drop in sales

[lovemyjeans237]

Has anyone noticed a dramatic drop in veiws and sales in the past 7 days?

I have noticed the veiws on my items have slowed and my sales have more than halved. This has happened suddenly. 

I have also noticed my items are hard to find when I am doing a general search where as before I would find my items quite easy.

[digital*ghost]

It's funny (and not in the  way) that ebay presents their "invisible" seller limits as a way of helping sellers. As in, they legit say that it's to help ensure sellers can manage the sales they get efficiently, rather than let them be overwhelmed or fall behind in order processing, ultimately giving buyers unsatisfactory experiences.

And I say it's funny because (to me) that's an open admission of curbing sellers' sales volume, with no genuine justification, because how on earth would eBay have the faintest clue what level of sales volume a seller is capable of handling? I get limiting if they consistently underperform, but if they're curbing growth and throwing that out as a reason, I can't see how it doesn't qualify as business interference (even if a seller couldn't handle it, with decent sales volume they can still expand and create new jobs by hiring employees to do stuff they can't). 

[chameleon54]

Around 12-18 months ago I had a few days where the system obviously was not working at all. My main store ran without any controls for around 72 hours. It was just crazy.

I cant remember how many sales I had, but I spent several days following this just full time packing as fast as I could go. I had so many parcels I had to use the tradesmens entrance at the rear of the PO, back up to the loading bay and fill a couple of postal trollies each day. I,ve never seen anything like this before or since and did mention it on the forums at the time..

It gave a brief insight into what is possible on ebay if only we where left to get on with the job unhindered.

[dazzledayz]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

Around 12-18 months ago I had a few days where the system obviously was not working at all. My main store ran without any controls for around 72 hours. It was just crazy.

I cant remember how many sales I had, but I spent several days following this just full time packing as fast as I could go. I had so many parcels I had to use the tradesmens entrance at the rear of the PO, back up to the loading bay and fill a couple of postal trollies each day. I,ve never seen anything like this before or since and did mention it on the forums at the time..

It gave a brief insight into what is possible on ebay if only we where left to get on with the job unhindered.

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I've seen this too, usually after a Friday update when something goes screwy with the throttling algorithm.

Sales are brilliant for a short period of time but it soon gets shut down once the devs fix the system.

Then of course sales virtually stop because we've earned over our share and averages MUST be maintained.

Like I said earlier, there is a big element of predictability in our sales figures.

@ Digi, if they wanted to be serious about our ability to cope, all they need to do is look at our performance from 2 or 3 years ago.

I know I was handling quadruple the present volume without a hiccup.

Cant, sheer cant; these corporate apperatchiks would say anything to justify their position.

[digital*ghost]

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@dazzledayz wrote:

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Cant, sheer cant; these corporate apperatchiks would say anything to justify their position.

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It's the stuff they say without thinking it through that amuses me the most, though. It's like they get the cheapest, most apathetic writers they can find from Fiverr and tell them they need to sell people on something they will think is bad, in the most superficial way possible. 

[dazzledayz]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@dazzledayz wrote:

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Cant, sheer cant; these corporate apperatchiks would say anything to justify their position.

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It's the stuff they say without thinking it through that amuses me the most, though. It's like they get the cheapest, most apathetic writers they can find from Fiverr and tell them they need to sell people on something they will think is bad, in the most superficial way possible. 

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Lol, you're probably right there Digi.

I doubt as their literacy is in any way more advanced than their business or software skills so hacks would most certainly be the choice.

Even a hack would do better so maybe they plant their tongues firmly into cheek before crafting the message.

(then sit back and laugh at the morons who accepted it)

[stylesilver]

Thanks for yr updates everyone (Chameleon, dazzledayz, Digi, Davewill) -was just checking if it was fairly quiet for everyone else too! If I take out a few big unusual sales of Non Jewellery items - I realized my pre Xmas rushof November wasnt happening this yr-  like it was by same time last year & most others yers.

Only thing is,....I do recall that there are years where everyone makes a late dash at Christmas shopping & all the action happens thru out December only. Soooo heres hoping for that -for everyone!! 

And yes!!! it is very obvious now about us all having a limit of some kind! No matter how much extra I list... my total is always around the same too!! Its like we need to know our place & not reach for the next level!!

[dazzledayz]

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@stylesilver wrote:

Thanks for yr updates everyone (Chameleon, dazzledayz, Digi, Davewill) -was just checking if it was fairly quiet for everyone else too! If I take out a few big unusual sales of Non Jewellery items - I realized my pre Xmas rushof November wasnt happening this yr-  like it was by same time last year & most others yers.

Only thing is,....I do recall that there are years where everyone makes a late dash at Christmas shopping & all the action happens thru out December only. Soooo heres hoping for that -for everyone!! 

And yes!!! it is very obvious now about us all having a limit of some kind! No matter how much extra I list... my total is always around the same too!! Its like we need to know our place & not reach for the next level!!

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That's what Digi, Chameleon and I have observed above (and many others have opined elsewhere).

Those few big sales have added to your monthly total causing your ongoing sales to drop.

Sell a few big items or lots of small ones, it usually works out to be the same income.

Personally, I'm inclined to think it's a function of category market volume being shared out to sellers (roughly speaking).

Average monthly figures will go up and down slightly but unless there's some major change in markets it won't be by much.

I hope your market kicks up for you in December.

Good luck with it!

[yeoldecoinco]

"Just ticking along quietly and consistently. No Christmas rush, a busy day here and there foillowed by a couple of quiet days. Basically the same thing week in, week out. I mentioned on another thread recently that I ran my numbers on my stores a few days ago. The main featured store consistently sells to within half of one percent ( 0.5 % variation ) of average sales, month in, month out, so there is never anything to get excited or dissapointed about with that one."

Same here, eerily consistent, month in, month out.

Not complaining, eBay sales have been quite steady, suits me fine at this stage of life.

I usually have a sales spike when I list a quantity of fresh items, but the month inevitably averages out to within 1% or so of the previous months...

[bubbycom]

November is always quiet in our retail store, always has been for the 13years i have been in it.

eBay is normally not to bad in November but this year is very slow, infact this calender year compared to last is very low on sales.

I am even considering down grading my account and just pay the extra couple of % fees per sale than paying the $49.95 and getting reduced fees.

Not sure what changed but maybe it is online in general as my own webstore has also been down on sales but instore it's simliar to last year.

[chameleon54]

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@yeoldecoinco wrote:

"Just ticking along quietly and consistently. No Christmas rush, a busy day here and there foillowed by a couple of quiet days. Basically the same thing week in, week out. I mentioned on another thread recently that I ran my numbers on my stores a few days ago. The main featured store consistently sells to within half of one percent ( 0.5 % variation ) of average sales, month in, month out, so there is never anything to get excited or dissapointed about with that one."

Same here, eerily consistent, month in, month out.

Not complaining, eBay sales have been quite steady, suits me fine at this stage of life.

I usually have a sales spike when I list a quantity of fresh items, but the month inevitably averages out to within 1% or so of the previous months...

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I,m a bit the same. I accept that my sales will stay the same month in month out. Its enough to keep me busy without rushing around and the profits are well worth the effort. I,m at an age where consistency can be a good thing and sales are reliable enough that I can budget and plan paying bills etc.