eBay

fort2b · ‎06-23-2016

On my main selling ID I normally make one or two US sales per day. For the last 3 weeks I have made zero. Anyone else?

I'm wondering if Ebay.com have switched their default search to 'US only' again. This has happened before and as a result none of my listings were being seen in the US.

Has anyone else experienced a complete drop off of their sales to the US?

titainia711 · ‎06-23-2016

Since my conversion to CAD, my sales have dropped by more than 50%! Most of my sales were going to the US or internationally. I have had the odd sale to the states since the conversion but not many. I am getting frustrated as I am barely making enough to cover the store subscription costs! I called eBay and they said that they would do some sort of analysis and email me the results. I have no idea what that means.

How does selling on eBay.ca differ from eBay.com? I don't know if I should be transferring my listings to .com and what that would entail.

pocomocomputing · ‎06-23-2016

@titainia711 wrote:
Since my conversion to CAD, my sales have dropped by more than 50%! Most of my sales were going to the US or internationally. I have had the odd sale to the states since the conversion but not many. I am getting frustrated as I am barely making enough to cover the store subscription costs! I called eBay and they said that they would do some sort of analysis and email me the results. I have no idea what that means.
How does selling on eBay.ca differ from eBay.com? I don't know if I should be transferring my listings to .com and what that would entail.

How to sell on eBay.com has been discussed many times in these forums over the years and discussed again many times since the new policy of listing in CAD on eBay.ca. Too long to repeat here for me.

The biggest issue is shipping. You can only use generic eBay shipping options on eBay.com since calculated shipping does not support Canada Post shipping options. You must use flat rate shipping and generic shipping options.

Items that will be shipped using Light Packet work well since they have a fixed cost to ship. Items using Small Packet work well because they have a fixed cost but you have to exclude Canada from your shipping because they would have a variable cost across Canada using parcel services. No big loss to exclude Canada if sales are low to Canada.

I looked at your items and your shipping methods and it seems that you can move some times to eBay.com and list in USD.

cumos55 · ‎06-23-2016

New sellers come to eBay with something very new.....

They sell in a very small niche.

Initially there are many sales..... the inventory is something new to eBay.

Then sales slow down.... mainly because those that wanted something new have made their purchase.... New buyers will be few and far between

An example....

I know a seller that bought 20 pieces of aboriginal artwork....... The artists were very new to eBay.

They sold 10 pieces very quickly and now it is 1, maybe 2 and sometimes even even 3 each month.

In order to be successful on eBay... or in any sales business... a seller has to add new inventory complementary to what is already being sold.... or a very unique, and very new category to eBay.

OP has a very narrow focus.... and those interested in the listed items... have bought....

New buyers interested in these items will be less with each passing month..... until a baseline of sales has been established.

Or... there may be a competitor that is undercutting OP on price and/or shipping...

ypdc_dennis · ‎06-23-2016

@titainia711 wrote:
Since my conversion to CAD, my sales have dropped by more than 50%! Most of my sales were going to the US or internationally.
How does selling on eBay.ca differ from eBay.com? I don't know if I should be transferring my listings to .com and what that would entail.

The OP (Original Poster) is selling in US$ not Cdn$ -- so his issue has nothing to with the currency it was listed in.

-..-

As for listing on eBay.com -- some of your listings are quite easy to do for flat rate shipping (under 1kg).

Here's a list of current shipping choices when listing on eBay.com for the Canadian seller (who ships from Canada)

To the USA
All flat rate, no calculated, with expected delivery time.

Economy Shipping from outside US (11 to 23 business days)
Standard Shipping from outside US (6 to 10 business days)
Expedited Shipping from outside US (1 to 4 business days)
Flat rate Freight

Outside the USA, to the rest of the world (including Canada)
All flat rate, no calculated, countries are selectable.

Economy Int'l Shipping
Standard Int'l Shipping
Expedited Int'l Shipping

You can have up to 5 separate International rates for countries you select.

-.-

Canada Post choices that are flat rate for anywhere in the USA.

Oversize Lettermail - useful for under 2cm thick, 500g

Light packet - useful for under 2cm thick, 500g - can be bought through PayPal.

Small Packet - can be more than 2cm thick, has a bar code with number, originate scan available, but no on-line tracking and no insurance. Can be bought through PayPal.

-..-

femmefan1946 · ‎06-23-2016

The best advertising on eBay is your title.

You have 80 keystrokes free gratis for nothing to catch the attention of the buyer.

Most customers Search using keywords. like poster voodoo tank porsche.

Almost none Search using wow! or look!

More than 50% of transactions use a mobile device.

But listings look very different on mobiles.

Titles are shortened for one thing. So putting a useless word like wow! first in the title means you are hiding your product from half your potetial customers. (Okay, hyperbole.)

You mention in one listing that there are some signs of wear on the vintage poster. Scan those points rather than letting your customer guess, and perhaps be disappointed. (Scanning is perfect for flat, small items and allows for excellent magnification.)

Finally, new sellers get a few weeks of boost in Search. When that boost is over, you're on your own.

Take a look at your listings on a smartphone and plan to do some revision.

tobyshitzu · ‎06-23-2016

Have had no change in sales to the USA. Cant offer any further comment that would make sense without seeing what is happenning with your main selling ID

There is a very high rate here of people claiming "sales have fallen", who's sales history doesn't support what they are saying

jociejones · ‎06-23-2016

I have had sales drop drastically! I think the main issue for me is the fact that buyers weren't always aware they were buying from a Canadian seller, and now it's more identifiable and it can deter some. 90% of my sales were US, so this is a big deal for me. I was selling $5000 per month and now am down to about $1800. Now with Canada Post threatening to go on strike I may be out of business!

mr.elmwood · ‎06-23-2016

@jociejones wrote:
I have had sales drop drastically! I think the main issue for me is the fact that buyers weren't always aware they were buying from a Canadian seller, and now it's more identifiable and it can deter some. 90% of my sales were US, so this is a big deal for me. I was selling $5000 per month and now am down to about $1800. Now with Canada Post threatening to go on strike I may be out of business!

