Sales way down for the last 2 months Aug-Sep 2016

[gameofbricks]

As the Subjects states.....Anyone else feeling the pinch?

If anything i have increased my listings yet not much is moving.

Did ebay change something i missed?

[yeoldecoinco]

My eBay sales have been pretty good overall, this year, but they are patchy.

In the first couple of weeks in September, it was awful, as it usually is, being Agricultural show time, which takes a lot of money out of people's pockets.

I was about ready to call it quits on the 14th and go on holiday, when all of a sudden, BANG, things started selling and the 14th until I went on holidays on the 23rd of September was brilliant.

In the last three days I have been back selling, the Friday was good and the Saturday and Sunday have been absolutely dead.

Internet Sales, some days are great, other days they are not, just like having a shop.

[englishrosegardens]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@chameleon54 wrote:

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It would be a simple matter for ebay to reduce visibility for a period of all of a sellers listings if a " watcher " buys an item, thus regulating sales over a month to a pre determined average figure.

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In order for that to be genuinely effective in terms of limiting a seller's turnover, their only source of traffic has to be on-site searches, which would be pretty rare these days. This also kind of presumes a seller would always be turning over more than eBay's limit if it wasn't in place, and never under. 

Aside from Google searches, there's a range of options available to drive traffic to someone's eBay items, so even if we presume eBay places limits on a seller's visibility and modifies traffic/sales to a particular $ limit, how can they control all sales / traffic? 

I'm not saying eBay doesn't interfere and/or micro-manage, BTW, just saying it's ultimately very limited control and a seller would not have to resign themselves to it if they didn't want to. 

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I totally agree with this.  Restricting a seller's sales just isn't logical, in more than one way.  

Firstly, there's no guarantee a person will spend the money on something else if they can't find what they want, so that means a potential sale missed and less selling fees for ebay.   Some people might spend all their spare cash on ebay but a lot don't - they only buy what they want or need, so if they can't find what they want it's less fees for ebay, less sales for sellers, and dissatisfied buyers who may not bother looking next time they need something - EVERYBODY loses out.

Reducing visibility for some items where there's heaps of items exactly the same is one thing, but reducing visibility of one seller's items is something else entirely.  It could mean a lot less sales for ebay, especially if that seller has things that can't be bought from others.  When there are differences between items it definitely means reduced sales if only some are showing.  I have 600 of the 15,000 listings in my category and you'd be lucky to find ten of my items that are also available from someone else.

I can understand that they don't show all items all the time because of site capacity, but to throttle someone's sales could mean they have to hide ALL their listings for days at a time.  Last year I had one huge order that was equal to almost two months of selling.  If they were throttling me, they would have had to hide ALL my listings for almost all of the next month, including to those people who regularly buy from me.  How would they know another buyer wasn't going to put in an order that size, and how could they stop them if they didn't hide ALL my listings from EVERYONE?

When I sold on qs I always sold at least twice as much in July as any other month.  Other than that, most months were at pretty much the same level, with no more than a couple of months that were lower or higher.  They had no throttling there (or best match) so it doesn't surprise me if my sales are pretty much at the same level every month on ebay.  July was lower for me this year but that was thanks to more stupid category changes that made it even harder for buyers to find things.  I'm sometimes surprised I sell as much as I do because of the changes they've made in the last year!  Most of what I sell would be found by browsing, not by keyword searches, so I rely on buyers being able to figure out the categories and item specifics.

Re best match, they could use that to slow our sales but it wouldn't completely throttle them.  Some buyers must either browse that way or they see the first page of it before they change the default, as too many of my sales are for an item I've just sold to someone else for it to be a coincidence.  A lot wouldn't know they can change the default permanently, and some wouldn't know they can change it at all.  A friend and I never cease to be surprised at how many buyers don't know how to do fairly basic stuff on ebay.  A lot do know how but many don't!  When I speak to friends and acquaintances it's obvious that a lot of them don't know how ebay works (or computers).  I've had several ask me very basic questions like how to put a return in to start a new paragraph.  One of the people who asked me that is an occasional seller and she'd always done one-paragraph descriptions up until then.

