Sudden decline in eBay sales from Australia listings

[dougalaus]

I have experienced a dramatic drop in sales in 2026. I have 620 listings currently and the only thing I have changed is to declare that I will not despatch to USA. The reason for that is that I will not get involved in the stupidity gnerated by that country's imposition of duties. However, I do not think that can affect my sales overall. In Australia there are some cost of living challenges but not of a magnitude that would stop people from buying on ebay. It feels like ebay has made a policy change or amended the visibility of listings but I have no specific indications of anything like that. Ebay's income must also have dropped so I hope they are on the case and can find a solution.

[love_of_cars]

Yeah man, my sales are lower than the Mariana Trench over the past few weeks and I'm still selling to the US, UK and NZ.

[davewil1964]

Unless you pay eBay to promote listings, your listings will drop in 'best' match.

If your category has buyers who don't sort by 'best' match (the default) then your listings will appear by whatever criteria the potential buyer selects.

Unfortunately most buyers don't seem to understand how the site works, nor the search options available to them.

I note that you have 4 feedback in the last month vs 72 in the last year, a statistical glitch of 2.

[dougalaus]

Thanks Dave. I have not changed my categories, listing parameters and practices or anything else. I never paid ebay to promote listings even when my sales were higher last year. Other ebayers are also complaining about reduced success rates. This suggests, then, that ebay may have changed its practices without any clarity (in my perception) on the matter.

I am disappointed that ebay did not react to my post so will ask the question on the help page.

[sandypebbles]

eBay staff very very read the member to member forum and they never reply to posts here

That said, it is important to note that there are two scammers using hacked accounts who do post here pretending to be from eBay who have posted asked a member to message them with their details, and both who regularly post here, claiming to be 'eBay experts' and offering 'advice'

They even have fake social media pages

Other members here have frequently asked the mods to remove these people/block them from posting but so far have refused to do so

IF you do get a message or a response from someone claiming to be eBay, it is not

[dougalaus]

An ebay representative confirmed that they have not chnaged their practices or methodology. He could see on my account that some nuyers have not posted feedback but that has always been the case. He also noted that there is one defect (couldn't find a sold book; refunded buyer and apologised).

In the end he could only suggest I keep listing items and hope that sales will improve.

[*casey*]

"and both who regularly post here, claiming to be 'eBay experts' and offering 'advice'"

And S is now dropshipping from AliExpress / Temu   !

[sandypebbles]

No surprise when they are 100% supported by all parties in their scamming

[south.coffee]

Depending on your selling category, sales can fluctuate seasonally.  Generally many people are on holidaze in January and with back to school / work and Christmas credit cards coming in, you can get a push back in sales.

Another issue gaining relevance is the switch to Ai search engines which appear to be dishing up mixed results, unless a buyer has very specific search terms.  Plus as we all know, eBay is rolling out Ai every which way to save money, them, not us...

We refer to Ai as 'Advertising Income' or 'Artificial Information' but more the former...

[*casey*]

" However, I do not think that can affect my sales overall. In Australia there are some cost of living challenges but not of a magnitude that would stop people from buying on ebay.

Other ebayers are also complaining about reduced success rates"

Ask around.

In some categories buyers can hardly find items listed by good, honest Australian sellers  amongst all the scam listings, dropshipping rubbish, more often than not listed by Chinese sellers.

eBay likes to call them 'Top Rated Sellers'

Buyers are fed up with it and are increasingly leaving this site and shopping elsewhere.

This ,in turn,  affects ALL sellers , especially our Australian sellers