Why aren't people buying on ebay? Discuss...

[rocket2retro]

It seems the general consensus is that for many sellers (myslef included) eBay sales have dropped in recent times.

My question is why?

I'd be interested to hear why people think this is happening.

[mbselections00]

Hahaha, it's pretty crazy - and that's why I feel so bamboozled by it - there just doesn't seem to be a pattern or any consistency - drives me nuts sometimes.  I always believed the more you put in, the more you got out, but that just doesn't seem to apply, well not here anyway. 

[chameleon54]

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@rocket2retro wrote:

It seems the general consensus is that for many sellers (myslef included) eBay sales have dropped in recent times.

My question is why?

I'd be interested to hear why people think this is happening.

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The rot set in when google introduced its new search system ( Panda something ) . Ebay had found a way to push its listings high in google searches, but the Panda update closed this loophole. Our items no longer show up near the top of google searches like they did 18 months ago.

Around the same time ebay had the worldwide hacking scare and asked everyone to change their passwords. Exit more buyers. Add to this the introduction of the defect system for sellers, increased ebay promotion of large businesses at the expense of small sellers, price rises by Australia Post, especially for large letters and a generally slowing global and Australian economy with rising unemployment and you have a perfect storm for ebay sales.

[clarry100]

Yep agree with what you have to say on this DG.

Like many on here our ebay sales are down about 40% or so over what they had been a couple of years ago.

We also started selling in this past 12-monhs on our own website and also on another venue (rhymes with betsy!).

If it were not for these two helping to pick up the gap we would be in real trouble as oline selling is our main (well only) source of income these days. Even with those two backing up sales we are still down about 10%.

We also know a couple of people who have B&M stores. They have also said that their sales are way down as compared to previous years. In one case they are coming close to closing down as they are right at the break even point now. If it does not pick up soon they will be gone too. This particular business is a very good quality Chinese restaurant in our area that has been trading for about 10-years now. Sad to see really as they have put their heart and souls into this.

I can't really offer any explanation as to why this is occurring, but it certainly does not appear to be limited to ebay, although I do believe they have contributed in a large way to their own escalting demise as DG speaks of.

[davidc4430]

a truly difficult question to answer, so many factors. the internet has grown how big since ebay was born? so many places to spend your dollar now. ebay in trying to make its bank balance bigger has introduced fees and charges making the 'bargains' of the early days pretty much a story old guys tell around the campfire. ebays bringing in the big retailers another problem for the litte sellers who made ebay what it was. ebays 'protection' of poor buyers and sellers another problem they wont wake up too, a bad experience will drive both buyers and sellers away.

postage charges seem to be another bugbear, big retailers and chinese sellers are able to offer free or very low charges the small guy (or gal) cant match.

then theres the fact i dont rekon the buyers are out there with the spending cash they once had, paypackets have reduced while the cost to fill the shopping trolly at woolies has risen. no matter what the adverts on tv say.

we are up against so much competition for every dollar, i'm not really suprised we are struggling with sales.

[rocket2retro]

Thanks everyone for your input. Some very good points made. It is probably a combination of things.

I'm also like the posters who mention that they feel they have no control and just get carried along, hoping for the best.

The frustrating thing is eBay seem not to care (no surpriises here).

Perhaps when many sellers, like myself, find it completely unviable & start leaving in droves (taking my almost $10k yearly contribution to their coffers) they will take notice.  By then it may be too late for them.

I feel that there must be a plethora of sellers on the verge of calling it quits if sales dwindling at the rate they have been.

Perhaps the new 'big boy' sellers will keep eBay afloat, but if buyers start leaving as well (due to lack of variety etc etc) who knows.

I agree that in coming years we will be the people around the campfire reminiscing on 'the days when you could make a good living selling on eBay'.

[annieoakley2000]

We all love our extra Free listings, but let's just think about all these extra freebie listings of late:

100 Free listings - 150 free listings - unlimited free listings + 3 x 30 day relistings !

Even if only a handful of sellers on E-Bay would take up these offers - that is thousands upon thousands; perhaps even hundreds of thousands of extra listings.