I just wish they'd do something about duplicate listings so that the site could handle the number of genuine listings on it and not have to hide anything!  On my newest selling ID I've got around 70 listings and I'd be seen a LOT more if one seller in the same category didn't have five or six listings for each of their items.  I've reported them and it's a complete waste of time.  Their products are shoddy (according to their feedback) and their feedback is now down to 98% so I may not have to worry about them much longer.

[chameleon54]

I can understand peoples sceptacism. It is a hard concept to come to terms with, particularly if you are not one of the sellers affected.

I have just worked out my total monthly sales for the past 6 months This was a fairly substantial five figure sum. I  then worked out my average monthly sales for the last six months. The figure I came up with was $16 over what I believe my monthly limit to be.

In the last 3 months my sales have been July - $21 under average, August - $17 over average, September $67 below average. ( but slightly higher sales on the first of October to bring sales right up to rolling average )  This is on a turnover of thousands of dollars a month.

The monthly figure I sell is less than half what my stores where selling before this averaging appeared, so no problems to reach the sales target each month, regardless of how much or little effort I put into ebay.

The products I sell dont attract regular customers or repeat buyers. Every sale is a one off to a new customer or at best, someone who purchased a different item six months ago.

I can understand that those who are not affected by this dont believe it occurs, but the figures dont lie. No store in an unregulated market could have sales that consistent, month in , month out. It just doesnt happen.

[chameleon54]

Just to add to the above post, There was a short period of several days just over 6 months ago when there was a definate change in selling pattern. It appears my listings where either highly visible or " normal unregulated" visible. ie. the system was broken.

During this short period my sales went crazy. I spent several days full time packing ( running ) and was still not able to pack as quick as my items where selling. ie I was getting further and further behind.  On a couple of days I had too many parcels to go over the PO front counter. I would go to the post office half an hour before closing time and back my car up to the posties rear entrance. The PO staff would bring a trolly to the door and we would load it from there and then go to the front counter to process them, finishing after closing time.  

This ended as abruptly as it started, but was a very interesting insight into what might be possible.

[digital*ghost]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

...figures dont lie.

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But how those figures are interpreted is a whole 'nother thing, and although it's a perfectly logical and rational explanation, it doesn't mean it's the only one. 

I know you weren't replying to my post, but just to clarify, mine wasn't about disbelief (as such), it was about thinking outside the box. Or, if one is not inclined to think outside the box, at least poke some air holes in it. 

I've been there - the same sales figures month after month, with maybe a $50 deviation most months, I also saw the original (but since deleted) post from an eBay employee listing the kinds of limits on seller accounts, some of which were already known, others....not so much, and those were never explained.

What I am trying to say is that unless eBay also prevent links from working on sites they have no way to access or control, and literally block people from purchasing, there is no way they can genuinely limit someone's sales, because they can't stop you from advertising elsewhere, and they can't control the reach of that advertising, meaning whatever limits that there may be, they aren't a great wall, they're a softly drawn line. 

[chameleon54]

Thanks Digi, no offence taken and no offence taken to others who may be a little sceptical. I,m just trying to work out what is going on and if there is a way to increase sales.

One theory I have is that an increase in sell through rate, may result in monthly averages climbing over time. This is just based on observing competitors sales. I price my items at the dearer end of the market to gain maximum profit from each individual sale. This means my sell through rate is poor, but my profit margins are exellent. Competitors who sell at lower price points or who sell more popular, but less profitable items have sales which fluctuate much more than mine.

Digi - you make the point that ebay has no way of controlling external links and marketing. This is certianly true.

I have mentioned before that one of my stores experienced unusual traffic after I accidently posted on the forums with that store ID by mistake.

I spent many nights trying to work out what was going on and in the course of that process did extensive searches on my listed items. Many of the items I sell are one offs, not available anywhere else. It was amazing to see who had taken an interest in them and where links to them ended up. I had ebay listings that appeared on external sites which colate items for sale from many sources which are of interest to a particular audience. There was also a very large number ( hundreds ) of listings that had found thier way onto specialist club sites ( particularly in Britian, but also European countries ) and enthusiast discussion forums all around the world. ie. someone on a forum would ask if any members had a particular item for sale. Another member would post a link to my ebay listing. It was a real eye opener.

I dont have any real answers, only questions and possible theories.

