale platforms, and find an exit strategy from ebay, as really don't see this improving all that much. I would go as far as to say the "eBay Boom" is over.

[heihachi_73]

I had 9 sales over Halloween, now that's what I call spooky. Usually I'm lucky if I get 9 sales a fortnight! No really, I average 12 sales a month.

[best-buys-com-au]

Sadly, you are absolutely right.

In November 2016 I set up my own online store and that is already selling nearly 30 times what I am selling here on ebay and my google ads cost me less than what ebay charges me every month.

I started my online store with the same products that I have here on ebay in my "Crazy Prices" and "Office Machines" categories, at the same prices I have on ebay - so the sales performance comparison is fair.

It is hard to not come to the conclusion that there is no future in selling here on ebay if you want to earn more than a couple of dollars an hour and accepting a zero return on your stock investment (in my case, my stock investment is more than what my home is worth, and that is not insignificant).

[clubesquire]

Just have to say it again. It's very quiet. Nothing. Just nothing. Not even an email question and we usually get a few.

As someone else pointed out, it's nearly Xmas and it's dead.

I was in Beenleigh yesterday and was talking with one of our competitors, a friendly competitor, who I wasn't aware had moved elsewhere. She and her husband are doing so well, now that they're established, and their margins make ours look pretty sick. They're getting premium prices (about right really) on identical items we can't get a looker for. I'm starting to believe what's being said, theres something really wrong. where they're  selling has nowhere near the traffic of eBay.

I'm through investigating our prices, presentation and all that stuff. It's not us. It's just very quiet.

Hope some of you are kicking goals.

Melina.

[plonkacolin]

ebays been very good to me over the past 15 yrs 

ive no complaints but feel its def coming to an end for me 

maybe not the complete end  of ebay but ive moved onto other selling platforms 

as a seller there are many other ways to sell other than ebay 

there is too much junk from the chineese on ebay now 

there is no way to compete with them 

the chineese get away with so much i feel 

it should be ebay australia not ebay china 

if i have 1 complaint about ebay 

its about non paying buyers 

absolute time wasters  it can take 8-10 days before resolution 

and we can not give them negative feedback 

and buyers get away with it 

not fair not fair 

[chameleon54]

---

@best-buys-com-au wrote:

Sadly, you are absolutely right.

In November 2016 I set up my own online store and that is already selling nearly 30 times what I am selling here on ebay and my google ads cost me less than what ebay charges me every month.

I started my online store with the same products that I have here on ebay in my "Crazy Prices" and "Office Machines" categories, at the same prices I have on ebay - so the sales performance comparison is fair.

It is hard to not come to the conclusion that there is no future in selling here on ebay if you want to earn more than a couple of dollars an hour and accepting a zero return on your stock investment (in my case, my stock investment is more than what my home is worth, and that is not insignificant).

---

I realise many sellers are really struggling, particularly if they sell into saturated markets such as womans clothing or electronics, but its not all gloom and doom. My sales are still ticking over quite well with regular sales of staple items and a couple of very high priced items sold in the last week..  Even with the decline in ebay over recent years, I still earn a lot more than a couple of dollars an hour and my stock is selling at many times what I pay for it. And in response to the above comments, my investment in stock is around a third of the value of my house, so whilst not as high as some, it is also not insignifigant.

I even got keen enough to launch a new store last week to sell into a different catagory to my existing stores. I researched products carefully and came to the conclusion there was an opening in the market for a particular line of niche items that where showing exceptional profit margins. . Its early days yet, but the initial signs are promising with plenty of views, watchers and nearly 10% of listed stock selling in the first six days. Profit margins average between 500% - 1500% on the items that have sold so far.

I know the economy in general and ebay in particular is tough at the moment, but there are still buyers out there if you are selling items that people really want.

[kopenhagen5]

---

@plonkacolin wrote:

ebays been very good to me over the past 15 yrs 

ive no complaints but feel its def coming to an end for me 

maybe not the complete end  of ebay but ive moved onto other selling platforms 

as a seller there are many other ways to sell other than ebay 

there is too much junk from the chineese on ebay now 

there is no way to compete with them 

the chineese get away with so much i feel 

it should be ebay australia not ebay china 

if i have 1 complaint about ebay 

its about non paying buyers 

absolute time wasters  it can take 8-10 days before resolution 

and we can not give them negative feedback 

and buyers get away with it 

not fair not fair 

---

Colin, I have a secret for ya. 

You can eliminate all non payers immediately. 

Seeing as you have BIN listings only, set them all to immediate payment.

Bingo, no more non payers. 

[*tippy*toes*]

Buy it nows are all immediate payment now, regardless of whether you have opted for that or not. I didn't want immediate payment as my non payer rate is low to non existant. Yet, I am forced into it and there is nothing I can do about it. I am sick of losing fees and having to refund excess postage when buyers multi buy and have to pay for each item separately. Majority of my listings are auctions, but sometimes people do hit BIN and they shouldn't be forced into paying if they are still buying.

[brerrabbit585]

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

Buy it nows are all immediate payment now, regardless of whether you have opted for that or not. I didn't want immediate payment as my non payer rate is low to non existant. Yet, I am forced into it and there is nothing I can do about it. I am sick of losing fees and having to refund excess postage when buyers multi buy and have to pay for each item separately. Majority of my listings are auctions, but sometimes people do hit BIN and they shouldn't be forced into paying if they are still buying.

---

It doesn't apply to all sellers yet, thankfully.  I hope I'm one of the last to get it!!