Sales stopped since latest update ??

[rakem2011]

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone else has had their sales drop or stop since the latest updates??  It is like my shop has been turned off which has never happened in all my years on eBay, it is really weird, any suggestions would be appreciated 

[stylesilver]

OMG ... what a litany of glitches!! This probably explains a loss of many Ebayers sales.. but maybe not everyones ... Like jewellery sellers like me as I havent had anything come up about adding specifics (unless theres been a glitch sending me the message about specifics?)... Maybe this just puts all buyers off? Do wish Ebay would stop fiddling with everything

[davewil1964]

I can only guess that they are trying to make it easy for big-box sellers of new items to upload listings with a minimum of fuss.

They would have all those fields readily available, whereas smaller sellers or those selling used items would have to laboriously find and enter the information, thus making it less likely they will be around to compete with the aforementioned BBS.

[chameleon54]

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@stylesilver wrote:

Is anyone?? Doing well... Sales have totally slowed for me but I've been on holidays (& haven't added my new stock yet)... Wondering if I should wait until things pick up for Xmas so my new stuff gets seen when it's busier... So want to know if some people are still getting their regular sales?

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Sorry....... but I spent quite a bit of time adding some quality new listings around a week ago and things have been going very well ever since, with quite a few items selling within hours of listing. Sales over the longer period are generally trending up by 25-30%..

I did notice something VERY STRANGE though when doing advanced searches of sold items to get a value of the stuff I was listing. There simply wasn't any of these items on ebay anywhere ( including international listings ) and none showed as having being listed in completed listings for the last 90 days. 

At first I thought it was a glitch and ebay just wasn't showing the listings, but no, it seems the regular sellers of this sort of stuff have left ebay for good. With this in mind when pricing items I just thought of a number and basically doubled it. Its not quite that simple, but I did put some big prices on stuff ( much higher than in the past ) thinking I could always accept an offer or lower prices later, but it made no difference, the stuff just sold at the listed prices.

I also noticed when purchasing last Sunday at a market that no-one else was buying the stuff to resell. Normally I arrive at 5.30 am. get all my good items by 6.30 am and then wander around for the next two hours finding very little as the good stuff sells quickly. But this weekend I was buying great items, right up until 9.00 am when I had spent all of my money. I only covered half of the stalls and could have doubled my purchases if I had the cash handy..There was quality items everywhere at much cheaper prices than normal and no-one buying them.. . 

I also noticed ( and the guys on the PA system confirmed ), that there where a lot more sellers than normal, but not many buyers. It was a bit like a ghost town. Seems like the casual buyers and weekend lookers have their heads well and truly pulled in, but the serious buyers are still hanging out on ebay, waiting for the right items to come along. All up there are some major changes going on in the economy, with casual shoppers not spending on impulse buys, but the rare stuff is still selling for good money to the serious buyers. 

[davewil1964]

I've noticed very few, if any, sellers of my less common mm books lately. I am having to use other places to work out prices.

I don't know if it's a lack of sellers of those particular books or if it's a lack of those particular books.

[chameleon54]

Buyer demographics definately change over time, particularly in collectables catagories. Vintage tractors and stationary engines are a great example. Fifteen years ago a generation of farmers on smaller holdings retired, built a big shed out the back of the house and restored tractors they used when younger. The price of these old tractors went through the roof with competition hot at clearing sales from cashed up retired farmers. Now all of these old boys are popping off of their perches or too old to bother anymore and the younger blokes never used the old banger tractors. Prices have fallen through the floor and sales are slow. BUT the really rare, good tractors are still holding their value.

Vintage cars are the same. If you think about it, a 1920,s car with wooden wheels is nearly 100 years old, but the young blokes are not interested. They want to restore Holden Monaros or Ford GT,s  so the market for the old stuff which was very vibrant once is now fairly limited.

Everything goes through a phase of popularity, but often fades. I,m just waiting for the McDonalds kids of today to grow up and start to collect the happy meal toys from the 1990,s & 2000,s. I,ve got trunks full of them still in the packets, purchased for a few cents each at markets & garage sales.

When the kids groan when dad buys more carp my response is....... One day this will all be yours...

[stylesilver]

Yes those Maccas toys will prob have their day! Some were really well made & u can replace the batteries in them- not bad for a giveaway! Love the Shrek Gingerbread man & the Puss in Boots cat (whose eyes get bigger & smaller). 

Does look like theres a change in many Aussies spending habits...retail figures seem to be mostly bad news... even cafes & food were down I think last quarter.. So yes I think you are right that there is a tightening of purse strings.. we are becoming a nation of savers? or maybe theres not even much saving being done... just paying bills & surviving.

But its good to hear from you again Chameleon that putting effort in STILL gets results IF you have what people want. Last time I talked to u here I was about to load new items onto Ebay.. but ended up not doing it as I got fairly busy with my other work. BUT IM DOING IT TODAY & this time WILL report back here tafter seeing if it works for me too.

[dadsarmy-7]

I have noticed since the new update I can no longer do accurate reports as you cannot add your postage costs in.The older system was much better for a seller to use.Contacted eBay about this and they replied they made it easier but not for me.

[heihachi_73]

And just like clockwork, the instant the month rolled over to November, everything flat-lined. One solitary coin sold on the 3rd, which went for $2. It's now the 8th.

The entirety of October had no less than one sale per day on average, and if I didn't get a sale on a given day, the next day had two or three sales.