I have started a concerted effort to list several hundred new items over the next week or so to see if I can actually increase sales. I have spent two days full time listing already with several more planned for this week. There are quite a few juicy items and seasonal items that should be quick sellers. It will be an interesting experiment.

[transport-posters]

Yay!  Tonight (Sunday) I had my first sale since early Thursday morning.  This is the longest I've ever gone between sales in a very long time that I recall.

[digital*ghost]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

Thanks Digi, no offence taken and no offence taken to others who may be a little sceptical. I,m just trying to work out what is going on and if there is a way to increase sales.

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Personally, I've come to view eBay as a finite resource - not in a static way, and not necessarily in terms of there'll be a point where sales peak, plateau, or dry up, or that growth beyond a certain point isn't possible, but that at any given time, there is only going to be a smaller percentage of all potential customers buying here. With both eBay being what it is, and people having their own preferences, a seller is never going to be able to "catch 'em all'. In my categories more specifically, there would be a point where I wouldn't be able to attract new customers without significant change (by which I mean new product lines, and/or changes in business practices). 

Some people don't like to shop here for quite a number of reasons, others don't want to use PayPal (or bank deposit) under any circumstances, so will seek out alternative options  - I have some customers who are happy to buy from me anywhere, some only on eBay, others only in other places. I likely lose a few customers who do shop on eBay due to my personal preferences and practices (eg no free shipping items, rarely any promotional discounts or sales, more expensive materials so higher priced items than many of the equivalent items for sale, but at the same time some of those things will gain me customers, as well).  

My long-term plan is now focused on growth via expanding to other platforms, rather than growth on any one in particular, and allow them to all to feed and grow each other (if that makes sense), which is working well enough for me (so far 😄 ). 

[bjlcr]

Yes my sales are way down on both accounts.One account had no sales for a whole month then item sold on the last day of September...I was pnly having 5 sales a month on each account then suddenly it stoppped.Ebay are trying to get rid of their small time sellers,No doubt about that

[chameleon54]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@chameleon54 wrote:

Thanks Digi, no offence taken and no offence taken to others who may be a little sceptical. I,m just trying to work out what is going on and if there is a way to increase sales.

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Personally, I've come to view eBay as a finite resource - not in a static way, and not necessarily in terms of there'll be a point where sales peak, plateau, or dry up, or that growth beyond a certain point isn't possible, but that at any given time, there is only going to be a smaller percentage of all potential customers buying here. With both eBay being what it is, and people having their own preferences, a seller is never going to be able to "catch 'em all'. In my categories more specifically, there would be a point where I wouldn't be able to attract new customers without significant change (by which I mean new product lines, and/or changes in business practices). 

Some people don't like to shop here for quite a number of reasons, others don't want to use PayPal (or bank deposit) under any circumstances, so will seek out alternative options  - I have some customers who are happy to buy from me anywhere, some only on eBay, others only in other places. I likely lose a few customers who do shop on eBay due to my personal preferences and practices (eg no free shipping items, rarely any promotional discounts or sales, more expensive materials so higher priced items than many of the equivalent items for sale, but at the same time some of those things will gain me customers, as well).  

My long-term plan is now focused on growth via expanding to other platforms, rather than growth on any one in particular, and allow them to all to feed and grow each other (if that makes sense), which is working well enough for me (so far 😄 ). 

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Ebay has always been a finite resourse. I originally came to ebay as a buyer. At the time I was collecting antiquarian books, particularly early Australian artists, aboriginal, explorers and first fleet etc. . When an auction of a very rare title came up, there was really only the same 5 or 6 die hards competing. The same names appeared time and again to the point where a few of us got to know each other quite well.  Unfortunately those books are no longer sold on ebay and even if they where, I couldnt afford them now with teenage kids   

According to ebays reports to the U.S stock exchange, thier buyer numbers are still increasing each year by several %, so the pool of buyers is actually growing. One problem is that sellers are also increasing at a faster rate, diluting the buyer to seller ratio.

My long term plan for growth is to increase my sheep numbers in my grazing business   , but I still have a shipping container and half a garage full of ebay stock that I have to move. I basically havnt purchased any new stock for 12 months and figure it will still take several years at current selling rates to move the stock in storage. Luckily a lot of it is collectable type stuff that is getting rarer the longer I hang onto it, so not losing too much value through depreciation.