Buyers are getting overwhelmed by all these over saturated extra listings on E-Bay - too much choice is definitely not a good thing if you want to sell something; it's not even such a good thing if you want to buy something either.

At the end of the day too many listings will remain unsold and the ones that do sell are probably cut throat listings with free postage where nobody makes any money and even E-Bay would have to have many more sales to collect their average percentage !!

[yeoldecoinco]

eBay is still a very powerful selling tool and has market dominance in Australia, have no doubt about that.

Whenever I list a lot of new material, my sales pick up.

It has become much more competitive over the past 5 years, with many more listings and choices than before in most categories.

You have to work hard, have good prices, good stock range and provide good service.

You have to be prepared to realise when things are not selling and drop the price or change the listing.

The trap for many in working from home is lack of structure to keep you working consistently.

I try to apply a rule to my work effort of "If I was an employer paying wages, would I be happy to have paid those wages for that effort?"

That is, I look at my effort for the day as if I was a paid worker, rather than the person in charge of the operation.

And some days I am very productive, some days, working from home, one tends to drift a bit..

[chameleon54]

yeoldecoinco - Excellent post.

I think many people start online businesses because they think it will be easier than working for a boss and they can work in a more relaxed way, when they want and how they want. Thats fine if the business is only meant to be a hobby or a bit of fun, but most ebayers who are making serious money work in a consistent way and treat their business like a real job. Many have set work hours and lunch breaks, seperate work enviroment and work very hard while "at work".

When my kids where younger, they new that if dad was in the office working on ebay, they where not to disturb him unless it was important. If they where home for school holidays they had to keep the noise down to an acceptable level so dad could concentrate. This may all sound a bit harsh, but if ebay is your full time job, you need to have a strong work ethic and put in a consistent effort every day.

[digital*ghost]

These are all good points, and I agree with them but the primary issue is when people remain just as dedicated, work just as hard, and so on, but it doesn't help. 

Personally, I'm actually at my most motivated when things are tough. If I have a bad week or so, I tend to go into overdrive, getting all the things I put off til later done, listed etc, I'll go through old or end of range stock, batch it up, try to come up with new ideas etc, and whether it helps or not, it occupies me until things start to pick up.

The hardest I ever worked was when I opened my second Et*y shop... I redid all the product images, making them a bit fancier with a consistent and recognisable background, and spend ages going through everything, writing new descriptions, counting stock, etc, all between my usual eBay activities, so it was not unusual for me to flop exhausted into my chair at 11pm and take a 5 min break...

And it was only 5 minutes because it was around the time Shia Lebouf's "just do it" video was viral. People should laugh at me for this - I certainly do  - but every time I tried to put something off, Shia would shout at me and I'd do that little bit more. 

He's so angry 

[yeoldecoinco]

Yes, I agree, good points, is it a hobby or a business?

If it is a business, it has to be approached in a professional manner.

Working from home requires a structure and some consistency, very easy to drift off into a mode where you think you are working, but really are not producing much.

I have been there a few times, thinking that I am working harder than I actually am.

Here, I will often go into my home office and shut the door.

To my wife and my lovely old dog, that means I am at work and am not to be disturbed unless important.

There are a number of people having trouble selling on eBay like they used to.

That is unfortunate, but there is usually a reason for it, it is often because the categories they are trying to sell in have become flooded with competition.

To quote Nicolas Cage from Lord of War - "The trouble with trying to make an honest buck is there is just no margin, everyone is doing it"

So true.

You either compete right back, or, if uneconomical, find something you can sell and make a quid on, or go back to work for someone else.

I look at categories that seem to attract a lot of problems or competion, such as second hand clothes or CDs and think to myself, you have to work real hard at those categories to make a buck, everyone is doing it.

Better to try and find a niche product or market you can learn and understand, than trying to sell what everyone else is.