So, while the strike/lockout is on, move everything to com. If you can make an extra $3000, why wouldn't you?

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musicyouneed · ‎06-23-2016

I think the main issue for me is the fact that buyers weren't always aware they were buying from a Canadian seller, and now it's more identifiable and it can deter some. 90% of my sales were US, so this is a big deal for me.

I sell on .com and .ca and I have noticed a small drop in sales to US buyers but a large increase in Canadian buyers. Somehow the US buyers were still able to find me, but i think that your statement about that buyers were not aware they were buying from a Canadian seller is so true.

But I have to agree that if you are finding that .ca doesn't work, move to .com.

jociejones · ‎06-23-2016

I'm not sure what you mean - I won't be able to ship any items at all while the strike is on as there is no other affordable Canadian option than Canada Post.

jociejones · ‎06-23-2016

I thought I would give it a try for a month, but obviously .com is the better choice for my market. I tried to change it to .com but it wouldn't allow me to. Obviously I need to research this further.

recped · ‎06-23-2016

I've been listing on .ca since 2009 (prior to that on .com). I listed in US Dollar up until late May when I switched to CAD.

My sales have been following their normal patterns in terms of volume, down from a few years ago primarily because I've just been rehashing and adding very few actually new items.

Sales to Canadian buyers has been steadily increasing for the past 2 years, sales to US buyers has changed very little. Overseas sales have been declining for the past 3 - 4 years but have recently started to increase again.

I'm seeing the same patterns on all my selling id's.

So what does this all mean? It means comparing this week to last week or even this month to last month is meaningless and even more so if your volume is fairly low. Start selling 100+ items per week and compare the numbers over at least a year or two because anything less that is such a small sample size as to be almost meaningless.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

femmefan1946 · ‎06-23-2016

I have items on both dotCOM and dotCA, depending on shipping needs.

With dotCOM, we have to ship Flat Rate, which is fine for your small lightweight items (under 2cm and 500gr) which can go Letter/Light Packet. The same rate carries those anywhere in Canada or in the USA.

For me that would be paperbacks. For you, summer tops?

With dotCA, we have the ability to ship with Calculated Shipping via Canada Post. I use that for items that are larger or heavier and have to go parcel rates, which are partly based on destination.

For me that's most hardcovers. For you, jeans?

You have the ability on dotCOM to set rates for USA (domestic) for Canada and for overseas. So you can have different Flat Rates for each, but that is as flexible as it gets.

If you need tracking on a high value item, list it on dotCA for the Calculated Rates because most parcels can be tracked.

mr.elmwood means that we will mostly be taking the downtime during the lockout to close our Stores and re-evaluate our listings, including moving some from one site to the other. We can do that while our Stores are On Vacation.

The 2011 postal disruption was 12 days of rotating strikes which slowed but did not stop the mail, followed by a management lockout which stopped all traffic dead. Less frantic than the pessimists here think, imho.

Also, the migration tool is **bleep**.

luxe.labels · ‎06-23-2016

I posted about this a week ago: http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Sales-after-migration-to-eBay-com/m-p/340784/highlight/tr...

I moved from .ca to .com and had an immediate and drastic decline in sales. Yes, it's a slower time of year but it's never been this slow.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-24-2016

I'm only going by your feedback, and by the numbers, not the value, but in the past 30 days you received 43 feedback, in the past six months you averaged 41 FB per month and in the last year you also averaged 41 FB per month.

toolsnparts · ‎08-09-2016

It was like a direct kick. My sales dropped over 20% immediately after listing in CAD. Most of my sales were to US buyers. I have noticed that my Canadian sales have picked up slightly. To date 08/09/16 sales remain at least 20% down.

luxe.labels · ‎08-09-2016

My sales have picked up now. There was a VERY quiet week after switching to .com but things have recovered nicely. I'm selling more than ever to the US now but that's likely because I've started shipping via USPS by ChitChats Express which has allowed me to offer lower US shipping.

luxe.labels · ‎08-09-2016

@reallynicestamps wrote:
I'm only going by your feedback, and by the numbers, not the value, but in the past 30 days you received 43 feedback, in the past six months you averaged 41 FB per month and in the last year you also averaged 41 FB per month.

Interesting...I've never analyzed feedback. It seems unreliable because sometimes I'll get no feedback for a week or more and then a flurry of it and not necessarily related to recent sales. A buyer once told me they wanted to leave fb on a recent purchase but were unable to so which makes me wonder if technical glitches are responsible for the inconsistency.

femmefan1946 · ‎08-10-2016

There are too many variables in feedback for it to be reliable-- number versus value being one, percentage left being another.

But it is interesting that over and over when we hear someone claiming sales to be way down, the feedback shown almost never supports the claim.

Maybe the customers who do leave feedback are still buying, but those who don't have gone away? Seems unlikely.

Those of us who have been selling for many years can also compare our monthly totals (number and value) against the same month in previous years.

When we did this in our B&M store, we found that we could almost have closed from late November until Christmas without losing money, as long as we were open from Boxing Day through New Years. An oddity in our (collector) customer base.