Sales have hit a Wall

[ezy-mobiles]

I have been a regular seller on e-bay since 2000 (yep 13 years) and I have never seen sales so critically low. The lack of sales combined with the increase in e-bay fees / paypal fees etc looks like after all these years time to finish up with with ebay and back to selling at the local weekend markets.

[waddingtonfirstaid]

Yes, you are 100% correct. Something seriously wrong with eBay since May 1. Many many people have commented on this. No response from eBay which is typical. They are masters of manufacturing positive spin when introducing changes so when serious issues actually happen, there's little trust remaining to believe anything will be done to help us. Prices are very high now and hardly any auctions. Many bad policy changes and huge hike in fees.

[Anonymous]

Hi. As i have said on other posts my sales are down. At one point by about 95% now perhaps 75%-80% There are various reasons but it all comes down to Ebay pushing us out to make way for larger profits from international sellers. Im sure now however I will get lots of advice by other users who mean well but are not quite on the ball as usual. Things like, "offer auctions," "Offer Free Post" etc etc etc. However after 14 years on Ebay I am pretty sure I know my business a little better than someone who reads my post and decides they have a "miracle cure!" Been there and done that! (there are some options but If I mention those my post will be removed by the moderation squad) I no longer use auctions as my items are low profit and I find now days a $0.99 cent listing often sells for $0.99 (IE: I pay for someone to take my stock). My profit margin is already below subsistance level so free post is out of the question.It is NOT because we are in Recession. It is NOT because I dont know what Im doing. Ebay has changed and those who are luckily making enough profit per item may survive. (If you are one of these, good luck to you.) Those of us with minimal profits will NOT! As for those who have listened to the Ebay hype over the years like the stories (or paid advertisements as the case may be) on A CURRENT AFFAIR, where they have told us to open an Ebay business and make our living there. I think these people have every right to complain. Not that anyone will be listening.....

[steen1equestrianriding2]

Totally agree........sales have been the worst ever since 1st May. I think it is all to do with their system changes and they have had several of late, hence the lousy sales.

It happens EVERY time, without fail ,when eBay make system alterations. It seems to take about 2 weeks for their changes to roll out site wide but  sales never fully go back to where  they were after each change.

This time last year and the year before averaged $1200 per week turnover. This week is $300. I don't know how long eBay think sellers will put up with this carp?

[Anonymous]

As someone pointed out to me. I dont think the sales have gone...They have just been transferred to other sellers overseas.

[tonalidesigns]

Our sales have dropped since 1 May - however April was a very "nice" month!.

Am not slashing my wrists just yet (although its played havoc with our cash flow!!!). This happens every time eBay makes changes and - as the previous poster points out - they have made a lot lately. They can take a while to work through. I don't recall eBay making too many changes last May ...

May is also traditionally a slow  month in retail (which actually makes it a good time for eBay to make changes!!!)

I just looked back at our data from the first two weeks of May last year - our actual number of eBay transactions for the last two weeks is actually about 20% up on the same two weeks last year (although April 2013 was 40% up on April 2012 so that is still a bit of slowdown!). I haven't checked the $ values. I also know we had a few exceptional direct sales (ie non eBay) sales in May 2012 - that hasn't happened this year (at least not yet).

Yes I'm concerned but I am reserving judgement - although I do think some real cracks are appearing on eBay at the moment.

Oh yes - I'm also working on our website, redesigning our auction listings and working on some new product ideas while its "quiet".

[4ewesonly]

hi , have to agree that sales are gone, I usually sell  2nd hand everything including Australian pottery, but all Ive been getting is lookers. Ive only sold 2 things this month. 😞

[oztradingcards]

I long ago that if you wanted to run a hobby business then EBAY was not the forum to do it, so I looked around found a do it yourself website package, costs me a couple of hundred dollars a year to run. My sales are reasonable even though I don't advertise it.  At some point I will want it to be more of a business rather than a hobby which will require upgrading my site but it will still be more cost effective than EBAY.  The 40 free listings a month suit me as I rarely list more than that, but no doubt as some point that will be removed as well

[cicero6911]

I agree.  Sales have but dried up. I believe there are different issues at play. This time of year is not great for retail. Another one is general economic uncertainty and people's budgets being stretched. But for my little business, I think the biggest problem is ebay driving sales off shore and to the new "official stores". With these big guys to compete with, buyers cant find my item, even when mine are cheaper - much cheaper.

[belindabargainhunter]

I have not been buying what I hadin the past but that is done to shopping around and finding that sellers on ebay charging more.